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 4:
Bryce Young, Panthers–Although Young’s numbers weren’t terrific against Atlanta, it was still good to see Carolina play at such a high level. Maybe this is the start of big things to come for him? FAAB: $5-10
Jaxson Dart, Giants– At some point, Brian Daboll will realize his job is on the line, and he will have to take Russell Wilson out and use Dart to try to save his job. There will be plenty of growing pains once he starts playing in the real games, so be careful. FAAB: $10-12
Kirk Cousins, Falcons– The Falcons have a Week 5 bye, so if they struggle again in Week 4, they could change back to Cousins for Week 6. FAAB: $1-2
From Previous Weeks:
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. He was awful against Minnesota but should improve. QB. FAAB: $20-30 if you have Burrow, $10-15 if you don’t
Sam Darnold, Seahawks–Darnold is 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
Marcus Mariota, Commanders–Jayden Daniels is dealing with a knee injury, and his Week 4 status is in question. FAAB: $10-15
Carson Wentz, Vikings–Will be starting likely through Minnesota’s BYE week as McCarthy recovers from an ankle injury. FAAB: $8-10
Geno Smith, Raiders–New offensive coordinator Chip Kelly opened up the offense and 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
Trevor Lawrence, Jaguars–Lawrence needs to figure out his relationship with Brian Thomas Jr ASAP to get to the next level. FAAB: $20-25
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 4:
Trey Benson, Cardinals– Sadly, James Conner is out for the season. Benson was the team’s early round pick in 2024, and he was already starting to get about 50% of the carries this season. He’s the number one player to get in FAAB this week. FAAB: $250-300
Ollie Gordon, Dolphins– Gordon got a touchdown on Thursday night against Buffalo so he might be used as the short-yardage back. He is still third on the depth chart behind Achane and Wright, so there’s no clear path to immediate touches. FAAB: $25-30
Hassan Haskins, Chargers– Najee Harris is out for the season with an Achilles tendon injury so Haskins will likely be the replacement back when Hampton needs a breather. FAAB: $5-10
Emeri Demercado, Cardinals– Demercado will move into the third-down receiving back role for Arizona beginning next week. He has some mild upside in PPR formats. FAAB: $5-10
Brashard Smith, Chiefs– The Chiefs can’t be happy with what they’ve been seeing from Pacheco, so look for Smith to be more involved in the coming weeks. FAAB: $10-15
Chris Rodriguez, Commanders–With Ekeler out for the season, Rodriguez will be part of the committee in Washington. He could steal a few touchdowns over the course of the year. FAAB: $5-10
Blake Corum, Rams– Karen Williams is still firmly entrenched as the RB1 for Los Angeles but Corum has gotten more opportunities this season and has shown a lot of juice when given the chance. FAAB: $10-15 (double it if you have Kyren Williams)
Woody Marks, Texans– Marks looks every bit like a good young receiving back for Houston. The Texans will be loath to displace Nick Chubb on 1st and 2nd downs, but Marks has the ability and might earn more playing time soon. FAAB: $35-40
From Previous Weeks:
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
Kareem Hunt, Chiefs–Isiah Pacheco is looking slower and slower. Hunt is the RB2 for now and is 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
Quinshon Judkins, Browns–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 budge,t but he may be one of the best running backs that we see all season available on the waiver wire. FAAB: $400-450
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. FAAB: $15-20
Cam Skattebo, Giants–Fire him up now that Tracy is out!!! FAAB: $350-375
Tahj Brooks, Bengals–It is clear after watching training camp that Brooks is the backup to Chase Brown and should be treated as such. FAAB: $15-20
WR:
New for Week 4:
Luther Burden, Bears– Bears head coach Ben Johnson has said that they need to scheme more plays for Burden and they did that effectively against Dallas. This could be the start of big things to come for this talented young rookie. FAAB: $80-90
Sterling Shepard, Bucs–Mike Evans may miss a week or two with an injured hamstring and with Chris Godwin still coming back from injury, Shepard will be the third receiver in Tampa’s offense. FAAB: $40-45
Adonai Mitchell, Colts– Alec Pierce left Sunday’s game with a concussion and if he is going to miss any time it is likely that Mitchell will take over. FAAB: $10-15
Tre Tucker, Raiders– Shockingly, it is Tucker who is leading the Raiders in touchdowns, receptions, and overall yardage. He is a very fast receiver and a good complement to Jakobi Meyers but don’t overpay for previous weeks’ statistics. FAAB: $50-55
From Previous Weeks:
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. Always better to be a week early than a week late if the Thomas news is troublesome. FAAB: Brown $50-60, Washington $40-50
Tory Horton, Seahawks–He was the talk of training camp before he got injured in a preseason game. Horton scored against Pittsburgh and New Orleans 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
Jalen Coker, Panthers–Coker is well worth a stash as the team loves his upside. FAAB: $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 had two TD passes against Cleveland and looks to be the WR4 (for now) in Baltimore. Decent stash. FAAB: $5-8
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. 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. 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 4:
Isaiah Likely, Ravens–Likely is due back to the lineup any week now, and if so, he may have a sizable role as the Ravens seem to be lacking production from Mark Andrews and they need a consistent weapon for Lamar Jackson. FAAB: $25-30
Cole Kmet, Bears– Colston Loveland left the game with an injury so it looks like this job will belong to Kmet moving forward. Kmet is the better blocker anyway and Caleb Williams looks for him a decent amount. FAAB: $10-15
Oronde Gadsden, Chargers– Gadsden had his first opportunity and looked pretty good for the Chargers. He was an exceptional receiving tight end at Syracuse and could easily become the starter at some point during the season. FAAB: $15-20
Tommy Tremble, Panthers–Ja’Tavion Sanders left the game with an injury and will be out for multiple weeks. Tremble came in and had most of the snaps after that. The Panthers like him, but he’s nothing more than a stash in a deep league. FAAB: $3-5
Mason Taylor, Jets– With the Jets lacking any serious number two receiver, Taylor has stepped up. He’s likely better with Tyrod Taylor as the quarterback than he is with Justin Fields but either way, he should be good for two or three receptions a week moving forward. FAAB: $10-15
From Previous Weeks:
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
Harold Fannin, Browns–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: $100-125
