While it feels like a lot of big names went down with injuries in Week 2, there really isn’t too much to get excited about on the waiver wire. Many of you should be looking toward Chris Carson if you can because even though his line is a warm block of Swiss Cheese at its best and finely grated Parmesan at its worst, he’s got Pete Carroll’s confidence and the ability to make something out of nothing there. Oh, and Andrew Luck is already out for Week 3 so those holding onto T.Y. Hilton and Donte Moncrief will want to read the wide receiver blurbs carefully.
Are you ready? No? Too bad! Week 3 is bearing down on us all and we need to be prepared. Ownership levels discussed here are taken from Yahoo leagues. Feel free to be bullish or bearish on FAAB bids based on your league’s aggression and team needs.
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Priority Pickups – <30% Owned
J.J. Nelson (ARI – WR): 21% owned – 14% FAAB
With John Brown dealing with quad injuries again, Nelson stepped up in a cupcake matchup versus Indianapolis to deliver 120 yards and a touchdown on five catches (seven targets) to give him 163 yards and two scores overall this season. No matter how low your opinion of Carson Palmer has fallen this season, Nelson has the opportunity to become a top-35 wide-out if Brown can’t stay healthy while the Cardinals can no longer lean on the ground game. Week 3 against the Cowboys isn’t a great matchup (though they did just get torched for 42 points by Denver) but Week 4 against the 49ers looks fantastic.
Chris Johnson (ARI – RB): 12% owned – 10% FAAB
While everyone freaks out over the news blurb that says how David Johnson could return sooner than originally thought, someone is still going to have to tote the rock for this Cardinals’ backfield. Kerwynn Williams has swiftly shown that he is not to be trusted, and Andre Ellington can’t be leaned on. Johnson didn’t do anything spectacular — 11 rushes for 44 yards — but sadly, that’s enough to draw praise from Bruce Arians and become a decent pickup. I’d still suggest avoiding this situation if you can, but Week 4’s tilt against the 49ers is about as good as it’ll get if you can get past Week 3 versus the Cowboys.
Samaje Perine (WAS – RB): 23% owned – 10% FAAB
Even if Rob Kelley didn’t get hurt then we’d probably start stirring about Perine, but the fact is that Kelley is hurt and there is a void in the Washington backfield for the between-the-tackles and goal-line work. Enter, Perine. The rookie ended up with 21 touches for 67 yards (and a catch for zero yards) in Week 2 against the Rams and should be the lead back for the Redskins moving forward into their Week 3 matchup next Sunday night against the Raiders at home. That game has some modest high-scoring potential, which also speaks to the viability of this next name.
Chris Thompson (WAS – RB): 30% owned – 8% FAAB
Thompson has turned six rushes into 81 rushing yards and two TDs, as well as his six catches into 81 receiving yards and an additional score. We can’t expect him to be so hyper-efficient with his touches, but it does speak to his incredible elusiveness and plus speed that he’s been able to rip off big plays. While Thompson doesn’t stand to gain much with Kelley’s injury, it does solidify his status in that backfield (beyond his incredible stats thus far) and should buy him a few more touches per week as Perine continues to get his feet wet in the NFL. Even if Kelley ends up being okay, Thompson’s workload should remain useful. He’s a decent flex option in standard leagues and should be in the RB2 conversation in PPR formats right now.
Allen Hurns (JAX – WR): 26% owned – 6% FAAB
One of the most elegant Garbage Time maestros of our era, Blake Bortles fed Hurns late in an eventual 37-16 loss to give him six catches for 82 yards and a touchdown overall. To put the stat line in perspective, Hurns had zero catches through the first 43 minutes of this game. Marqise Lee remains the more stable option, but Hurns is likely to run the routes with big-play potential in this offense. Jacksonville will have to deal with Baltimore next, but a Week 4 matchup against the Jets could be a big spot for the entire unit.
Trevor Siemian (DEN – QB): 14% owned – 2% FAAB
Siemian followed up an impressive Week 1 against the Chargers (17-for-28, 219 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, 19 rushing yards and another TD) with a stellar performance in a dominant victory over the Cowboys at home. He connected on 22 of his 32 pass attempts for 231 yards and four touchdowns and a pick to cement himself as more than just a streaming option in 2017. Denver’s early bye does put his speculators in a bit of a bind, but dates against Buffalo and Oakland could both yield similar stat lines in Weeks 3 and 4. He has an incredible WR duo at his disposal and looks to have confidence in his knowledge of the playbook and progressions, which is good for consideration in 12-team formats.
Evan Engram (NYG – TE): 24% owned – 2% FAAB
After logging four catches for 44 yards on five targets in Week 1, Engram saw seven targets in Week 2 against the Lions in a painful offensive showing for the New York Football Giants. The rookie was responsible for the lone touchdown of the game (and of the season) for Big Blue, making a nice snag on a nifty play where he was disguised as a lead blocker and left unguarded over the middle. He could’ve had a second score but couldn’t secure the ball at the goal line before getting popped. With Odell Beckham Jr. still limited and Brandon Marshall playing like he forgot how to football, Engram is suddenly a hot read for Eli Manning on a team that looks like it’ll be playing from behind more often than not.
Kenny Stills (MIA – WR): 26% owned – 2% FAAB
Stills is still a strong big-play option in an offense that now has a QB that has shown little hesitation in his career to sling it. Even though Jay Cutler was more than happy to pepper Jarvis Landry with 15 safe targets and DeVante Parker with nine, Still turned his five looks into two catches for 37 yards and a score. He led Miami with nine receiving touchdowns last season and needs to be respected as a decent add when the matchups line up right. Over the next five weeks, the Dolphins face the Jets twice, the Saints, the Titans and the Falcons. I like all of those, so I like Stills.
Rashard Higgins (CLE – WR): 3% owned – 2% FAAB
While nobody likes leaning on one week’s worth of plays, it’s extremely telling that Higgins out-snapped and out-performed Kenny Britt (54 snaps to 41, and 95 yards to…two) in the wake of Corey Coleman’s hand injury. While one would be hard-pressed to advocate any Cleveland Brown as a must-add, Higgins and his 11 targets against a stingy Baltimore defense portends good things down the line with a juicy Week 3 matchup against the Colts next. He’s definitely an add in PPR formats, but standard-leaguers should also give him a look based on the matchup alone.
Devin Funchess (CAR – WR): 13% owned – 2% FAAB
The Panthers are going to be without Greg Olsen for a long time and even though the hype trains would love for Cam Newton to simply throw it to Christian McCaffrey more, that isn’t going to happen. Funchess would catch four balls on seven targets for 68 yards against the Bills in a sloppy 9-3 victory but could become a viable flex play with Kelvin Benjamin still unable to establish himself as a true No. 1 WR for the Panthers. Even if you don’t believe in Carolina’s passing attack, this team will tangle with the Saints and Patriots over the next two weeks. They’re going to have to throw, so why not see if there’s some post-hype rumbling here?
Deep League Targets – <10% owned
Geronimo Allison (GB – WR): 0% owned – 2% FAAB
Those looking to make a splash in deeper waters should look toward Allison, who would only need one of Jordy Nelson or Randall Cobb to be out for Week 3’s matchup against the Bengals to suddenly become a starting WR in an Aaron Rodgers-led offense. And that game will be in Lambeau, ditto the Week 4 matchup against the Bears after that if you want to get ahead of yourself. The 23-year-old stands six-foot-three and caught eight balls for 157 yards and a touchdown between Weeks 16-17 last season, so don’t be afraid to take the plunge.
Jermaine Kearse (NYJ – WR): 7% owned – 2% FAAB
Kearse led all Jets wide receivers with 49 snaps (out of 56) in Week 2, with Robbie Anderson taking a backseat to the six-foot-one veteran. Kearse would snag a pair of TDs against the Raiders on Sunday — one for 34 yards and another for 11 — and is clearly the go-to WR for this struggling Jets offense. With the defense doing the team few favors, it’s unlikely that the running backs will ever be able to really control possessions, which could mean a hefty amount of garbage-time looks for Kearse. As much as you don’t want to target bad offenses, some are just so bad that it ends up being kind of good within a fantasy framework.
Benjamin Watson (BAL – TE): 2% owned – 2% FAAB
Yes, it was against the Browns, but Watson catching all eight of his targets for 91 yards still counts for something. 9.1 points in standard leagues and 17.1 points in PPR, to be exact. But seriously, his zero catches in Week 1 was largely due to Baltimore easing a less-than-100-percent Joe Flacco into things and having the game completely in hand against a Bengals team devoid of offensive talent at the moment. Watson played on 50-of-68 snaps in Week 2 (40-of-66 in Week 1) which led all RB/WR/TE Ravens. Week 3 against the Jaguars could yield more of the same in London, so don’t write off the 36-year-old just yet.
D’Onta Foreman (HOU – RB): 7% owned – 1% FAAB
After recording just two snaps in Week 1, Foreman was given 17 in Week 2 and was able to turn that into 12 carries for 40 yards against the Bengals. Lamar Miller ended up with 18 carries for 61 yards and three catches for 26 yards so he’s clearly still the No. 1 RB here, but Foreman looked like he had a bit more going for him when he touched the ball. You’re just speculating at this point and there are many preferable options (and teams) to stash instead, but some of us can’t be picky. Foreman is a talented runner who does get to go against the Patriots front seven in Week 3, but you’re not adding him for a start at this point.
Austin Seferian-Jenkins (NYJ – TE): 3% owned – 1% FAAB
Seferian-Jenkins has served his two-game suspension and is now eligible to suit up for Week 3’s matchup with the Dolphins. The Jets have very few playmakers as a whole, let alone at tight end, so ASJ’s presence should be a welcome one. He has immense raw talent but has faced many inconsistencies, both on the field and off, in a short time period. Still, the Jets have zero reasons not to see what they’ve got in him and Josh McCown made Gary Barnidge a thing in 2015, so those hunting a bargain should give ASJ a look.
Ed Dickson (CAR – TE): 0% owned – 1% FAAB (for Olsen owners)
While I’d rather grab Honey Funchess of Oats and hope that he can translate some of Greg Olsen’s vacated targets into additional points, Dickson is going to see a lot more action now as the starting tight end. Though he’s been used mostly as a blocker, he did have that nice 2011 campaign with the Ravens and has reportedly told his coaches to keep the playbook identical moving forward. That is to say, everything that would’ve gone to Olsen will now go to Dickson. We won’t be naïve here, but it’s worth something in deep, deep leagues.
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Nick Mariano is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Nick, check out his archive and follow him @NMariano53.
