Welcome to the Fantasy Football Week 4 Waiver Wire: Start, Stash, Stream, where we break down the fantasy football free-agent landscape and give you the best picks for the short and long haul.
Let’s look back at Week 3 and see our future prospects for the Fantasy Football Week 4 Waiver Wire.
Note: Roster % based on Yahoo and should be under roughly 50%
WEEK 4 WAIVER WIRE RANKINGS
START
- Chuba Hubbard, RB Carolina Panthers (26% rostered)
- Peyton Barber, RB Las Vegas Raiders (7%)
- Tim Patrick, WR Denver Broncos (23%)
- Sam Darnold, QB Carolina Panthers (22%)
With Christian McCaffrey going down in Week 3, the lead back duties seemingly shift to Chuba Hubbard for the next few weeks. He finished with 11 carries to Royce Freeman’s five, and also caught three balls on five targets. Obviously, he’s not going to put up CMC numbers, but we saw Mike Davis perform as a solid RB2 last year while McCaffrey was hurt. Hubbard can be an RB2 play as long as he’s the RB1 in Carolina.
I know Peyton Barber sounds, smells, tastes hideous…
But 101 of his 111 rushing yards came after contact, Gruden LOVES him, & only AK41, Najee Harris, Derrick Henry & Alex Mattison saw more than Barber's 26 touches
— Wolf of Roto Street (@RotoStreetWolf) September 27, 2021
In a surprise twist of events, Peyton Barber out-played, out-snapped, and out-touched Kenyan Drake. The Wolf made some solid points above and if Josh Jacobs remains sidelined, it would appear Barber has the inside track to the Raiders’ RB1 role.
Another week, another strong performance from the unsexy Tim Patrick. Patrick led the Broncos in all receiving categories this week, and his future looks even brighter now with the injury to KJ Hamler. Patrick should be running nearly all routes on Denver dropbacks alongside Courtland Sutton.
Sam Darnold has been quietly balling out for his new Carolina Panthers team. On Thursday night, he passed for over 300 yards and even scampered in for two touchdowns. If Darnold can score on the ground with CMC out of the lineup, while still putting up good passing numbers, he’s going to be a reliable fantasy QB for those in need.
STASH
- Emmanuel Sanders, WR Buffalo Bills (26% rostered)
- Zack Moss, RB Buffalo Bills (54%)
- Gio Bernard, RB Tampa Bay Buccaneers (16%)
- Hunter Renfrow, WR Las Vegas Raiders (11%)
- Zach Pascal, WR Indianapolis Colts (26%)
- Evan Engram, TE New York Giants (39%)
- Tyler Conklin, TE Minnesota Vikings (4%)
- Terrace Marshall Jr, WR Carolina Panthers (14%)
- Royce Freeman, RB Carolina Panthers (1%)
- JJ Taylor, RB New England Patriots (1%)
- Kadarius Toney, WR New York Giants (2%)
The Bills and Josh Allen finally got their aerial assault running again, and Emmanuel Sanders was the main benefactor going for 5-94-2. This team loves to pass, providing ample pass-catching opportunities for Buffalo’s receivers and Sanders being among the more talented ones. He’ll still be behind Diggs and Beasley on the totem pole, but Sanders is talented enough to make his mark in this offense often.
Zack Moss is rostered in just over 50 percent of leagues, but if he’s available, he’s definitely worth the add. After mysteriously sitting out Week 1, Moss responded by scoring three total touchdowns over the last two games and eclipsed 15 fantasy points in each game. I’m not ready to place him in the ‘Start’ section yet because he’s only playing 54 percent of the team’s snaps, but he’s getting there.
Gio Bernard did not get a carry against the Rams, but he caught nine balls for 51 yards and a touchdown on 10 targets. The veteran back brings a different element to the Bucs’ backfield and is lodged into Tom Brady’s ‘James White role.’
Hunter Renfrow is not the sexiest tool in the shed. However, Derek Carr is showering him with targets and is proving to be a consistent weekly option in PPR leagues. Renfrow put up 5-77-1 on 6 targets and his 22 targets through three games is impressive.
Although Zach Pascal did not find the end zone for the first time this season, he still saw seven targets in Week 3. With TY Hilton still out of the lineup, Pascal should remain Carson Wentz’s top option until further notice. He’s boring but he puts up numbers.
Make no mistake about it. Evan Engram did not ‘wow’ during his 2021 debut. But on the bright side, he was targeted six times and should see a high number of targets moving forward. Engram, one of the most annoying and volatile fantasy tight ends, should be rostered across all leagues due to the lack of consistency at his position and his upside with Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton likely to miss time.
Kirk Cousins has the Vikings offense buzzing through three weeks with high passing numbers. This week, Tyler Conklin saw his best performance yet as the TE1 in Minnesota going for 7-70-1 on 8 targets. This will be a high-volume passing team with Jefferson and Thielen getting the majority of the looks but Conklin can duel it out with KJ Osborn for that third option.
Terrace Marshall looks like the Panthers’ preferred WR2 over Robby Anderson. The rookie saw 60 percent of the Week 3 snaps and has out-targeted Anderson 14 to 11 through three weeks. He’s yet to have that breakout game, but it’s coming. Marshall leads all Panthers wideouts with three red zone targets.
While Hubbard looks to be the RB1 in Carolina for the time being, Royce Freeman has also been added to the roster as a potential option for the Panthers backfield. He only had five carries last week, but the former failed Broncos pick is in line for some work in Carolina. He could be used as an end of roster bench stash if Hubbard fails to move the needle.
We told you to stash Patriots’ RB JJ Taylor last week and it could pay off moving forward. The consistent James White suffered a hip subluxation, which will likely end his season, and Taylor is the only running back on the Patriots roster who carries a similar skill-set to White. Taylor is no White, but it’s the next man up in New England and Taylor now has a major opportunity to carve out a valuable role.
The Giants’ first-round pick will get a major opportunity with Sterling Shepard and Darius Slayton likely out of the lineup with hamstring injuries. Karadius Toney saw the second-most snaps (66 percent) last week and it should continue with Shepard and Slayton set to miss time. Toney is raw but electric with the ball in his hands.
STREAM
- New Orleans D/ST (48% rostered)
- Tennessee Titans D/ST (15%)
The Saints’ defense shut down Mac Jones and the Patriots’ offense last week, getting to the rookie QB quickly and giving him no time to throw. They finally return home after beginning the year on the road and the Superdome should be rocking for Week 4.
The Titans’ defense faces the Jets and interception fiend Zach Wilson in Week 4. That offense just cannot get it together so the Titans should be a solid play with high upside.
