2024 NFL Week 3 Waiver Wire

Welcome to the Week 3 Waiver Wire! It’s hard to believe we’re already heading into the third week of the NFL season, but here we are. But before jumping right into waivers, I wanted to go over something that has been on my mind given the amount of injuries we’ve seen this week.

This week we suffered a litany of injuries. Isiah Pacheco, Deebo Samuel, AJ Brown, and Cooper Kupp all suffered injuries in Week 2 or leading up to it. Christian McCaffrey was put on IR mid-week. Tua Tagovailoa suffered a concussion which could put him out for multiple weeks on Thursday night football, affecting teams with him and Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, De’Von Achane, and any other Dolphins offensive player. We’ve already been dealing with injuries to guys like Puka Nacua and Jordan Love. 🩼🤕 

🏥 When Stars Get Hurt 🏥 

It’s easy to become discouraged when your star player goes out and feels like your fantasy season is over before it even starts. You researched all off-season, watched preseason practice reports, drafted a great team, and now? It’s gone. At least that’s what you might think. Take care not to be incredibly negative. This game is supposed to be fun.

So what do you do when you get bit by the injury bug? You keep pressing on. Remember, when you’re dealing with injuries of some sort, it’s likely your league mates are too. Maybe not everyone, but some of them certainly are. It’s not hopeless. That’s what the waiver wire is for. It’s unlikely you’ll find someone who is a one-for-one replacement for the guy you lost, but that doesn’t mean you stop trying to improve your team. That’s why it’s important to attack the waiver wire early on in the season, that’s where you usually find the gems that make the most impact (such as what J.K. Dobbins is becoming).

Keep pushing, stay the course. Just compete as best you can. You never know what will happen on a given Sunday.

Let’s hit the waiver wire.

Week 2 Waiver Targets

• QB: Derek Carr vs PHI, Sam Darnold vs HOU, Geno Smith vs MIA, Andy Dalton @ LV

• RB: Samaje Perine and Carson Steele @ ATL, Braelon Allen vs NE, Rico Dowdle vs BAL

• WR: Quinten Johnston @ PIT, Alec Pierce vs CHI, Jalen Nailor vs HOU, Josh Reynolds @ TB, Wan’Dale Robinson @ CLE, Jauan Jennings @ LAR, Jordan Whittington vs SF

• TE: Mike Gesicki vs WAS, Zach Ertz @ CIN, Hunter Henry @ NYJ

Carr has been on fire to start the year even with limited passing attempts. There’s no way he keeps up this type of efficiency but ride the wave while you can. Darnold has been remade in Minnesota and despite my preseason doubts, I must adjust. Houston isn’t a great matchup but if Jefferson plays, I’m ok with Darnold. Geno gets a decent matchup against a struggling Miami defense that just gave up a boatload of points to the Bills on Thursday night football. Andy Dalton takes over for a Carolina offense that might have some potential if he still “has it” and he showed some flashes last year. Here’s to hoping the Red Rifle is still a straight shooter.

🏹 Samaje Perine is my preferred pickup among the Chiefs backfield over Carson Steele. Perine is the veteran back who has a pass-catching upside on a team with Super Bowl aspirations. To think they are going to trust a rookie (yes Pacheco was a rookie when they won a Super Bowl, but Steele isn’t Pacheco) fullback with a major workload I think is a bit of a stretch. and I think this will be more of a committee. Steele should get the short-yardage work and potentially goal-line opportunities as well, so I’m not completely fading him. He’s a fine pickup as well, I just prefer Perine.

Braelon Allen may not be the lead back in New York but if he keeps getting a decent workload he could be an interesting RB3 option. Dowdle is becoming more and more involved every week, though it is fair to wonder if that was due to the Cowboys being blown out. Still, he’s been better than Ezekiel Elliott and could earn additional work. 🤠 

There are a lot of receivers to choose from. QJ might be the Chargers WR1, or it’s Ladd McConkey. One scored this week, one scored last week. With the passing volume so low, it’s hard to trust either. Still, QJ has had a decent amount of targets in both games and is worth a flier. 🐴 Pierce might be irrelevant if Downs returns but might be an interesting deep threat even after his return. Reynolds looks like the top target for Bo Nix and might be my favorite pickup here behind Wan’Dale Robinson. Nailor gets a bump if Jefferson misses. Wan’Dale is the clear WR2 and No.2 target in the Giants’ offense behind Malik Nabers and is getting decent opportunities to score fantasy points. Jennings and Whittington both have injuries ahead of them, which could open up some work for them and they are worth a shot in deeper leagues. 🐏 

For tight ends, don’t overreact to Hunter Henry. If you need a TE, he could be just fine or revert back to three catches for 20 yards. 🐅 Mike Gesicki would be my top target at TE this week. He should have had a TD against the Patriots according to the NFL, and he had a great game against Kansas City on Sunday. Ertz has a solid role in Washington and is a fine start if you are disappointed with your tight end like the rest of your league is.