If you thought Week 2 of the NFL season was unpredictable, Week 3 was an enigma that nobody saw coming. Houston didn’t stand a chance against Minnesota. Denver took Tampa Bay to the cleaners. Malik Willis looked like a stud, leading the Packers’ offense to a massive victory. And the New York Giants managed 21 points against a solid Browns’ defense.
Unlike Week 2 though, there were a lot of players with big weeks in fantasy. Amari Cooper bounced back from a horrid first two weeks to put up over 27 PPR points. Saquon Barkley was great as always. Jonathan Taylor, Malik Nabers, and many more had massive performances for fantasy teams this weekend, but there were even more duds.
Great fantasy managers don’t treat duds like curses though, they treat them as opportunities to find out who got the volume in their dud’s stead. That’s what the waiver wire is for after all. Here are five players to keep your eye on ahead of Week 4.
Waiver wire players to add Week 4:
*All ownership numbers are from Yahoo Sports
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RB Bucky Irving, TB (Rostered in 35% of Yahoo leagues)
After two weeks of inefficiency from Rachaad White to start the season, Bucky Irving owners were looking at the Buccaneers with giddy anticipation, hoping that one more atrocious week would thrust Irving into a more sizable role. Well, Week 3 may have granted that wish. For the first time this season, White earned fewer carries than Irving. Irving has been more efficient as a rusher every week, averaging 6.2 yards per carry on the season compared to White’s 2.1.
White is still a superb pass-catching back, but Irving is no slouch in that regard either. He caught three passes against Denver after all. So long as Irving maintains even two-thirds of his efficiency on the ground, it will only be a matter of time before Irving takes over the early-down role in Tampa’s backfield.
WR Jauan Jennings, SF (Rostered in 29% of Yahoo leagues)
While Brandon Aiyuk is still the sure-fire No. 1 option in this 49ers’ passing game with Deebo Samuel out, three touchdowns cannot be overlooked. Jennings has been spectacular to start the season, but many people believed it was the fact that he was overshadowed by All-Pro talents like Aiyuk, Samuel, and George Kittle that gave him so many key targets. However, in Week 3, when he was thrust into a more prominent pass-catching role, Jennings rose to the occasion and appeared to be Brock Purdy’s go-to target in the red zone. With Deebo Samuel likely out at least one more week, Jennings is a great add with the 49ers set to play the New England Patriots in Week 4.
WR Darnell Mooney, ATL (Rostered in 25% of Yahoo leagues)
While Mooney has yet to play this weekend, let’s not forget how effective he was in Week 2 when he racked up seven targets and was looked at constantly when the Falcons needed him to come up big. Mooney is the clear No. 2 option in the Falcons’ passing attack. He looks like their best deep threat as well.
RB Tyler Badie, DEN (Rostered in <2% of Yahoo leagues)
At the start of the season, it was unclear whether or not Javonte Williams or Jaleel McLaughlin would break out as the Broncos’ best back. Well, three weeks into the year, they’ve both been atrocious. They each earned only five carries, and despite being up massively against Tampa Bay, the garbage time work went to this man, Tyler Badie.
Badie was cut by Denver earlier in the week actually, but was picked back up to replace the injured Audric Estime. Well, he made the most of his opportunities, racking up 70 rushing yards on just nine attempts, nearly quadrupling Williams and McLaughlin’s combined totals on the ground with one less carry.
With Williams and McLaughlin averaging under 2.5 yards per carry each, Badie is worth a look in deeper leagues as a handcuff. In fact, given Badie’s great performance, the Broncos could decide to give him the bulk of the carries as early as next week.
TE Cole Kmet, CHI (Rostered in 40% of Yahoo leagues)
With Keenan Allen out each of the last two weeks, Kmet has earned 16 targets. He led the Bears in receptions (10) in Week 3. The problem is that Allen and Kmet serve a similar role as pass-catchers, and with Allen likely to return soon, there’s a chance that Kmet will disappear into obscurity when Allen is healthy. However, Kmet and quarterback Caleb Williams appear to have created some sort of connection that could survive through Allen’s return. And with how bad the tight end position has been this year, stashing Kmet is a low-risk play that could pay off massively.