Waiver Wire Week 3: Smartest Fantasy Football Pickups to Target

If your fantasy football team survived Week 2 of the NFL season without any significant injuries, congratulations. You are one of the few. 

With the rash of injuries that went around the league Sunday, the waiver wire is sure to be a crowded destination before Week 3. Somewhere in that list of free agents is the next breakout star, and you have to find a way to sift through the rough to find the diamond.

With that in mind, here is a look at three players in particular who you should target in the waiver-wire process.

QB Kirk Cousins, Washington Redskins 

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David Gonos of Sports Illustrated noted that Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins is owned in 8 percent of CBSSports leagues, 4.8 percent of ESPN leagues and 8 percent of Yahoo leagues.

Considering Robert Griffin III’s injury history, which added another chapter when he dislocated his ankle Sunday, Cousins is a safe pickup. Cousins appeared more than comfortable running the Washington offense against Jacksonville and tallied 250 passing yards, two touchdowns and zero turnovers.

Cousins may not make many explosive plays, but he takes what the defense allows and looked ready to fill in Sunday.

The Redskins face division-rival Philadelphia next and a secondary that let Allen Hurns score two touchdowns and tally 110 receiving yards in Week 1 and gave up three passing touchdowns to Andrew Luck in Week 2. We have seen that the Eagles can be beaten through the air by individual players.

Perhaps Cousins is the next player to do just that.

WR Mohamed Sanu, Cincinnati Bengals

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Gonos also noted that Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Mohamed Sanu is owned in only 14 percent of CBSSports leagues, 1.7 percent of ESPN leagues and 8 percent of Yahoo leagues.

That is likely to change in Week 3.

The Bengals lost Marvin Jones to a foot injury before the season began, and superstar A.J. Green sprained a toe in Week 2. That means the Bengals are short on wide receivers, and the opportunity is there for Sanu to step up.

He did just that against the Atlanta Falcons and ended up with 84 receiving yards and a touchdown. He even mixed in a 50-yard pass for good measure on a trick play. The fact that Sanu was targeted only four times is something of a concern, but the Bengals were well ahead for much of that game and relied on their running game accordingly.

It is also encouraging that Sanu was on the same page as his quarterback on his touchdown reception if Andy Dalton’s comments are any indication, via Coley Harvey of ESPN.com:

"We had a good check on and Mo ran a really good route. When you're playing Cover Zero and you make one guy miss, there's nobody else in the back end. When [cornerback Robert Alford] fell off on the route, Mo had a pretty good jog into the end zone."

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A word of warning, though—next up is a date with a Tennessee Titans team that is actually first in the NFL against the pass, although with such a small sample size that doesn’t mean much yet. Dez Bryant managed to tally 103 receiving yards and a touchdown against Tennessee, so it’s not exactly a black hole for wide receivers. 

We are not suggesting Sanu is anywhere near the player Bryant is, only that the Titans secondary can be beaten.

RB Knile Davis, Kansas City Chiefs

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Michael Fabiano of NFL.com noted that Kansas City Chiefs running back Knile Davis is owned in only 1.5 percent of leagues (presumably in NFL.com leagues), so he is readily available for many of you.

Davis makes an appearance here because Jamaal Charles could miss extended time with a high ankle sprain. This isn’t just about Week 3 but the foreseeable future for your fantasy football team.

Davis filled in for Charles admirably in Week 2 and tallied 79 rushing yards on 22 carries, 26 receiving yards on six catches and two touchdowns. All those touches made it crystal clear that the Chiefs won’t shy away from their running back with Charles out (Charles owners are likely wondering why he didn’t get that same treatment in Week 1).

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Michael Beller of Sports Illustrated noted just why Davis is so valuable going forward:

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Davis's starting role in an Andy Reid offense is only part of his value. Charles has missed all or most of three games in the last two seasons. In those games, Davis has averaged a hair more than 27 touches and 97 total yards per game, while hitting paydirt six times.

What’s more, the Chiefs aren’t going to implement a platoon simply because Davis is the backup. Davis played 67 of the Chiefs’ 86 snaps, got 22 of the 24 carries once Charles left the game, and received a whopping, team-high nine targets. They’ve yet to sign another back, and don’t appear to have plans to bring one into the fold. This is Davis’ job until Charles comes back, and that likely won’t be until sometime in November.

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You rarely get the opportunity to grab a featured running back in an offense off the waiver wire. Davis may not be Charles, but he should put up big points for an extended amount of time in this role. 

That makes Davis the must-add player of the week.

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