Week 4 Adds, Drops, Buys, and Sells
What a week! Week 3 was exhilarating but the turnaround is quick. Waivers are running and we have championship rosters to build. With that in mind, here are the adds, drops, buys, and sells to consider making in Week 4.
START/SIT ASSIST | TRADE CALCULATOR
Buy Marquise Brown
What a day it was for Marquise Brown. The dude dropped three balls that would’ve gone for massive plays, leaving his fantasy managers outraged. This is our opportunity to strike and take advantage of the frustration he caused. Drops happen. He had a bad game. But the usage was very encouraging and it’s exciting to think about what his day would have looked like had he not eaten butterfingers before the game. Brown has seen target shares of 20-percent, 38-percent, and 23-percent to start the season. He was fourth in air yards (161) in Week 3 with over 30-percent of the team’s share. Buy the opportunities, better days are coming.
Buy Saquon Barkley
Saquon Barkley is still Saquon Barkley. We expected a slow start to the season but he’s showing us he’s still pre-injury Saquon. After two rough weeks to start the season, the buy window is still open. He has played over 80-percent of the snaps in each of the last two weeks and he saw a target share of 20-percent in Week 3. He’s getting the passing game usage we need from him, and he saw work at the goal line as well. Wheels up.
Add JJ Taylor
James White went down in Week 3 with a hip injury that will keep him out multiple weeks and could possibly end his season. Taylor was a preseason star, show off his 78th-percentile agility (PlayerProfiler) as a pass-catching specialist out of the backfield. Don’t pour a ton of FAAB into acquiring him, he’s not a priority add. It may take some time before he seizes the full James White role in this offense. In relief of White, it was actually Brandon Bolden seeing a big bump in opportunity. Bolden played on 46-percent of the snaps with an 8-percent target share compared to Taylor’s 14-percent and 4-percent. However, the upside lies with Taylor as we’ve seen Bolden in spurts before and he has never shown he can be fantasy relevant. Taylor is a speculative add worth about 1-percent of your budget.
Sell Damien Harris
Damien Harris’ snap shares through three weeks: 53%, 41%, and 31%. He saw his lowest in a game where James White went down. It’s not good. There’s no indication that his role will increase at all with White out, either as it was Brandon Bolden seeing the majority of the snaps and targets after the injury. Harris still only saw just 4-percent of the targets. He is looking extremely game script-dependent on a team that looks like it will have a lot of negative game script. Not good.
Sell Ty’Son Williams
Ty’Son Williams is still seeing about half the snaps in the Baltimore backfield. That’s the good news. The bad news is he stinks. Williams needs a heavy volume role to reach startable fantasy numbers. He may see that some weeks, but the Ravens clearly want to keep both Latavius Murray and Devonta Freeman involved. Le’Veon Bell is still lingering on the practice squad as well. His target share has declined every week and he was out-touched by Latavius Murray 7-5 in Week 3. I’m not saying Williams won’t be productive, he will. But he is looking like a headache for fantasy managers and has zero upside. If you can get a fair deal for him, I’d happily pass him off to someone else.
Sell Chase Claypool
You shouldn’t have been drafting Steelers wide receivers, but if you did, it’s time to get out. I listed the Steelers receivers here as a sell after Week 1 and the last two weeks have done nothing but prove me right. Ben Roethlisberger is absolute dust and he’s bringing the wideouts down with him. Of course Diontae Johnson and Juju Smith-Schuster are banged up right now so you might not be able to sell. But Chase Claypool is coming off a nine-catch, 96-yard performance leaving the buying window open. I’m begging you to sell now. This situation is only going to get worse.
Add Chuba Hubbard
Chuba Hubbard is the top waiver priority of the week. Christian McCaffrey injured his hamstring on Thursday night football, leaving the rookie atop the depth chart. Hubbard stepped in and out-snapped Royce Freeman 40-11 with a 15-percent target share. The Panthers have said they won’t be putting McCaffrey on injured reserve, meaning they don’t expect him to miss more than two games. However, two weeks of RB1 upside is worth about half of your FAAB budget if you need the production—even more in deeper leagues.
Buy Stefon Diggs
The fantasy community took a collective sigh of relief after 2020 Josh Allen finally returned in Week 3. The accuracy was back and Allen found the end zone on the ground. However, it was Emmanuel Sanders who was the big beneficiary in this one, leaving the buy window open for Stefon Diggs. Diggs is third in the NFL in air yards and has a 26.5-percent target share after three weeks. He’s seeing down-field targets, they’ve just yet to connect. They will, though. Buy before it happens because it’s going to be soon.
Add Zack Moss
Zack Moss returned to the active gameday roster last week and then took over the backfield this week. Moss led Bills running backs in snaps with a 56-percent rate while Devin Singletary received a season-low 43%. This is still not a very appealing backfield but Moss is the more talented of the two and he’ll have opportunities in one of the league’s best offenses.
Add Emmanuel Sanders
I don’t like to repeat transactions in back-to-back weeks but I’m making an exception here. More to just say I told you so than anything. The indicators were there for Sanders in the first two weeks as he was receiving targets and seeing a lot of air yards. It all came together in Week three for five catches, 94 yards, and two touchdowns. I told you.
Add Dawson Knox
It’s a complete Bills takeover! Dawson Knox is quietly sitting as the TE8 right now. He has run more routes than Cole Beasley over the last two weeks as his target share has been steadily on the rise. He has been on the field a ton too, with a snap share of 80.5-percent over the last two games. Knox isn’t a high-end, must-start guy but at a position that is basically a wasteland after the top-six or so, it’s not bad to have a guy who is on the field a ton in one of the best passing offenses in the NFL.
Buy Brandon Aiyuk
Brandon Aiyuk is back. I don’t know what those first two weeks were all about, but Aiyuk was clearly back in the good graces in Week 3. He played on a season-high 86-percent of the snaps and saw a 15-percent target share. Things should only go up from here.
Buy Michael Pittman
Michael Pittman has quietly emerged as the alpha in Indy. He has seen a third of the Colts targets over the last two weeks. He was also top-10 in air yards in Week 2. He’s yet to find the end zone which means he should be attainable at a reasonable price from someone who doesn’t realize how heavily he’s been involved.
Add Nelson Agholor
Nelson Agholor has been dropped in a lot of leagues after a quiet start to the season. While I’m not looking to heavily invest in the Patriots offense, especially the passing game, but Agholor was second in the league in air yards in Week 2. The Patriots will have a get-right opportunity against a struggling Bucs secondary in Week 4, a game they’ll likely be playing from behind.
Add Rashod Bateman
Rashod Bateman is expected to return to practice this week. Bateman looked excellent in training camp before his injury and the Ravens are being forced to pass a bit more this season. It may still be another week or two before he gets game action, but he’s worth a stash if you can afford the roster spot.
Add Curtis Samuel
Another guy who is expected to return from injured reserve soon is Curtis Samuel. Samuel was being drafted as a high-end WR3 before his injury. The Washington offense has struggled to find a second WR behind Terry McLaurin. Samuel should step in and take that opportunity as soon as he’s back. Stash him if you can.
Hold Rondale Moore
Rondale Moore was the waiver wire add of the week last week but he flopped against Jacksonville. Instead, it was A.J. Green rising from the dead to put up 112 yards. Moore looked excellent in the first two weeks and is worth holding as we can expect more spike weeks to come.
Hold Justin Fields
What. A. Disaster. Justin Fields and the whole Bears offense looked completely lost in Week 3. But Fields is worth holding for another week if he gets the opportunity to start against a bad Lions defense. Hopefully some lessons were learned from the Cleveland game and we’ll get a better showing. He’s worth one more look.
Add Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Like Emmanuel Sanders, the indicators were there for MVS, it was just a matter of time. He may be volatile, but he will produce a number of spike weeks over the course of the season. He’ll be particularly helpful as we work through the bye weeks.
Buy Brandin Cooks
Brandin Cooks is third in the league in receiving yards. He has seen target shares if 21-percent, 48-percent, and 39-percent to start the season. It doesn’t matter who is playing quarterback, Cooks is going to feast. While you’re buying high, the price may still be reasonable given the stench of the Houston offense.
Buy DJ Chark
The Jaguars are bad. Really, really bad. But they’re passing a lot and Chark is seeing targets. If you need a WR3 that you can get at a good price with a decent floor and high ceiling, Chark is a good target. And because he plays in Jacksonville, you won’t have to give up a whole lot.
