Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Targets & FAAB Advice: Defenses (Week 3)

We will have you covered throughout the 2023 fantasy football season with our bevy of tools, including our Waiver Wire Assistant. Find the top available players and get detailed analysis on how potential waiver wire adds will impact your team. Of course, our team of analysts will also have written advice each week. Check out our top waiver wire targets for the week below. And find our full Week 3 fantasy football waiver wire advice article here.

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Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Targets

DEFENSES

Written by Pat Fitzmaurice

Kansas City Chiefs: 39% rostered

• Next Opponents: CHI, @NYJ, @MIN
• True value: $2
• Desperate Need: $4
• Budget-minded: $1

The Chiefs get a scrumptious Week 3 matchup against the Bears at home. Chicago has been a mess offensively, with QB Justin Fields throwing three interceptions (including an ill-advised screen pass that the Buccaneers returned for a TD in Week 2) and taking 10 sacks. Fields was the NFL’s most frequently sacked QB last season and has once again been a sack magnet. When the Chiefs’ offense is clicking, they can force opponents to throw to catch up, and more throwing means more chances for sacks and interceptions. The Chiefs also get a juice Week 4 matchup against Zach Wilson and the Jets, so don’t be shy about spending an extra buck.

Cincinnati Bengals: 45% rostered

• Next Opponents: LAR, @TEN, @ARI
• True value: $1
• Desperate Need: $3
• Budget-minded: $0

The 0-2 Bengals haven’t been especially sharp on either side of the ball, but their defense has outperformed their offense this far. Cincinnati’s defense should be no worse than average this season, and the Bengals are looking at a friendly three-week stretch in which they’ll face the Rams, Titans and Cardinals. This week’s matchup against the Rams doesn’t look as appealing as it did before the season began, but Rams QB Matthew Stafford can be interception-prone, as we saw on Sunday when he was picked off twice by the 49ers.

Jacksonville Jaguars: 15% rostered

• Next Opponents: HOU, ATL, @BUF
• True value: $1
• Desperate Need: $2
• Budget-minded: $0

This is simply a one-week bet on a defense going up against a rookie quarterback playing with an injury-riddled offensive line. But the Jags’ defense isn’t especially good, and the rookie quarterback they’ll be facing this week, Houston’s C.J. Stroud, has acquitted himself rather well through the first two weeks of the season. Don’t spend more than a buck on the Jacksonville defense unless bidding for defenses is especially fierce in your league.

Seattle Seahawks: 8% rostered

• Next Opponents: CAR, @NYG, BYE
• True value: $1
• Desperate Need: $2
• Budget-minded: $0

The Seattle defense has yielded 30 and 31 points in its first two games, but the Seahawks get a friendly home matchup against rookie QB Bryce Young and the Panthers this week, followed by a playable Week 4 matchup against a Giants offense that has looked disjointed early this season and could be without RB Saquon Barkley (ankle) for a few weeks.

Green Bay Packers: 35% rostered

• Next Opponents: NO, DET, @LV
• True value: $1
• Desperate Need: $2
• Budget-minded: $0

The Packers’ high-quality pass defense has recorded five sacks and two interceptions so far. Green Bay is a decent streaming option this week at home against the Saints, who may have to lean on the passing game with RB Alvin Kamara still serving a three-game suspension.