We all know that keeping tabs on the waiver wire is crucial to having a successful fantasy team. Whether you’re filling a void due to injury (Kenny Britt) or simply looking to swap out a guy who can’t catch a wide open TD pass (Ochocinco), you never want to miss a chance to improve your roster. Simply put, being a waiver wire master can make the difference between winning and losing your league.
That’s why for this version of Featured Pros, we’re asking our top 10 most accurate experts to pick this week’s best waiver targets. We’ve given the experts a list of RB & WR pick-ups and asked them to rank each player based off of value for the rest of the season. The output of all the expert picks is a set of Consensus Waiver Wire rankings for your viewing pleasure.
Before we get to the lists, here are the top experts that participated and their accuracy rank (out of over 60 experts) through the first two weeks of the season. You can click their name to follow them on Twitter.
#1. Sigmund Bloom – FootballGuys
#2. John Paulsen – The Fantasy Shrink
#3. Scott Pianowski – Yahoo! Sports
#5. Brad Evans – Yahoo! Sports
#6. Mike Woellert – FantasyFootball.com
#9. Ken Zalis – Fans Fantasy Football
Consensus RB Waiver Wire Rankings*
| Consensus Rank | Best Rank | Worst Rank | Player |
| 1.1 | 1 | 2 | Roy Helu (WAS) |
| 2.4 | 1 | 4 | Kendall Hunter (SF) |
| 3.3 | 2 | 5 | Bernard Scott (CIN) |
| 3.7 | 2 | 6 | Stevan Ridley (NE) |
| 4.6 | 3 | 5 | Montario Hardesty (CLE) |
| 6.1 | 5 | 8 | DeMarco Murray (DAL) |
| 7.1 | 7 | 8 | Javon Ringer (TEN) |
| 7.6 | 6 | 8 | Alfonso Smith (ARI) |
| 9.0 | 9 | 9 | Chester Taylor (ARI) |
*Note: Only players with less than 40% ownership in Yahoo public leagues were included
RB Rank Order by Expert
Consensus WR Waiver Wire Rankings*
| Consensus Rank | Best Rank | Worst Rank | Player |
| 1.0 | 1 | 1 | Nate Washington (TEN) |
| 2.9 | 2 | 6 | Torrey Smith (BAL) |
| 3.9 | 2 | 8 | Danario Alexander (STL) |
| 5.3 | 2 | 8 | Dane Sanzenbacher (CHI) |
| 5.9 | 3 | 9 | Brandon Gibson (STL) |
| 6.0 | 4 | 8 | Donald Jones (BUF) |
| 6.1 | 5 | 7 | Titus Young (DET) |
| 6.4 | 3 | 10 | Antonio Brown (PIT) |
| 7.7 | 5 | 9 | Victor Cruz (NYG) |
| 9.9 | 9 | 10 | Michael Jenkins (MIN) |
*Note: Only players with less than 40% ownership in Yahoo public leagues were included
WR Rank Order by Expert
Additional Wire Waiver Targets
We also asked each expert to give us 1 or 2 additional guys not on the list we gave them that owners should consider picking up. Here are their recommendations, with the same caveat that each player needs to have less than 40% ownership in Yahoo leagues:
Patrick Crayton (WR – SD) – With Antonio Gates nursing what might be another plantar fascia tear, we have to assume he won’t be a big part of the passing offense going forward. Malcom Floyd is also banged up, so that sets up Crayton to be the #3 option in a strong passing game. Crayton has shown good chemistry and timing with Philip Rivers in the few games they have played together, so the foundation is there for production.
John Paulsen – The Fantasy Shrink
Jacoby Ford (WR – OAK): I’m seeing Ford hit the waiver wire and I understand why. Denarius Moore is the hot name in Oakland right now and Ford is sidelined. But let’s not forget that he caught 21 passes for 433 yards and two TDs over the last eight games of 2010. He also rushed for 107 yards and two scores during that span. He’s reportedly targeting a Week 4 return, so once healthy, he and Moore should make a dangerous duo for the rest of 2011.
Scott Pianowski – Yahoo! Sports
Lee Evans (WR – BAL), Earl Bennet (WR – CHI): Maybe you don’t have to pick them up today, but I’d keep Lee Evans and Earl Bennett on your watch lists – and be ready to jump when they show they’re healthy. Bennett isn’t exactly dealing with the 1980 Chargers when it comes to internal competition, and we know he has a background with Jay Cutler (for the sake of argument, assume that’s a good thing). Evans and Joe Flacco were really clicking in the summer before Evans got hurt.
They look like stiffs today, but in the reshuffled NFL, everything changes from week to week. Stay open minded.
Jacoby Ford (WR – OAK): Ford was a top pre-season sleeper but has missed the first two weeks with a hamstring injury, and rookie Denarius Moore has stolen the spotlight in Oakland. Ford should return shortly (possibly this week) and should jump right back into the starting lineup opposite Moore so long as Al Davis doesn’t force the Darrius Heyward-Bey issue. I love Ford’s big play ability (4.28 speed) with Moore drawing attention on the other side of the field. Opposing defenses will be gearing up to stop the run, and Ford will start burning them for big plays just as soon as the hamstring fully heals. Ford should also be active in the return game for leagues rewarding that.
Honorable Mention: Isaac Redman (RB – PIT) who should be indistinguishable from Rashard Mendenhall should Mendenhall go down.
Steve Smith (WR – PHI): Smith, just two years removed from a 107-catch campaign with the G-Men, is slowly working his way back up the ladder. Last week, he attracted a season-high five targets after being rarely used in Weeks 1 and 2. With Jeremy Maclin hurting and Riley Cooper out, his role within the Eagles’ pass-happy system should continue to expand. Still, he’s one significant injury away from making a major impact in competitive formats.
Delone Carter (RB – IND): At some point, Indy’s rolling beer keg will get tapped. Joe Addai played well last week against Pittsburgh, but considering Indy’s playoff chances minus Peyton are akin to yours truly out-eating Vincent Wilfork, the Colts may go young in a hurry. The schedule isn’t entirely friendly, but with matchups against run generous KC, Atlanta, Carolina and New England left, he could make an impact later in the season. Addai may have the most experience, but Carter has the most talent of any back currently on the Colts roster.
*Editor’s Note: You can take Brad on head to head in this week’s (free) $1,000 Beat the Expert contest
Mike Woellert – FantasyFootball.com
Le’Ron McClain (RB – KC): If Thomas Jones can’t get the job done, McClain can come in and be a power back. With Jamaal Charles gone, McClain can expect to see more carries his way and he proved he can handle a workload when he was with Baltimore. Dexter McCluster could be used more as a WR and McClain is still young enough (without a lot of mileage) that he can handle 15 carries, as well as goal-line work.
Steve Smith (WR – PHI): Jeremy Maclin is unlikely to play in week 4 and neither is Riley Cooper, so that leaves Smith left to start. Smith is owned in 4% of ESPN leagues and would have a nice match-up in week 4 against the 49ers as the flanker. Smith can make plays and has good hands, but he just needs to stay healthy and this could be his chance.
Ken Zalis – Fans Fantasy Football
Le’Ron McClain (RB – KC): One more RB you may want to consider adding in deep leagues is Le’Ron McClain. In the 08-09 season, Le’Ron had over 1,000 yards from scrimmage. We saw that Thomas Jones is not the answer on Sunday. As the weather gets colder you may see McClain be anything from a vulture to a starter in KC.
James Casey (TE/RB – HOU): Another intriguing name is James Casey who will be hot this week and in Yahoo qualifies as a RB and a TE. I have talked up Casey’s skills since he was drafted out of Rice in 2009. He has the ball skills to be a top end TE a la Dallas Clark, but with speed. It will be interesting to see how the Texans use him going forward.
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Thanks to this week’s Featured Pros for sharing their insight! These experts have been extremely accurate with their picks this season so be sure to give their advice some extra thought. And don’t forget to check out their sites to keep up with all of their latest content.
Best of luck grabbing your waiver wire targets this week!
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