Waiver Wire Rankings: Expert Pickups for Week 3

There will be no shortage of waiver claims after an injury riddled Week 2. Some big names out there including Jamaal Charles, Robert Griffin III and A.J. Green headline the group, but make no mistake, there are plenty of others who may not be suiting up next week.

Naturally when weekends like this last one take place, the waiver wire becomes complicated to navigate as there are so many choices. To make things a little easier, we’ve asked our featured experts to rank this week’s top readily available players (rest of season value). Have a look below to get their consensus advice, their hot pickups for Week 3 and their thoughts on the burning question of Kirk Cousins’ value moving forward.

Featured Pros

Addison Witt (Fantasy Team Advice)
Adrian Pereira (eDraft)
Greg Smith (The Fake Football)
Jeff Paur (RTSports)
Tony Mauriello (ProjectRoto)

Waiver Wire Rankings (STD Scoring)

Week 3 Waiver Wire Advice

Each expert was asked to share advice about a target or two they like this week along with any other waiver wire suggestions they have. Here’s what the experts had to say.

Q1: Give us your thoughts on a waiver wire target (or two) you especially like as a pickup.

Addison Witt – Fantasy Team Advice
James Jones has a mysterious fantasy value. While in Green Bay, he undoubtedly benefited from Aaron Rodgers as his QB. Oakland has historically drained the fantasy value out of players, but through two weeks, Jones has 12 catches for 146 yards and 2 touchdowns on 17 targets (14 in Week 2). The Raiders will be playing catch up more often than not, and their run game looks awful thus far. As Derek Carr builds more confidence and chemistry with Jones, look for Jones to maintain WR3 value throughout the rest of the season.

Mohamed Sanu has shown exponential growth each season as a Bengal. However, even with A.J. Green’s pending status on his toe injury, Sanu’s fantasy ceiling is not very high. The Bengals have a deadly 1-2 punch on the ground in Giovani Bernard and rookie Jeremy Hill. They will look to establish the run each week, and be conservative in the passing game. Sanu is not a big red zone threat. He is a poor man’s Anquan Boldin – a physical, sure-handed slot man lacking in top-end speed or agility. He provides more real life football value than fantasy value.

Tony Mauriello – ProjectRoto
My favorite target this week is Bobby Rainey as I believe that he is actually the most talented RB in the Tampa backfield. Unless you have lost your two lead backs in the first two weeks, your FAAB money is better spent on Rainey than Knile Davis or Donald Brown as Rainey is the one RB that has a chance to unseat the current featured RB on his respective team. A brief note is that I knocked down Andrew Hawkins and Brian Quick a few spots because this column in focused on “standard” scoring. In PPR leagues, I would bump each up a few slots due to the mass amount of targets each has received thus far.

Greg Smith – The Fake Football
The council of Ms. Cleo, Doc Brown, and me, Gregstradamus, have seen the future of Ahmad Bradshaw and that future is bright. In reality though, one doesn’t need a crystal ball to see that Bradshaw’s teammate, Trent Richardson, is a bust. That leaves Bradshaw as the most capable runner in the Colts’ backfield and considering how porous their offensive line can be, his pass-blocking prowess should eventually put Bradshaw into Indy’s feature role by default. If you’re looking for a steady workload and production, make a play for Bradshaw before you commit to platoon-bound rushers in unpredictable offenses like Donald Brown and Khiry Robinson.

Jeff Paur – RTSports
Ryan Mathews is hurt once again, giving Donald Brown some starts while he is out. Brown has played well in spurts during the past, but has never been given a consistent shot to start in a good rushing attack. I like his chances to produce some big total yardage games in this offense, making him a low-end No. 2 back or top flex option.

Brian Quick is off to a great start this season. The light finally seems to have turned on for him, and he is getting the most targets offensively for the Rams. Quick is an intriguing talent. He is a big, strong receiver with speed. He seems on his way to a breakout season, and I think he’ll be worth some spot starts for fantasy teams.

Adrian Pereira – eDraft
If you’re looking for a TE to fill while your starter is hurt or you just didn’t end up with anyone decent, I really like the potential of Travis Kelce. The coaching staff in Kansas City will continue to get him looks as they see the athletic abilities he possesses. In Week 1 he produced 49 yards. In week 2 he was used more and hit 81 yards. I think you’ll see him starting to get targeted in the red zone as well. With Charles out, his role will only increase as they take to the air. He’s got what it takes to crack the top 10 TEs by the end of the year.

Q2. Kirk Cousins will be a popular add this week. Tell us what you think of his ROS outlook, including what comparable QBs you’d rate him above?

Addison Witt – Fantasy Team Advice
Assuming Robert Griffin III is out for an extended period of time, Kirk Cousins is the new captain in Washington. Jay Gruden will likely open up the playbook more for Cousins than he did for RG3. Last season, Gruden called the shots for Andy Dalton, who finished as fantasy’s 5th best QB. Like Dalton, Cousins is also a pocket passer, and has much more talented weapons at his disposal than last year. Over 9 career games played, Cousins has only completed 57% of his passes, and thrown 10 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. The hype surrounding him may be a
little exaggerated. I’m not completely sold on him, but luckily the NFC East is full of subpar defenses. A short list of quarterbacks I would rate him ahead of are Josh McCown, E.J. Manuel, Alex Smith, and Brian Hoyer.

Greg Smith – The Fake Football
Robert Griffin III’s dislocated ankle should keep him off the field for at least a month and considering his struggles, that is ample time for Kirk Cousins to seize the starting job in Washington and hold it for the entire season. Cousins has a multitude of receiving threats and assuming he holds the gig all year, he should rank above plenty of other mid-tier QB options like Jake Locker, Josh McCown, Alex Smith, and Joe Flacco. I would also rank Cousins ahead of Carson Palmer considering Palmer’s current shoulder malady. If he lives long enough in the pocket, Captain Kirk could really prosper and finish ahead of guys like Ryan Tannehill, Ben Roethlisberger, and the beleaguered Tony Romo.

Adrian Pereira – eDraft
Kirk Cousins played like a veteran after taking over for the injured RG3. He seemed to pick up the system well and was of course very accurate. A lot of fantasy fans are jumping on the bandwagon, but keep in mind they were playing Jacksonville. Luckily for Cousins, the next few weeks look to be similar as they face Philly and the Giants – that’s a red carpet entry into the NFL if you ask me! With that said, he’ll face Seattle in Week 5 so it’s not all peaches. I see him currently valued around Big Ben, Dalton and Tannehill. A risky start in your QB lineup, but a good fill in until we’ve seen more proof.

Tony Mauriello – ProjectRoto
The curious case of Kirk Cousins and the Washington Redskins’ passing game will begin in the 2014 NFL season right where it left off last year. Robert Griffin suffered an injury to his ankle in the same game that saw DeSean Jackson also go down with a shoulder injury. In limited time on Sunday, Cousins’ impact was immediate throwing for 250 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. In fact, the “backup” QB completed his first 12 passes. With a prototypical NFL QB-body at 6’3″, 205lbs, if Cousins can limit the interceptions that have plagued him over the past two seasons, he could be a top 12 QB by the end of the season. Cousins will take his deep shots down field, but it appears as though he developed a safety valve in TE, Niles Paul. In two seasons behind Griffin, Cousins’ 56% completion rate and 10 TD to 10 INT ratio is not great, but if he can continue to develop into the pocket-passer akin to Andy Dalton, then the Redskins’ offense, behind Cousins, should prosper. Having a pocket passer in this offense to keep opposing defensive backs honest on the pass will allow Alfred Morris to find open running lanes behind the much improved offensive line.

Jeff Paur – RTSports
I consider Cousins a top No. 2 for fantasy teams as long as he is starting. He is right outside of that top group of starters, ahead of guys like Ben Roethlisberger, Andy Dalton and Joe Flacco. He can’t be considered a surefire No. 1 but certainly worth some spot starts. Cousins can have some big games in this offense.

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Thank you to our experts who contributed their hot pickups for the waiver wire this week, for more advice and thoughts, you can follow them on Twitter.