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Week 3 fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Chris Rodriguez Jr., Miles Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell in 2025. Read their waiver wire outlooks for fantasy football.
The waiver wire is a bit thin this week in terms of quality running backs. Outside of Austin Ekeler (Achilles), we haven't seen many injuries to starting running backs (knock on wood) so far this year. That makes options on waivers a bit limited.
However, there are a few potentially intriguing targets available to gamers this week. Chris Rodriguez Jr., Miles Sanders, and Kenneth Gainwell are three players who might be worth adding. You might need to squint to see the path to relevancy for each player, but they might be useful to managers whose running back room is in trouble.
So, are Rodriguez, Sanders, and Gainwell worth adding off the waiver wire in Week 3? Let's take a few minutes and discuss.
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Chris Rodriguez Jr. Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups
Rostered: 4% of Leagues
Baller Move: Stash in 12-14+ Team Leagues
Rodriguez has been a healthy scratch for Washington's first two games of the year. That will likely change following the season-ending Achilles injury suffered by Ekeler.
#Commanders RB Austin Ekeler has, in fact, torn his Achilles, the MRI confirmed. He’s out for the 2025 season. pic.twitter.com/GRFkmc9bzp
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 13, 2025
Rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt is now in line to take over RB1 duties. However, he may not function in a pass-catching role as Croskey-Merritt ranks 38th in PFF's pass-blocking grade. That will make it difficult to secure a role as a pass-catcher.
Rodriguez was a popular sleeper during the 2023 NFL Draft. He does not profile as a pass-catcher either, but there was a report earlier this summer that Rodriguez might function as the team's goal-line back. With Ekeler sidelined, there is a chance Rodriguez takes over this role. However, we should probably expect Croskey-Merritt to take over as the team's goal-line back.
That means managers should consider Rodriguez as a potential handcuff to Croskey-Merritt. Rodriguez probably won't carry any standalone value, but he's a good add in deeper leagues.
Mile Sanders Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups
Rostered: 2% of Leagues
Baller Move: Stash in 14+ Team Leagues
Sanders only played 22% of offensive snaps in Dallas' victory over the New York Giants. However, he functioned as the clear RB2 behind starter Javonte Williams and even found the endzone.
Miles Sanders gives the Cowboys the lead!
NYGvsDAL on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/WPyA5EIhjd
— NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2025
Rookie Jaydon Blue was inactive for the second straight week. This allowed Sanders to maintain the RB2 role. That is a noteworthy development because Sanders had a key fumble in Dallas' Week 1 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles that may have cost the team a victory. Dallas opting to make Blue inactive and keep Sanders as the RB2 suggests the coaching staff still has plenty of faith in Sanders.
Williams has played surprisingly well through the first two games of the season, totaling 151 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns. Some of Williams' advanced metrics are also quite good, so it's unlikely we see Sanders supplant him as the team's RB1 anytime soon.
However, as long as Blue is a healthy scratch, Sanders is the clear handcuff to Williams. That makes him a viable bench stash in the event of a Williams injury.
Kenneth Gainwell Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups
Rostered: 8% of Leagues
Baller Move: Stash in 12-14+ Team Leagues
Gainwell led all Steelers running backs in snaps in Week 1. However, things were different this week as Jaylen Warren outsnapped Gainwell this past Sunday. Warren made the most of his opportunities and totaled 134 scrimmage yards on 18 touches.
Jaylen Warren went crazy on this catch and run 🔥
SEAvsPIT on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/fKSeR78pKg
— NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2025
Gainwell only totaled 36 yards on eight touches. While he wasn't too far behind Warren in terms of offensive snaps, he was clearly behind Warren in the pecking order for touches.
Rookie Kaleb Johnson had a bone-headed mistake on a kickoff that led to a Seattle Seahawks touchdown and dramatically changed the game. That mistake could make the Steelers' coaching staff hesitant to trust Johnson in future situations on offense. It also means that Gainwell's role as the RB2 seems secure for the time being.
Offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is known for occasionally playing shenanigans with players' deployment. Warren outsnapped Gainwell this week, but that could change at any moment.
Regardless, it appears Gainwell is clearly behind Warren on the depth chart, but he might carry some value in deeper leagues. Consider Gainwell the preferred Warren handcuff with possible standalone value as a pass-catching back.
Who Should I Pickup Tool
Trying to decide who to pickup off the waiver wire? Check the Who Should I Pickup tool here:
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to pickup...
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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 Chris Rodriguez Jr., Miles Sanders, Kenneth Gainwell:
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