By Chris Dell / Ben Martinez
Welcome to our Betting Predators Waiver Wire column, which will be more of a catch-all space and a serve as a supplement to our weekly waiver wire rankings on the website. Please note, all players listed below are owned in less than 33.3% of ESPN leagues. Thank you for reading, as always, and don't hesitate to reach out with your fantasy questions - @MaddJournalist on Twitter. BOL on your FAB bids/ waiver claims!
Quarterbacks
Kirk Cousins 32.5% - Cousins ranks 4th in total fantasy points scored so far this season, ahead of the likes of Josh Allen, Matt Stafford, and Lamar Jackson, and only behind Tom Brady, Kyler Murray and Patrick Mahomes. The Vikings schedule is no cake walk coming up for them to secure victories, sure, but that's actually a good thing. Games against Cleveland (Week 4), at Carolina (Week 6), and Dallas (Week 8) could certainly force Cousins to continue to score in the mid 20's going forward as the Vikings are pressed to keep pace with formidable opponents. A home matchup with Detroit in Week 5 could also prove fruitful for fantasy, as well as Cook's questionable tag which in turn could lead to more reliance on the Vikings QB to air it out to his talented weapons in Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielen. Recommended FAB Bid: 5%
Sam Darnold 9.0% - Favorable matchups with Philadelphia (Week 5), Minnesota (Week 6), the New York Giants (Week7), and Atlanta (Week 8) loom for Darnold, who might just be without Christian McCaffrey for that entire stretch. You can't Darnold to score 25 fantasy points every week, and his two rushing touchdowns on Thursday Night Football were fluky, but he'll be forced into even more action without CMC and has an emerging WR1 weapon in DJ Moore which he's already showed great chemistry with. We don't need Darnold to be a world beater, but his current pace of QB12 overall is more than enough to give us a stable floor and viable streamer from week to week at the position, especially if forced into pass-happy game scripts where the Panthers are trailing, which just might be this week when they face the Dallas Cowboys. Deep TD's to Robby Anderson and the emerging Terrace Marshall give Darnold all the upside he needs, in addition to Moore, in order to sustain fantasy relevance all year. Recommended FAB Bid: >5%
Trey Lance 21.4% - Jimmy Garropolo flat out did not play well on Sunday Night Football in Week 3 and now has back to back weeks of posting under a 6.5 yards per attempt clip. He was sacked four times by what had been a non-existent Packers pass rush and often times forced balls into dangerous territory for his receivers, in addition to numerous near fumbles and an interception. It's only a matter of time before Kyle Shanahan turns the keys over to the guy who the 49'ers traded up to #3 in the draft to select. Lance's rushing upside is unmatched in the NFL outside of Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts, and once under center we could see an immediate boost in the entire SF offense, which at many times has lagged in 2021. Take advantage of the owners who have lost patience and dropped Lance through three weeks. He's more than worth a bench stash over the next month. Even if it takes him until Week 8 to start, you're going to have a potential league-winner on your hands for the second-half of the regular season/championship run. If things go south against Seattle in Week 4, we could see Lance even sooner. Recommended FAB Bid: 5-10%
Honerable Mention: Teddy Bridgewater 27.8%, Taylor Heinicke 3.5%, Taysom Hill 1.7%
Running Backs
Chubba Hubbard 11.3%/Royce Freeman 0.1% - We don't need to sit here and tell you that the number one add for Week 4 will be Hubbard, although we suspect he's already owned even in many standard size leagues (12 teams) despite the 11.3% ownership rate. With the uncertainty of Christian McCaffrey for next week and for the next month for that matter, Hubbard possesses a ceiling of 20+ touches per game, which is what Mike Davis walked into last season en route to finishing as a low-end RB1. In Carolina we now have 20+ rushing attempts vacated by McCaffrey, in addition to an average of 7.5 receiving targets. The Panthers face a slew of tasty matchups coming up soon as we mentioned above with Sam Darnold, and if CMC misses multiple weeks then Hubbard could find himself ranked inside the top10-15 starts at running back. If Hubbard already is rostered in your league, we don't mind a speculative add on Royce Freeman either, who looked impressive with a 13-yard gain on his first carry last Thursday and was once a much-hyped rookie running back of his own a few years ago before falling out of favor in Denver. Given that CMC was diagnosed with a minor hamstring strain (less than a Grade 1), we should temper our bids here, but if you own CMC or are truly desperate for an RB2 start this week, you have to be realistic. Given the Mike Davis comparison from 2020 we could easily see Hubbard command 50%-60% bids or higher this week when waivers run. Scoop Freeman on the cheap in the non-zero chance he either splits the backfield with Hubbard or carves out a larger role too. Recommended FAB Bid: 30-35% (for Hubbard), 5-10% (for Freeman)
Peyton Barber 11.3% - Just like Hubbard, Peyton Barber value depends on the health status of the starter in front of him (Josh Jacobs), but when given the opportunity in Week 3 he responded with 111 yards on 23 attempts and a rushing touchdown, as well as adding 3 receptions on 5 targets for 31 yards. If Jacobs continue to miss time, then Barber will be considered a borderline must-start every week. Barber received 15 more carries than Drake and just as many catches/receiving yards/one less target, and this was just his second game with the Las Vegas Raiders. Even if Jacobs does come back soon, you'd have to believe Barber has a solid chance to retain some sort of standalone role. We don't want to overreact to one regular season game that went to overtime, but we don't want to be late to the party either, especially for teams dealing with RB injuries and needing a plug-and-play RB2 start this week. Recommended FAB Bid: 15-20%
Alex Collins 0.8%/Travis Homer 0.2% - Chris Carson suffered a hamstring injury in Week 3 and while the severity is still unknown, we did see Collins come in and be the only SEA running back to receive a carry (2 rushing attempts for 8 yards), while Homer was the only RB on the team to see a target (3-3-48). Given Carson's injury-riddled past and Seattle's explosiveness on offense as a whole, it's certainly worth stashing at least one of these guys to see how the backfield could shake out. Homer a slight preference in PPR formats and Collins the preferred target in half PPR or standard formats. Add second-year back DeeJay Dallas to your watch list too, who also flashed in a few games last year. Recommended FAB Bid: 5%
Honorable Mention: Giovani Bernard 20.1%, Kenneth Gainwell 28.0%, Brandon Bolden 0.0%, JJ Taylor 0.6%, Malcolm Brown 12.7%, Darrel Williams 6%, Jeremy McNichols 1.5%, Tony Jones Jr. 14.1%, Damien Williams 12.9%, Jeff Wilson Jr. 6.1%, Justin Jackson 4.5%, Darrynton Evans 2.3%, Jake Funk 1.0%, Kyle Juszczyk 0.6%, Anthony McFarland 0.4%, DeeJay Dallas 0.6%
Wide Receivers
Christian Kirk 22.4% - Kirk ranks 15th overall in PPR scoring amongst WR's. He currently leads Arizona in receiving yards (239) and ranks second on the team in receptions (15), targets (17) and receiving TD's (2) while running a majority of his routes from the slot and benefiting from the extra attention that defenses have paid to DeAndre Hopkins in the past. Kirk is also being targeted in his intermediate to deep routes as well, hauling in long grabs of 25+ yards in each of his three games this year and posting at least 65 receiving yards in every game. Attached to a QB/scheme in Kyler Murray/Arizona and with a role secured in this offense, we could be seeing somewhat of a breakout campaign for the young Kirk. He'll continue to see added opportunities in a tough division matchup with the Rams in Week 4 as well, in addition to continued opportunities in the passing game with Hopkins not at 100%. Recommended FAB Bid: 10-15%
Emmanuel Sanders 23.3% - With 18.8 yards per reception and 15.7 receiving yards per target in Week 3, it was Sanders and not Diggs or Beasley who led all Buffalo receivers in fantasy production. Rumors of Sanders' role as Buffalo's #2 outside WR opposite Diggs in the offseason have proven to be true through three weeks, as he's been Josh Allen's 1B option through the air in the league's most pass happy offense to kick off the year. Sanders is seemingly locked into Buffalo's deep threat role with a quarterback who loves to sling it deep, and despite having 10 less targets than Beasley/Diggs he's more than making up for that with the air yards/air yards per target coming his way. We expect much more "boom" weeks than bust weeks playing in this pass-heavy scheme and are willing to bet on him continuing his borderline WR2 run for the entirety of the 2021 regular season as long as Allen is under center. Recommended FAB Bid: 5-10%
Hunter Renfrow 11.3% - Scoring in double digits points all three weeks and leading all Raiders wide receivers with 22 targets and 16 catches, (Ruggs 19 targets, 11 receptions/Edwards 13 targets, 10 receptions) Renfrow will continue to lead Las Vegas in the air going forward (only behind Darren Waller, of course) and in full PPR leagues he's a great plug-and-play addition in your WR3/flex spots. The Raiders and Derek Carr are throwing at an extremely high clip and that doesn't look to change much with a Week 4 primetime tilt scheduled with the division rival Los Angeles Chargers. Recommended FAB Bid: 5-10%
Tim Patrick 14% - Denver loses yet another wide receiver (K.J. Hamler now out for the season), giving Patrick more opportunity yet again in this offense. Even in. a blow out win, Patrick's targets, receptions, and yards were all up from the previous week. Patrick also was tied in the lead for snaps by a Denver wide receiver with 51 and second in routes run with 23. With upcoming matchups against Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas and Cleveland over the next month, Denver looks to be in some possibler shoot outs and Patrick has proven to get it done as as a viable flex/WR3 with TD upside. Recommended FAB Bid: 5%
Here are some wide receivers worth an add if their teammate ahead of them on depth chart missed Week 4:
James Washington 1.6% -> Diontae Johnson
Ray Ray McCloud 0.1% -> JuJu Smith-Schuster
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine 0.0% -> A.J. Brown
Honorable Mention: Bryan Edwards 13.8%, Terrace Marshall 14.9%, Sammy Watkins 31.8%, AJ Green 24.6%, Elijah Moore 28.8%, Marquez Valdes-Scantling 14.9%, DeSean Jackson 1.8%, Kendrick Bourne 0.4% Nelson Agholor 32.1%, Van Jefferson 5.9%, Kalif Raymond 0.5%, TY Hilton 20.0%, Darius Slayton 8.2%, Rashod Bateman 7.1%, Kadarius Toney 2.9%, K.J. Osborn 28.6%, Freddie Swain 0.7%, Anthony Miller 0.7%, Cedrick Wilson 0.7%, Collin Johnson 0.1%, Olamide Zacchaeus 0.3%
Tight Ends
Evan Engram 32.8% - Engram's season debut was less then eventful, but with injuries to Shepard, Slayton, and even Golladay, Engram could be the de facto number 1 option for Daniel Jones going forward outside of Saquon Barkley. With 6 targets in Week 4, that number could double in the near future in the right type of game script for New York, and Engram has already shown the potential to be your starting tight end in the past with numerous top 10 seasons under his belt and even 100+ targets last year despite a "down season." For now he's a solid stash on your bench with TE1 upside. Recommended FAB Bid: 5%
Dalton Schultz 2.5%/Zach Ertz 16.3% - Monday Night Football saw a tight-end heavy focus with both Schultz and Ertz leading the way in fantasy points for their respective teams. Ertz's 7 targets trailed Jalen Reagor by just one while Schultz's 7-6-80-2 were all team highs on the night. Each player, granted, is still stuck in a two-man committee at the tight end position, but they're big enough parts of their offenses to where we can take advantage of spike weeks at a barren position in fantasy football. Schultz now has at least 6 targets in 2 of 3 games this year and clearly ranks third in the pass catching pecking order behind Lamb/Cooper in targets (15), catches (14) and receiving yards (143). His 10.2 yards per catch ranks second only to CeeDee Lamb's 13.9, and we've seen him become a direct beneficiary of Dak's new fondness of letting the ball go quickly in this offense while he looks to get back to 100%. Although Engram above is in a position for more volume in the short term, we wouldn't be surprised to see Schultz rewarded for his play and remain a staple in this offense all season when the gameplan calls for it. Recommended FAB Bid: 5%
Tyler Conklin 2.6% - Conklin's 8 targets and 7 reception (plus one receiving touchdown) was a breakout performance in many respects. But Conklin still needs to show he can produce like this consistently, and we worry that more negative game scripts (i.e. Minnesota trailing, unlike Week 3) will lead to more concentrated to the wide receivers and Adam Thielen/K.J. Osborn like we saw in Weeks 1-2. At this point in the season, however, just the chance Conklin could produce semi-decent weekly numbers is enough to add him to your bench and cross your fingers for more receiving success. Recommended FAB Bid: >5%
Dawson Knox 4.4% - Knox currently ranks as the TE8 overall on the season after back to back games with TD receptions, and although we can't bank on that type of scoring to continue week to week, we can definitely bank on Knox being tied to the league's most voluminous passer in Josh Allen. Knox has strung together 40+ yard performances in 2 of 3 games this year and with 4+ catches and 4+ targets in those two games as well.. His lone "down game" came on a 3-2-17 line in Week 2 versus Miami, a game in which Buffalo won 35-0 and simply didn't need to throw or play starters much in the second half. Knox still scored a TD in that game nonetheless and is at worst a top 5 receiving option for a QB who is going to throw 30-40+ times with regularity throughout the 2021 season. Recommended FAB Bid: 2.5%
Gerald Everett 10.8% - Everett's 5 targets ranked second on the team and were a season-high for the young, talented tight end as he became more of a focal point in this offense after Tyler Lockett was banged up during Week 3. Everett's history with Seahawks' OC Shane Waldron gave us hope earlier in the year for surprise TE1 finish, and the upside for that is still there if can force his way to become a consistent part of Russell Wilson's weekly efficiency tour. The talent/athletic upside has been there for years now, and Wilson could be the perfect signal-caller to unlock it in this offense. Recommended FAB Bid: 2.5%
Honorable Mention: Cole Kmet 21.1%, , Pat Freiermuth 4.5%, Blake Jarwin 6.5%, Maxx Williams 5.2%, Dan Arnold 0.9%, Tommy Tremble 0.1% Jordan Akins 0.6%,, Jacob Hollister 0.1%
D/ST
Cincinnati Bengals 5% (vs JAX)
Tennessee Titans 8.1% (at NYJ)
Colts 43.5% (at MIA)
Packers 16.2% (vs PIT)
Dallas Cowboys 3.3% (vs CAR)
Honorable Mention: Chicago Bears 14.4% (vs DET), Chiefs 8.7% (at PHI)