Waiver Favors™: 2020 Week 4 Fantasy Football Pickups

By Ha Kung Wong  Week 6 Fantasy Football Pickups

Twitter: @FBGarbageTime

As I do every year over the last 8 years, I’m here to help with waiver wire adds via my weekly Waiver Favors article!  And I’m assuming if you’re a returning reader, you won your fantasy football championship last year, so congratulations!

But it’s a new year, so I’ll make a couple suggestions for after Week 4 of the 2020 fantasy football season.  You’re welcome.  Again.

As usual, all pickups are available in at least 50% of Yahoo standard fantasy football leagues (with some minor exceptions) as of Sunday evening.

Kirk Cousins

QB – Minnesota Vikings – 29% Owned

Say what you will about Kirk Cousins, but he’s actually been decent for fantasy of late. Aside from his Week 2 stinker, he’s put up at least 250 yards in each game and totaled 6 TDs over that stretch. With Justin Jefferson’s breakout, Cousins looks to have found a Stefon Diggs substitute and appears to be back on track. Having Dalvin Cook to dump off to also doesn’t hurt. If you need a QB over the next couple of weeks, he has some nice matchups with the Seahawks and Falcons defenses on tap. He’s worth consideration as a bye week fill in in 12-team leagues or deeper, or in any two QB leagues.

Justin Jackson

RB – Los Angeles Chargers – 5% Owned

Austin Ekeler went down early with an injury and was quickly ruled out in Week 4. He was carted off the field, so it looked pretty serious and current information is that its a hyperextended knee and a hamstring injury that may cause an extended absence. In the meantime, Joshua Kelley and Justin Jackson stepped in to put up a combined 15 carries for 16 empty yards. Yikes. That being said, this week was a bit of a shootout, and the two RBs did chip in a total 5 receptions for 38 receiving yards. Joshua Kelley (54% Owned) is still the guy to target, and I recommended him weeks ago, but Jackson is also worth your attention if Ekeler misses time, as it was his backup job at the beginning of the season before his Week 1 quad injury. Keep an eye on him in all 12-team leagues or deeper.

• UPDATE – 10/5/2020 – Austin Ekeler is likely going to IR making Kelley and Jackson priority pickups.

#Chargers RB Austin Ekeler suffered what is considered a serious hamstring injury and while no firm decision will be made until all the analysis is done, Injured Reserve is the likely landing spot with hope of returning later in the season.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 5, 2020

D’Ernest Johnson

RB – Cleveland Browns – 1%

I hope Nick Chubb is OK, but he got ruled out quickly after an early knee injury in Week 4, and there haven’t been any significant updates yet. Clearly, Kareem Hunt will lead the way if Chubb misses time, but D’Ernest Johnson also stepped in and rushed 13 times for 95 yards. Hunt has a groin injury of his own that he’s been nursing, so who knows what happens in the Browns backfield going forward. Johnson is nice speculative pickup in all 12-team leagues or deeper, and for all Chubb and Hunt owners.

• UPDATE – 10/5/2020 – Nick Chubb has been placed on IR, making Johnson a priority pickup.

Browns' RB Nick Chubb is being placed on IR with an MCL injury, per Kevin Stefanski.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) October 5, 2020

Chase Edmonds

RB – Arizona Cardinals – 35% Owned

What a disappointment Kenyan Drake has been.  He’s totally struggling and turned in a meager 35 yards on 13 carries against the Panthers.  Chase Edmonds only ran 4 times for 16 yards in that game, but also added 5 receptions from 6 targets for 24 yards. Drake isn’t being used in the passing game at all, and at some point, this may become a true 50/50 split or even a 60/40 in favor of Edmonds.  He’s worth a speculative pick up in all 12-team leagues, and is a priority consideration for Drake owners.

Cole Beasley

WR – Buffalo Bills – 25% Owned

Guess what? Being the third target in Buffalo has some value. Beasley caught 3 of 4 targets for 32 yards and a TD in Week 4, including some spectacular grabs in really tough coverage. More importantly, he’s now averaging 4.5 receptions on 6 targets for 65 yards over his first 4 games of the season. You might want to keep an eye on the injury he had in second half, but with some TD upside, his numbers look pretty good so far for a WR3/4/Flex in 12-team leagues or deeper, particularly in PPR.

Scotty Miller

WR – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 16% Owned

I’m not totally sold on Scotty Miller, but the Buccaneers can’t seem to keep their pass catchers healthy. First it was Mike Evans, then it was Chris Godwin, and now Evans is playing through an ankle sprain and O.J. Howard is out, likely for the season, with an Achilles injury. And when opportunity called, Miller answered, as he caught 5 of 7 targets for 83 yards and a TD in Week 4. He’s been successful in pass weeks as well when the Bucs are short handed, so if you have flexibility on your bench, he might be useful in 12-team leagues or deeper going forward.

Alshon Jeffery

WR – Philadelphia Eagles – 16% Owned

It’s not that I’m a huge Alshon Jeffery fan, but the Eagles are really having receiver issues. Jalen Reagor has a thumb injury and Dallas Goedert has ankle injury putting both on I.R., and DeSean Jackson was ruled out in Week 4 due to a persistent hamstring injury. Jeffery is himself coming back from Lisfranc surgery, but started practicing last week and could possibly get cleared to return in Week 5. With essentially only Zack Ertz and Greg Ward to contend with for targets, he could be valuable based on volume alone. Feel free to stash him in 14-team leagues or deeper.

Gabriel Davis

WR – Buffalo Bills – 2% Owned

If you listen to our podcast, you know that Ryan Whitfield is pretty excited about rookie Gabriel Davis and his potential. And that’s for good reason as he seems to have found a role as the Bills deep threat and redzone threat in recent weeks. Sure, he was only targeted once in Week 4, but he caught it for a a 26-yard TD. In Week 2 he did the same thing with a 6-yard TD, and in Week 3 he was 4 for 4 for 81 yards. He seems to be finding a way from week to week, so if you’re desperate for a lottery ticket, you might take a look in 14-team leagues or deeper, particularly in dynasty and keeper formats.

Tim Patrick

WR – Denver Broncos – 1%

It’s really tough to get excited about a Brett Rypien run offense, particularly without Courtland Sutton, and now perhaps without Noah Fant. However, we did see Tim Patrick step up and catch 6 of 7 targets for 113 yards and a TD in Week 4, which has got to be worth something. Sutton is out for the season, Fant may miss a few games, and Drew Lock is close to returning, so Patrick may have some value in the future if he keep this up. Take a gander in 14-team leagues or deeper.

UPDATE for Monday Night Football

Damien Harris

RB – New England Patriots – 31% Owned

Damien Harris was in line for a significant role coming into the season until being derailed by a hand injury that landed him IR. Well, he’s off IR now and with Sony Michel on IR managed to rushed 17 times for 100 yards against a relatively solid Kansas City defense.  Rex Burkhead should still have a role, but he was out carried 11 to 17, so I like gambling on Harris getting the larger share of carries while Michel remains on IR.  He’s worth picking up in 12-team leagues or deeper.

Robert Tonyan

TE – Green Bay Packers – 27%

Robert Tonyan has emerged as the Packers top tight end, seeing 60 percent of the snaps in each of their first three games.  And he’s kept things rolling through Week 4 with 6 receptions for a 98 yards and a whopping 3 TDs.  He has a bye week coming up, but he’s worth a stash if you’re hurting for some TE production in 12-team leagues or deeper.

And here’s who I’ve recommended in previous weeks that I still think deserve a look:

10-Team Leagues

RBs – Mike Davis

12-Team Leagues

QBs – Derek Carr, Justin Herbert, Gardner Minshew

RBs – Devonta Freeman, Myles Gaskin, Darrell Henderson, Jerick McKinnon, Joshua Kelley

WRs – Robby Anderson, Brandon Ayuik, Justin Jefferson, Tee Higgins 

TEs – Mo Alie-Cox, Dalton Schultz

14-Team Leagues

QBs – Nick Foles

RBs – Malcolm Brown

WRs – Chase Claypool, Keelan Cole, Laviska Shenault

TE – Jordan Reed (subject to injury), Drew Sample

16-Team Leagues

QBs – None

RB – Nyheim Hines (PPR), Dion Lewis, Benny Snell Jr., Jeff Wilson Jr.

WR – None

TE – None

Check back every week for more Waiver Favors!