Week 3 WR Waiver Pickups & Adds: Russell Gage is a Must Add

Week 2 hit us with a historic amount of injuries with players dropping like flies on both sides of the ball. I imagine that almost every single person has a roster spot they need to replace in one of their leagues, and I am here to guide that process. We saw a few players with extremely low ownership shine in Week 2, whether it was due to opportunity, injury, or pure talent there are some names that need to be looked at.

Top WR WW Pick:

Russell Gage

(22% Rostered on Yahoo): I was hesitant to pick up Gage after the one week he had against Seattle, and we saw in the Patriots game that indeed that Hawks’ defense is atrocious. However, against a better Cowboys’ defense the Falcons’ offense was unstoppable, and a big part of that is having a third WR option like Gage. He was hit with another 9 targets, following the 12 targets he received in his first game and is a bonafide part of this air attack.

Gage should give you production every single week due to the game scripts the Falcons will be in. Their defense cannot stop anyone, and very few defenses can stop their offense. 7+ targets for Gage should be a lock and this should make him a flex option almost any week, especially in PPR. While Hayden Hurts’ expanding role, tallying 8 targets last game, is a bit of concern it did not affect Gage’s production in the Cowboys game. Spend up for Gage, he is the real deal. 15-25% FAAB depending on how desperate you need a WR.

Good WW Pickups:

DeSean Jackson

(48% Rostered on Yahoo): Jackson has been on a downward slope of roster % since game one. I think that is a huge mistake, and if an owner dropped him in your league you should go spend FAAB to get him right now. 7 and 9 targets with Jackson’s big-play ability is great. He unfortunately just has not broken a big play off yet, so he does not look extremely appetizing. However, Jalen Reagor only hogged 4 of the targets with Ertz, Goedert, and Sanders eating the rest. There is plenty of opportunities for Jackson left on the table. The Eagles take on the weak Cincinnati defense next week and I would be willing to bet Jackson comes out of it as a solid WR2.

Laviska Shenault or Keelan Cole

(17% Rostered on Yahoo) or (3% Rosterted on Yahoo)

The Jaguars are built to pass the ball. Their defense has a couple of stars on it but will not be stopping the opposing offenses from scoring anytime soon. This leaves Gardner Minshew to put the team on his back and pass the ball to victory. Cole currently leads the team in targets with 12 and has been a solid play both weeks. I think that Keelan remains the primary receiver across from Chark for the remainder of the season. The worries of pass drops and poor routes with Cole have somewhat faded as he has looked extremely crisp through two games.

Shenault is tied with Chris Conley for the second-most targets. Conley does not excite me and I think that Shenault was brought in to be that 3rd WR for this team. He has big-play ability both in the air and on the ground, with 7 carries already through two games. Shenault brings big-play ability and explosiveness to the game and can do a lot more than Conley with limited targets.

In PPR leagues I would probably go with Cole and in Standard leagues with Shenault, though we are really splitting hairs here. You should go with whoever excites you more and whoever you think you can get. Go ahead and put a FAAB claim on each with a bit more going to the one you like. Either WR here can be a great flex option.

Deeper League WW Pickups:

KJ Hamler

(1% Rostered on Yahoo): Hamler is an explosive playmaker for the Denver Broncos’ offense. He missed Week 1 with injury and will now have to deal with backup QB Jeff Driskel for a few weeks while Lock heals his rotator cuff. However, Hamler already received 7 targets in his first game. This is a player with game-breaking speed, A record 40-time, better than Tyreek Hill or Mecole Hardman, Hamler can take any slant route to the house. He will be leaned upon out of the slot with Sutton gone and Hamilton most likely moving to the outside role across from Jerry Jeudy. Hamler is a must-add in deep leagues for me. I think that he could have a monstrous 2020 once Lock is back and will get target share up there with mid-tier WR3s but the playmaking ability to turn himself into a low-end WR2.

Michael Pittman Jr.

(15% Rostered on Yahoo) Parris Campbell going down leaves Micahel Pittman as the 2A/2B option next to Zach Pascal for the offense. As we saw with Campbell there are tons of targets to be had on this time team for Rivers’ second WR. Pittman walked away from the Viking game with 6 targets and would have had more if it were not for the fact Rivers has no reason to pass the ball with the pathetic Vikings’ rush defense unable to stop Jonathan Taylor. The Colts’ schedule leads me to believe he will have a breakout game before his Week 7 bye with games against the Jets, Browns, and Bengals all coming up.