Waiver Favors: 2016 Week 3 Fantasy Football Pickups

By Ha Kung Wong  Fantasy Football Pickups

Twitter: @FBGarbageTime

As usual, I’m back to help with some waiver wire adds via my weekly Waiver Favors article!  All pickups are available in at least 50% of Yahoo standard fantasy football leagues (with some minor exceptions) as of Sunday evening.

When the Broncos lost Brock Osweiler in the offseason to free agency, NFL pundits were relatively critical of the Broncos front office.  How in the world could they let the guy they’ve been grooming behind Peyton Manning go right after Manning retires?  It’s like having Aaron Rodgers leave the Packers the same year Brett Favre retired, unretired, and left for New York.  And the answer in Denver was apparently Mark Sanchez, which I can assure you, no matter what question you ask, is NEVER the answer.

Fast forward one offseason, one terrible preseason performance by Sanchez, and two subpar regular season games where Siemian totaled only 1 TD to 3 INTs, and the critics were basically going blue in the face yelling “I told you so.”  But Week 3 was a different story, where Siemian completed 23 of 35 passes for 312 yards and 4 TDs against a reasonably competitive Bengals defense.  Most importantly, both Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders managed to get re-enagaged with the offense, which did wonders for Siemian’s confidence.

Every week won’t be like this, but if Siemian can stay connected with his receivers, he’s a reasonable backup QB in 14-team leagues and deeper, and worth a look in all two QB leagues.

Darren Sproles

RB – Philadelphia Eagles – 39% Owned

Consistency is not what you’ll get, but you’ll definitely get more performances like this weeks 6 receptions for 128 yards and a TD and 2 rushes for -1 yards from Darren Sproles.  Ryan Mathews disappeared, likely due to a bad ankle, but that obviously didn’t impact Sproles role on the offense, as Kenjon Barner and Wendell Smallwood handled the carries while Sproles remained the primary receiving back.  He was unimpressive in the first two weeks, but the Eagles are undefeated so far and the offense seems to be for real, so feel free to grab Sproles as a bye week sub or RB4/5 in 12-team PPR leagues, or 14-team standard leagues and deeper.

Jordan Howard

RB – Chicago Bears – 22% Owned

When the Bears let Matt Forte go to the New York Jets, Bears fans were hoping that Jeremy Langford could pick up where he left off last year when he started for nearly half the games due to Forte’s many injuries.  But the Bears didn’t just put all their eggs in the Langford basket, they also drafted RB Jordan Howard in the 5th Round of the 2016 NFL Draft, an excellent value according to many scouts (and something I also pointed out in my draft analysis).

Due to a big preseason, many people thought Howard would be in line for an expanded role sooner rather than later.  And Bears offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains was recently openly impressed with Howard in practice, so it was practically in the bag that he’d get a longer look in Week 3, particularly with the Bears going nowhere this year.

As it turned out, he managed 45 yards on 9 carries with 47 receiving yards on 4 receptions.  But with Langford being carted off with an ankle injury, Howard might be alone in the backfield going forward.  At minimum, if Langford returns, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a full blown RBBC in Chicago, with Howard pulling away later in the season.  So if you like high upside lottery tickets that you don’t need to cash in right away, Howard is a good one to pickup in all 10-team leagues and deeper.

Kenny Stills

WR – Miami Dolphins – 9% Owned

Last year, Dolphins were excited about Kenny Stills coming over from New Orleans.  His speed and athleticism was supposed to open up the offense for Ryan Tannehill.  Of course, that never happened, but during the preseason, stills managed to impress everyone in camp and during preseasons games.  He’ll have to fight for targets with clear WR1 Jarvis Landry and mucho-hyped DeVante Parker, but he managed to snag 2 of 4 for 39 yards and a TD last week, and followed that up by grabbing 5 of 8 targets for 76 yards this week.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see Miami having to play catch-up more often than not, and Still garnering 4-6 targets per week with TD upside.  So if you’re looking for a WR4 in 14-team leagues or deeper, go ahead and give him a look.

Kyle Rudolph

TE – Minnesota Vikings – 41% Owned

Kyle Rudolph has had success in the past, but was derailed due to multiple injuries.  In fact, in the 2 seasons in which he played all 16 games he had almost 500 yards receiving, and in one of those years, 2012, he also caught 9 TDs.  In those seasons he averaged between 4 and 6 targets per game, which is actually less than what he’s seeing in targets this year.

In Week 1, with Shaun Hill, Rudolph snagged 4 of 8 targets for 65 yards.  And when Sam Bradford took over in Week 2, he grabbed 3 of 8 targets for 31 yards and a TD.  He had an even better performance in Week 3 with Bradford, catching 7 of a whopping 10 targets for 70 yards and a TD.  Rudolph is clearly a large part of the Vikings offensive scheme, and Bradford likes to target him in the redzone, so there’s plenty of upside here.  Need a TE because you lost your starter?  Rudolph is worth a look in all 12-team leagues or deeper.

Cameron Brate

TE – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 2% Owned

Austin Seferian-Jenkins had a lot of promise as a move TE in Tampa, but injuries and off the field issues derailed him.  And finally, after DUI on September 23rd, the Buccaneers gave up on Seferian-Jenkins, leaving preseason phenom, Cameron Brate as the primary TE.  And he didn’t disappoint in his first full time start as he went from having just 3 receptions in the first two games to grabbing 5 of 9 targets for 46 yards and 2 TDs.  It’s not guaranteed that this will continue, but he certainly has a shot.  Worth a speculative pick up in 14-team or deeper leagues as a TE2.

And here are previous pickups I’ve mentioned that are still worthy of your consideration:

10-Team Leagues or Deeper

Carson Wentz, Jamison Crowder, Charles Sims

12-Team Leagues or Deeper

Mike Wallace, Victor Cruz, Dennis Pitta, Jacob Tamme, Terrelle Pryor, Tyrell Williams

14-Team Leagues or Deeper

Theo Riddick, Quincy Enunwa, Fozzy Whittaker (PPR), Cameron Artis-Payne, Sam Bradford, Blaine Gabbert, Jerick McKinnon, Matt Asiata

Check back every week for more Waiver Favors!