Another week, another group of hot Wide Receivers to add! Hold up you say, the top player in Fantasy went down for 4-8 weeks, so isn’t his backup the add of the week? Let me direct you to 2017, Week 6, where Wayne was the lede. That was two years ago! He did nothing back then to warrant the job, then the next season the Giants drafted Saquon Barkley, and Gallman was forgotten. He should continue to be; don’t waste your money even as a Saquon owner. Furthermore, Gallman with a rookie QB? No thanks (even though Jones did have a great game on Sunday).
So I hope you’ve noticed the trend in waiver wire adds in fantasy football, that Wide Receivers are almost always the hot adds. There are reasons, oh yes, there are reasons.First off, most backup RBs are owned already; just the nature of the business now. Second, no one really knows how a team is going to scheme its opponents each week. Good teams switch it up, so game flow matters as do match-ups. Route running, hands, synergy with their QB, conditioning, speed, acceleration all these things and more feed into how successful (or unsuccessful) a wideout will be week-to-week. Looking for opportunity, while also looking at upside and consistency leads to our current group of adds for Week 4 of the 2019 NFL season (assuming we have $100 FAAB dollars to spend).
*All Ownership as of September 23rd
Wide Receivers:
$37 – Terry McLaurin, WAS (66% Y!, 67% ESPN) My top add week one, right there week two, and now should push above the 80% ownership after another solid week. Not many number one receivers out there, and this after a 6 catch, 70 yards and a TD against a great Bears defense. Should be owned in all leagues.
$36 – DK Metcalf, SEA (64% Y!, 70% ESPN) In most leagues he’s owned, but in case not, he’s a big play wideout who had a 54 yard catch Sunday. Perfect WR3 fill-in with bye weeks starting already.
$33 – DeMarcus Robinson, KC (66% Y!, 72% ESPN) A TD after he was the lede last week makes me feel good. Adding his as your WR3 will make you feel good.
$31 – DJ Chark, JAX (41% Y!, 41% ESPN) A TD each week thus far; 4 catches on 5 targets for 76 yards this past week. “Minshew to Chark, touchdown!” is something Jags fans may have to get used to.
$31 – Mecole Hardman, KC (49% Y!, 45% ESPN) An 83 yard TD is always nice & he added 14 more yards to boot. He’s better than the last guy on your bench, I guarantee it.
$13 – Golden Tate, NYG (37% Y!, 47% ESPN) This is the last week you can add a number one WR, playing with a rookie QB on a team that just lost its top RB for at least a month. Tate comes back week five, and wouldn’t he fit snugly into your team as a WR3 at worst? Rhetorical!
$6 – Phillip Dorsett, NE (32% Y!, 11% ESPN) He spells his first name like mine, so that’s cool. 6 catches for 53 yards and a TD is exactly what any Patriots wideout can do, and I don’t like spinning the wheel because only Tom Brady knows who it’s going to land on week-to-week.
$2 – Dionte Johnson, PIT (4% Y!, 2% ESPN) Had three catches on six targets for 52 yards and a TD. Why can’t he and Rudolph be passing besties? If you have the room, he’s a lotto ticket.
$2 – Parris Campbell, IND (4% Y!, 4% ESPN) This is more an upside play, but if TY is out, Campbell will increase his targets…its science. Also a kick returner so an extra TD or two are possible.
$1 Wideouts: Deebo Samuel, Cole Beasley, Randall Cobb, Adam Humphries, any WR available in your league not mentioned above but you like him.
Running Backs:
$37 – Carlos Hyde, HOU (63% Y!, 54% ESPN) What is up here with his ownership percentages? He’s the lead back on a good team that should salt away some leads. This past Sunday he had a TD, albeit on 10 carries but still that’s points for your team. I don’t love love Hyde but I like him a lot.
$27 – Wayne Gallman, NYG (5% Y!, 2% ESPN) I am not excited about him as much as I was in 2017 and that’s that; but since you may disagree you’re probably going to have to pay for him, and depending on your league, bid much more than this, just know I’m not bidding against you.
$13 – Frank Gore, BUF (57% Y!, 58% ESPN) Please, please, please let Singletary return this week, because I don’t want to own Gore. But if he keeps scoring touchdowns…at best he’ll do it on my bench.
$12 – Jamaal Williams, GB (9% Y!, 16% ESPN) His touches are going up every week. Worth the stash to help with bye weeks, though he hasn’t proven he could be the lead guy.Â
$11 – Raheem Mostert, SF (53% Y!, 47% ESPN) Had a solid 12 carries for 79 yards; if he got a TD you’d feel a lot better about him, no? I can’t tell you not to own him; I can tell you it won’t be fun.
$5 – Darrel Williams, KC (6% Y!, 3% ESPN) As much as I like the KC wideouts, I just don’t like the KC backs. So you can add Williams, but he very well may do nothing over the next few weeks, and then you’ll cut him. So don’t pay too much (this would all change if McCoy is out an extended period, in which case pay more).
$4 – Tony Pollard, DAL (17% Y!, 19% ESPN) He had over 100 yards, but so did Zeke. He should be owned by Zeke owners, and that’s about it for now.
$4 – Alex Mattison, MIN (20% Y!, 13% ESPN) Cook is the hottest back right now, and his health has been iffy, so I would own him over Pollard, even if I didn’t own Cook, if that makes sense.
Quarterbacks:
$9 – Jacoby Brissett, IND (20% Y!, 19% ESPN) Had a good game on Sunday and with OAK and KC next up the possibility for 20+ point weeks are great. A great fill in for the injured QBs, now and rest of season.
$6 – Matt Stafford, DET (51% Y!, 54% ESPN) Laid an egg this past week, but has KC next so big points possible.
$6 – Daniel Jones, NYG (17% Y!, 15% ESPN) Anointed the king of NY after a good week. With no Barkley for a while I don’t see how he does better than the other QBs available; Gallman isn’t going to make things easier on him but Tate returning will.
$5 – Gardner Minshew II, JAX (8% Y!, 5% ESPN) At this point I assume his ownership is all 2 QB leagues and Jacksonville fans. His upcoming schedule is not bad, so keep an eye on your QB bye weeks and see if Minshew can’t help: at DEN, at CAR, home NO, at CIN, home NYJ.
$4 – Mason Rudolph, PIT (13% Y!, 13% ESPN) My main QB add last week threw two TDs this week, but couldn’t throw a good long ball at all. That will change going forward so hold if you can. It’ll get better for Mason.
$4 – Kyle Allen, CAR (2% Y!, 2% ESPN) 4 TDs is a great way to make everyone in Carolina forget about Cam. At Houston, then home against Jacksonville, at Tampa Bay are his next three starts with a bye to follow. As a betting man I bet that Cam doesn’t return until after the bye, so ride the Allen train until then, if you dare.
Tight End:
$6 – Will Dissly, SEA (45% Y!, 27% ESPN) Three touchdowns so far is nice, as is the 6 catches for 62 yards he had this week. Don’t love him, but liking him more and more.
$2 – Jason Witten, DAL (54% Y!, 46% ESPN) He shouldn’t be owned more than Dissly, as the best you’ll get out of Witten will pale in comparison to Dissly’s best; though both are really pale dudes. Floor-wise though? Not much different.
$1 Defenses:
LAC @ MIA, HOU vs CAR, IND vs OAK,
If really desperate: JAX @ DEN, TEN @ ATL
Exercise Time! After adding McLaurin ($26), Josh Allen ($3) and Golden Tate ($4) for week two, we have $67 left. Week Three added Demarcus Robinson for $19, Deebo Samuel for $7 and Ten D for $1. Now I have $40 left so have to be more conservative with my money now since I need it to last. This week I’m putting in bids for Jamaal Williams and Parris Campbell and HOU D.
Lastly I don’t normally recommend Kickers but I have added Zane Gonzalez, ARI on all my teams; his floor appears higher than most kickers so far (14, 9, 9 points in standard leagues). Do with that what you will. Anyone in a shallow league, or a guy I missed, bring them up in the comments and I’ll give them a price. Good luck getting your guys this week Razzballers and Razzballettes!
