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Weekend Wavier Wire Stashes (Week 3 Fantasy Football)

Weekend Wavier Wire Stashes (Week 3 Fantasy Football)

How many times have you heard someone telling you to “stream” a position? Whether it be quarterback, tight end, or defense, the idea of streaming is great, provided you get the players you want off the waiver wire. The issue with streaming week-to-week is that everyone knows who you’ll be targeting in those good matchups and you might have that player swiped from underneath you, or even worse, your opponent that week may snag a player just to ensure you don’t get them.

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We started this article so you don’t have to worry about that anymore. Each Saturday morning, you’ll head over to your waiver wire and snag the players who are lined up for good matchups the following week. They may have a brutal matchup for that current week. Great, even better. That just means they’re more likely to be available for you. By snagging them a week prior, you eliminate the need to spend a lot of FAB dollars on the top tier defense that everyone is chasing. Here are the players who have solid Week 2 matchups on tap, or have breakout potential in Week 1, and are less than 40 percent rostered.

Quarterbacks

Kirk Cousins (MIN) at HOU in Week 4
Don’t think that just because no one has thrown the ball on Houston that it means they can’t. The games haven’t really been all that close, which means teams haven’t kept their foot on the throttle. Let’s not forget that this defense allowed 13-of-16 quarterbacks to finish as top-15 options against them last year. With the way the Vikings defense has played, this could be a breakout game for the Texans offense, leading to more points scored than we would’ve expected a few weeks ago. Cousins had a terrible game in Week 2, but that doesn’t mean you should just avoid him moving forward.

Baker Mayfield (CLE) at DAL in Week 4
I think we can all agree that Mayfield looked better in Week 2, yes? While I don’t want to take that as a guarantee he’ll be great moving forward, it was a sign of competency. Going into a matchup with the Cowboys in Week 4 should present opportunity for fantasy points. The Cowboys offense is scoring points at will, and have been allowing them, too. Their opponents have averaged 72 plays per game, so there’s been room for a good balance. We all know the Browns want to run the ball but playing against the Cowboys doesn’t allow you to take your foot off the throttle, as the Falcons found out last week.

Decent alternatives: Teddy Bridgewater (CAR) vs ARI, Jeff Driskel (DEN) at NYJ

Running Backs

Jeff Wilson (SF) vs PHI in Week 4
I’m someone who believes the 49ers are going to use him in the early-down role with goal-line work, so essentially in the Raheem Mostert role, while Jerick McKinnon chips in with 5-8 carries and more work in the passing game. This would make his role against the Eagles valuable, as they’ve allowed 204 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns through two weeks, while allowing just five receptions for 49 yards to running backs. If he’s still available in your league (available in 83 percent of Yahoo leagues as I write this), snag him.

Chase Edmonds (ARI) at CAR in Week 4
I’m typically not someone who’d recommend playing a backup who’s stuck in a 70/30 timeshare, but against the Panthers, you can certainly consider it. Running backs have totaled 68 touches through two weeks against them and have turned them into 370 total yards and six touchdowns. Yeah… They’ve already allowed five running backs to finish as the RB43 or better, including two of them to finish as top-three options. While Kenyan Drake is going to finish with RB1 production, Edmonds could get into RB3 territory with the 8-12 touches he should get.

Damien Harris (NE) at KC in Week 4
Remember when Harris was pushing for Sony Michel‘s job before the season but then had to go on IR with his hand injury. Well, he’s eligible to come back against the Chiefs and it happens to be one of the best matchups for running backs, as they’ve now allowed 19 running backs finish as the RB26 or better against them over their last 18 games. While I ideally wouldn’t want to start him until we know what role he has, he should certainly be stashed.

Wide Receivers

Golden Tate (NYG) at LAR in Week 4
I was kind of shocked to see Tate less than 40 percent rostered when I sat down to write this, but I’ll take it. With Saquon Barkley and Sterling Shepard out of the lineup, Tate should be locked into six-plus targets per game. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if he averaged somewhere around eight targets while Shepard is out. The Rams allowed Nickell Robey-Coleman to walk in free agency, which moved Troy Hill into the slot. That hasn’t worked out over the first two weeks, as he’s allowed 7-of-7 passing in his coverage for 77 yards. While Jalen Ramsey covers Darius Slayton, we should see a solid fantasy floor out of Tate in this game.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling (GB) vs ATL in Week 4
Through two games, Valdes-Scantling has seen the 12th-most air yards in the league. His 17.2 air yards per target ranks third among wide receivers with at least 10 targets. So, when you see the Falcons defense on his schedule, you want to get excited. They’ve allowed a league-leading 16.4 yards per reception to wide receivers through two games. The 11.6 yards per target is also tops in the NFL. We have a potentially limited Davante Adams (who may not play this week), which could amount to more targets for Valdes-Scantling.

Alshon Jeffery (PHI) at SF in Week 4
Yeah, I get it. Jeffery is always hurt… until he’s not. He returned to practice on Wednesday and though he may not play in Week 3, he should return in Week 4. People love to hate Jeffery, but when on the field, he’s produced as a WR2 or better in 16-of-38 games (42.1 percent) over the last three years. You may not know it, but that percentage would’ve ranked 23rd among wide receivers last year. He should be rostered right now, and the 49ers aren’t the imposing matchup they used to be, as Richard Sherman will remain out for that game in Week 4.

Last-ditch option: Danny Amendola (DET) vs NO

Tight Ends

Dalton Schultz (DAL) vs CLE in Week 4
There’s not a team in the league who’s allowed more points to the tight end position than the Browns. Their linebackers are a mess and they had their second-round safety suffer an injury in training camp, ending his season. There are many reasons why they’ve struggled with tight ends, and knowing the problems that Cowboys receivers present, it’s not like they’re going to worry about Schultz too much. It seems he’s walked right into the role we were projecting for Blake Jarwin, which means five-plus targets per game.

Drew Sample (CIN) vs JAX in Week 4
Through three games now, the Jaguars have allowed 14 receptions, 213 yards, and three touchdowns to the tight end position, and that’s on just 18 targets. That 11.8 yards per target is among the tops in the league. The Bengals have thrown the ball 97 times through two weeks, with the tight ends accumulating a massive 21 targets (21.6 percent target share). With C.J. Uzomah is out for the season, Sample will be relied upon as the go-to option. He caught 7-of-9 targets for 45 yards against the Browns last week, which may not seem like a huge deal from a yardage standpoint but seeing nine targets is huge. What’s also huge is that Sample is tied for the league lead in red zone targets with four of them.

Decent alternatives: Jordan Akins (HOU) vs MIN, O.J. Howard (TB) vs LAC

D/ST

Denver Broncos at NYJ in Week 4
It’s true, the Broncos defense is not what we expected them to be this year after losing top edge rusher Von Miller for the season, and then top cornerback A.J. Bouye for multiple weeks. Against the Jets, though, that shouldn’t matter much. The Jets have scored just 30 points through two weeks, their offense is more banged up than ever, and they’ve now allowed 56 sacks through 18 games since the start of 2019. The Broncos defense presents a high-floor streaming option.

Seattle Seahawks at MIA in Week 4
Yes, Ryan Fitzpatrick had a good game on Thursday night, but it helps when he’s not forced to take any chances. The Seahawks are going to put them in a bad spot gamescript-wise, which will lead to a lot of pass attempts. Their secondary isn’t the most talented, but then again, neither are the Dolphins pass-catchers. They’re going to blitz and put pressure on Fitzpatrick, who’s prone to making mistakes in those situations. Prior to doing well against the Jaguars, he’d been sacked four times and thrown three interceptions.


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Mike Tagliere is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeTagliereNFL.

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