Week 4 Waiver Wire: Breakout Fantasy Football Pickups from Sunday's Box Scores
Depending on which players you inserted into your lineup in Week 3 and which ones you left on your bench, you were either riding high by the time Sunday Night Football rolled around or you were punching the air.
It was an odd week, to say the least, in the NFL. The top fantasy wideout by the conclusion of the Sunday afternoon games was rostered in just 27 percent of leagues heading into Week 3. The second-highest-scoring fantasy tight end was rostered in 40 percent of leagues. The top fantasy quarterback so far in Week 3 is...Green Bay Packers backup Malik Willis.
Yep, it's been a weird week in fantasy, and that means the teams in your league might be more active on waivers than usual. After their performances in Week 3, the following players are ones to consider picking up.
These players were selected assuming a 12-person redraft team using point-per-reception (PPR) scoring.
Jauan Jennings, WR, 49ers
1 of 3
Week 3 stats: 11 rec, 175 red yds, 3 TD
Rostered: 27 percent
At the conclusion of the Sunday afternoon games, 49ers wideout Jauan Jennings was the top-scoring wideout in fantasy. Just as everyone expected.
Jennings had a nice Week 1 outing (11.4 points) and was quiet in Week 2 (5.7 points), so it's not surprising he was only rostered in 27 percent of leagues heading into Week 3. But with tight end George Kittle and wideout Deebo Samuel out against the Los Angeles Rams, perhaps we should have anticipated that Jennings would have a big week.
Jennings' three touchdowns were a major component of his point total, and we certainly can't expect that from him every week. But fantasy managers in any scoring format will absolutely take 11 receptions and 175 yards. It's absolutely worth grabbing Jennings on waivers this week in the event that Kittle and/or Samuel miss more time.
Cole Kmet, TE, Chicago Bears
2 of 3
Week 3 stats: 10 rec, 97 yds, 1 TD, 25.7 pts
Rostered: 40 percent
Chicago Bears tight end Cole Kmet may have recently become available on your waiver wire. Heading into Week 3, he was rostered in 40 percent of leagues, but he hadn't done much the first two weeks of the season to inspire confidence, scoring 1.4 and 6.7 points in Weeks 1 and 2, respectively.
That wasn't the case in Week 3. Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and Caleb Williams finally seemed to realize that Williams plus Cole Kmet across the middle equals good things happening. Kmet's 11 targets were tied with Rome Odunze for the most on the team and he totaled nearly 100 yards as well as a touchdown.
(Some of us, cough cough, had enough faith in Kmet not to drop him but not enough to start him in Week 3, a regrettable choice.)
Despite big fantasy outputs from Kmet and Odunze, Chicago still fell to Indianapolis 21-16. That's bad news for Bears fans but potentially good news for fantasy managers, who may be able to count on more production from Bears pass-catchers when the team is playing from behind.
Tyler Conklin, TE, New York Jets
3 of 3
Week 3 stats: 5 rec, 93 yds, 14.3 pts
Rostered: 14 percent
The New York Jets (and Aaron Rodgers) had a statement win on Thursday night, and though Garrett Wilson and Allen Lazard each found the end zone, it was veteran tight end Tyler Conklin who was the team's top receiver.
Conklin saw six targets from Rodgers, second only to Wilson (nine). He and Wilson also each hauled in five receptions, but Conklin totaled 93 points compared to Wilson's 33.
Conklin has yet to find the end zone for the Jets this season, so his value may be limited to PPR leagues. But tight end has proved to be a tricky position so far this fantasy season, so he may be worth stashing on your bench until we get a better sense for what his role in this offense wil be.
Scoring and rostered percentages via FantasyPros
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