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Week 3 fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Hunter Renfrow, DeAndre Hopkins, Troy Franklin in 2025. Read their waiver wire outlooks for fantasy football.
Veteran wide receivers who are largely forgotten in fantasy leagues and second-year players often present major value to fantasy managers. These players often can outperform expectations and become excellent waiver wire pickups.
Carolina Panthers WR Hunter Renfrow and Baltimore Ravens wideout DeAndre Hopkins fit into that category of veterans, while Denver Broncos wide receiver Troy Franklin is a second-year pro who's garnered more attention this season.
So, should you pick up Renfrow, Hopkins, and Franklin in your fantasy football leagues for Week 3 of 2025? Let's dive in.
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Hunter Renfrow Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups
Rostered: 4% of Leagues
Baller Move: Add in 12+ Team Leagues
The 29-year-old Carolina Panthers wide receiver Renfrow, who didn't play at all in 2024 and just sparingly in 2023, was targeted nine times in his team's loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 2, grabbing seven of those passes for 48 yards and two receiving touchdowns.
It was a surprising performance for a player who had been completely off the fantasy radar for so long. Carolina lacks much receiving talent right now out of WR1 Tetairoa McMillan, though, and with WR Jalen Coker (quad) on injured reserve and second-year pro Xavier Legette not making many waves, it's worth wondering if Renfrow is the team's new WR2.
Hunter Renfrow with his 2nd TD of the game
CARvsAZ on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/Nagn9JuZJF
— NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2025
When Coker returns, it's likely that Renfrow's role will be reduced. Coker was slated to play in the slot, which is where Renfrow has typically played, and it's likely that Coker will take a lot of snaps away from Renfrow. So adding Renfrow doesn't make a ton of sense outside of deeper leagues.
The game was also a blowout loss, though we might have to start expecting a lot of those in the future. Panthers quarterback Bryce Young hasn't performed well when the score is close in his games this season.
DeAndre Hopkins Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups
Rostered: 15% of Leagues
Baller Move: Add in 14+ Team Leagues
Hopkins now has touchdown scores in both of his first two games of 2025. He's been targeted twice and caught both those passes in both of his contests, logging 35 yards and a TD in Week 1 and 64 yards and another score in Week 2. Hopkins seems to be emerging as a reliable red zone threat for quarterback Lamar Jackson.
But with tight end Isaiah Likely (ankle) having missed the first two games, it's possible that the distribution of targets favoring the remaining pass-catchers is what's driving D-Hop's production. Likely is one of the team's primary TD threats.
Incredible.@DeAndreHopkins with ANOTHER great catch in the end zone!!!! Tune in on CBS and @paramountplus. pic.twitter.com/MujbZ1ZAGl
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 14, 2025
In both of the Ravens' games this season, the offense has scored a ton of points, too. If the offense takes a step back, or they get into more low-scoring defensive battles, it's possible that there's less to go around. When Likely returns, Hopkins could return to fantasy irrelevance.
Troy Franklin Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups
Rostered: 6% of Leagues
Baller Move: Add In All Leagues
After a six-target, four-catch, 44-yard performance in Week 1, Franklin got a significant increase in snap share for Week 2, playing in 83 percent of his team's offensive snaps compared to just 59 percent in Week 1. Franklin then caught eight of his nine targets for 89 yards and a touchdown. He added one rush of 11 yards.
Remember where you were when you witnessed the Troy Franklin drive pic.twitter.com/LgCu7Oi1AB
— Bryce 🎸 (@MileHighMims) September 14, 2025
While many might believe that this is the start of Franklin taking over the WR1 job, the Broncos played the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2, who have had a very porous passing defense over the past few seasons. Broncos WR1 Courtland Sutton didn't do much, but that's not the norm for him.
Franklin scored his TD on a designed play that was wide open and had a long catch down the field that resulted from a broken play in which Franklin improvised. This might be one of his better performances of the season, and he could struggle with inconsistency, but he's at least worth picking up for now.
Who Should I Pickup Tool
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Who Should I Pickup? Some common 2025 fantasy football waiver wire decisions are regarding players like Hunter Renfrow, DeAndre Hopkins, and Troy Franklin. But not to worry, we are here to help make these waiver wire decisions and build winning teams in 2025. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups in 2025. Our free Who Should I Pickup? tool will help make your fantasy football waiver wire decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to pick up... all free! Make the right decisions.
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Using The Tool. This is a simple tool but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player's name. In the second box, search for the second player's name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Pickup? button to see who the recommended waiver wire pickups are based on fantasy football rankings, projections, and more.
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Popular Player Comparison Searches - Who To Pickup
Below are some popular searches and comparisons from our Who To Pickup tool for 2025 for Hunter Renfrow, DeAndre Hopkins, Troy Franklin:
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