Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 4: Why You Must Add WR Antonio Brown

Coming into the regular season, it seemed that Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown would again play second fiddle to Emmanuel Sanders and remain only a situational asset to the team.

Now that we're three weeks in, it's clear that Brown is threatening to usurp Sanders' spot in the Steelers' depth chart. According to Pro Football Focus, Brown saw 39 snaps in Week 3 against the Indianapolis Colts and ran 32 pass routes in contrast to Sanders' 36 snaps and 18 routes.

Add to that his four catches in the game for 75 yards and his 10 on the season for a total of 156 yards and Brown is emerging as an excellent fantasy football value—especially in deeper leagues.

In traditional 10- or 12-team leagues, Brown is not yet a starting-caliber fantasy wide receiver, but it's quite telling that Sanders isn't either.

Sanders has just six catches—two per game—so far this season for 85 yards. Considering that Brown is already getting a bigger workload in the Steelers' passing game, and with a good degree of success, it's not inconceivable that he could supplant Sanders in a greater number of situations.

If you've space on your roster and are willing to be patient, Brown is a good wide receiver to keep on your bench in anticipation of that breakout moment. He's also a great option for owners with Sanders who are disappointed with the receiver's production thus far.

Playing the waiver wire is all about opportunity and balancing risk and reward. Brown is low-risk, likely available in your league (he's owned in just 20 percent of Yahoo! leagues) and has tremendous upside.

If you've some roster dead weight to move, Brown might just be the perfect bench replacement.