Fantasy Football Week 3 Waiver Wire Advice: Decker, Dalton, Delone, Denarius, DeMarco, David, and many more

After a brutal, injury-filled Sunday around the NFL, fantasy owners (especially depressed Jamaal Charles owners like me) will be flocking to the waiver wire (and potentially liquor stores) for some relief.

Luckily, a number of options emerged on Sunday, so here is the Week 3 list of potential pickups that are owned in less than half of Yahoo! Leagues.

Update: Jon’s Week 3 Start Em, Sit Em projections are posted. Click here!

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Fantasy Football Week 3 Waiver Wire Advice: Quarterback

Rex Grossman (21%), Washington

While a pair of first half interceptions hurt his fantasy output (although Anthony Armstrong should have caught one of them), Grossman still threw for close to 300 yards and two scores.  In the last five games, he now has 1,436 passing yards and 11 touchdowns.

Next up for Sexy Rexy are the Cowboys, who got lit up by Mark Sanchez in Week One and gave up two TDs to Alex Smith this week.

Matt Hasselbeck (17%)

I threw out Hasselbeck as a waiver option prior to the season opener, and he has done nothing to change my opinion.  He threw for a pair of TDs against the Jags and then completed better than 70 percent of his passes against Baltimore for 358 yards and a score on Sunday.

Defenses continue to focus on stopping Chris Johnson, and Hasselbeck is taking advantage with Kenny Britt as the main beneficiary.  The Titans face Denver and Cleveland the next couple weeks, making Hasselbeck a potential option if you’re in a pinch.

Andy Dalton (5%)

Obviously this is only for those in deep leagues, but I was impressed with Dalton on Sunday.  A poor Denver defense also played a role, but Dalton deserves credit for playing through a wrist injury and racking up 332 passing yards and two touchdowns.  Most importantly, he didn’t turn the ball over and made a number of nice plays.

What makes him more intriguing is the list of his next five opponents: San Francisco, Buffalo, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, and Seattle.

Fantasy Football Week 3 Waiver Wire Advice: Running Back

Thomas Jones (34%)/Dexter McCluster (24%)/Le’Ron McClain (0%), Kansas City

With Jamaal Charles done for the season pending MRI results, owners will be rushing to pick up his replacement.  And while the Kansas City offense has done little to make said replacement all that desirable, I’m here to talk you through it.

Thomas Jones seems like the obvious choice, but his ceiling is incredibly low.  His skills are clearly on the decline, and he is barely averaging over 3.0 yards per carry.

McCluster, who qualifies at both running back and wide receiver in Yahoo! leagues, is the closest thing to Charles in terms of big play ability.  He has 93 rushing yards on just 12 carries (although most on reverses or misdirection plays as opposed to straight handoffs) along with nine receptions for 23 yards.  McCluster is a potential homerun hitter, but he also has lost a fumble in both games this season.  He’s definitely worth a look in PPR leagues with the Chiefs likely to be frequently playing from behind.

Don’t count out McClain, who ran for 902 yards and 10 TDs for the Ravens in 2008.  He ran for 15 yards on four carries against the Lions and added a pair of receptions.  In deep leagues, he’s worth a prospective add at this point with the hopes he wrestles the job away from Jones and gets the goal line work.

Roy Helu (21%), Washington

Tim Hightower hasn’t really done anything to lose the starting job for the Redskins, but he found himself on the sidelines toward the end of the game in favor of the rookie Helu, apparently because Hightower was “tired.”  Hightower still saw 20 carries, but Helu’s explosiveness helped ignite the Washington comeback.  He rushed for 74 yards on 10 carries and added three catches for 38 yards.

Helu is absolutely worth a roster spot to find out if he can build on this performance and eventually overtake Hightower.  Inserting Helu into the starting lineup certainly wouldn’t be the craziest decision Mike Shanahan ever made.

Delone Carter (17%), Indianapolis

Another guy I listed leading up to Week One, Carter had 11 carries for 46 yards in the Colts’ loss to Cleveland.  The game, while ugly, was close, so the fact that Carter got nearly as many carries as Joseph Addai is a good sign for the rookie runner.  Addai was still relatively effective, but in what is going to be a lost season for Indy, they owe it to themselves to see what they have in Carter.  He’s an extremely tough runner who is worth stashing on your bench.

DeMarco Murray (9%), Dallas

According to Chris Mortenson, Felix Jones separated his shoulder against San Francisco on Sunday.  While Jones reentered the game, Murray and Tashard Choice would see increased workloads if Jones winds up missing any games, which is not outside the realm of possibility.  Both guys had seven touches in relief of Jones, but Murray was more effective on the ground and has more upside.  The team remains committed to Jones, but his injury history is enough to make Murray relevant in fantasy leagues.

Isaac Redman (2%), Pittsburgh

While most of his value comes as a handcuff to Rashard Mendenhall, Redman showed this week that he has the potential to produce even when Mendenhall is healthy.  Redman ripped off a 20-yard touchdown run in the first half and finished with 49 yards in a blowout win over Seattle.  It’s also worth noting that Mendenhall got stuffed on a couple goal line carries before eventually converting one, so keep an eye on Redman’s use in those situations.  Regardless, with the Colts up next, Redman has a great opportunity to get double-digit touches in what should be another mismatch.

Fantasy Football Week 3 Waiver Wire Advice: Wide Receiver

Jerome Simpson (20%), Cincinnati

After a strong finish to last season, Simpson had just 44 yards in Week One.  Thanks in large part to an 84-yard grab, he bounced back with four catches and 136 yards against Denver.  He did have nine targets for the second straight week, but after a 10-catch performance it’s clear A.J. Green is the go-to receiver for Andy Dalton.  Still, Simpson has big play ability and has a favorable schedule coming up.  Just don’t expect a lot of consistency, and you won’t be disappointed.

Eric Decker (12%), Denver

With Brandon Lloyd inactive and Eddie Royal dinged up, Decker was virtually the only option left for Kyle Orton.  Decker caught three balls for 53 yards in the opener before blowing up for 113 yards and two scores against the Bengals.  Things will only improve for him once Lloyd is back to draw coverage from opposing defenses.  Royal has been a disappointment since his rookie season, so look for Decker to hang onto the starting job even when Royal gets healthy.

Denarius Moore (11%), Oakland

Much like the Broncos, healthy receivers were pretty hard to come by for Oakland.  Moore earned rave reviews in the preseason but was used sparingly in the opener.  Jason Campbell looked his way early and often against the Bills, resulting in a five-catch, 146-yard day for the rookie wideout.  He caught a 50-yard bomb for a TD and nearly hauled in a Hail Mary on the final play of the game.  Moore added 25 yards on the ground, and the Raiders would need to institute tougher drug-testing for their coaches if Moore isn’t in the starting lineup even once Darrius Heyward-Bey and Jacoby Ford are healthy.

Nate Washington (9%), Tennessee

As I mentioned above with Hasselbeck, there are plenty of opportunities for the Tennessee receivers given how much defenses are focused on Chris Johnson.  And with Kenny Britt drawing the bulk of the attention in the secondary, Washington has put together a couple good games.  He saw 11 targets on Sunday and now has 13 receptions for 166 yards this season.  Again, the schedule is favorable in the coming weeks, making Washington a solid option as an injury fill-in.

David Nelson (4%), Buffalo

Nelson’s game-winning TD capped a career day where he caught 10 balls for 83 yards in what was the most entertaining game of the day.  Nelson also had 66 yards in the opener, and he took advantage of an ankle injury to Roscoe Parrish, who is expected to miss at least a few weeks.

At 6-foot-5, Nelson has great size for a slot receiver and will benefit from playing alongside Steve Johnson.  Keep in mind that Johnson has also been nursing an injury and limped off the field late in the game on Sunday.  The Bills will need to throw it a lot against New England next week, making Nelson an intriguing pickup, particularly in PPR leagues.

Brandon LaFell (2%), Carolina

If there was any doubt after Week One, there is not anymore: Cam Newton is the real deal.  While he continues to feed the ball to Steve Smith, LaFell racked up 70 receiving yards in the opener and had 49 more to go with a TD against the Packers.  For now, he’s only rosterable in deep leagues, but if Newton is going to keep up his current pace, someone has to be on the receiving end.

Kevin Ogletree (0%), Dallas

I mentioned Ogletree last week within the context of Dez Bryant’s injury.  With Bryant sidelined for Sunday’s game, Ogletree caught two passes for 50 yards.  The most notable development from that game was Miles Austin re-pulling his hamstring.  According to Chris Mortenson, the Cowboys fear Austin may be out until after Dallas’ Week Five bye, which means more of Ogletree in the starting lineup.

Fantasy Football Week 3 Waiver Wire Advice: Tight End

Fred Davis (17%), Washington

I’m not quite lazy enough to just copy and paste what I wrote about Davis last week, but here are a few noteworthy points.  Davis has TDs in three of the last four games with Grossman as the QB.  He continues to see more targets than Chris Cooley and has shown the ability to be a consistent fantasy producer in the past.  On Sunday, he hauled in six of his seven targets for 86 yards and a score.

The Cowboys gave up solid fantasy numbers to Dustin Keller in Week One, so the matchup is decent next week as well.  He’s definitely an option for Aaron Hernandez owners since it sounds as if he will be out this week.

Streaming Defense(s) of the Week

Arizona (19%)

They play against Seattle and Tarvaris Jackson next week.  That’s all you need to know.

Tennessee (6%)

The Titans have allowed 29 points in two weeks and have tallied five sacks and four turnovers as well.  Denver is next up on the schedule, and the Broncos’ offense has been injury-riddled and inconsistent so far.

Have any questions or feedback?  Leave them in the comments below or hit me up on Twitter (@andybottoms).

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Stay caught up with all of our Week 3 fantasy football analysis:

• Week 3 Start em, Sit em Projections
• Week 3 Waiver Wire Advice
• Week 3 Stats to Know
• Week 3 Fantasy Football Talk Start/Sit Podcast
• Week 3 Player Rankings at QB, RB, WR, TE, K, and D/ST
• Week 3 Sleeper Picks

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