Fantasy Football, Week 4 Waiver Wire

There is so much to talk about in the Week 4 Waiver Wire because so many players are rising to fantasy prominence and many have come up short so far.

Week 3 might wind up being one of the crazier weeks of the year and one of the weird elements is we avoided a lot of major injuries yet again. For the first time, we have some bye weeks to deal with since Washington and Carolina are on byes this week. We’re also adding in a possible drop portion. This isn’t telling you that you have to drop them, it’s merely suggestions on who you can drop if you like a Waiver Wire player better.

There were plenty of bumps and bruises but we still haven’t had the one injury that really shakes up the fantasy landscape. That’s a fortunate thing for fantasy and it’s important to keep in mind to still be a little cautious with your free agent spending. If you need that high waiver claim or a lot of FAAB coming up soon, you don’t want to regret burning it for an average player. Having said that, let’s get into who can help your fantasy squad!

Quarterback

Baker Mayfield, Cleveland Browns – Oakland Raiders

Yahoo -12 percent ESPN – 6.8 percent

If you read anything I’ve written or Tweeted since Thursday night, you knew this was coming but it’s now set in stone. Mayfield has been officially announced as the starting quarterback and he needs to be owned everywhere. Is the rookie going to have a couple of bad games here and there? Sure, but he has a good assortment of weapons around him. Jarvis Landry, David Njoku and Antonio Callaway all combine to make for a good group and Carlos Hyde on the ground should make for a solid run game. Mayfield was accurate this past Thursday despite not taking any first team reps in practice during the week last week. He does go on the road this week but the Raiders are not imposing against quarterbacks. Ryan Tannehill just scorched them for near 300 yards and they’ve given up the third most plays of 20+ yards(not including Tampa and Pittsburgh). In addition, Oakland only has five sacks on the season. Especially in 2QB leagues, Mayfield is starting quality right off the bat.

Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals – at Atlanta Falcons

Yahoo – 33 percent ESPN – 28.6 percent

Dalton has already had two pretty good fantasy games and this past one would have been massive had he not chucked four interceptions. This week he draws the Atlanta Falcons, who has seen their defense totally fall apart. It’s been ravaged by injuries to vastly important players and they have given up the fifth most passing yards and seventh highest completion percentage in 2018. If A.J. Green isn’t in the lineup, I would cool on Dalton a bit here but the spot is still good. His floor for passing yards has been 243 in three games and he’s thrown at least two touchdown passes every game. The weapons around him now seemingly include a healthy Tyler Eifert and Tyler Boyd who is enjoying a breakout campaign thus far. He is on the road this week but he at least gets to play in the dome in Atlanta. Dalton should have a safe floor and the ceiling is high in this matchup.

Also Consider – Ryan Tannehill, Miami Dolphins – At New England Patriots, Eli Manning, New York Giants – vs New Orleans Saints

Possible Drops – Blake Bortles – Jacksonville Jaguars, Jimmy Garoppolo – San Francisco 49ers(unfortunately this is injury related drop), Alex Smith – Washington Redskins

Running Backs

Buck Allen, Baltimore Ravens – at Pittsburgh Steelers

Yahoo – 27 percent ESPN – 39.3 percent

Running back is ugly on the waiver wire right now and owners are going to be looking for replacements for players like Christian McCaffrey and the Washington backfield who are on byes. Allen isn’t very exciting and I don’t personally think he should be getting a whole lot of work but he’s touched the ball 29 times through three games and has four touchdowns. If you need a back that you can at least feel fairly comfortable of projecting 10 touches and who gets work in the red zone, Allen is your man. The matchup against Pittsburgh is far from intimidating and Allen has a high value fantasy role.

Nyheim Hines, Indianapolis Colts

Yahoo – 8 percent ESPN – 9.2 percent

This is a PPR special and kind of tells you at where we’re at with running backs at the moment. It’s not great and just about any back that holds value is on a roster somewhere but Hines could be a bye week fill in this week or upcoming. Andrew Luck is not throwing the ball downfield right now. Regardless of what you believe that reason is, the fact remains that Luck has a limited range of throws right now. Since he’s near the bottom of the league in yards per attempt, Hines has been a nice check down option even though it hasn’t quite yet resulted in a ton of yardage and he hasn’t scored a receiving touchdown quite yet. He’s got 13 receptions in three games and the Colts have no running game to speak of. Houston can put up points, meaning Luck could have another 40+ attempts again this week.

Ronald Jones, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – at Chicago Bears

Yahoo – 22 percent ESPN – 19.9 percent

This is purely a stash because there’s a zero percent chance I’d start himself next week in Chicago. This is a player that the Bucs spent a high pick on and they’ve watched Peyton Barber get shut down rushing the football so far with just 91 yards on 35 attempts. He’s totally uninvolved in the passing game so there’s no value there either. Jones was terrible in the preseason but he also wasn’t playing with the starting offense from top to bottom very often. If you’re feeling good about your running back depth, throw him on the bench and hope he gets his chance soon.

Also Consider(making sure they’re owned in your league) – Aaron Jones, Green Bay Packers – vs Buffalo Bills, T.J. Yeldon, Jacksonville Jaguars – vs New York Jets, Bilal Powell, New York Jets – at Jacksonville Jaguars

Possible Drops – Rex Burkhead – New England Patriots, Duke Johnson – Cleveland Browns, Alfred Morris – San Francisco 49ers, Tarik Cohen – Chicago Bears

Wide Receivers, Part One

Calvin Ridley, Atlanta Falcons – vs Cincinnati Bengals

Yahoo – 44 percent ESPN – 40.8 percent

At least one receiver in Atlanta knows what it’s like to score some touchdowns. Ridley got blanked in Week 1, had a nice game in Week 2 with four receptions and touchdown, and then went full scorched Earth on the Saints defense this week with a 7/146/3 line. In case you didn’t see it in the What We Learned article yesterday, the four touchdowns has now exceeded what Julio Jones has done in his last 19 regular season games. Matt Ryan has shown that the Week 1 ugly performance in Philly was just an aberration as he’s been lights out these past two weeks. Ridley has been a major part of that and he will never see the bulk of the coverage as long as Jones is active. He was a high level producer in college, a high draft pick and has immediately started to show why. He’s worth a decent chunk of FAAB, but receiver is plentiful this week. Don’t go too crazy.

Mike Williams, Los Angeles Chargers – vs San Franciso 49ers

Yahoo – 56 percent ESPN – 33 percent

Williams was excellent against a very talented defense this past week and is starting to show exactly why he was such a high pick in 2017. The 6’4″ receiver has already matched his receptions from the games he played in 2017 and seen his yards per reception jump from 8.6 to 17.2. His aDOT shows off that gain as well with a team leading 15.7 among players that have seen at least 10 targets. For reference, Keenan Allen is sitting at 7.7. He’s now scored three touchdowns on the season and has seen three red zone targets already, one behind Allen and Melvin Gordon. Joey Bosa‘s injury is hurting the Chargers defense and until he gets back, Los Angeles is going to have to put up plenty of points. Williams is emerging as the very clear number two behind Allen.

Tyler Boyd, Cincinnati Bengals – at Atlanta Falcons

Yahoo – 17 percent ESPN – 23.7 percent

Boyd might be one of the most added players in fantasy this week since he’s so low owned but you can no longer ignore him and blow off his production. Boyd is only 9.5 PPR points behind A.J. Green on the season and some of that might be due to that fact that Green left this past game with what is hopefully a minor injury. However, Boyd has suddenly turned into a major weapon in the Bengals offense, racking up at least six receptions and at least 90 yards in the past two weeks. Dalton has started to use him frequently and the Bengals offense seems wildly improved at this juncture of the season. He should be able to continue his production for at least one more week in Atlanta but this could be a season long add. Boyd appears to be the clear cut number two receiver in this passing game.

Geronimo Allison, Green Bay Packers – vs Buffalo Bills

Yahoo – 34 percent ESPN – 34.3

Can people please pick up Allison(and John Brown for that matter) so I can stop writing about them? Allison has had at least four targets and 60+ yards in all three games and has found in the end zone twice. Granted, his value likely goes down the tubes if Aaron Rodgers and his knee don’t hold up through the season. Until that(hopefully not) happens, Allison can start every single week. He’s attached to one of the best quarterbacks the league has ever seen. Rodgers trusts him and he’s heavily involved in the offense. Randall Cobb might see more targets, but it’s becoming increasingly clear which receiver past Davante Adams has the highest upside. Cobb has done very little outside a huge 75 yard touchdown in Week 1.

Antonio Callaway, Cleveland Browns – at Oakland Raiders

Yahoo – 33 percent ESPN – 16.5

The stat line of four receptions for 20 yards looks poor but Callaway was second in targets behind Jarvis Landry this past week. He ran some poor routes and had drop issues Thursday night. That shouldn’t be ignored but the Browns have no other receiver on their roster that brings the speed game like Callaway does. Tyrod Taylor missed him on a wide open deep ball that would have altered perception in a major way. Baker Mayfield appeared ready to roll and the Raiders secondary might find out the hard way how good the Mayfield to Callaway connection can be this upcoming week.

Sterling Shepard, New York Giants – vs New Orleans Saints

Yahoo – 56 percent ESPN – 69.8 percent

Shepard is a little higher owned on ESPN than I normally try to highlight but Shepard is going to be in a great spot if Evan Engram is out this week. He’s considered week-to-week but he’s dealing with an MCL sprain. It wouldn’t be a surprise at all if he misses this game and Shepard is going to benefit. Saquon Barkley and Odell Beckham are going to dominate the target share but if Engram isn’t around to split the third slice of the pie, Shepard could wind up being a great option. Seeing the Saints defense that just got destroyed by Calvin Ridley really raises Shepard’s appeal this week.

Also Consider – Chris Godwin(pick him up!), Tampa Bay Buccaneers – at Chicago Bears, Brandon Marshall, Seattle Seahawks – at Arizona Cardinals

Possible Drops – Pierre Garçon, San Francisco 49ers – Jamison Crowder, Washington Redskins – Robby Anderson, New York Jets – Josh Doctson, Washington Redskins

Tight End

Tight end actually has some gems this week with some players available. I wouldn’t get used to it but we’ll take it where we can get it right now.

Jack Doyle, Indianapolis Colts – vs Houston Texans

Yahoo – 51 percent ESPN – 67.3 percent

Many owners dropped Doyle last week which is understandable since most owners don’t like to carry multiple tight ends any given week. In the two weeks prior to his injury, he saw the most snaps of any tight end in football. He was also soaking up a target percentage of over 18 percent, which would have ranked sixth among active tight ends. It didn’t seem like this injury was major so if Doyle is out there, he’s absolutely a priority for needy owners.

More from FanSided

Tyler Eifert, Cincinnati Bengals – at Atlanta Falcons

Yahoo – 51 percent ESPN – 45.9

Now might be the last time you have a chance to grab Eifert and he shouldn’t be out there in this many leagues. His snap percentage stayed the same this week at roughly 65 percent but the targets have increased every week and the Bengals have yet to get him a touchdown. He’s only seen two red zone targets but I don’t think that’s going to continue given his snap and target percentage. Cincinnati did play from behind in this one but that scenario could be in play again on the road against the Falcons. This is a player that does have a 13 touchdown season on his resume and should see some positive regression the rest of the way.

Vance McDonald, Pittsburgh Steelers – vs Baltimore Ravens

Yahoo – 12 percent ESPN – 12.9 percent

Well, the Jesse James love is basically over because McDonald flashed his play making ability Monday night. That’s not just talking about when he slapped Chris Conte‘s should right out of his body on his way to a 75 yard touchdown. McDonald saw five target in a high-powered offense and will always see easier coverage with JuJu Smith-Schuster and Antonio Brown being the main cogs. That’s really all you can ask for from any tight end and McDonald needs to be a very popular add this week.

Also Consider – David Njoku, Cleveland Browns – at Oakland Raiders(he’s under 70 percent and he can’t be that low owned with Mayfield as the starter), Austin Hooper, Atlanta Falcons – vs Cincinnati Bengals

Possible Drops – Will Dissly, Seattle Seahawks

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