Week 3 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Kevin Ogletree Getting Overlooked?

The Dallas Cowboys have arguably one of the best receiving tandems in all of football, between Miles Austin and Dez Bryant.  Both receivers, on average, were drafted in the first few rounds of most fantasy drafts this year.

Part of the reason these guys are so good is due to the talent they both possess, but also to the fact that Tony Romo is one of the best passers in the NFL. So far in 2011, Romo has the fifth most passing yards and sixth most passing touchdowns of all quarterbacks in the league. And remember, Romo accomplished this despite facing a daunting Jets secondary in Week 1.

By now, we are all very aware that Miles Austin is going to be out Week 3 and possibly Week 4 with a bad hamstring. This is a guy who after two weeks is tied for the league lead in targets (24). And while I assume that some of his targets will be given to Jason Witten and Dez Bryant next Monday, some should also fall to Austin's Week 3 replacement, Kevin Ogletree. 

But is Ogletree worth adding to your fantasy team? Ogletree has definitely been given a bad rap around fantasy circles as not being good enough, mainly because he does not possess the abilities of his star teammates, Bryant and Austin. 

But Bryant is a freak of nature, while Austin is one of the hardest working athletes in all the NFL. Therefore, I think it is important not to overlook the fact that Ogletree is still a very serviceable third-year pro with plenty of potential to grow. With Romo on top of his game thus far in 2011, I think Ogletree is destined to put up some decent stats in Week 3, due to Austin's absence.

I am not recommending that you drop a good player who has underperformed in week 1 or 2 to pick up Ogletree.  But I do think he could be a valuable WR3 or Flex play in Week 3, especially for teams hurting at the position. My gut tells me he will be overlooked on this week's waiver wire because of hotter pickups  like Denarius Moore, Eric Decker, and David Nelson (appropriately so). But if you need some WR help, and those other guys are already taken, Ogletree is the man to target.