Week 3 Waiver Wire: Projecting Top Fantasy Football Adds and Drops

If you own Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger or Cam Newton—you already know about this week's injuries and the subsequent, expected waiver-wire rush for signal-callers. If you don't, then our breakdown of the week's most likely adds and drops should still have you covered.

Quarterbacks will make up a chunk of the waiver activity this week, but some of the other skill positions should factor in as well. Yesterday we delineated some possible waiver targets to know, but now we'll project some of the top adds and drops at each skill position.

As usual, we'll use a baseline ownership percentage of 30 (in Yahoo leagues) for our prospective waiver targets (and vice versa for our prospective drops).

Quarterback Adds

Jacoby Brissett, IND (13 percent owned)

• He hasn't been electric, but Brissett has a fantastic surrounding cast, has proven competent and boasts a comfy upcoming three weeks (Atlanta, Oakland, Kansas City).

Mason Rudolph, PIT (2 percent owned)

• At 37 years old, Ben Roethlisberger is out for the year with an elbow injury. In steps Mason Rudolph and, having just traded a 2020 first-round pick away, it seems that the Pittsburgh Steelers are confident in their 2018 third-round pick.

Andy Dalton, CIN (19 percent owned)

• Overall, the Cincinnati Bengals look horrible. So their passing game has actually seemed magnificent. Dalton has thrown 93 passes through two weeks (for 66 completions, 729 yards, four touchdowns and one interception), so the volume should most certainly be there.

Case Keenum, WAS (10 percent owned)

• In 2019, Keenum has 601 passing yards, five touchdowns and zero interceptions. He gets the dreaded Chicago Bears matchup next week, but the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins in Weeks 4 and 6, respectively—making him a legitimate streaming candidate.

Quarterback Drops

Drew Brees, NO (96 percent owned)

• Out for six weeks with a torn ligament in his thumb, Brees didn't seem comfortable throwing deep anyway and isn't worth stashing unless you have an IR spot.

Ben Roethlisberger, PIT (70 percent owned)

• No more Big Ben in 2019.

Cam Newton, CAR (92 percent owned)

• It is not clear how exactly Newton is injured, but something was visibly off in Week 2's match against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers following a disappointing Week 1. Hard to hold onto him when he has not been able to scramble or hit wide-open receivers. 

Running Back Adds

Darwin Thompson, KC (18 percent owned)

• Speculative add based on the progress of Damien Williams and LeSean McCoy's injuries.

Frank Gore, BUF (8 percent owned)

• He already gets volume, even if he doesn't do much with it. If promising rookie Devin Singletary misses time with his hamstring injury, Gore should get even more work and the perk of getting it against a Cincinnati defense that just gave up 238 combined rushing yards to Matt Breida, Raheem Mostert and Jeff Wilson.  

Raheem Mostert, SF (17 percent owned)

• With Tevin Coleman and Jerick McKinnon both out, Raheem Mostert led the San Francisco 49ers in touches (16) in Week 2. He turned those into 152 yards and one touchdown. Realistically, though, Breida got more rushing yards, Wilson got the goal-line work and the 49ers won't get to play the Bengals every game.

Running Back Drops

Jordan Howard, PHI (68 percent owned)

• Leading the Philadelphia Eagles backfield is valuable, but having received seven more carries so far, rookie Miles Sanders seems to be winning that role and Howard's production hasn't done much to shift the scales.

Nyheim Hines, IND (34 percent owned) 

• Hines has had 11 touches through two weeks and turned them into 31 yards. For now, at least, his role seems to have disappeared.

Tight End Adds

Will Dissly, SEA (4 percent owned)

• Six career games with Russell Wilson. Four touchdowns. Dissly is an intriguing prospect if you're hurting at tight end.

Tight End Drops

Kyle Rudolph, MIN (57 percent owned)

• If rostering Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs is already feeling stressful with the run-heavy Minnesota Vikings, then you know that Rudolph is an absolute waste of roster space. He may be great at blocking, but fantasy only counts receptions (sometimes), yards and touchdowns—of which he has three, nine and zero this season, respectively.

Wide Receiver Adds

DJ Chark Jr., JAX (13 percent owned)

• Through two games, Chark has turned 13 targets into 11 receptions, 201 yards and two touchdowns. The chemistry with Gardner Minshew II seems legit and the 6'4" Chark has some impressive tools.

Deebo Samuel, SF (14 percent owned)

• Samuel may have played less snaps (29) in Week 2 than the 49ers' other receivers, but he leads that group in targets (10) this season. Against the Bengals, he coupled 87 yards and a touchdown through the air with two carries for seven yards on the ground. The 2019 second-round pick could become Jimmy Garoppolo and Kyle Shanahan's favorite weapon.  

Demarcus Robinson (7 percent owned)

• He plays for the Kansas City Chiefs and just converted six targets into six receptions, 172 yards and two touchdowns.

Wide Receiver Drops

Dante Pettis, SF (36 percent owned)

• Two snaps in Week 1 increased to 35 in Week 2, but Pettis now has just one target, one catch and seven yards through the air in 2019.