Read Jake Ciely’s latest fantasy football waiver wire advice. 

The Week 3 fantasy football waiver wire is a bit thinner than the past two weeks, but it might be the most painful, especially with Nick Chubb. With a big Zack Moss performance, a Saquon Barkley injury and another good Josh Reynolds showing, there are some solid pickups, and of course, streaming quarterbacks, DSTs and more.

Advertisement

HEADS UP

• Players must be under 60% rostered on Yahoo
• Listed in order of preference — I’ll often prioritize potential upside over immediate middling production
• No FAB suggestions: It varies wildly by league tendencies and always relative (ex: if you lost your RB1 to injury and there is a clear backup, you’re going to be more aggressive)
• Streaming QB and TE are grouped together— weekly ranking can change once projections/ranks run — DST could shift a bit too

WORRY REPORT
More Ducks (and Eggs) = More Concern

• Justin Fields, CHI 🦆🦆 — There is a lot of talk about only five designed runs through two weeks, but Fields looks more indecisive than last year.
• Alexander Mattison, MIN 🦆🦆🥚 — The Vikings’ run blocking is doing him no favors, as Mattison has similar YAC to Javonte Williams (2.32 to 2.48) but just 0.89 YBC, which is 27th among running backs with 10+ carries. Ty Chandler could start eating into Mattison’s workload, but a good performance against the Chargers could quell our fears.
• Khalil Herbert, CHI 🦆🦆🦆 — Similar to Mattison, Herbert has struggled with the Bears’ quality of blocking, and Roschon Johnson is getting significantly more before the snap (3.67 YBC to Herbert’s 1.00). As you’ll see with Johnson (below), the door is creaking open for him to take over, but the bigger concern is that even if that doesn’t happen, the 50/50 split caps any backfield upside.
• Dameon Pierce, HOU 🦆🦆🥚 — And yet another running back dealing with poor blocking, Pierce has -0.04 YBC through two weeks. Pierce has a decent 2.69 YAC, but is 17th in Percent of Team’s Rushing Attempts (53.1%) with 7.0% of the Texans’ targets (36th for running backs). The blocking and non-bellcow role are reason for concern.
• Ja’Marr Chase, CIN 🦆🦆 — I was prepared to have an egg and nothing else for Chase because he’s Chase and has a 24.3 TmTGT%. Then we got word that Joe Burrow isn’t 100% and might miss time. That’s concerning, especially if his injury lingers.
• DeAndre Hopkins, TEN 🦆🥚 — Hopkins is fifth in TmTGT% (31.6) with 34.3% of the Titans’ Air Yards. The main concern at this point of his career is the lack of YAC — just 0.82 YAC and 8.6% of his yards are after the catch.

STREAMING QUARTERBACKS

• Russell Wilson, DEN
• Matthew Stafford, LAR
• Sam Howell, WSH
• Derek Carr, NO
• C.J. Stroud, HOU
• Kenny Pickett, PIT
• Jimmy Garoppolo, LV
• Baker Mayfield, TB
• Ryan Tannehill, TEN
• Bryce Young, CAR
• Mac Jones, NE
• Zach Wilson, NYJ
• Desmond Ridder, ATL
• Joshua Dobbs, ARI

Emojis

• 😤 = I Tried to Tell Ya — players included for several weeks (not much more to add if you don’t want them)
• 🔍 = Check if Dropped — players whose managers might have cut for other need or impatient
• 🎯 = Long-Term Target — players with starter+ upside who require patience (stash picks)
• 🫡 = Backup/Next Man Up — players who have almost no value but starter+ upside if injury ahead of them