Every week, I try to find players who could be sitting on the waiver wire and are worth picking up for this week based on their matchups. Here’s what I have for week three:
He looked good last week against a very tough Ravens defense, and this week, he goes back home to face a terrible Panthers team. Although the Panthers’ run defense has struggled, the Raiders’ rush offense has also struggled, so as much as they will want to get it going, they will also be looking to play to their strengths. Their strength is throwing the ball to Davante Adams and Brock Bowers.
Nix has looked good rushing the football this year, and the Bucs struggled with that a lot in week one vs. Jayden Daniels. The Bucs also rank 29th in the league in passing yards allowed this season, which should help Nix. The Broncos will almost assuredly be losing this game in the second half, so you can expect garbage time points from Nix, who is an option in super-flex leagues this week if you lost Tua, Bryce Young, or Love over the past couple of weeks. Nix isn’t good, but I like him more than Skyler Thompson, Andy Dalton, and Malik Willis this week.
He is still the backup to Jerome Ford, but his 14 carries in week two show us that he is going to be involved in this offense, and this week his matchup is very enticing. He and the Browns host the Giants, who rank 28th in the NFL in rushing yards allowed (163 per game). The Giants allowed both Brian Robinson Jr. and Austin Ekeler to have big games in week two, which leads me to believe that both Browns RBs are going to eat this weekend.
Starter Zamir White isn’t exactly running away with the job right now, and Mattison has actually outscored him in PPR formats. The Raiders have an excellent matchup for RBs this week, too, taking on the Panthers, who rank 31st in the league, allowing 199 rushing yards per game through the first two weeks of the season. This could be a big week for Mattison if you are desperate for a RB in a deep league.
With Brown out, Covey saw plenty of targets in the passing game. He didn’t have a lot of yards, but his usage is encouraging, and Brown is expected to be out again this week. The Eagles are facing the best offense in football through two weeks (The Saints), so you should expect to see them throwing the football.
Deebo is injured, Aiyuk is still shaking off rust, and CMC will be out for many weeks. That is a lot of targets that have to go somewhere in the 49ers passing game, and Jennings is the guy who is going to get a chunk of them. He takes on the Rams this week, who rank 24th in the league against WRs through the first two weeks of the year.
This play depends on Tee Higgins status for the game. He hasn’t suited up yet, and if he misses week three, I like Burton. Chase and Iosivas are must-starts no matter what, but this matchup vs. Washington is really enticing for Burton. The Commanders rank 32nd in fantasy against WRs.
He had a solid game in week two as the Vikings pulled off the upset over the 49ers. Jefferson is banged up, and Addison is, too. Darnold looks good in leading this offense. The Vikings face the Texans, who rank 20th in fantasy against WRs, and that is with them facing the Bears last week, who have gotten poor QB play from Caleb Williams.
This depends on Ferguson’s status in week three. Ferguson missed week two, and Schoonmaker has a solid fantasy day, catching all 6 of his targets for 43 yards. This week, the Cowboys play the Ravens, who rank 29th in fantasy against the TE position.
Like with Strange, this depends on the status of the regular starter. Evan Engram missed week two and could be out again this week. If he is, Strange becomes an interesting option after catching 3 of 6 targets for 65 yards last week. He and the Jags face the Bills this week, who rank 26th against the TE in fantasy. The Jags are also likely to be playing catch-up in this game, so the passing attack will be featured in the latter stages.
They are at home and taking on the Panthers’ terrible offense after pulling off a huge upset win against the Ravens. The Panthers have been so bad that they have already made a change at quarterback, benching last season’s former #1 overall pick, Bryce Young.
