Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups: 5 Sleepers Who May Still Be Available

It's possible that as you are reading this your league's waiver period has come and gone. It's also possible that hasn't happened yet, but you are in a deep, competitive league and the waiver wire is looking pretty darn bare.

So here, we'll take a look at five players who are still probably available for you to nab. You won't find the exciting assortment of running backs I outlined here, of course, but you might just find the sort of player who will provide you excellent depth and cover in the coming weeks. 

Sometimes, safe and steady is better than sexy anyway. Let's take a look at who might be left standing in your league today.

Brian Quick, WR, St. Louis Rams

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Hey, even bad offenses and subpar quarterbacks need someone to throw to, right?

Thus far in St. Louis, that man has been Brian Quick. Both Shaun Hill and Austin Davis have looked his way regularly, leading to 14 receptions for 173 yards and 18 targets.

Quick was considered a very talented but raw player coming out of college, so perhaps he's starting to put everything together. Quick is almost assuredly available in your league and, if nothing else, is worth a stash. The Rams have to throw it to someone.  

Larry Donnell, TE, New York Giants

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Larry Donnell is not an athletic tight end. He's not on an offense that seems all that good thus far. His quarterback, Eli Manning, has been pretty dreadful. And yet, Donnell has really produced in the first two weeks, nabbing 12 passes for 137 yards and a touchdown on 17 targets.

Sometimes a tight end's best friend is a shoddy offense and an erratic quarterback, as the tight end position is often looked at as the security blanket for quarterbacks. So in two-TE leagues or deeper leagues—or if you want a TE2 on your roster in all formats—snuggle up next to Donnell this week. You could do much worse at your TE2 position.

Bobby Rainey, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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With players in your league scrambling to add running backs like Knile Davis, Khiry Robinson, Donald Brown and Ahmad Bradshaw—or the likelihood that all of those players might already be owned—you might be stuck looking at scraps at the running back position. 

That makes Bobby Rainey an intriguing option. 

The reason Rainey is probably available in your league is that, by all indications, Doug Martin will be back in the lineup Thursday night. He practiced Tuesday, per Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times:

A lot of folks are ready to give up on Martin, however, given his shaky performances in recent memory and Rainey's strong showings in his place. He was certainly excellent Sunday, rushing 22 times for 144 yards and totaling 17 fantasy points.

I'm not quite ready to give up on Martin just yet, but I am willing to concede that Rainey is not only one of the better handcuffs in all of fantasy, but he might have just earned himself an increased workload behind Martin. In other words, both of these players could have plenty of fantasy value, even in a timeshare. 

We could see that timeshare develop as soon as this week against the Atlanta Falcons, who are giving up an astonishing 35.5 fantasy points to opposing running backs per week after their first two games, easily the worst in the NFL. 

Both Tampa Bay running backs could feast Thursday night, in other words. Rainey should be owned in all formats.

Andrew Hawkins, WR, Cleveland Browns

There are players who offer major upside on the waiver wire some weeks, the sexy options you get excited to see still available. Andrew Hawkins is not a sexy addition.

What he might be, however, is a steady producer of points, especially in PPR formats. Hawkins currently has 14 receptions for 157 yards on 22 targets after two games, and those numbers seem pretty sustainable given Josh Gordon's suspension and the fact that defenses would be wise to key on Jordan Cameron and the running game. 

Look, Hawkins isn't the type of player you want to rely on in 10-team leagues. He's not going to score many touchdowns. But in deeper leagues or in the PPR format, he's a pretty solid flex consideration.

Allen Hurns, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars

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Before we all go about claiming that the Allen Hurns era ended almost before it began after his two catches for 13 yards against Washington, let us not forget that he dropped a deep bomb where he had gotten behind the secondary and very likely would have taken it for a touchdown had he held on to the ball. 

No matter what you think about Hurns, you can't deny that Chad Henne has looked his way several times now on plays down the field. Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports certainly thinks we'll see Hurns getting deep again:

That makes him a boom-or-bust option, no doubt, but Hurns continues to be a player you should be monitoring. 

All point totals and points-against statistics via ESPN standard-scoring leagues.  

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