Week 4 Waiver Wire: Top Adds, Drops and Long-Term Fantasy Sleeper Targets

Thanks to a number of injuries around the league as well as the start of byes, there is a scramble among fantasy football leagues to add to the roster. Although Week 4 features few obvious choices, there are still players who are capable of helping your team.

Most of the biggest stars from the past weekend—from Julio Jones and A.J. Green to Devonta Freeman and Joseph Randle—are already on teams. If any of these players is currently unowned, your entire league needs help. Top producers such as Chris Johnson and LeGarrette Blount should also be added, although they are likely unavailable as well.

Looking beyond these big names, however, a few quality targets are owned in fewer than 50 percent of ESPN leagues. Here is a look at the best free agents who can help immediately, as well as some who might be useful down the line.

Pos.	Player	Team	Percent Owned*
QB	Tyrod Taylor	Buffalo Bills	44.6
QB	Derek Carr	Oakland Raiders	19.9
QB	Andy Dalton	Cincinnati Bengals	39.6
RB	Karlos Williams	Buffalo Bills	24.0
RB	Thomas Rawls	Seattle Seahawks	0.4
RB	Lance Dunbar	Dallas Cowboys	13.2
RB	Bilal Powell	New York Jets	24.3
WR	Rishard Matthews	Miami Dolphins	16.4
WR	Marvin Jones	Cincinnati Bengals	19.5
WR	Ted Ginn Jr.	Carolinal Panthers	8.3
TE	Charles Clay	Buffalo Bills	14.2

Derek Carr, QB, Oakland Raiders

David Richard/Associated Press

Tyrod Taylor has proved himself as a consistent performer, which makes him a must-add in leagues. Next on the list should be Derek Carr, who is coming off back-to-back impressive showings.

After an injury-shortened Week 1, the Raiders quarterback came back with 665 passing yards, five touchdowns and only one interception in the past two weeks combined. His play has helped him earn the respect from veteran teammates such as Charles Woodson:

With top weapons around him in Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree and Latavius Murray, Carr has a lot of opportunities to spread the ball around and put up good numbers.

Andy Dalton has also proved himself as a consistent producer in the regular season, but a tough upcoming schedule against quality defenses (Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills) should cause some hesitation. 

Karlos Williams, RB, Buffalo Bills

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

LeSean McCoy fantasy owners have earned the right to be nervous. The presumptive starter was completely overshadowed in Week 3 by Karlos Williams, who finished with 110 rushing yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.

Meanwhile, McCoy only managed 16 rushing yards on 11 carries while still being limited by his hamstring injury. According to Rand Getlin of NFL Network, this is likely to keep him out at least next week:

This makes Williams a must-own player in all fantasy leagues as he likely takes over the starting role in a suddenly efficient offense. Head coach Rex Ryan loves running the ball, which means the rookie will get plenty more chances to shine.

After scoring a touchdown in each of the first three weeks, this could be the start of a big season for the Buffalo running back.

Thomas Rawls, RB, Seattle Seahawks

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The value for Thomas Rawls won't really be clear until we know the status of Marshawn Lynch, but ESPN.com's Sheil Kapadia notes this might not be for a few days:

As a result, anyone with Lynch on his team or anyone looking for an immediate addition to the lineup should go out and get Rawls.

The undrafted free-agent rookie was a pleasant surprise in his first real game action Sunday. He finished with 104 rushing yards on 16 carries, helping Seattle overcome Lynch's absence. It was assumed veteran Fred Jackson would be the No. 2 option in the rushing attack, but Rawls came out of nowhere to show he is worthy of fantasy consideration.

If Lynch's injury ends up being serious, Rawls could be a consistent performer going forward.

Rishard Matthews, WR, Miami Dolphins

Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press

After three big games, you can no longer call what Rishard Matthews is doing a fluke. While some of his production Sunday (six catches, 113 receiving yards, two touchdowns) came in garbage time after the Dolphins were out of contention, his numbers are undeniable.

Most importantly, Matthews continues to show his expanding role within the offense with six, seven and 10 targets in consecutive weeks. The team also likes his strength to make plays around the end zone, at least until DeVante Parker becomes a bigger factor.

In addition, he sits in good company as a deep threat, per Adam Levitan of Rotoworld:

So long as he keeps it up, he will remain a worthwhile start in season-long fantasy leagues.

Long-Term Options

Pos.	Player	Team	Percent Owned*
QB	Blake Bortles	Jacksonville Jaguars	7.9
RB	Jonas Gray	Miami Dolphins	3.4
RB	Antonio Andrews	Tennessee Titans	0.1
RB	Charles Sims	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	35.2
WR	Kenny Britt	St. Louis Rams	4.8
WR	Dorial Green-Beckham	Tennessee Titans	16.2
WR	Devin Smith	New York Jets	1.2
WR	DeVante Parker	Miami Dolphins	35.9
TE	Gary Barnidge	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	0.3
TE	Maxx Williams	Baltimore Ravens	1.7

Just because a player won't make an immediate impact for your fantasy team, it doesn't mean he doesn't warrant a roster spot. You can be ahead of the rest of your league by adding some of these long-term sleepers.

Jonas Gray and Antonio Andrews both led their team in rushing yards for the first time in Week 3, finishing with 49 rushing yards apiece. The problem is that others in the backfield are capable of making plays in each situation, and the future delegation of touches is unclear. They are both worth a speculative add, but proceed with caution.

Other players in a similar situation are DeVante Parker, Devin Smith and Maxx Williams. None of the three produced many highlights in Week 3, but it's clear their teams are trying to get them involved with a lot of targets. Most importantly, all three were high picks in the latest NFL draft and have obvious talent to make a difference if they get more chances.

Although none of the trio is likely to get many fantasy points in the next couple of weeks, they all could be valuable commodities by the end of the season.

The last major category is the players who actually had big numbers Sunday. Kenny Britt (seven catches for 102 yards) and Gary Barnidge (six catches, 105 receiving yards and a touchdown) were among the most surprising performers in Week 3.

Unfortunately, it's tough to trust either of them to be major factors after just one week. You can add them in the hopes last weekend wasn't a fluke, but don't go overboard.

Pos.	Player	Team
RB	Reggie Bush	San Francisco 49ers
RB	Knile Davis	Kansas City Chiefs
RB	Denard Robinson	Jacksonville Jaguars
WR	Charles Johnson	Minnesota Vikings
WR	Nelson Agholor	Philadelphia Eagles
WR	Cody Latimer	Denver Broncos
TE	Jared Cook	St. Louis Rams

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