Staying active on the waiver wire is an important way for season-long fantasy owners to improve their teams and get an edge on the competition. Shifts in opportunities for players due to injuries or performance cause value spikes that owners can take advantage of to fill in roster holes to build a championship lineup.
Each week, we will discuss waiver wire targets at each position to consider for both the week ahead and the rest of the fantasy season.
Week 3 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Adds
* Current roster % in home leagues is noted in parentheses (from FantasyPros)
Daniel Jones, QB (Indianapolis Colts) (12%)
The Colts may no longer have a quarterback competition after Daniel Jones led the offense to two successful weeks. Did you know the Colts have yet to punt this season?
Jones is looking for a career resurgence in Indianapolis and looks refreshed after a tumultuous last few seasons with the Giants. Through two weeks, he has two top-7 fantasy quarterback weekly finishes and is scoring touchdowns through the air (two) and with his legs (three). His 316 passing yards on Sunday are his most in a game since Week 2 of 2023.
The Colts have been looking for a consistent, professional quarterback that can unlock their talented skill players in Michael Pittman Jr. and Jonathan Taylor. Jones has found the codes thus far and his upcoming schedule is chalk full of middle-of-the-road passing defenses, including two games against a lackluster Titans squad.
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Bhayshul Tuten, RB (Jacksonville Jaguars) (48%)
The fourth-round pick from Virginia Tech saw 10 touches on Sunday and turned those into 74 yards and a score for the Jaguars. With Jacksonville trading away backup running back Tank Bigsby to Philadelphia last week, Bhayshul Tuten seems to be the clear-cut second option in the running attack to Travis Etienne Jr.
Tuten averaged 5.3 yards/rush and 16.0 yards/catch on Sunday, both better than his backfield counterpart. Don’t expect him to take over the lead role anytime soon, but Etienne Jr. has yet to earn a true workhorse role in his career. Tuten should see 8-12 touches per week in a decent offense with massive potential upside if Etienne Jr. were to miss some time.
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Troy Franklin, WR (Denver Broncos) (4%)
The hope after the 2023 Denver Broncos draft was the rookie quarterback Bo Nix would continue to build a bond in the NFL with his former college teammate Troy Franklin. The pair showed that trust and connection on Sunday for the first time in their young careers.
Franklin saw a career-high nine targets at Indianapolis and turned that into a career-high eight catches for 89 yards and a score. He notched a first career top-10 fantasy week at the position and earned a 47% wide receiver target share from Nix.
The Broncos are looking for a complementary receiving option to emerge alongside Courtland Sutton and Sunday was a step in the right direction for Franklin. Nix is averaging a healthy 35 pass attempts through the first two weeks and has looked Franklin’s way 15 times this season to lead Denver’s receiving options.
Harold Fannin Jr., TE (Cleveland Browns) (37%)
The waiver wire is a wasteland of less-than-exciting tight ends. Amongst the mediocre fantasy options is a glimmer of upside in Browns’ rookie Harold Fannin Jr. Despite David Njoku leading the position room in Cleveland, Fannin Jr. has garnered 14 targets and 12 catches through the first two games of his career.
A super productive college player at Bowling Green, Fannin Jr. has more targets and receiving yards on the season than Njoku. With the Browns likely in a lot of negative game scripts, he could see a lot of late-game targets. His flexibility to line up in the backfield as a fullback adds a dash of rushing and screen pass upside as well.
Fannin Jr. is unlikely to ascend to an elite tight end option this season, but if Cleveland can improve their offensive output to get him some red zone opportunities, he has some upside for weekly starter contention.
Atlanta Falcons, D/ST (11%)
The Falcons defense showed out on Sunday night with six sacks of first-year starter J.J. McCarthy. Rookies James Pearce Jr. and Jalon Walker wreaked havoc in the Vikings’ backfield and they turned that backfield pressure into four total turnovers.
Atlanta’s six sacks on Sunday night were the team’s most since Week 16 of 2023. Next up, they get to chase Bryce Young around in Carolina. Young has three interceptions and has been sacked four times in the first two weeks.
Weeks 4-6 include matchups with the Commanders and Bills sandwiching a bye week. The Falcons are a great one-week streaming defense but are likely not a rest-of-season consistent starter.
Pictured: Daniel Jones
Photo Credit: Imagn
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