FlurrySports’ best fantasy football waiver wire pickups to make in Week 3, including Emmett Johnson and Denzel Boston.
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The NFL’s first week brought record-breaking scoring. The second week of the NFL was met with weather that both melted cleats and delayed games. It was a sloppy week of football that included many quarterback injuries, turnovers and disappointing performances. If you felt like you needed to hit the fantasy football waiver wire hard in Week 3, I wouldn’t blame you.
I want to make clear that it’s too early to press the panic button, unless you’re a Marvin Harrison Jr. owner. It appears as though he stinks. Still, there are several fantasy football waiver wire pickups worth making, so let’s take a look at several of them below! I also have my waiver wire rankings over at the FlurrySports Playbook!
On Playbook.FlurrySports.org, I have everything your league doesn’t want you to have. My fantasy rankings, the NFL Survivor tool and a weather app are all free. However, I also have my fantasy football waiver rankings, exclusive stats and more for those who want more information. I will also be adding a trade value tool and tons of betting information. Simply, I wanted a one-stop shop to help you win on your NFL and college football picks this season!
Go check that out after reading the best fantasy football waiver wire targets ahead of Week 3.
Note: Players must be owned in less than 50% of ESPN leagues to be included in the best fantasy football waiver wire pickups column. Ownership percentages will reflect their status on Tuesday mornings ahead of standard waiver processing.
Best Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups Week 3
QB Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups
Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers (34.3%)
Don’t look now, but the QB2 in all of fantasy football is available in nearly two-thirds of ESPN fantasy leagues. We wondered if Week 1 was a fluke for Bryce Young, but he followed that strong performance up with a 23-fantasy-point outing against the Atlanta Falcons, tossing three touchdowns while protecting the ball. That means he has thrown six touchdowns and run for another through two weeks.
Yes, you can credit positive matchups for Bryce Young the past two weeks. However, with the Cleveland Browns and Detroit Lions on deck next, I’m not afraid to keep starting the player many touted as the NFL’s Steph Curry coming out of college, whatever that means.
Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints (49.7%)
The NFL’s passing leader is available in half of ESPN fantasy leagues, and there is no reason for Tyler Shough not to be a starter in fantasy right now. He leads the NFL with 662 passing yards; he is second in overall pass attempts (90), and he ranks as QB6 in fantasy football prior to Monday Night Football.
Shough performed well in what was expected to be a bad matchup, playing in Baltimore. And now, the New Orleans Saints’ quarterback gets to play in front of a great New Orleans crowd for three straight weeks. He will face off against the Raiders and Falcons, which are great matchups, prior to playing the Vikings. As long as Chris Olave is active, Tyler Shough may be a safe player to start in fantasy.
RB Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups
Emmett Johnson, Kansas City Chiefs (15.7%)
It won’t be instant gratification, but one of my favorite Week 3 fantasy football waiver wire pickups is Emmett Johnson, the Kansas City Chiefs’ running back. It’s always easy to find quarterback or wide receiver replacements off waivers, and you can play matchups with tight ends. But for running backs, it can become impossible to find talented players with a high enough usage to be relevant. You may not think Johnson’s usage is there yet, but he is one of the best handcuffs in fantasy.
For many, Kenneth Walker III is the biggest surprise in fantasy football this season. It really shouldn’t be surprising, given the RB history of both Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy. Walker goes from Super Bowl MVP to Kansas City Chiefs MVP. He leads the NFL in both rushing yards (290) and carries (47). Walker was never a bell-cow RB with Seattle, and he very possibly could break down due to the heavy workload in Kansas City.
If Walker gets hurt due to the heavy workload, or if the Chiefs lighten the load to keep him healthy, Emmett Johnson will be the man to benefit. He has looked terrific in his limited touches so far, running for 39 yards on 10 carries while adding 64 yards as a receiver. As the lead back, Johnson would be a low-end RB1. If he starts splitting work with Walker, after earning the trust of the coaching staff more, Johnson could become an every-week flex play with upside.
Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints (37.5%)
Obviously, the name Alvin Kamara won’t be a new one to you, but you may be wondering why he is highlighted here after putting up 7.2 points in PPR scoring. Well, the workload is too relevant to ignore.
Travis Etienne nearly lost the football in this game and was punished a bit. Still, the Saints stuck with Kamara despite him not being efficient with these touches. He played just 29% of the snaps in his return from injury, but he had a team-high 15 looks, which was five more than Etienne. Kamara had both a red zone carry and target as well. You can find much more information like this in the FlurrySports Playbook.
I’m not the biggest Alvin Kamara fan, and I have been a big critic of his over the past few seasons. However, we are talking about a player who got 15 looks while playing on a team that can move the ball. If he gets the same workload against an easier opponent, we’re talking Flex value, at the absolute minimum.
WR Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups
Denzel Boston, Cleveland Browns (26.4%)
The Cleveland Browns looked terrible in Week 1 and decent in Week 2, but the common trend in both was the performance of rookie wide receiver Denzel Boston. Averaging 18.5 fantasy points in PPR, Boston has a touchdown in both games and has clearly developed chemistry with Deshaun Watson. He also has two red zone targets and an average depth of target (aDOT) of 15.8 yards, per the Opportunity Index. Not only is he tied for the most targets on the team, but nobody else on this offense has an aDOT close to his.
The Browns will eventually switch to Shedeur Sanders at quarterback, but Sanders should be willing to force the ball downfield more, which helps Boston as well. He faces the Carolina Panthers this week, which doesn’t scare you away. You can do worse than the Steelers and Jets after that as well.
Adonai Mitchell, New York Jets (17%)
We may be on the edge of the Adonai Mitchell breakout stretch. All we heard this offseason was how much the New York Jets love him, and Geno Smith had glowing reviews. So, we knew he was entering the season as the clear WR2, which is great, since Garrett Wilson pulls the top coverage towards him.
It has resulted in early-season success, with Mitchell totaling 60+ yards in both games. Both Geno and play-caller Frank Reich seemed to be confident in Mitchell this week, giving him 12 targets in Week 2. I expect him to continue playing a big role in this offense, and the schedule ahead is too good to ignore. He faces the Lions, Bears and Browns the next three weeks. Pick him up before the breakout.
Dontayvion Wicks, Philadelphia Eagles (26.3%)
Last week, Dontayvion Wicks was one of our featured fantasy football waiver wire pickups. He continued to play well as the Philadelphia Eagles’ WR2, totaling five receptions for 74 yards. Wicks now has a positive matchup against the Chicago Bears ahead.
The Eagles hired Sean Mannion from the Packers to be their new offensive coordinator. Not only is he an upgrade at coordinator, but Philadelphia then went and traded for Wicks from Green Bay. Clearly, Mannion made it clear that Wicks would be a great player to trade for and insert into his new offense. With that in mind, we know the fantasy performance from Dontayvion Wicks through two weeks is not a fluke. In fact, it should only grow as his chemistry with Jalen Hurts improves.
TE Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups
Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans (21.3%)
Don’t look now, but CJ Stroud is slingin’ the rock early this season, passing a league-high 93 times through two weeks. Those passes have to go to somebody, and with Nico Collins out Week 2, it was clear Dalton Schultz would be involved once again.
Schultz went on to grab 12 passes for 140 yards. Schultz has 22 targets through two weeks, which is tied for the fourth-most in the NFL before Monday Night Football. Not fourth-most among tight ends; Dalton Schultz has the same number of targets as Jaxon Smith-Njigba!
Collins is likely out for Week 3 with his hamstring injury. This means that Schultz should get heavy usage against a Colts team that just got lit up by Travis Kelce.
Oronde Gadsden, Los Angeles Chargers (2%)
Both David Njoku and Charlie Kolar both suffered injuries last week that landed them on IR. So, Oronde Gadsden goes from TE3 to TE1 in a hurry!
The wide receiver-turned tight end showed last season how he can stretch the field and rack up yards in a hurry. He had a four-week stretch where he finished as a top-10 TE in each week, totaling five-plus catches and 65+ yards in each game. No, he is not a strong blocker. However, with Ladd McConkey also banged up, and a string of really tough games on the schedule, the Chargers are expecting to be playing from behind and could really use Gadsden running routes.
DST Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups
Cincinnati Bengals (8.2%)
Don’t look now, but the Cincinnati Bengals seem to have a competent defense! This offseason, a trade for Dexter Lawrence not only put an enforcer at the point of attack for this season, but it also gave the defense a leader both on the field and in the locker room. It seems to have paid off, with fantasy point totals of 20.0 and 7.0 during the first two weeks.
This week, the Bengals will face off against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers have really struggled offensively, allowing the Falcons and Patriots D/ST units to put up 7.0 and 20.0. respectively. Pittsburgh’s offense has a league-worst 3.8 yards per play. They need to establish the run to get their offense going, but with “Sexy Dexy” in the middle for Cincinnati, that will be a tough task for them this week.
