With a massive nine-game morning slate this Sunday, we have plenty of games to pick through to look for early fantasy football waiver wire pickups. Of course, we don’t yet have advanced stats or full usage metrics for any of these big performers. But here are my quick thoughts on early players to consider heading into Week 3.
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Early Week 3 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups
Zach Ertz (TE – WSH) | 49.9% Rostered
Zach Ertz makes it under the 50% threshold by the smallest margin possible, so he might not be available in deeper leagues. But if you’re looking for a reliable backend TE1, the 34-year-old is a solid option.
Ertz’s big game on Thursday (six catches for 64 yards and a touchdown) shows that he has a bit of a ceiling in this Washington offense.
Wan’Dale Robinson (WR – NYG) | 26% Rostered
Wan’Dale Robinson has traditionally been viewed as a low-ceiling player, but he exploded on Sunday for 142 yards and a touchdown on eight catches. He has always been an elite target-earner in the short area, ranking as the PPR WR36 last year on a minuscule 5.1-yard average depth of target (aDOT).
If you can earn targets, you’ve probably got some ceiling, and Robinson proved that in Week 2. At worst, he’s worth adding in deep PPR formats as a Flex option. If Robinson has a few more games like this, he will be playable in all formats.
Juwan Johnson (TE – NO) | 17.3% Rostered
Juwan Johnson has now had back-to-back solid weeks to start the season. In Week 1, he caught eight out of 11 targets for 76 yards. This week against the 49ers, he caught five of his nine targets for 49 yards and one very impressive touchdown. We want tight ends who can be either first or second on their team in targets, and Johnson has ranked second to only Chris Olave in targets for New Orleans in both weeks.
Johnson’s usage in general has also been excellent. In Week 1, he ran 47 routes on 49 Spencer Rattler dropbacks. Initial data for today has him at 36 routes on 40 dropbacks. That’s back-to-back weeks of 90% or better participation rates, which is absolutely elite for a tight end, especially a receiving-first one who played as a wide receiver in college. Johnson is a must-add at this point if you need help at the tight end position.
Bhayshul Tuten (RB – JAC) | 47.3% Rostered
Really, Bhayshul Tuten should already have been rostered in all leagues following the Tank Bigsby trade. Now that he has come through with 14.4 half-PPR formats, this is definitely the last week he will be eligible for this column.
The hyper-explosive rookie was involved both on the ground and in the air in Week 2. He saw eight carries, only six fewer than Travis Etienne, turning them into 42 yards. And he caught both of his targets for 32 yards and a touchdown. If he is on waivers in your league, don’t be afraid to spend a large chunk of FAAB to get Tuten on your roster.
Elic Ayomanor (WR – TEN) | 13.1% Rostered
Last week, Elic Ayomanor had excellent usage, with seven targets on an 82% route participation rate. But, as the Titans got nothing going against the Broncos, his final fantasy stat line wasn’t very impressive. This week, the rookie had the stats to go with the usage, as he caught four of his six targets for 56 yards and a touchdown.
There will probably be a few more dud games for the fourth-rounder as he and Cam Ward continue to grow together. But when a rookie is seeing usage and putting up numbers like this, we want to be early, not late. He’s a great player to add to your bench.
Tory Horton (WR – SEA) | 3.6% Rostered
Speaking of being early and not late, Tory Horton is a long way from being a weekly starter in most formats. He finished with double-digit points today, but that was mostly thanks to a touchdown. He only had two catches for 32 yards on four targets. He is also still clearly Seattle’s No. 3 WR, with just 18 routes to 31 for Jaxon Smith-Njigba and 28 for Cooper Kupp.
But looking forward, Kupp is 32 years old and hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire in his first two games in a Seahawks uniform. If Horton, a fifth-round pick in this year’s draft, keeps making plays, he might pass the veteran sooner rather than later. Horton is worth stashing in deeper formats.
Jake Browning (QB – CIN) | 0.6% Rostered
Joe Burrow exited this one early with an injured toe. In his absence, Jake Browning took over and led the Bengals to a thrilling victory. Along the way, he racked up over 20 fantasy points, including a goal-line sneak touchdown.
This is still mostly a play for Superflex leagues, as Browning is not going to put up the same numbers as Burrow did. But he will take advantage of the elite weapons, aggressive play-calling and leaky defense that allowed Burrow to have such a high ceiling. If Burrow looks set to miss multiple weeks, his backup is a must-add in 2-QB and Superflex formats.
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Ted Chmyz is a fantasy football contributor for FantasyPros.com. Find him on Twitter and Bluesky @Tchmyz for more fantasy content or to ask questions.
