Week three of the 2020 NFL season is in the books and you need to dig deep if you are going to get through the year. Lucky for you, those are still very much alive because fantasy football leagues are won on the waiver wire. We’re going to provide you with the best options available after week three. If I don’t mention someone whom you think I should be talking about, just know there are many reasons why I overlooked them. Maybe they are owned in most leagues. Maybe they are so bad I don’t even consider them. Or, maybe it’s because your opinions cannot be trusted. After all, you are here. So let us examine what our best week four waiver wire players for your championship run are…
Week Four Waiver Wire Quarterbacks
Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams (50% rostered)
In the rush for the next sexy mustachioed quarterback, Jared Goff found himself available to some lucky team. Based on Goff’s last two games (588 passing yards, five touchdowns and a pick) and the rest of his schedule, you probably want to roster him. In the last two weeks, Goff has been a low-end QB1. And the next two weeks, Goff gets to play the New York Giants and the Washington Whatever The Hell They Call Themselves. If you need a quarterback, get Jared Goff.
Kirk Cousins, Minnesota Vikings (21% rostered)
The Minnesota Vikings defense vomited all over itself in two out of the last three weeks, but because the most recent game isn’t covered in bile, you want to get back on the Cousins Train?e While two of Cousins’ next three games are unparalleled matchups (the Seahawks, then the Falcons, the second-worst and worst defenses at stopping QBs), the Vikings don’t look very good. Just remember, if you are going to do this, there is a very good chance you are going to regret this.
Ryan Fitzpatrick, Miami Dolphins (7% rostered)
Sometimes a hero emerges against all odds. He’s told all week that his beautiful beard will never measure up to some up-and-coming stache. Then, on Thursday Night Football, he posts 24.7 fantasy points and ends the week as the QB6. And you start asking yourself the real questions. Was I too eager to move on to the newer, sexier quarterback on the market? Did I ever really know him? Does Ryan Fitzpatrick have a decent four-game stretch coming up (two top-ten matchups and two middling matchups)? The answer to all your questions is Ryan Fitzpatrick (at least for a few weeks).
Nick Foles, Chicago Bears (2% rostered)
If you watched the Bears/Falcons game, you watched Nick Foles mount a miraculous comeback. You might be thinking to yourself, that man looks like he could lead my fantasy football team to victory. However, you need to take off your “Falcon’s 3Defense glasses.” When you watch an NFL offense through the lens of the Falcons defense, objects will appear more attractive than they actually are. Nick Foles has a brutal four-game stretch for fantasy quarterbacks. In the next four games, he gets the Colts, Buccaneers, Panthers, and Rams (who all boast some of the most stifling fantasy football defenses against quarterbacks). Foles isn’t the prom queen, he’s the Falcon’s fan who ODed in an alley after watching that game. Don’t take him home!
Week Four Waiver Wire Running Backs
Myles Gaskin, Miami Dolphins (47% rostered)
I’ll admit it. I’m a bit late to the Myles Gaskins party, but now that I’m here, I’m going to stick around. There is no denying that Myles Gaskin should be rostered in all fantasy formats. Gaskin established himself as the lead back in Miami, notching at least 63% of their snaps in each of their three games this season. He also has a great floor, totaling at least 65 yards in each of his three games this season. If he is available, get Gaskin.
Jeff Wilson Jr., San Francisco 49ers (19% rostered)
Jerick McKinnon is (surprise) banged up. With Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman on the shelf, as well, it is only sensible that you grab the only living running back left in San Francisco. It’s doubly sensible when he was the RB9 last week after scoring twice against the Giants. Even if McKinnon plays on Sunday Night Football against the Eagles in week four, Wilson will get a lot of looks. Kyle Shanahan loves to rotate running backs. If you need immediate running back help, Jeff Wilson Jr. is your guy.
Rex Burkhead, New England Patriots (16% rostered)
Rex Burkhead is a lie we tell ourselves to help us try to make sense of the universe so we can sleep at night. We trick ourselves into thinking that somehow, we can predict how Bill Belichick will use his running backs. But we can’t. We can’t predict that, because the dark lord does not care about your fantasy team. He is the destroyer of souls. The minute you start Rex Burkhead, Sony Michel will have a four-touchdown game and you will hate yourself. In fact, Sony Michel had a better game than Rex Burkhead’s three touchdowns this weekend, he just didn’t score.
Carlos Hyde, Seattle Seahawks (15% rostered)
With Chris Carson out one to two weeks, Carlos Hyde has to be at the top of your waiver priority list. Chris Carson has been a low-end RB1 in Seattle’s offense throughout his career. While Hyde probably won’t be able to replicate Carson’s success, he could be a very valuable flex.
Brian Hill, Atlanta Falcons (3% rostered)
If you have space on your roster and are looking for a lottery ticket that might pay off later in the season, Brian Hill should have your attention. In week three, Brian Hill had 80 all-purpose yards and 1 touchdown. But, his most eye-opening stat was his snap count, as he was on the field for 34% of the Falcons offensive snaps. With Atlanta’s high-powered offense and Atlanta’s low-powered defense, that is a lot of opportunities to produce. Add all that to the fact that Todd Gurley has an arthritic knee that is a ticking time bomb, and it is hard not to like Brian Hill.
Week Four Waiver Wire Wide Receivers
Allen Lazard, Green Bay Packers (43% rostered)
I mean, I told you for the past two weeks that Lazard should be rostered. If he is still sitting around in your leagues, that’s on you, not me. You could have had the WR5 on the week in your lineup instead of in your waivers queue.
Mecole Hardman, Kansas City Chiefs (41% rostered)
The Kansas City Chiefs spun the wheel and landed on Mecole Hardman this week. He has appeal as a WR3 flash play, but don’t expect him to have six targets every game. You should have a short memory in fantasy football, but not so short that you forget the abject panic surrounding Hardman after he had one target (a tap pass) in week one. He’s a bench stash in case this starts to turn around.
Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings (32% rostered)
If you are looking for a matchups-based play, then Justin Jefferson is your guy. It seems as though Jefferson established himself as the WR2 in Minnesota, after going for seven catches, 175 yards, and a score on nine targets. If you get Justin Jefferson, don’t forget that at any moment, Kirk Cousins could vomit all over himself. Some of that splash is going to get all over Justin Jefferson’s feet.
Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers (22% rostered)
There is a lot to like about Brandon Aiyuk. He missed week one with a hamstring injury, and the 49ers eased him in week two. In week three, they unleashed Aiyuk. He was on the field for 73% of the 49ers’ offensive snaps, and led the team in targets. What I like most about Aiyuk is that he is a first-round draft pick and San Francisco’s desperate need for bodies, since most people who touched the field at MetLife Stadium the last two weeks immediately exploded into dust.
Tee Higgins, Cincinnati Bengals (6% rostered)
The best receiver on the Bengals isn’t A.J. Green. The best receiver on the Bengals isn’t Tyler Boyd. Make no mistake about it, the best receiver on this roster is Tee Higgins. He proved it this week, receiving a team-high nine targets that he turned into 40 yards and two touchdowns. Unfortunately, the rest of the team doesn’t know it yet. Tee Higgins will have some real highs and lows, but likely end up too inconsistent to be reliable.
Cedrick Wilson, Dallas Cowboys (0% rostered)
Do you really want to own the number four wide receiver on the Dallas Cowboys? Why would you even consider it? The only reason to pick Cedrick Wilson up is if you enjoy bad decisions. Sometimes there’s a reason a dude is rostered in ZERO PERCENT of leagues!!! Sure, Cedrick Wilson went for 5/107/2 against the Seahawks, but even Cedric the Entertainer could pull that line off if the Original Kings of Comedy squared off against Seattle.
Week Four Waiver Wire Tight Ends
Dalton Schultz, Dallas Cowboys (32% rostered)
Do Blake Jarwin Truthers get credit for Schultz, too? They hit the target flowchart to go from Jason Witten to Blake Jarwin, but lost their way headed to Dalton Schultz. In the two Jarwin-less games this season, Schultz averages 8 targets, 6 catches and 68 yards per game while scoring a touchdown. Yet, he gets nowhere near the hype and praise we heaped on Jarwin. Is it his name? Look, you can’t catch Andy Dalton from Schultz. I promise. I know they’re both Cowboys, but I guarantee you can get Dalton Schultz without Andy Dalton piggy backing on your waiver claim. He has a good PPR floor, and the Cowboys offense is a good one to get pieces of.
Eric Ebron, Pittsburgh Steelers (26% rostered)
Big Ben and Mike Tomlin have exactly one fantasy-relevant tight end on their resume (Heath Miller). Oh sure, a few times a year, one of them will have a good enough game that you start thinking to yourself, “maybe Pittsburgh has finally figured out how to use their tight ends?” They haven’t. Don’t do this to yourself. For the love of God, how many times does Eric Ebron have to lure you in with 5/52/1 lines that he follows up with 3/18 lines before you say enough is enough?!
Jimmy Graham, Chicago Bears (11% rostered)
You should know by now that I am vehemently against two things: using waivers to grab tight ends and Jimmy Graham. As a lifelong Bears fan, I hated the free-agent signing. I think Jimmy Graham hasn’t been a relevant fantasy tight end since 2017 …until now! He ranks second on the Bears in targets and they love throwing to tight ends in the red zone. He also leads the team in receiving touchdowns. With the waiver wire bereft of decent tight end options, Jimmy Graham is your best option at a guy who ends up being a plug and play starter. “Best” doesn’t always mean “good.”
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