Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

I don't think I can remember so many injuries to key players after such a

Quarterbacks

Kirk Cousins, Washington D.C-  RGIII's run with injuries continues as he dislocated his ankle,with the likelihood that he will miss the rest of the season. Cousins came in and immediately looked comfortable in Jay Grudens offense throwing for 250 yards and two scores without turning over the ball. Many were saying he was looking better than RGIII during the preseason so the drop off to Cousins may not be that bad. He did he look terrible last year when he came into play so he's more likely a lowend No.2 QB dependent on matchups. His schedule does look tasty though, he still has all 6 NFC East games left as well as the Titans, Bucs and Colts in Weeks 7,11 and 13 respectfully. In 16-team/2QB leagues he is a must add.

Other QB notes- EJ Manual and Geno Smith have both started well this season but they aren't reliable enough to be valid fantasy options. The Bills are trying to limit the amount of throws Manual because he has been terribly inaccurate and Smith is prone to turnovers and Eric Decker is nursing a hamstring injury as well. Drew Stanton looked bad vs the Giants and despite a good match up this week vs a weak 49ers secondary he can't be trusted yet. In deep leagues he's worth a speculative pickup only because Carson Palmer's nerve injury could keep him out for multiple weeks but he isn't startable.

Running Backs

Knile Davis, Kansas City Chiefs- If the Jamaal Charles owner was foolish enough not to have Davis on their squad then you should capitalise on that mistake. Although Charles high ankle sprain is reported to be not to bad, he could miss a couple of weeks which would make Davis at least a No.2 RB. After going over 100 all purpose yards and scoring two TD's against the Broncos he will face a Dolphins defense who let the Bills run over 100 yards against them. They also have one of the worst LB corps in the NFL despite spending big money on that position last offseason. With the Chiefs short of any receiving threat outside of TE Travis Kelce, Andy Reid is going to use his RB's a lot in the passing game.

Ahmad Bradshaw, Indianapolis Colts- MNF last night just reiterated to the world what we already knew about Trent Richardson, he's just not good. Two fumbles from him may result in Pep Hamilton giving more of the carries to the better back in Bradshaw who had a great game with 96 all purpose yards yards and two receiving TD's. Bradshaw probably won't last the season as he is injury prone but he offers a far superior week by week fantasy option then Richardson will. Bradshaw now becomes a good flex option 12 team leagues and a low end No.2 option in PPR. The Colts also have two good match ups vs the Jags and the Titans so take the chance because you know Richardson is not going to get it done.

Donald Brown, San Diego Chargers, Khiry Robinson New Orleans Saints- There are few things more consistent than Ryan Matthews and Mark Ingram getting injured during the season. This year it came very early with both suffering injuries which will knock them out for at least a month. This leaves the featured back role open in two good offenses. Both Brown and Robinson become automatic RB3/flex options with RB2 upside. Danny Woodhead and Pierre Thomas will siphon off carries on 3rd down but that still leaves a lot of work for these two. Robinson has a great three matches coming up-  vs Vikings, @ Cowboys, vs Buccaneers. Yes please.

Bob Rainey, Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Despite Rainey going crazy against the Rams for 144 yards on 6.5 ypc he isn't in an ideal situation. The Bucs offensive line could be the worst in the league and Doug Martin is slated to come back soon from his knee injury. Rainey does get to face the Falcons defense this week that allowed the Bengals to run for 170 yards and two scores. Pick him up if you are in need of a desperation play this week but don't expect much going forward.

Other RB notes- The hyped Dolphins running game is falling apart before it got going, losing Knowshon Moreno and Lamar Miller to injury this week. They resigned Daniel Thomas but he is not worth a pick up despite facing the Chiefs at home this week. Jeremy Hill is worth a stash on your roster if he's available. Could be a good flex option with the way the Bengals are run blocking and the injuries at wide receiver. If Bernard goes down he is a No.1 RB. Isaiah Crowell should also be owned in every league despite Terrance West carrying the most for the Browns at the moment. Crowell looks good when he touches the ball. If there is an injury to West he would also be a low end No 1 RB with upside.

Wide Receivers

Mohammed Sanu, Cincinaati Bengals- AJ Green is looking like he is out for this weeks game, along with Marvin Jones out with a broken foot which means Sanu is the next best option. They play the Titans who struggled to contain the Cowboys last week. Their best CB Jason McCourty also got injured which would help Sanu as well.

Andrew Hawkins, Cleveland Browns- If he's still on waivers in your PPR leagues then he should be the No.1 priority. TE Jordan Camerons injury has meant Hawkins is the go to guy for sort yardage throws for Hoyer. Guaranteed 8-12 targets a game and he can get open in short spaces.

Brian Quick, St Louis Rams- One of the biggest surprises fantasy wise has that Quick has looked good these first 2 games after two years of nothing. Austin Davis is throwing his way often. He's worth a look as a bye week replacement in the future.

Davante Adams, Green Bay Packers- That's two weeks now that Jarrett Boykin looked bad after only grabbing one catch for 5 yards against a poor Jets secondary. Rookie Adams though picked up 5 for 50 and had a couple of good runs after the catch. Maybe the Packers turn to Adams sooner than expected. He's worth a pickup as the No.3 WR spot on the Packers has been a viable flex option recently.

Andre Roberts, Washington D.C- If DeSean Jackson continues too struggle with his shoulder injury that knocked him out last weekend Roberts could see an up tick in targets. A good route runner and safe hands Cousins might get a connection going.

Other WR notes- Allen Robinson and Cecil Shorts could be the starting WR's for the Jags for the foreseeable future. Add them but don't expect much from them until they start Blake Bortles and sort out the O Line woes. James Jones had a great box score but he got most of his fantasy points in garbage time. Stay away from this Raiders offense, especially with them travelling to the Patriots this week.

Tight Ends 

Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs- He should have been picked up last week but he's still available in the majority of fantasy redraft leagues. The Chiefs have to realise he is the only deep ball threat in this offense and they need to get him the ball more then four times. He's facing a Miami Dolphins D who don't have a LB to cover his speed, so if Andy Reid doesn't screw this up he could be in for a good game.

Niles Paul, Washinton D.C- 8 catches for 99 yards and a TD. I think it's safe to say that Cousins trusts Paul. Jordan Redd isn't returning from injury anytime soon so add Paul with confidence.

Larry Donnell, N.Y Giants- It really says something about the woes of the Giants right now that a TE we didn't know exist two weeks ago is Eli Manning's most reliable target right now. Donnell is going to get targets which is all you can ask for from a waiver wire TE. A high end No.2 TE right now if this continues.


Other TE notes- If you are desperate Owen Daniels could be pickup in a Gary Kubiak system which uses 2 TE sets a lot in and targets them in the red zone.

Happy waiver wire hunting!