The fantasy football season has been frustrating in many ways, and now it's about to get more so. With quarterback injuries dominating the conversation last week, Week 3 brought about plenty more injuries, this time to big-name position players. Working the fantasy football waiver wire is obviously always important, but with guys like James Conner, CeeDee Lamb, Mike Evans and many others either out or potentially out, making the right pickups on waivers in Week 4 has never been more important.
There are two ways that fantasy football managers can handle dealing with injuries on the waiver wire. The first is the most obvious, targeting handcuff options that could step into bigger roles for their respective teams. However, it could also just be about finding the highest-upside players available on waivers and using those to replace injured players in your lineup. Either way, you need to know which players you should be targeting.
So with that, let's dive into the Week 4 fantasy football waiver wire pickups. There's a bit more depth this week at running back, but quarterback and tight end are somewhat hit-or-miss still.
Note: Roster percentages are in ESPN fantasy leagues. All rankings and point totals are in PPR leagues and entering Monday Night Football.
Quarterbacks to add from the fantasy waiver wire
Geno Smith, Las Vegas Raiders (10% rostered)
If there's one thing I'm pretty sure of, it's that the Raiders are quite bad and are going to be playing from behind a lot. While that might not be a fun watch, it could make Geno Smith quite worth adding on the waiver wire, because this team is simply going to have to throw a ton. His Week 2 was abysmal with three interceptions, but he has a combined 43.54 points from Weeks 1 and 3 now.
Smith is going to be a bit erratic, but the volume will continue to be there as he's not thrown fewer than 29 passes in a given game. With the QB waiver wire looking quite barren right now, Smith is probably the best option based on script and upside.
Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks (7.7% rostered)
Let me assure that Sam Darnold isn't going to be a Top 10 QB like he was in Week 3 when he's only throwing 18 passes in a game every week. That's just not sustainable. Having said that, that was by far the lowest number of attempts we've seen as the Seahawks won in a blowout, and Darnold has continued to look good in this offense to this point.
Again, the QB options on the wire don't exactly move me to this point. But if you're really hurting at the position, the apparent high floor of Darnold could ultimately be valuable depending on your roster construction.
Running backs to add from the fantasy waiver wire
Trey Benson, Arizona Cardinals (54.8% rostered)
Breaking my rule of only having players under 50% rostered in the waiver wire pickups, but you have to go get Trey Benson if you're in one of the 45.2% of leagues that he's still available in. James Conner suffered a season-ending injury for the Cardinals, which now puts Benson firmly in the spotlight to have a massive increase in workload, and he has the talent and situation to become a league-winner as a result.
Benson finished Week 3 with 10 carries for 42 yards along with three receptions for nine yards. Not only should he get more valuable touches with Conner out, he's going to still be a fixture in the passing offense. This might be one of the most important waiver adds of the season if he's available — and if he's not, I strongly urge you to make an offer to try and trade for him.
Woody Marks, Houston Texans (8.9% rostered)
Woody Marks may have finally cracked the Texans running back room in a big way, which makes sense given that it's been a bit of a struggle for Nick Chubb. The rookie split snaps 30-to-33 with Chubb on Sunday and that could only be going up from there.
Now, it should be said that Marks only had seven touches in those 30 snaps, but that seems like an outlier given how much he was on the field. Chubb continues to struggle quite a bit, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Marks become the actual lead back in Houston as soon as next week.
Blake Corum, Los Angeles Rams (11.7% rostered)
I remain at least mildly skeptical of what role Blake Corum is going to play in this offense considering that he just had his season high in carries with eight on Sunday against the Eagles. He was only on the field for 16 running back snaps out of 66 total, though, so his time on the field continues to be inconsistent, especially on later downs.
Even still, Corum continues to impress when he does get opportunities. He might be an extremely valuable handcuff for Kyren Williams at worst, but there's also a chance we see him scripted into the offense a bit more by Sean McVay moving forward.
Hassan Haskins, Los Angeles Chargers (0% rostered)
Najee Harris seems like he might be out for the season now, which is first and foremost a sign to either thank your lucky stars if you have Omarion Hampton, or to see if he can be traded for if someone in your league isn't paying attention. However, in this Chargers offense that loves to use two backs, it makes Hassan Haskins worth adding to see if he takes over the secondary touches in the offense.
Haskins has been a complete non-factor to this point in the season, but getting bumped up on the depth chart because of injuries could change that in a hurry.
Wide receivers to add from the fantasy waiver wire
Tre Tucker, Las Vegas Raiders (2.0% rostered)
When you're coming off a game in which you caught eight passes for 145 yards and three touchdowns, yeah, you're going to end up at the top of your position among waiver wire pickups. So, welcome Tre Tucker to the party!
While the output isn't going to continue and couldn't be expected, the large role in the Raiders passing offense could've been. Tucker was targeted nine times in Week 3, but saw him be targeted eight times the week prior too. The difference, of course, was that he only had three catches in that game. It's clear, though, that Geno and Chip Kelly are going to have Tucker involved and, while this may be an outlier week, he's going to have upside to be in your flex in a lot of weeks.
Luther Burden III, Chicago Bears (9.3% rostered)
There is certainly going to be some boom-bust with Luther Burden III in his rookie season with the Bears, but we got a front-row seat as to what the booms will look like, and it's going to be hard to not have the newcomer at least on your roster at this point. He was targeted just three times in Chicago's win, but turned that into 101 yards and a touchdown, good enough to make him WR9 for the week.
Back to the bust potential week-to-week, though, the three targets is actually the season high for the rookie to this point. While there is a case that his prominence in the offense will only continue to grow, it could be hit-or-miss until the second half. The upside dictates that you should still probably add him now before it's too late, however.
Tyquan Thornton, Kansas City Chiefs (2.2% rostered)
Especially with Xavier Worthy still sidelined and Rashee Rice out for another three weeks, you need to take advantage of the trust that Tyquan Thornton has now built with Patrick Mahomes in the Chiefs offense. His 5-71-1 line in Week 3 on nine targets is his best game yet, but he's also seen at least four targets in every week this season, hasn't been under 40 yards yet, and now has touchdowns in back-to-back weeks as well.
Kansas City has long needed a downfield threat and it appears that Thornton is the best option available, perhaps even after Worthy returns. With the workload he's getting in this offense, he's a sneaky high-upside pickup that you can make on the waiver wire in almost every league.
Luke McCaffrey, Washington Commanders (0.3% rostered)
Definitely monitor injury reports on this one, but Terry McLaurin left Sunday's game for the Commanders with a quadriceps injury. If the veteran receiver misses time, that could thrust Luke McCaffrey into must-add territory, but the uncertainty makes that a bit lukewarm for me, no pun intended, right now.
McCaffrey came into action and caught all three of his targets for 56 yards and a touchdown. With an increase in volume of targets, he has the ability to tick up in a major way quickly for as long as McLaurin is out.
Sterling Shepard, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0.9% rostered)
Speaking of injuries, Mike Evans was another star player who left Week 3 with an injury as the Bucs legend appeared to hurt his hamstring when he exited the game in the fourth quarter. Obviously, this gives someone like Emeka Egbuka an even bigger boost, but this could also mean that veteran Sterliing Shepard also sees his role increase in a meaningful way as well.
Even with Evans not leaving the game until the fourth quarter, Shepard still got five targets from Baker Mayfield, finishing with four receptions for 80 yards. He's now averaging five targets per game for the year, but that number could go up if Evans has to miss any amount of time.
Tight ends to add from the fantasy waiver wire
Hunter Henry, New England Patriots (48.9% rostered)
Obviously, Hunter Henry isn't the most widely available option at tight end, but he has to be added after his start to the season. Yes, that's quite easy to say in a week wherein he's the TE1 by a mile with 29.0 points in fantasy with an 8-90-2 line, but the signs are still there overall.
Henry already has two weeks with double-digit scoring in fantasy now. The one week that wasn't was a dud against Miami (one catch, nine yards), but he still had three targets in that matchup. With the wide receiver room, frankly, not giving Drake Maye much help right now, Henry is a reliable option that I foresee getting consistent looks week after week, even if he's not nearing 30 fantasy points each week.
Brenton Strange, Jacksonville Jaguars (21.3% rostered)
With two uneven weeks coming into this Sunday, I was still hesitant to add Brenton Strange, but now we have the three games for the Jaguars tight end that gives me enough confidence. He's averaging more than five targets per game in Liam Coen's offense, and now has two games with 59 or more yards receiving. This week, he also hauled in six receptions on seven targets.
It's clear that Trevor Lawrence is going to continue to give Strange looks in this offense, as we're currently three weeks in and the lowest number of targets is four. And considering he's the TE13 on the year without scoring a touchdown, the upside is still there too.
Oronde Gadsden II, Los Angeles Chargers (0.1% rostered)
Exercise some caution here with Oronde Gadsden, but his debut for the Chargers this week definitely opened some eyes. He came out and was immediately targeted seven times in this passing offense, hauling in five catches for 46 yards. While that's obviously not a monster day at the office, the fact that his first game featured more than a half-dozen targets makes him worth monitoring.
One-game sample sizes are always tricky, but he seems to be the preferred passing option to Tyler Conklin at tight end for LA while Will Dissly is out, which makes him a waiver wire addition that you can explore. I would advise possibly keeping him on the bench for one week to monitor the situation, however, if you do pick him up.