Week 2 of the 2022 fantasy football season is nearly in the books! And it’s time to improve our rosters on the Week 3 waiver wire. Let’s take a look at the top Week 3 waiver wire pickups and targets that fantasy managers should consider adding to their rosters.
Note: All roster percentages are from Yahoo.
Waiver wire pickups to target in Week 3 | Quarterbacks
Jared Goff, Detroit Lions (22% rostered)
The Lions’ offense looks pretty, pretty, pretty good. Jared Goff threw for 256 yards and four touchdowns in a shootout with the Commanders.
Next week’s matchup against the Vikings could be another high-scoring affair. Goff is a viable QB streamer for next week and a potential long-term replacement for those who lost Dak Prescott or Trey Lance. He is worth a 3-5% FAAB bid.
Carson Wentz, Washington Commanders (50% rostered)
It took a negative game script and 46 pass attempts, but Carson Wentz posted his second consecutive QB1 performance. Wentz completed 30 passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns.
The Commanders can’t seem to stop anyone on defense. Wentz may find himself in situations where he has to throw a lot. With no tough matchup until the Packers in Week 7, Wentz looks like a startable QB1 for the foreseeable future. He is worth a 5-8% FAAB bid depending on your need at quarterback.
Waiver wire pickups to target in Week 3 | Running backs
Tyrion Davis-Price, San Francisco 49ers (8% rostered)
With Elijah Mitchell on the shelf, we weren’t sure how the 49ers’ backfield would shake out. Jeff Wilson was the lead back, garnering 14 carries. However, Tyrion Davis-Price was the next man up. He saw 14 carries himself.
While TDP wasn’t overly efficient, managing just 33 yards, it’s clear that if anything were to happen to Wilson, Davis-Price would be the primary back. He’s worth a speculative 3-5% FAAB bid.
Raheem Mostert, Miami Dolphins (43% rostered)
I was stunned to see the snap split between Raheem Mostert and Chase Edmonds. Watching the game live, it looked like it was all Mostert. In actuality, Mostert played just three more snaps than Edmonds.
Although the playing time was similar, Mostert out-carried Edmonds 11-5 and out-targeted him 3-2. Mostert also looked good doing it. He carried the ball 11 times for 51 yards.
Mostert isn’t as available as most of the guys on this list, but he’s still out there plenty. He’s worth a 10-15% FAAB bid.
J.D. McKissic, Washington Commanders (23% rostered)
Now, this is the Commanders’ backfield I remember. Antonio Gibson played 40 snaps and J.D. McKissic 34. Gibson saw four targets. McKissic saw seven. The shifty McKissic also caught all seven of them for 54 yards.
McKissic will always be game script dependent, but there’s value in that if you can predict it. Whenever the Commanders are playing from behind, McKissic will be useful. At the very least, he belongs on more fantasy rosters than he’s currently on. He’s worth a 7-12% FAAB bid.
Darrel Williams, Arizona Cardinals (3% rostered)
At this point, we do not know the severity of James Conner’s injury. Darrel Williams’ name is going here because fantasy managers need to at least be cognizant of the fact that he might be worth picking up in the event Conner misses any time.
Williams carried the ball eight times for 59 yards and a touchdown in the Cardinals’ overtime win over the Raiders. He appears to be the direct backup to Conner, while Eno Benjamin’s role remains as the change-of-pace back regardless of who the bellcow is.
If Conner is going to miss even a couple of weeks, Williams is likely worth in the area of a 15-20% FAAB bid.
Waiver wire pickups to target in Week 3 | Wide receivers
Noah Brown, Dallas Cowboys (1% rostered)
Operating as the Cowboys’ WR2, Noah Brown caught all five of his targets for 91 yards and a touchdown. He looked pretty good doing it, too.
The Cowboys now may be without Dalton Schultz for a period of time. It’s unclear if Michael Gallup is set to return. Cooper Rush looked competent, and he likely has a rapport with Brown from the second team.
Fantasy managers in need of a wide receiver should consider a small FAAB bid on Brown in the 3-5% range.
Jahan Dotson, Washington Commanders (42% rostered)
For two straight weeks, Terry McLaurin has been the lowest-scoring Commanders receiver. This week, rookie Jahan Dotson led the team in snaps and routes run. While he still only saw five targets, he did once again find the end zone.
Dotson’s performance has been too good to ignore. It stands to reason the targets will follow the playing time. Dotson is worth an 18-22% FAAB bid.
Jakobi Meyers, New England Patriots (35% rostered)
I am stunned a real-life team’s WR1 is this available. Jakobi Meyers is the same guy he’s been the past two seasons. He’s not going to win you any matchups, but he’s a very serviceable weekly WR3/Flex.
Meyers led all Patriots pass-catchers in snaps, routes run, and targets (13). He caught nine of them for 95 yards. Fantasy managers should be willing to place a 12-17% FAAB bid on Meyers.
Josh Palmer, Los Angeles Chargers (27% rostered)
Keenan Allen will probably return next week, which will render Josh Palmer unstartable. However, Palmer has proven to be a worthy Flex play every time he’s been elevated to the WR2 role. It happened again this past Thursday. Palmer caught four of eight targets for 30 yards and a touchdown.
The odds one of Allen or Mike Williams misses another game at some point are high. Palmer will be a viable start whenever that happens. He’s worth a 5-8% FAAB bid.
Sterling Shepard, New York Giants (10% rostered)
In his second game back from a torn Achilles, Sterling Shepard did not have as good of a game, but he looked more comfortable and was a bigger part of the offense.
Shepard led all Giants with 10 targets and tied for the team lead in snaps and routes run. David Sills and Shepard were the clear starters for the Giants. Everyone else mostly rotated behind them with no clear WR3…except for Kenny Golladay, who played all of two snaps because Brian Daboll is an excellent coach.
Shepard’s roster percentage will be above 75% within a couple of weeks. Get in now. He’s worth a 10-15% FAAB bid.
Garrett Wilson, New York Jets (20% rostered)
Some may think Garrett Wilson is the Jets’ WR1. He’s not…yet. But it’s coming. Wilson is just so talented.
The rookie first-rounder caught eight of 14 targets for 102 yards and two touchdowns. It’s safe to say he’s arrived. I can’t imagine Robert Saleh can justify not increasing his snaps.
Wilson still played just 61% of the snaps, well behind Corey Davis’ 55. However, he ran two more routes than Davis. And, well, the targeting wasn’t close.
It’s possible things change when Zach Wilson returns, but Wilson needs to be rostered everywhere. He’s worth a 30-40% FAAB bid.
Waiver wire pickups to target in Week 3 | Tight ends
Tyler Conklin, New York Jets (2% rostered)
With C.J. Uzomah out, Tyler Conklin was the every-down tight end for the Jets…literally. Conklin played every snap. He was second in the team in targets with nine and caught six of them for 40 yards. Those are perfectly fine back-end TE1 numbers.
Fantasy managers can certainly do worse than Conklin. He’s got a decently high target floor and won’t get you zero. Plus, there’s reasonable touchdown upside. He’s worth a 3-5% FAAB bid.
Evan Engram, Jacksonville Jaguars (20% rostered)
The tight end position is a wasteland. Evan Engram is…not terrible. He played 70% of the snaps against the Colts, ran a route on just over half his snaps, and led his team in targets with eight. Unless you have an elite tight end, you will take seven catches for 46 yards from your tight end.
Engram should be viewed as a back-end TE1 and is worth a 5-7% FAAB bid.
Logan Thomas, Washington Commanders (13% rostered)
Logan Thomas isn’t all the way back, but he’s getting there. He played 73% of the snaps and caught three of five targets for 37 yards and a touchdown.
It’s only a matter of time before Thomas is the every-week back-end TE1 he was last season. With Carson Wentz playing well, Thomas needs to be on more rosters. He’s worth an 8-10% FAAB bid.