Fantasy Football Week 3: Waiver Wire

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Overall last week’s waiver picks turned out pretty solid and most won’t be on your league’s waiver wire much longer. Ahmad Bradsaw was a beast with 24 points and Terrance West (16 points), Steve Smith Sr (13), Travis Kelce (12) and Andrew Hawkins (10) all had solid weeks and deserve a spot on your roster moving forward.

I was way off on Jake Locker who was awful against a suspect Dallas D and shouldn’t be on anyone’s roster anymore. I also missed on Greg Jennings (2 points), Rod Streater (injury) and Marqise Lee (3 points), but I think Lee still deserves your attention and he is back on the list this week. Giants TE Larry Donnell (11) and Rams WR Brian Quick (10) were two of my super sleeper picks (< 5% owned) that played well in week 2 and will be popular waiver picks this week.

As for my week 2 Ogletree picks, Allen Hurns proved to be a 1-week wonder (2 points) but he did drop an 80-yard sure thing TD that hit him right in the hands. Hurns will be in the mix for the Jags and may provide a big play occasionally, but with Cecil Shorts and Allen Robinson getting healthy I don’t think there will be enough targets for Hurns to be a viable fantasy starter. Two of my other warnings were on the money as well with Devin Hester (1 point) and Benny Cunningham (2) non-factors in week 2. Perennial tease Jared Cook was decent in week 2 with 6 points, but that’s not TE1 production and I would still stay away.

Injuries struck hard in week 2, which means this week’s waiver wire is stocked with potential impact players. I’ll list my recommendations below by priority as well as a few players that could be a waste of your waiver budget.

Every week on Tuesday, I will be posting my top waiver pick ups for the week. Only players owned in under 50% of Yahoo leagues will qualify. There are all sorts of leagues out there with different levels of competition and varying player pool depths, so I will have a few picks with under 50% ownership, a few under 30%, 15%,  and at least one super sleeper under 5%. I’ll also be listing a few players that may be popular waiver adds that I think you should pass on (the Kevin Ogletrees) and I’ll give you my reasons why of course. If there are any players you have a specific question about feel free to hit me up in the comments or on Twitter.

Week 3 Waiver Picks:

RB Ahmad Bradshaw (44% owned) – As I said last week, it looks like the Colts are finally giving up on T-Rich and handing the lead back job over to Bradshaw. He probably won’t stay healthy all year, but is a solid RB2 option right now. Bradshaw is the only RB on this list who is likely to keep the starting RB job the whole season, which makes him my #1 priority this week.

RB Knile Davis, Chiefs (22%) – It sounds like Jamaal Charles’ ankle sprain is “minor” but that should still keep him out for a couple of weeks. Davis should slide right into Charles’ role as the heart of the offense and get a solid 20-25 touches per game. He’s not as talented as Charles obviously, but he’s no slouch and in the three games Charles has missed since Davis joined the team, he has averaged 27 touches, 97 yards and 2 TDs per game. Those are RB1 numbers and he may only get three starts but should give you Charles-lite production over that time.

RB Donald Brown, Chargers (11%) – Starting RB Ryan Matthews is out for 4-5 weeks and Brown will be taking over as the Chargers work horse back while he’s out. Brown is coming off his best NFL season in 2013, he had the 2nd best DVOA in the NFL last year (behind DeMarco Murray) and averaged 5.3 yards per carry. Danny Woodhead will steal some of the goal line touches, but with 15-20 touches per game in a high-octane offense, Brown could put up RB2 numbers for the next month or so.

RB Jeremy Hill, Bengals (49%) – After being a non-factor in week 1, the Bengals got Hill involved in the offense with 15 carries for 74 yards (4.9 ypc), 2 catches for 22 yards, and a rushing TD. I think Hill’s role in the offense will increase as the season goes on and he has the talent to be a solid RB2/Flex option if he can get 15-20 touches per week.

WR Andrew Hawkins, Browns (33%) – Led the team again with 12 targets and had a serviceable game (6 catches, 70 yards). He’s the best WR the Browns have and should continue to be a decent Flex option in PPR leagues.

WR Brian Quick, Rams (17%) – As I mentioned in my Quick post last week, he’s become the Rams #1 WR and has 18 targets already which is 6 more than anyone else on the team (Cook next with 12). Quick isn’t going to get many TDs but should provide Flex-worthy stats in PPR leagues.

TE Travis Kelce, Chiefs (38%) – With Jamal Charles on the sidelines, Kelce might be the Chiefs most dynamic receiving option. He finished 2nd on the team in targets last week with 6 and I think that number will continue to go up. Kelce is a borderline TE1 right now, but I think he will finish the year as a top 10 TE.

TE Larry Donnell, Giants (22%) – Eli Manning has always been a TE-friendly QB and Donnell has been one of the Giants most reliable receivers so far this season. Donnell has a team high 17 targets over the first two games and I think he will continue to be Eli’s safety-valve option.