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Michael Florio's deeper-league waiver wire pickups and fantasy football sleepers for Week 4. His top free agent options for 14-team fantasy leagues or deeper.
Welcome back you deeper league players. This is a safe place for you. There will be no judgement here just because you are looking to pickup players that some of your friends may never had heard of.
For those of you who are not familiar, this is not an article for the casual players, but rather for you that enjoy going deeper on the waiver wire to improve your fantasy teams.
This article will give weekly targets for fantasy players in 14, 16, 18 team leagues or deeper. Good luck searching the waiver wire this week!
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Deeper League Waiver Wire Adds
Taylor Heinicke finished Week 3 as a QB1, but he is still widely available in the majority of fantasy leagues. He finished with 212 yards, two passing touchdowns, two interceptions and 21 rushing yards plus a touchdown. The rushing numbers are what propelled him into the QB1 range for the week. You cannot expect that rushing output weekly, but it is in his bag of tricks. He has now topped the 20-fantasy point margin two weeks in a row and faces the Falcons in Week 4. He is the top deep league streaming option.
Chuba Hubbard is the big pickup in all leagues, but that includes deeper ones as well. Hubbard played 39 percent of the snaps in relief of Christian McCaffrey in Week 4, seeing 11 carries and five targets. That is 16 opportunities in a game where he played a little over a half as the lead back. That is how valuable the RB role in the Panthers offense is. This is not the first we have seen of that either. Last year when CMC was injured Mike Davis finished as an RB1 because he had 70 targets. Due to McCaffrey’s unique skillset the Panthers have a ton of designed pass plays for the RB and they are simply not going to revamp their entire playbook on the fly. Hubbard should be in store for a ton of volume these next few weeks while McCaffrey is recovering from his hamstring strain.
Royce Freeman is the new number two back in Carolina. Did you read all the reasons above as to why Hubbard is the top waiver add, regardless of league size? Well, basically copy and past the reasons as to why Freeman should also be added. Hubbard was clearly the lead back in Week 2 and he was the first RB off the bench all preseason and season, after Carolina drafted him in the fourth round of the NFL Draft. But still, they claimed Freeman off waivers after Denver cut him this summer. He played 10 snaps in Week 3 but saw five carries and one target, finishing with 25 yards. He is worth taking a shot on while CMC is out, as he is a Hubbard injury or poor performance away from being the lead back in a very favorable situation.
Giovani Bernard led the Bucs in snaps with 45 percent in Week 3. He did not see a carry, but that is fine because Tom Brady led the Bucs with 14 rushing yards, while he and Chris Godwin had the rushing touchdowns. Bernard did excel in the passing game though. He tied for the team lead with 10 targets, catching nine of them for 51 yards and a touchdown. Tampa Bay, meet your version of James White. Its worth mentioning that the Bucs were trialing throughout in Week 3, and that won’t be the case each week. But, given this strong performance, with the fact that Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette have really struggled to get going this year, Bernard should be instore for more consistent work moving forward. He is definitely worth adding in anything deeper than 12-team leagues.
Peyton Barber not Kenyan Drake had himself a day in Week 3. He carried the ball 23 times for 111 yards and a touchdown, while also being targeted five times, catching three for 31 yards. I mean, Barber getting 28 opportunities and going for 142 yards and a score is enough to warrant taking a flier on in deeper leagues. If Josh Jacobs returns Barber becomes unstartable, but Jacobs is often banged up, so its worth stashing Barber for the time being.
Carlos Hyde carried the ball eight times for 44 yards while playing a third of the snaps in Week 3. That usage is not the best, but he has a consistent role in this offense and is a James Robinson injury away from being the lead back on this offense. He is not worth rostering in 12-team leagues, but anything deeper and he comes into play.
Larry Rountree III only carried the ball four times for three yards, so you may be scratching your head as to why he is included in this article. But, he did play multiple snaps at the one-yard line, including getting a carry where he was stuffed. He is not worth starting yet, but that kind of usage warrants a flier in deeper leagues.
Kadarius Toney and Collin Johnson are suddenly in play after Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton both left Week 3 with hamstring injuries. Toney playde 66 percent of the snaps, the second-most among Giants receivers, with three targets, catching two for 16 yards. Toney is raw, but he is explosive especially with the ball in his hands after the catch. With the Giants thin at receiver, do not be surprise if they have more designed plays for the rookie this week. Johnson played 47 percent of the snaps and saw seven targets, which tied Saquon Barkley for the most of the team. He caught five of them for 51 yards. Both are in play as sleepers in deeper formats weekly.
Zach Pascal needs to be added in more leagues so I can stop writing about him weekly. Pascal did not score a touchdown this week, but he did see a season-high seven targets. His targets have now increased in every game this season, with at least five in each. Plus, he leads the NFL with six endzone targets, which is enough to warrant adding him in deeper formats.
DeSean Jackson had five targets, catching three for 120 yards and a touchdown. Van Jefferson was targeted six times, catching four for 42 yards. We have seen each of these two catch long touchdown passes from Matthew Stafford and will both clearly be involved splitting snaps as the third receiver. Both are a bit boom-or-bust, but given the high upside in this offense, they should be rostered in deep leagues.
Nick Westbrook-Ikhine was only targeted four times, but he did catch all four for 53 yards and a touchdown, while leading the Titans receivers in snaps (77 percent). A.J. Brown is dealing with a hamstring strain and Julio Jones oddly only played 51 percent of the snaps in Week 3. It could lead to more volume for NWI in Week 4 against the Jets.
Kendrick Bourne saw eight targets, catching six for 96 yards and a touchdown. He will be a boom-or-bust option weekly, but the volume is hard to ignore in deep leagues. Take a shot on the volume he saw in Week 3 and if he sees around the same in Week 4, rejoice. If his volume drops, you can take a new flier on the waiver wire.
Tyler Conklin had eight targets in Week 3, catching seven for 70 yards and a touchdown. The Vikings have a very concentrated passing game, but the tight end has typically been involved in years past. Conklin is the new starter in Minnesota and given the landscape of the tight end position, you just cannot ignore the usage and production that Conklin gave us in Week 3.
Dawson Knox has seen his fantasy points increase in every game this season, with at least eight points in all three games. He has had four catches and over 40 yards in two games and has scored a touchdown in the last two games as well. He is giving you around 10 fantasy points per game which is all you can ask for a tight end in deeper formats. For those tight end needy teams, take a flier on Knox.
Pat Freiermuth scored a touchdown in Week 3 with all of the Steelers starting receivers banged up. Freiermuth was targeted five times in Week 3, catching three for 22 yards and the touchdown. He out targeted Eric Ebron, five to three in Week 3 as well. Freiermuth is a big bodied tight end that will clearly be used in the red zone, judging by how they have used him early this season and in the preseason. It’s tough to trust rookie tight ends, but in deeper formats, Freiermuth is worth taking a shot with the Steelers so banged up.
Follow Michael Florio on Twitter, @MichaelFFlorio.
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