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John's fantasy football WR waiver wire pickups for Week 4 of the 2026 NFL season. Free agent wide receivers to add, stream, and stash off waivers.
Week 3 was an interesting week of football from a fantasy perspective, at least. We didn't see any massive breakouts for low-rostered players, but we did see quite a few names that could pique the interest of a dialed-in fantasy manager to pick up before waivers clear ahead of Week 4.
Established WRs getting injured or having disappointing starts to the season drove the production of some of the names we'll break down today. Other, less-thought-about receivers saw their starting quarterbacks return to action, which helps too.
It's not likely these guys will become league-winners, but it can pay to grab them early before they settle into more established roles and become hot waiver targets. Sleepers don't work out the majority of the time, but when they do, they can help you win your leagues. So let's break down eight waiver wire sleeper wide receivers ahead of Week 4 of the 2026 NFL season!
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Wide Receiver Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Pickups
Pat Bryant, Denver Broncos - 16% rostered
The Denver Broncos knocked off the Los Angeles Rams in a shocking upset on Sunday Night Football in Week 3. Their offense came alive after looking completely dead in Week 1 against the Kansas City Chiefs, and second-year pro Pat Bryant caught his first touchdown of the season in the win.
It's plausible to believe that he'll be the eventual Courtland Sutton replacement at X for the Broncos while WR Jaylen Waddle flips between Z and slot positions. Bryant is 6-foot-2 and 204 pounds while Sutton is 6-foot-4 and 216 pounds, so there's a bit of a size difference, but Bryant has been showing flashes.
TOUCHDOWN PAT BRYANT WIDEEEEEE OPEN pic.twitter.com/gzuLkxLP3O
— wok (@wokdior) September 28, 2026
Sutton is still clearly ahead of Bryant in target priority, but he's also 30 years old and nearing the end of his career. He's been much less productive this season than he was last, too, and it seems unlikely that they'll hand him a big contract extension considering how much they paid Waddle.
Tre' Harris, Los Angeles Chargers - 9% rostered
Harris led the Chargers in receiving in their third straight loss to start the 2026 NFL season. He caught six of his seven targets for 76 yards in the contest. Interestingly, though he played only 58 percent of offensive snaps compared to Chargers WR1 Ladd McConkey's 88 percent, McConkey only had five targets in the game.
The Quentin Johnston experiment still isn't going great -- the fourth-year WR caught three of his four targets for 40 yards in easily his best game of the season, but still has just 64 receiving yards on the year, which is less than Harris had in this one game.
Clean route by Tre' Harris@LACvsBUF on FOX/FOX One
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/mqJUheqaS4— NFL (@NFL) September 27, 2026
Harris was known as a solid route-runner in college, though he didn't have elite athleticism to go along with it. All he needs to do to beat out Johnston is get open and catch the ball, though, as Johnston still has severe struggles with body control and contested catch ability.
Keenan Allen, Indianapolis Colts - 19% rostered
Allen was a player that my analysis indicated would be an excellent sleeper pick late in drafts. It took an injury to WR Alec Pierce (heel) to kick-start his 2026 campaign, though. Pierce was placed on injured reserve ahead of Week 3, and Allen took advantage of the extra opportunities.
He caught six of his nine targets for 63 yards and a touchdown in his team's Week 3 win, leading his team in receiving fantasy points. It was slot WR Josh Downs who led the team in targets with 11, catching five for 77 yards, while tight end Tyler Warren led in catches with nine for 55 yards.
Daniel Jones finds Keenan Allen to extend the @Colts' lead@HOUvsIND on CBS/Paramount+
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/8si5LbFiTY— NFL (@NFL) September 27, 2026
Allen doesn't appear to have much of a role when Pierce is healthy, but it seems plausible that Indy picked him up as injury insurance in case Pierce continued to struggle with his ailment. That's paying off now. Downs, Allen, and Warren should all be heavily rostered in fantasy leagues for Week 4.
Chris Bell, Miami Dolphins - 10% rostered
Bell, a rookie who suffered a season-ending injury in his final season of college, appears to be back to close to full health. He caught four of his six targets for 67 yards in Week 3, leading his team in receiving against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The first-year pro was touted as an excellent yards-after-catch threat coming out of college, and he made one highlight play in particular that cemented that belief. He caught a well-timed pass on a slant route and took it down the field for an explosive gain.
Chris Bell showing off his speed 💨@KCvsMIA on CBS/Paramount+
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/tNbGIYPEGf— NFL (@NFL) September 27, 2026
At 6-foot-2 and 228 pounds, he looks like a tank with the ball in his hands. Perhaps Miami will continue feeding him short-area targets that let him run after the catch, in which case he'll be a solid pickup for a bench stash. WR Caleb Douglas (ankle) was out with an ankle injury in Week 3, but Bell should be a starting receiver for this team even when Douglas returns.
Deeper Wide Receiver Fantasy Football Pickups
Ted Hurst III, Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 7% rostered
Hurst caught his first touchdown of his budding NFL career in Week 3 against the Minnesota Vikings. It was his only catch on three targets, but he made it count, sprinting 40 yards to the end zone in his team's loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
Ted Hurst III's first career TD 🗣️@MINvsTB on FOX/FOX One
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/vwmtGgBFFi— NFL (@NFL) September 27, 2026
Hurst's playing time is impossible to ignore -- he played 75 percent of his team's offensive snaps once again. He's playing in the X receiver role and is in the field far too much not to be rostered in fantasy football leagues moving forward. Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield has struggled and will miss time with a thumb injury, but Hurst could see more targets moving forward.
Darnell Mooney, New York Giants - 5% rostered
Mooney is competing with rookie wideout Malachi Fields for the WR2 job for the Giants, and so far, it looks like the former Falcon has a chance. He was targeted just three times while Fields drew two targets, but it was a miserable passing day for the offense overall.
In a low-scoring affair with the Tennessee Titans in Week 3, Giants quarterback Jameis Winston threw just 22 passes, completing 14 of them for 118 yards and zero touchdowns. It's hard for any receiver to have success in such a game.
Jameis Winston tackles Cam Skattebo on the goal line 😭 pic.twitter.com/TQzuQLPQQ3
— Football Performances (@NFLPerformances) September 27, 2026
The rain-soaked game was filled with mishaps. Just a few seasons ago, though, Winston was one of the best fantasy talent elevators in the NFL, evidenced by the insane Jerry Jeudy run. So picking up Mooney makes sense in deeper leagues to try to ride that wave.
Tory Horton, Seattle Seahawks - 4% rostered
Horton got his starting quarterback back on the field for Week 3—Sam Darnold finished the game this time, unlike in Week 1, when he left with a glute injury. Horton exploited the weak Washington Commanders pass defense to the tune of three catches on three targets for 48 yards.
You can throw out the first two weeks for him. It appears that he is challenging WR Rashid Shaheed for the WR2 role in Seattle -- many believed that Shaheed would be the clear second priority in this passing offense, but he hasn't been targeted much yet.
Yeah, that's a dot. Sam Darnold was spinning last night. Tory Horton had a chance for a big one. https://t.co/sqTDFm1365 pic.twitter.com/7wSr4lyb2u
— Dugar, Michael-Shawn (@MikeDugar) September 26, 2025
Horton had more chances for big plays last season, but there were times when he couldn't connect with Darnold. This offense got back on track in a big way in Week 3, though they still lost.
Still, Darnold is productive enough to support two fantasy-relevant pass-catching options. It's just that WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba is so good, and teams still leave him in single coverage so often, that he gets the lion's share of the work. Horton should start getting more involved in the offense, though.
Josh Cameron, Jacksonville Jaguars - 0% rostered
We might be getting the final signals that wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter is destined to play almost exclusively on defense for a good period of time. Those signals came in the form of wide receiver Josh Cameron playing a season-high 37 percent of his team's offensive snaps and Hunter running very few routes.
Cameron now has two touchdowns in three weeks of play, and though he scored 0.0 PPR fantasy points in Week 2, in deeper leagues you have to think he has a chance of a bigger role in case of an injury to one of the team's starting receivers. Additionally, he could start playing more in 3WR sets.
Who Should I Pickup Tool
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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 2026 for at Bryant, Chris Bell, Keenan Allen:
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