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🚨 MUST ADD Waiver Wire Targets in Week 3 Fantasy Football! 🚨

The Fantasy Headliners•27:25

Transcription

What is going on and welcome to the week three waiver wire show. Today, we are covering everything you need to start off week three. We'll be talking about some of the top injuries we saw just last week. We'll go through some studs who absolutely sucked waves in week two and see if maybe we should start to panic just a little bit. But I'm also going to give you 17 players that may be able to help you right now on the waiver wire. I'll then rank them for you. I'll tell you whether they're start-worthy or just a bench stash. But I'm also going to suggest how much of your fab budget you should use on these guys as well. And then, due to popular demand, I'm going to throw in some streaming D's here this week as well. There are timestamps to all these other sessions down below in the description. And if you like that, do me a favor by hitting the like button on the video. We greatly appreciate it.

But okay, it's Monday morning, so you know you, you know I got my cup of 1.01 coffee and the internal juices are just flowing. So, if you aren't starting your day off with 1.01 coffee, then you, I'm just kidding. I kind of want to see what it felt like to be Ricky Bobby in a Big Red commercial. But anyway, there's links to this great coffee at the top of the description, so be sure to check it out.

But, okay, let's go ahead and first discuss some of the major injuries we saw in week two. And unfortunately, it wasn't a great week for quarterbacks. I think the name that everyone is talking about right now is Joe Burrow, quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals, suffering a turf toe injury. And now they're saying we will be without him for up to three months of the fantasy football and NFL season. That right there is an absolute killer. If you have Joe Burrow, you definitely need another option. How about Jaden Daniels as well? Suffered some sort of what looked like a knee injury. We saw him hobbling towards the end of the game in week two. He stayed in the game, but that's definitely a report that we need to watch throughout the week, 'cause this could limit his rushing upside as well. How about Austin Ekeler? He tore his Achilles. He's done for the year. Hate to see that for Austin Ekeler. That will bump up the value though of J.C.M. Jakori Kroski Merritt or Bill, whatever you want to call him. How about Jalen Reed? Suffered a broken collarbone. He's out six to eight weeks. Maybe a little bit of clarity in the Green Bay passing game. No, probably not. They're going to spread it around to everyone once again. Then we got Josh Allen. He suffered a broken nose. He should be good to go and playing here this week though. Justin Fields, he's currently in concussion protocol. Like I said, not a great week for quarterbacks. Luckily, it's a pretty deep position. And then lastly, Aaron Jones suffered a hamstring injury Sunday Night Football. Left the game, could miss some time. That's another name we're paying close attention to. If he misses time, Jordan Mason is going to skyrocket up the rankings.

But now, let's move on to the next section. I want to talk about some players who sucked in week two. Maybe some guys who had some higher expectations, but then I also want to tell you whether or not you should panic or not. How about Terry McLaurin? He only scored 7.3 fantasy points in week two. My level of panic is pretty low. He still led the team in targets with nine. You got to give some credit to the Green Bay defense. They shut down Detroit in week one and then we saw Detroit put up over 50 points in week two. The Green Bay defense is legit. How about DJ Moore? He only scored 7.1 fantasy points last week. The level of panic right there in the middle, it is creeping up. But just like we talked about all offseason long, when you have a team with so many offensive weapons, there are bound to be boom or bust weeks. However, through the first two weeks of the season, it does look like Roman Dones is the safest weekly option in Chicago. How about Derrick Henry? 2.3 fantasy points in week two. Was an absolute killer to a lot of people, to myself included. He's on one of my biggest leagues that I play in. And he totally sunk my matchup here this past week. But I'm not overly concerned. I mean, listen, I'm more concerned about him fumbling in back-to-back weeks. Putting the ball on the ground in back-to-back games is not very Derrick Henry-esque, but it was a tough matchup going up against Cleveland. Hopefully, he bounces back this week. How about Mark Andrews? Nine fantasy points. My level of panic is high, but it shouldn't be a surprise. I mean, we have seen this before from Mark Andrews. It almost happens yearly at this point. If he doesn't score a touchdown, he is more bust than boom. Especially with the way that we are seeing Lamar Jackson spread the ball around in 2025. This is why we avoid this guy every single year. Speaking of avoid, Brian Thomas Jr. of the Jacksonville Jaguars scored 6.9 fantasy points in week two. My level of panic is at high. But there wasn't a player that I got more hate on this offseason than Brian Thomas Jr. I told everyone I wasn't interested in drafting him here this season. And we're starting to see a little bit of the reasons why. And when I mentioned this offseason of like the unproven play of Trevor Lawrence and how he produced with M. Jones, then the addition of Travis Hunter and Deami Brown, I was just laughed at this offseason. However, after two weeks of the regular season, this is exactly what I was talking about for months this offseason. How about Chase Brown? He scored 7.5 points. My level of concern somewhere in that medium range. With no Burrow, this is going to be a problem, right? Teams are going to try to stop the run and force Jake Browning to beat them down the field. The volume could definitely be there for Chase Brown over the next few weeks, but the scoring opportunities may not be as high for him. Definitely a name to pay attention to. How about Kyren Williams? He scored nine fantasy points last week. Not too bad. Level of concern pretty low. He still had 19 touches. It was a goal-line touchdown that was vultured by Blake Corum that was the killer to him in week two. How about Breece Hall at 4.8 fantasy points last week? Level of concern pretty low. The Jets fell behind so quickly to Buffalo, they could never really afford to run the ball much in week two. Same with Garrett Wilson. He scored seven fantasy points. Not overly panicked about him. Still low there as well. Has eight plus targets now in back-to-back games. And they keep giving up a ton of points to their opponents, which means they're going to keep throwing the football every week. And that's a lot of volume going the way of Garrett Wilson. Josh Allen, he only scored 11.8 fantasy points. Low level of panic there. Buffalo just dominated this game on the ground. They got a huge lead and Josh Allen didn't have to throw the ball for the majority of the game.

Then we get Trayvon Henderson of the New England Patriots. He scored five points last week. Level of panic, it's creeping up. If it's in that mid-range as of right now because New England said that we should expect a shift in backfield touches in week two. Everyone on planet Earth assumed that meant more Trayvon Henderson. No, it meant more Rhamondre Stevenson, who outtouched Henderson on the ground 11 to three and even outproduced him in the receiving game with five catches to two. And Rhamondre played pretty freaking well. There is nothing that happened in week two that's going to cause Rhamondre Stevenson to go backwards at this point. So there's a little bit of panic right there. How about Marvin Harrison Jr.? Only 3.7 points in week two. Level of panic. It has creeped up to that mid-range. This year is looking just like last year. Another game with just five targets is plain stupid. Yes, they had the lead most of the time, but Trey Benson, the number two running back in Arizona, had more targets than Marvin Harrison Jr. That's stupid. I just, I have no idea what Arizona is trying to accomplish with Marvin Harrison Jr. Then we get Courtland Sutton. Only 1.1 fantasy points in week two. That sucked. I'm not really panicking just yet. Even though week two was bad, there were a couple deep defensive DPI calls and really one big off-target throw that could have given Courtland Sutton a solid fantasy day. So, I'm not going to look at week two and think that this is, this is a problem going forward just because of Troy Franklin, who we'll talk about later. Then we get to A.J. Brown, 5.2 fantasy points in week two. My level of panic. It's in that mid-range because even though it was good to see the, the targets return, he had eight of them in week two. He caught five of them for only 27 yards. Philadelphia just continues to run the football a ton. And D'Andre Swift and Kenneth Gainwell are getting a lot of work. And they're just dinking and dunking down the field in the passing game, spreading the ball around to numerous people. This is why we don't like A.J. Brown each and every year. And then lastly, Drake London only scored 4.4 points there on Sunday night. My level of panic is still low when it comes to Drake London. It is clear that he is not 100% healthy after what happened to his shoulder in week one. He played more of a decoy role in week two. And this is why it is impossible to trust the injury reports in the NFL. If they say a player is good to go, they're not always good to go, right? They may be on the field. They may be running some routes, but it's more of a decoy role to draw defensive attention away from other guys that they can then utilize in that passing offense.

But now that brings us to week three. So, let's go ahead and pull up some of the must-add players off of the waiver wire. And like I said at the beginning, we'll go through these names, but then I'm going to go ahead and put them in an order or a ranking for you if you need something like that. But let's start off with a few quarterbacks because I know there were a lot of quarterbacks that were injured in week two. How about Russell Wilson? He's available out there. They're only 4% owned right now with a matchup coming up against the Kansas City Chiefs. And it just felt like Russ in week two finally just said, "F it. I'm going to let it fly down the field." Luckily, when you have guys like Malik Neighbors, that really works out well. But Russ had 450 yards passing and three touchdowns against the Dallas Cowboys this past week. Even though opposing teams know he's going down the field to Malik Neighbors, they just can't seem to stop him. And I told y'all all offseason that J. Wandell Robinson is going to be a thing in 2025 and we're starting to see it. How about Sam Darnold of the Seattle Seahawks? He's 10% owned with a matchup going up against the Saints and he really started to look more like Minnesota Sam Darnold than he did Seattle Sam Darnold in week one, especially in a game this past week against Pittsburgh. And if we continue to get this level of production from what we saw from Cooper Kupp in week two alongside J.S.M. who's on an absolute tear right now, Sam Darnold could be a decent fill-in quarterback. Maybe if you are one of those Joe Burrow owners. But we also got Daniel Jones of the Indianapolis Colts who's only 5% owned as of right now with a matchup going up against Tennessee. And I know as soon as I do this, as soon as I include him in this video, he is going to revert to his old ways and screw a bunch of people, but facts are facts. As of right now, through two weeks of the NFL season, Daniel Jones is the QB2 overall in fantasy football and has outscored every quarterback except Lamar Jackson. I don't, I have no idea. It's Daniel Jones, but he has looked great the first two weeks of the season. Now he gets a tough test going up against Tennessee, but I thought week two was a tough matchup going up against Denver. He still put up 20 plus fantasy points, so I got to include him in the show.

All right, how about a couple running backs? First up is Trey Benson of the Arizona Cardinals. We've talked about him numerous weeks in this type of show. He's currently 50% owned, so I know he's not going to be out there for a ton of people, but go out there and check your waiver wire just in case. Now he has a matchup going up against San Francisco and he just continues to have a role right out of the gate. He was second on the team in targets and had more targets than Marvin Harrison Jr. like we discussed a little bit earlier. That only solidifies in my mind that if or when something happens to James Conner and he misses some time, the role that we could be looking at for Trey Benson could be top 12 in fantasy football. So go out there and just check the waiver wire, especially if you're a James Conner owner. Then we get B.J. Tuttin. And I get it. A lot of people love this kid this offseason, but he didn't really have a path to volume until they traded Tank Bigsby. And now all of a sudden, the guy is going to get weekly touches. But they traded Tank Bigsby because of this kid. They had trust in him. Now he is owned in 47% of leagues. And there's a matchup coming up this week against Houston. But he had 10 touches in week two and one of them found the end zone. He's another guy though that if the starter ahead of him, in this case Travis Etienne, were to go down, Tuttin could have top 12 to 15 or so potential in fantasy football. Go out there and see if he's available.

Now on to the wide receivers. And the first one, you better believe, is J. Wandell Robinson of the New York Giants. He's 25% owned. Like I mentioned, they're going up against Kansas City here this week. And I went back and counted. I mentioned Wandell Robinson in six separate offseason videos this past year. He was a PPR smash pick in drafts, but yet he's still only 25% owned. And now you're going to have to pay to get him. Over the first two games of the season, he has 18 targets, 14 receptions, 197 yards, and one touchdown. Now, that's not going to be the case. He's not going to have a 100-yard game every single week, but if you play PPR, he may be one of the safest plug-and-play wide receivers out there, and he's available in 75% of leagues. Then we get a rookie, A.J. Brown, and he's only 5% owned right now out of Tennessee. They have a matchup upcoming against the Indianapolis Colts, and this kid is emerging as the wide receiver 1B in this offense. While Ridley is taking away top coverage, this kid right here is finding openings down the field. But you got to remember, he's a rookie along with Cam Ward. The chemistry that we're already seeing in week two is just going to be built upon over the coming weeks. He's a name that probably needs to be on the bottom of benches in every league. Then we get Hunter Renfrow of the Carolina Panthers, only 2% owned going up against Atlanta. Another guy we talked about a lot this offseason. Now, his value though is really limited to the availability of Jaylen Coker when he comes off the IR. However, Renfrow continues to be almost unguardable in those underneath routes. He found the end zone multiple times in week two. If you're looking for a plug-and-play option as of right now, he still has that value. 2% owned for Hunter Renfro. The guy, the guy's going to rack up a few receptions a week at a minimum. Then we get Kahan Booty. Booty, booty, booty, booty rocking everywhere and he's 25% owned with a matchup upcoming against Pittsburgh. Now I will be the first one to agree that his usage in week two compared to week one anyway was super odd. He only got one target which he hauled in. It was a crazy catch for a touchdown like 16 yards, but that's it. Like he absolutely disappeared the rest of the game. That was like the beginning of the game. I thought he was in line for a massive day and it just didn't come and I started to worry just a little bit. But then I dove into the numbers a little bit more and when you look at all the New England wide receivers, I started to not panic as much. There were five pass catchers in New England that had just one catch. Drake May himself only threw the ball 23 times and there were a few big plays in this ball game that led to points. So, they didn't really need a high volume passing offense this past week. Then we get Troy Franklin in Denver, only 2% owned going up against the Chargers. And it took two games into their second season together. But Bo Nix finally remembered his college teammate Troy Franklin was in Denver with him. Then he came out and led the team in targets, receptions, and yards and got in the end zone in week two. All the defensive attention was looking at Courtland Sutton. Meanwhile, Troy Franklin was out there balling out of control. But I continued to mention how these guys played together in college. This isn't a normal quarterback wide receiver. Let's build some chemistry. They had it for multiple years. Now that it's starting to come to fruition in the NFL, it could definitely be a weekly thing and he deserves to be picked up off the waiver wire. How about Tory Horton in Seattle? Only 2% owned. Another name I mentioned at nauseam this offseason. He's another guy kind of like A.J. Brown who we could see get better each and every week. The more comfortable he gets in his rookie season, the more opportunities he's going to get. Now, he just had four targets, two catches, 32 yards, and a touchdown in his second game as a pro. And Sam Darnold is looking pretty decent. How about Dami Brown of the Jacksonville Jaguars? He's 2% owned with a matchup going up against Houston. And he has been the most consistent wide receiver in Jacksonville the first two weeks. He was brought in during free agency for a reason. And even though all offseason people didn't want to believe that him or Travis Hunter was going to be a thing, something that takes away from B.T.J., we're seeing it. He's getting shots down the field. He's getting opportunities. Those opportunities are the ones that used to go to Brian Thomas Jr. He's an option out there more so in deeper leagues. Same with Devontaez Walker of the Baltimore Ravens. Only 1% owned with a matchup coming up against Detroit. I had to include him because if I didn't, I would have 800 questions down below in the comment section about him. He was the wide receiver 13 overall on the week in week two, but only had two catches for 26 yards. Both of them though turned into touchdowns. We cannot expect every reception being a touchdown. So until the volume increases, I'm all for maybe stashing him in deeper leagues, but he's nowhere near somebody I want to throw in my lineup just yet. The volume isn't enough. Same with Isaac TeSla of the Detroit Lions. Only 8% owned with a matchup coming up against Baltimore. Exact same situation here for TeSla. Dude is making crazy catches all over the field. It feels like he's out there just cooking opposing defensive backs all over the place. But in a game where Detroit just scored over 50 points, TeSla had one target, one reception, and 29 yards. He only has two targets in two games. Both of them, though, are ridiculously great catches. I'm all for stashing him on the bench, but another guy we just need to see with more volume.

All right, how about the tight end position? This was the position, you know, after week one that we were really worried about. There's a lot of injuries out there. Well, there's still guys on the waiver wire that could help you out if needed. How about Juwan Johnson of the New Orleans Saints and he's currently 30% owned with a matchup this week going up against Seattle and he just continues to be on the field all the time. He just played over 95% of the snaps for the second straight game. He now has 20 targets in two weeks and is the tight end three overall in fantasy football. He needs more attention. How about Zack Ertz as well in Washington? He's 45% owned going up against Las Vegas. Now, Ertz may not be on the field as much as Juwan Johnson, but he continues to be a red zone option in Washington every single week. He now has touchdowns in back-to-back games. And just like last year, it may not be the sexiest name to throw into your fantasy lineup, but he is continuing to produce almost each and every week. And then lastly, Harold Fannon. He's 40% owned as of right now. A big jump after last week. They're going up against Green Bay and he's not going to have the ceiling of Juwan Johnson or Zack Ertz because Cleveland just doesn't score as many points. But if you play in PPR leagues, there is enough volume here for Harold Fannon Jr. for him to be a verge top 12 guy each and every week. Now, he may not be the guy that racks up a lot of touchdowns or a lot of yardage, but if he can haul in six balls a week for 40 yards in PPR leagues, you're looking at right around 10 points. And 10 points at the tight end position these days is basically gold.

But all right, now that we've gone through 17 players, how are we going to rank these guys? How do you know which ones you should go after? Well, let's look at our waiver wire power rankings. And I'm going to go ahead and put the quarterbacks and tight ends at the bottom here. Doesn't mean that they don't have more value. Just a lot of guys don't need a quarterback or a tight end. And I don't want them spending a high waiver claim or a fab budget claim on these guys. So, they'll be down below. We'll talk about them here in a second, but let's start off at the top of the list. It's J. Wandell Robinson. The volume alone, the way that Russ is throwing the ball down the field, he's top of the list for me. Then we got A.J. Brown. And yes, it's going to take a few weeks maybe for that volume to continue to increase, but we're already seeing it two weeks into the season, so he needs some attention. Next up is Trey Benson. We talked about his role of targeting Marvin Harrison Jr. Then we got B.J. Tuttin. It's the running back position, right? There's not a lot of options out there on waivers as of right now to find a guy that's getting 10 touches a week and could really have a large role if the starter were to go down. They need more attention. He needs to be over 50% owned. Then we get Kahan Booty, who's only 25% owned as well. And even though week two was somewhat of a downer, he's too big of a part of that offense for him to just be forgotten about. Then Troy Franklin in Denver, building that volume up with Bo Nix finally in Denver. Then Tory Horton in Seattle. Only going to get more volume as the season progresses. Hunter Renfro. I would have him higher on this list if Jaylen Coker wasn't coming back here in the next couple of weeks. Then Dami Brown. A little bit more of a bench stash, right? Not somebody who's going to see excessive volume, but could rack up some big plays. Same with Devontaez Walker and Isaac TeSla. Two guys that I wouldn't mind owning in deeper leagues, but we're not close to starting them yet here in our fantasy lineups.

But then we get down to the tight end. So, if you're looking for a tight end, this is how I would rank the three that the three that are out there on the waiver wire most consistently. We're going to go with Juwan Johnson, then Zack Ertz, and then Harold Fannon. Johnson's just on the field so much. He's getting touchdown opportunities. He's getting volume. Ertz a little bit more touchdown dependent. And then Fannon probably not going to score a lot of touchdowns, but going to get a lot of volume, just a lower ceiling. And then the quarterbacks we discussed, we're going to go with Russell Wilson, Sam Darnold, and Daniel Jones. Russ knows he needs to produce or Jackson Dart's going to take his job after week two. Expect Russ to air it out more frequently. Sam Darnold, a little bit more of the safer option on the waiver wire here. Good matchup this week going up against the Saints. And then lastly, Daniel Jones. Like I said, I, I want to believe in what we're seeing with Daniel Jones, but it terrifies me because it's Daniel Jones. Now, there's a lot of guys out there, especially in two-quarterback leagues, they'll take a chance on it, but man, in a one-quarterback league, I need to see it for a couple more weeks. I know he's played great. I got to give him credit. Just the thought of starting Daniel Jones, it gets my blood pressure a little bit high.

But now, let's go ahead and discuss whether we should start or stash these guys. So, I've given them each a designation. For J. Wandell Robinson, I wouldn't mind starting him, especially in deeper leagues, those multi-flex leagues. Same with A.J. Brown. I know this is probably more of a 14-team option, but he's going to be getting volume in a, in a matchup coming up against Indianapolis. Indianapolis has been putting points up on the board. Tennessee is going to have to throw the football. Then we got Trey Benson. I have him more as a stash. The volume isn't quite there. Maybe in super deep PPR leagues. Tuttin, more of a stash as well, not getting enough volume. We can't count on a weekly touchdown just yet. Kahan Booty, he's a start in deeper leagues. Troy Franklin, another name I wouldn't mind starting if I had to in deeper leagues. Tory Horton, Hunter Renfro, Dami Brown, Devontaez Walker, and Isaac TeSla. More of bench stashes at this point. Let's see what happens over the next few weeks before we even contemplate throwing them into our lineup. When it comes to the tight ends, I'll start any three of those guys if I have to. Juwan Johnson, Zack Ertz, or Harold Fannon. And the same goes with the quarterbacks, right? We wouldn't put them in this show if they weren't start-worthy. Russell Wilson, Sam Darnold, and dear Lord, Baby Jesus, please. Daniel Jones, if you got to throw him in your lineup, you are in my prayers this week. And I hope that this was not the kiss of death by including him in this show.

But let's see how much we should be spending on these guys. Let's go ahead and pull up the fab budget recommendations right here. For J. Wandell Robinson, right around 20% or so. I, I say a little bit more for him because we've talked about him for a long time. What he's doing is not a surprise. Some of these guys who are a surprise, we have that, that concern. Are they a one-hit wonder? It's not a one-hit wonder for J. Wandell Robinson. So, I'll pay up a little bit. A.J. Brown, right there at 15% alongside Trey Benson, Tuttin, Kahan Booty, and Troy Franklin. All in that 15% range. Then we get down to that 10% range where we're looking at Tory Horton, Hunter Renfro, and Dami Brown. Devontaez Walker, Isaac TeSla. Don't go out there and blow your wad on those guys. If you want to stash them on the bottom, cool. 5% or so of your fab budget. If you're looking for a tight end, Juwan Johnson, Zack Ertz, Harold Fannon, all right around 15% of your fab budget or so. And then the quarterback position, right? I don't want you to go out there and overpay for Russell Wilson if you can get Sam Darnold for super cheap. So, I'm not overbidding on a quarterback as of right now. Right around 5% of your fab budget or so.

Which only leaves us some streaming D's to talk about. And I wasn't going to talk about them probably till week four or so, but we had a lot of comments last week saying, "Hey, I already need the streaming D's." So, we got a few for you here. Here we got the Seattle Seahawks. They're going up against New Orleans this upcoming week. They just held San Francisco and Pittsburgh both under 20 points now in back-to-back games. Now they get the Saints who have minimal weapons on offense. Not a bad choice for Seattle. Then we get Green Bay, one of the most underrated defenses in fantasy football and the NFL as of right now. They're arguably one of the best defenses in the NFL through the first two weeks of the season. Now they get a matchup going up against Cleveland, who already struggles to find the end zone. And then lastly, the Atlanta Falcons going up against Carolina. Carolina has been turning the ball over like crazy. And Atlanta has been a little bit more of a bend but not break type defense. It's not like they're the greatest defense out there, but in this matchup going up against Carolina, they have some streaming D potential.

So, there you have your week three waiver wire show. And it's still early in the season. Stop panicking. I see a lot of people out there want to know if their season is cooked after two weeks. No, you got to give it like at least six weeks before you even start thinking that way. I know we all want to win every single matchup. We want all of the stud players to produce every single game, but don't forget it happens every single year. Studs start off a little bit slow. People start to panic. They drop players they shouldn't. We want to take advantage of those people who are panicking, not being one of the people that panic.

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