Each week it is critical to scope out your league’s waiver wire to look for the best players to help your fantasy roster. The fantasy football managers who pay attention and pick up players at the right time can have a huge advantage when it comes to winning their league. The difference between bidding on waivers and FAAB is that with FAAB, winning the player is purely based on outbidding the other players in the league. However, it’s extremely important to be judicious with your FAAB budget throughout the season, considering it may need to last 14-17 weeks, assuming you end up making the fantasy championship.
Here is a list of players who you should keep on your watch list with projected FAAB amounts. For purposes of this article, the assumption is that your league uses $1000 FAAB.
QB:
New for Week 3:
Jake Browning, Bengals–Think of Browning like you would Jameis Winston. He’s going to sling it around, likely throw for close to 300 yards, get 2-3 TDs, and have 2-3 INTs. Not too bad for a backup QB. FAAB: $200-240 if you have Burrow, $50-70 if you don’t
Mac Jones, 49ers–Jones ran the offense well in Week 2, but it was against the Saints so the jury is still out. Kyle Shanahan likes him and he did look in control of the offense. If he continues to play at a high level, Purdy might not get his job back so quickly. FAAB: $40-50
Russell Wilson, Giants–Russ cooked against Dallas’ awful secondary. He certainly won’t play like this every week, but he has earned himself a longer leash as starter. FAAB: $15-20
Sam Darnold, Seahawks–Darnold led Seattle to a big win on the road. He’s still focusing on JSN to the dismay of all his other receivers, but he’s entrenched as the starter and the team looks improved. FAAB: $20-25
Mason Rudolph, Steelers–Rodgers might be missing Week 3. Tread lightly with Rudolph. FAAB: $5-10
Marcus Mariota, Commanders–Jayden Daniels is dealing with a knee injury and his Week 3 status is in question. FAAB: $3-5
Jameis Winston, Giants–Winston will be in demand from teams desperate for QB help. He can sling it if he’s named the starter. FAAB: $5-10 (pure speculation play)
Carson Wentz, Vikings–Will be starting likely through Minnesota’s BYE week as McCarthy recovers from an ankle injury. FAAB: $2-4
From Last Week:
Geno Smith, Raiders–New offensive coordinator Chip Kelly opened up the offense and Smith looked sensational against the Patriots in Week 1. Smith has absolutely earned a spot in Superflex formats. FAAB: $10-15
Matthew Stafford, Rams–Stafford is never the kind of guy who’s going to get 3 or 4 touchdown passes per game but he has two sensational receivers and he usually throws somewhere between 260 and 300 yards and at least one touchdown per week making him as steady as they come. FAAB: $10-15
Michael Penix, Jr., Falcons—Penix looked excellent against Tampa giving Atlanta a real chance to win at the end of the game. He was less than stellar against Minnesota, but that might have been based on the tough Vikings defense. Be patient. FAAB: $10-15
Joe Flacco, Browns–Flacco could certainly put up 220 yards per week with a touchdown making him usable in Superflex formats. FAAB: $5-10
Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars–Lawrence is likely the best quarterback that people are not talking about this season. He gets Liam Coen’s explosive offensive play calling which puts multiple players into upside situations. He needs to figure out his relationship with Brian Thomas Jr ASAP to get to the next level. FAAB: $20-25
Daniel Jones, Colts—Jones shocked the fantasy world in Week 1 AND Week 2. He’s for real in this offense and a nice pivot for Burrow owners. He’s worth the risk. FAAB: $50-55
Cam Ward, Titans–The more you watch Ward play the more you see a player who shows a lot of potential. Things should improve in the coming weeks. FAAB: $5-10
RB:
New for Week 3:
Bhayshul Tuten, Jaguars–On both SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio and in Discord on Sunday morning I told everyone to get Tuten. Now that he scored, EVERYONE in the fantasy community will be touting him. It’s incredibly important to be 1-2 weeks ahead of your competitors to win your league. FAAB: $220-240
Kyle Monangai, Bears–Ben Johnson has stated that he wants to get him more carries. FAAB: $30-50
Tyler Badie, Broncos–Was looking good last year before he left with a season-ending injury. Now he’s back and Sean Payton likes him enough to give him touches. FAAB: $5-10
Kareem Hunt, Chiefs–Isiah Pacheco is looking slower and slower. Hunt is the RB2 for now and worth a dart throw. FAAB: $10-15
Jeremy McNichols, Commanders–With Ekeler out for the season it should be McNichols who steps into the 3rd down receiving RB role. FAAB: $10-15
Tyjae Spears, Titans–He will be out two more weeks before he can return from IR. Now is the time to stash. FAAB: $30-35
From Last Week:
Quinshon Judkins, Browns–It’s only a matter of time before Judkins becomes the RB1 in Cleveland. He’s got the most explosive ability of all the running backs on the team and he’s certainly capable of breaking away from tacklers. He’s going to cost a significant amount of FAAB budget but he may be one of the best running backs that we see all season available on the waiver wire. FAAB: $400-450
Dylan Sampson, Browns–Sampson is already becoming the RB2 behind Judkins in Cleveland. FAAB: $50-60
DJ Giddens, Colts–Giddens is the clear RB2 in Indianapolis and if anything happens to Jonathan Taylor he would be worth rostering. Definitely worth a dollar or two to stash. FAAB: $20-25
Miles Sanders, Cowboys–Sanders is somebody worth rostering if your team is lacking running back depth. He scored a nice TD against the Giants. FAAB: $15-20
Tank Bigsby, Eagles—Philadelphia traded for Bigsby likely to make him the RB2 behind Saquon Barkley. If he ever is needed, Bigsby has the skill set to produce. FAAB: $25-30
Cam Skattebo, Giants–There was a point this past summer where the Giants saw enough in Skattebo that they thought that he could be their goal line and short yardage back. He out touched Tracy against Dallas and he should emerge to be the RB1 shortly. FAAB: $150-160
Tahj Brooks, Bengals–It is clear after watching training camp that Brooks is the backup to Chase Brown and should be treated as such. If you smartly drafted Brown you need to make sure that you have Brooks as the handcuff making him worth a few dollars. FAAB: $15-20
WR:
New for Week 3:
Dyami Brown/Parker Washington, Jaguars–There obviously is something wrong with Brian Thomas, Jr. and it’s going to shake out soon. He’s either hurt or annoyed at the play calling or both. Brown scored a TD against Cincinnati and should have had a second if not for a horrific drop. Washington led the team in receptions. Always better to be a week early than a week late if the Thomas news is troublesome. FAAB: Brown $50-60, Washington $40-50
Dontayvion Wicks/Savion Williams, Packers–Jayden Reed will be out for a few weeks and Matthew Golden is still a rookie learning the position. Wicks has time in the offense and Williams is a Deebo Samuel-type player who can be used all over. FAAB: Wicks $25-30, Williams $15-20
Tory Horton, Seahawks–He was the talk of training camp before he got injured in a preseason game. Horton scored against Pittsburgh but Darnold only seems to have eyes for JSN. Keep Horton on the radar. FAAB: $10-15
Josh Palmer, Bills–Allen seems to have a nice connection with Palmer but the Bills are deep at receiver so Palmer is more of a BYE week fill-in than anything. FAAB: $5-8
Hunter Renfrow/Jalen Coker, Panthers–Considering Carolina has been behind in both of its first two games they will be throwing heavily in the second half. Renfrow looked great against Arizona and will be the slot WR until Coker returns. Coker is well worth a stash as the team loves his upside. FAAB: Renfrow: $5-8; Coker $10-12
Devontez Walker, Ravens–Walker was an outstanding prospect at North Carolina who probably should have stayed in college for an extra year. He could two TD passes against Cleveland and looks to be the WR4 (for now) in Baltimore. Decent stash. FAAB: $5-8
From Last Week:
Hollywood Brown, Chiefs–Brown became the WR1 for Kansas City as soon as Xavier Worthy left with the shoulder injury. Worthy is going to try to do his best to play with a brace but there’s no guarantee that he’s going to be able to stay on the field. Brown will likely be the top target for Patrick Mahomes until Rashee Rice returns midway through the season. He is likely rostered in most leagues but if he’s out there, he’s worth pursuing. FAAB: $100-110
Quentin Johnston, Chargers—Johnston has struggled with holding onto the football in previous seasons, but he is coming off great games in Weeks 1-2 so there is hope. FAAB: $35-40
Kendrick Bourne, 49ers–Bourne is a solid, but not spectacular, receiver who is worth carrying only in the deepest of leagues. FAAB: $10-12
Calvin Austin, Steelers–Austin could easily emerge as the WR2 for Aaron Rodgers in short order, becoming his Randall Cobb type of receiver in Pittsburgh. FAAB: $20-25
Kayshon Boutte, Patriots—Boutte showed a good connection with Drake Maye last season and he excels against man coverage. He is a good receiver to stash based on the defensive matchups if your roster is able to be flexible enough to carry him. FAAB: $35-40
Elic Ayomanor, Titans–Keep an eye on Ayomanor as he seems to have a good connection with Cam Ward and the Titans should be trailing in most games making him a solid receiver to have stashed on the bench. FAAB: $25-30
Troy Franklin, Broncos–This is Franklin’s second season, and many people may forget that he was Bo Nix’s favorite target back when they played together at the University of Oregon. Franklin supposedly has put on some more muscle and looked bigger and stronger in training camp and the team just traded away last year’s 3rd receiver with the idea of giving that role to Franklin. Franklin has really stepped up in the first two games and might emerge as the WR2 soon. FAAB: $45-50
Cedric Tillman, Browns–The good news about Tillman is that he is a very solid young receiver who is playing on a team that should be behind in most of its matchups so there could be some significant garbage time production. On the other hand, he suffered numerous concussions last year and if he suffers another one this year he could miss some time. Buy at your own risk. FAAB: $10-15
Malik Washington, Dolphins–Washington is very under the radar right now. With Tyreek Hill dealing with an injury Washington may be somebody who is a smart stash as he is clearly the WR3 for Miami. FAAB: $10-15
Isaac TeSlaa, Lions—TeSlaa won the WR3 position in training camp as the Lions moved on from Tim Patrick who was traded to Jacksonville. TeSlaa has an interesting combination of size and speed but he’s still raw as a prospect. If you are rostering St. Brown and/or Williams he could be a very good person to keep on your bench just in case. FAAB: $20-25
TE:
New for Week 3:
Ja’Tavion Sanders, Panthers–Sanders continually shows improvement as a receiver and has earned Bryce Young’s trust in the red zone. He’s a sneaky add in deeper leagues. FAAB: $10-15
A.J. Barner, Seahawks–Barner is a big time blocking tight end with surprisingly decent skills as a receiver. Elijah Arroyo is going to be a good player eventually but Barner is the TE1 in Seattle. FAAB: $5-10
From Last Week:
Harold Fannin, Browns–The Browns really don’t have a true slot receiver and there is talk that Fannin might be used in that role early on. He was not much of a blocker back in college, but he plays tight end more like a receiver and he’s very tall and rangy. With the Browns likely losing in most of their games Fannin could have a lot of garbage time production. He looked tremendous in Week 1 and this feels like the tip of the iceberg. FAAB: $80-100
Juwan Johnson, Saints–He’s a huge target and downfield presence and normally does well in the red zone. He’s probably worth an extra dollar or two in standard leagues. FAAB: $45-50
Michael Mayer, Raiders–Picking up Mayer is a good hedge just in case Brock Bowers’ knee injury is worse than originally anticipated. Mayer was a very good tight end at Notre Dame and Las Vegas considers him more of a 1A than they do a 2. FAAB: $20-25
Noah Fant, Bengals–Fant always had great skills but he’s never been in a high octane offense before. He makes for an excellent stash in a standard format. FAAB: $10-15
Theo Johnson, Giants–Johnson is an exceptional athlete with a lot of size and speed and could be a significant producer in the Giants’ offense. He was playing a lot of snaps last year before he was injured and done for the season and now, he expects to make a big splash in year 2. There’s a real opportunity for him to get about 60 receptions and six touchdowns in this offense. FAAB: $10-15
