Waiver Wire Pickups for Week 4

Article Written by Gordo

So last week it seemed like everyone and their mother was heavy on Kihry Robinson RB of the Saints, and I cautiously reminded everyone that Pierre Thomas was still there and would take the lead role. Well his first week without Mark Ingram and Robinson performed marginally as maybe a flex play in PPR formats while Pierre Thomas scored the lone rushing TD and just barely out performed Robinson. To some this is being totted as a "Red Herring" but I'm not buying it. The Saints need to win right now and gain control of their division, they had lots of success with Pierre Thomas last season in a Sproles like role and I would expect the same to happen while Ingram is sidelined. Also, let's not forget how the Saints manage their past RBs; Reggie Bush, Darren Sproles, Pierre Thomas, Chris Ivory, Mark Ingram, and now Khiry Robinson. Either Thomas or Robinson will be interesting flex plays this week against Dallas though but you might be able to aim higher, just see for yourself. But enough about the Saints, lets look at who might be worth checking out this week.

I took the liberty of collecting the waiver pick lists from various mainstream channels (ie. Yahoo, ESPN, and NFL.com) and provided my own take on the value and likelihood of any of these players adding value to your roster. 

It's the first week of bye weeks and boy is it a big one; these teams are out of commission: Denver, Arizona, Seattle, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Cleveland. Without these teams many leading players at all positions will be out of your lineup. To give you a sense of where I'm coming from, I'm a bit conservative when it comes to managing my team. So, I typically pass on the rare breakout, future stud, players that often get picked up in that wave of flavor of the week picks.

Week 4 Waiver Wire Picks

Quarterbacks

Kirk Cousins - QB - WAS

Blake Bortles - QB - JAX

Teddy Bridgewater - QB - MIN

As I said last week, scoop up Cousins ASAP. He had another solid FF performance against the Eagles and this week he's going up against an equally soft secondary (IMO) with the Giants. I'll give the NYG some credit though as they picked off the Texans three times and sacked the QB twice. Kirck Cousins is definitely out performing Ryan Fitzpatrick though so I wouldn't count him out based on the Giants' performance last week. Blake Bortles...is in JAX; see last weeks post if that doesn't mean anything to you. Teddy Bridgewater is an interesting option simply because he's far more athletic than Matt Cassel is/was. The question is, how will he fair against ATL? If you have the room on your bench and seem to have a hard-on for this guy then by all means toss him on your roster and see how it goes. As for me?  ...I'll be waiting to see where he goes from here.

Running Backs

Lorenzo Taliaferro - RB - BAL

James Starks - RB - GB

Alfred Blue - RB - HOU

Lamar Miller - RB - MIA

Jeremy Hill - RB - CIN

Bishop Sankey - RB - TEN

Donald Brown - RB - SD

Bobby Rainey - RB - TB

Knile Davis - RB - KC

Kihry Robinson - RB - NO

Ahmad Bradshaw - RB - IND

Brandon Oliver - RB - SD

Jerick McKinnon - RB - MIN

Isaiah Crowell - RB - CLE

Well as expected Bradshaw, Brown, Rainey, Hill, and Davis all out performed Kihry Robinson, at least in PPR formats. I'll make this simple for everyone: Ahmad Bradshaw has been the most consistent flex option out of this list. And, with the injury to Danny Woodhead, Donald Brown is looking good as a flex option versus JAX. May even be an RB2 this week. Pay no mind to Brandon Oliver until you see him take a few snaps on game day. The same goes for Jerick McKinnon over in MIN. Although Asiata is technically a FB, he can still move the ball and catch if needed, so I'd avoid the gamble there. Both Terrance West and Isaiah Crowell are producing every week that Tate's been absent so I say toss them into your Flex if available. Knile Davis is facing the return of Jamaal Charles so his future is a bit cloudy. The same could be said about the RBBC situation in BAL, MIA, TEN, TB, and NO. Aside from Bradshaw and D. Brown, the remaining options just don't have as much upside due to their circumstances of sharing work or their next matchup. Starks and Lacy will both have issues in Chicago, Taliaferro is exciting but he's just a rookie, and Alfred Blue needs support from the passing game and faces the return of Arian Foster. Jeremy Hill continues to pick up the slack from AJ Green and Eifert dealing with injuries and missed time. Bishop Sankey needs to have a couple break out games to steal the starting spot from Greene, and Rainey is just on a bad team. Do what you want but I would shoot for Bradshaw, Hill, and Brown. If that doesn't workout, roll the dice on Taliaferro, Blue, or Robinson. Sankey is not a waiver wire pick in my book because of how highly ranked he was during drafts. He went in the middle rounds in all of my leagues so if he's available I see him as a "what the heck" flex play during bye weeks. There have been other guys mentioned on different sites but those picks are reaching a little too far right now.

Wide Receivers

Jordan Matthews - WR - PHI

Kelvin Benjamin - WR - CAR

Andrew Hawkins - WR - CLE

John Brown - WR - ARI

Allen Robinson - WR - JAX

Brian Quick - WR - STL

Marvin Jones - WR - CIN

Miles Austin - WR - CLE

I can't believe the WRs being talked about for waivers this week. Kelvin Benjamin was typically drafted in within the mid to late rounds in many of my leagues due to his raw talent and limited or rather, non-existent competition. If Benjamin's available in your league, please be smart and scoop him up. And how Quick-ly we forget. I would say do the opposite for Brian Quick. Most of his effort is on Boom/Bust deep pass plays. If he doesn't get into the endzone then he's worthless. I'm not buying it this week. Give me Hawkins or Austin instead. I love this little nugget of opportunity with Marvin Jones possibly returning after the bye week. With Eifert and Green injured and/or struggling to reach 100% Jones could slide right into place nicely, although Jeremy Hill may lose some PPR value. Jordan Matthews and John Brown had great games but these two are the flavor of the week. They need to prove their worth this week before anyone can really take them seriously. I would roll the dice on Matthews if you're desperate since ARI has a bye week.

Tight Ends

Owen Daniels - TE - BAL

Dwayne Allen - TE - IND

Delanie Walker - TE - TEN

Travis Kelce - TE - KC

Larry Donnell - TE - NYG

Seriously, if you need a bye week filler or injury replacement, these 5 options are fine. All 5 are redzone threats as well as PPR performers. I mean it, you just can't go wrong here. As I said last week, Eli throws to TEs because they're big and Donnell has 18 catches out of 22 targets. Owen Daniels is back with Kubiak in Baltimore and will be taking on TE1 reps after the injury to Dennis Pitta. Walker, Kelce, and Allen just look good even if they are averaging between 5-8 pts a game; Walker had a huge game but that only inflates his stats not his value. I'm conservative; I'll take 5 or more pts from a TE any week. It's my QB, WRs, and RBs that need to score chunks of points.

Kickers & D/ST

San Diego - D/ST

Cause they're playing Jacksonville...and as far as kickers go, no one ever says, "We've all made great pick-ups on the waivers from time to time. I grabbed Vick year one. And Kyle Rudolph and Justin Tucker (Kicker) this year." Then only to argue, "Yeah, Ziggy, a waiver wire pick-up that gets back-to-back 16 point games and doubles the typical score at his position is a good pick-up, even if it's a kicker." Right? No, that would be dumb.

Well I hope this puts things into perspective for you for week 4. Again, don't blame me for any failures this week either. It's a game of chance and risk management so get used to it.