More impressive: Bilal Powell’s rushing total on Sunday (149 yds) or Jason Kelce’s beard in this photo?
With injuries piling up and byes looming, the waiver wire is bound to be a key focus for fantasy owners this week. Just about everyone can use reinforcements this time of year and we’re here to help with another batch of waiver wire rankings.
As a refresher of how our process works, we asked several featured experts to rank a list (provided by us) of RB/WR/TE based off of rest of season value. Their picks were then combined to determine consensus waiver wire rankings. Read on below to view the consensus picks of the experts. You can also check out their individual waiver rankings here.
Featured Pros
Derek Lofland (Fantasy Football Maniax)
Ryan Hester (FootballandBrackets)
Waiver Wire Rankings (Standard Scoring)
Note: Expert rankings made prior to Nate Burleson injury news (broken arm), which may impact Ryan Broyles.
| Player | Position | Team | Consensus Rank | Best Rank | Worst Rank |
| Bilal Powell | RB | NYJ | 1.0 | 1 | 1 |
| Kenbrell Thompkins | WR | NE | 3.8 | 2 | 6 |
| Isaiah Pead | RB | STL | 5.6 | 3 | 8 |
| Stephen Hill | WR | NYJ | 5.8 | 2 | 14 |
| Heath Miller | TE | PIT | 8.0 | 3 | 12 |
| Johnathan Franklin | RB | GB | 9.0 | 2 | 16 |
| Kendall Wright | WR | TEN | 9.2 | 4 | 17 |
| Brandon Bolden | RB | NE | 10.0 | 5 | 15 |
| Jacquizz Rodgers | RB | ATL | 10.2 | 2 | 16 |
| Alshon Jeffery | WR | CHI | 10.4 | 3 | 14 |
| Jason Snelling | RB | ATL | 10.6 | 7 | 12 |
| Charles Clay | TE | MIA | 11.0 | 8 | 17 |
| Ryan Broyles (News) | WR | DET | 11.6 | 7 | 18 |
| Aaron Dobson | WR | NE | 11.8 | 5 | 18 |
| Santonio Holmes | WR | NYJ | 11.8 | 6 | 16 |
| Brandon LaFell | WR | CAR | 11.8 | 5 | 18 |
| |
WR | DET | 13.4 | 7 | 18 |
| Nate Washington | WR | TEN | 16.0 | 14 | 18 |
*Click to view each expert’s waiver wire rankings
Week 4 Waiver Wire Advice
We also asked each expert to share a specific piece of advice for this week’s waiver wire (player to target, strategy tip, etc). Here are the experts’ suggestions.
Derek Lofland – Fantasy Football Maniax
The Waiver Wire is always an interesting place at the beginning of the season, as it is difficult to tell if players are one-week wonders or if a big game is going to translate into success for the rest of the season. Two players that stood out to me this week that could be excellent additions to fantasy teams are New York Jets RB Bilal Powell and Chicago Bears WR Alshon Jeffery. Powell had a big game against the Buffalo Bills with 27 carries for 149 yards, while fellow Jets RB Chris Ivory had only five carries for four yards and hurt his hamstring. Jeffery bounced back nicely this week with seven catches for 51 yards after having only one catch last week. Both players are going to be viable fantasy plays if they see that many looks, which means they are excellent waiver wire bargains if your team is in need of upgrades heading into the bye weeks.
During the preseason I suggested that Fantasy owners should pass on Rams RB Daryl Richardson in the 5th-6th round and, instead, grab Jets’ Bilal Powell around the 12th round. Through 3 weeks, Bilal is the 11th ranked running back in standard league formats, has averaged 3.8 yds/attempt or more in six of the eight game (dating back to last year) when he has seen double-digit carries, and with Chris Ivory now nursing an injury, Powell seems primed to carry the work load in the Jets’ backfield.
When looking at this list, Bilal Powell is the class of this group. He’s not an elite runner, but gets what is blocked and can put up solid numbers when given the work — see his career-best 149 yards on 27 carries Sunday. Chris Ivory is once-again battling a hamstring injury and with Mike Goodson suspended for one more game, there is very little keeping Powell from another similar workload in Week 4.
A name that is not on this list — but should be — is Arizona running back Andre Ellington. After a mini-breakout in Week 2, Ellington was similarly productive in Week 3 and though he didn’t get into the end zone, the rookie, notably, played roughly the same number of snaps as “starter” Rashard Mendenhall. Mendy is currently nursing a toe injury and, if history is any indication, he’s likely to be soon suffering from several other maladies. The electric Ellington belongs in any grouping that considers the names above.
Ryan Hester – FootballandBrackets
Some of the best waiver wire pickups are borne from injuries to other players. Bilal Powell certainly fits the bill as he emerged the every-down running back following a tweak to Chris Ivory’s hamstring. Ivory had injured the hamstring in camp, so his ability to come back right away has to be in doubt. Powell could be an every-week low-end RB2 with top-16 upside. The next two opponents (Tennessee and Atlanta) aren’t amazing matchups, but both teams have been susceptible to the ground game at times this season.
Brandon Bolden has the skills and opportunity to be a Shane Vereen “Lite” while Vereen remains out with injury. Bolden could see a chunk of what was supposed to be Vereen’s workload and produce like a sneaky RB2/FLEX in PPR leagues.
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Thanks to this week’s Featured Pros for stopping by to share their advice. You can view their weekly rankings along with the rest of the expert consensus here: Week 4 Rankings