Dynasty Waiver Wire: Week Four
This might have been my favorite waiver wire article to write this season because of the number of players who are viable additions and available in a good number of dynasty leagues. Not only that, but this may be the most running backs waiver adds I have ever written up in a single week, and even then I dismiised a couple of others out of ambiguity and probable nothingness.
There will always be receivers you can find who could put up ten PPR points any given week, but those running backs are so important to fantasy rosters, especially over an entire season. But you don’t care about my excitement and happiness over this week of waiver adds, you just want the names and aren’t even reading this. I get it.
In case you are reading this, there is one bit of information to know before you start reading names. Just like last year’s series, we will be utilizing player rostership percentages, courtesy of dynasty rosters from SafeLeagues and the great Scott Fish. Using that data, I developed an app to view rostership data from over 600 SafeLeagues dynasty leagues, all using the same format and scoring (2 PPR tight end premium). While this may not be entirely accurate for every individual league, it is very reflective of how managers view who is worthy or not of a roster spot. Now that that is covered, let’s dive into the waiver wire after week four!
Players to double-check availability and immediately add:
- Cordarrelle Patterson, RB/WR ATL
- Darrel Williams, RB KC
- Van Jefferson, WR LAR
- James Washington, WR PIT
- Dan Arnold, TE JAC
Samaje Perine, RB CIN and Chris Evans, RB CIN
This pickup is very similar to my recommendation to add Jeremy McNichols, even though Perine is more widely rostered currently. However, based on his role last year and from Thursday night, Perine is the handcuff to Joe Mixon. Mixon sat out the final drive of the game Thursday with a noticeable limp, and Perine had four touches on that drive, including a 15-yard reception. Perine was already taking third down snaps away from Mixon all game against Jacksonville, which was a major thorn in the side of Mixon managers. Perine is no world beater, but he did have opportunity last year sharing the backfield with Giovani Bernard when Mixon was out, including a 29.6 PPR performance in week 16 last year on 17 touches (without Joe Burrow too).
I also believe rookie Chris Evans is a good add too, but he is not as available as Perine. Evans has been hyped by the Bengals coaching staff as a great pass-catching option and that has been his only usage in games so far. If Mixon misses any time, we could see a more committee approach like last year, but I do expect Perine to lead the committee, at least to start.
Damien Williams, RB CHI and Khalil Herbert, RB CHI
Very similar to the Bengals backfield and names above, we could have a major situation brewing in Chicago. David Montgomery went down in horrible pain in the fourth quarter this week and was helped off the field. Fortunately, the Bears came out and said they believe he avoided a serious knee injury, but that could still keep Monty out for a few weeks. If that’s the case, Damien Williams is the immediate handcuff, with Khalil Herbert slotting in as Williams’ handcuff.
Williams was already spelling Montgomery from time to time, and even scored a touchdown before Montgomery’s injury this week. After the injury, Williams had five touches for 37 yards to close the game before he too got injured. Depending on the severity of Williams’ injury, Herbert could be the guy for Chicago next week, as he is the only other running back currently on their roster (Ryan Nall is on the practice squad). Both backs are worth picking up though, depending on availability in your leagues.
Jeremy McNichols, RB TEN
I actually recommended adding McNichols two weeks ago at 50% availability (I would like to think his rise to 72% rostership is due to this article). While he has been strictly a handcuff till now, he did show standalone PPR value this week against the Jets. This could be a weird perfect storm of factors for McNichols’ production: no AJ Brown or Julio Jones and the Titans in neutral or passing game script against the Jets for the entire game.
Whatever the case, McNichols led the Titans in targets (12) and turned in eight receptions for 74 yards, and also added one 11-yard carry, a solid 16.5-point performance. I don’t expect this type of PPR value or production every game moving forward, especially when Brown and Jones return, but it is great to see the upside of McNichols with Derrick Henry on top of his handcuff value.
Alex Collins, RB SEA
Speaking of backs with some standalone and handcuff value, we welcome Collins. He basically split opportunities with Chris Carson this week, and even found his way to the end zone. Collins is hard to trust on a weekly basis when Carson is healthy while he offers little PPR value, but if anything were to happen to Carson, this backfield is all Collins’, especially with Rashaad Penny continuing to battle injuries.
Kalif Raymond, WR DET
As bad as this Lions offense is, it has surprisingly offered decent fantasy production on a weekly basis, albeit fairly inconsistently in terms of who it actually is. This week it was Raymond, who was second on the team in targets, but caught both of Jared Goff’s touchdowns. This is the second week in a row Raymond has turned in a double digit PPR performance and has seen 16 targets over the last two weeks. Goff is sitting pretty in the top ten in pass attempts currently, and we can probably expect that to continue because… well it’s the Lions. Raymond is worth a shot in deeper dynasty leagues.
Randall Cobb, WR GB
Welcome back to Green Bay, Randall Cobb! I don’t think it is hyperbole to say we might have found the answer to the Packers’ WR2 carousal. Granted, Marquez Valdes-Scantling was inactive after being placed on IR, but that opened up an opportunity for Aaron Rodgers to reconnect with his old pal for an awesome fantasy performance.
Cobb was third on the team in targets (one behind Robert Tonyan), but he made the most of his time, hauling in five catches for 69 yards and two touchdowns. Cobb may not be the spring chicken he once was in Green Bay, but we have seen multiple veteran receivers make their mark in fantasy this year on new (old?) teams, like AJ Green and Emmanuel Sanders. It also never hurts to be a trustworthy favorite of a future Hall of Famer.
CJ Uzomah, TE CIN
Welcome back, CJ Uzomah! There was a lot of hope with him last year after seeing 11 targets in the first two games of the season with Joe Burrow, scoring 8 and 14 fantasy points in those two games. Unfortunately, he tore his Achilles and his 2020 season was finished. Fast forward to 2021, and Uzomah just posted a 5-92-2 performance on six targets, including the reception that set up the game-winning field goal for the Bengals.
Maybe this is a flash in the pan performance for Uzomah with a lot of factors working in his favor: no Tee Higgins, playing the Jaguars defense, a positive passing game script. However, we did see the Burrow-Uzomah connection last year and maybe it took him a couple games to shake the rust off and fully come back to NFL speed from his Achilles injury. At the very least, he is certainly not the worst tight end I have put in this article this year.
Other players to keep an eye on:
- Kendrick Bourne, WR NE
- Freddie Swain, WR SEA
- Chester Rogers, WR TEN
- Cedrick Wilson, WR DAL
Deep stashes:
- Ty Montgomery, RB NO
- Kyle Juszczyk, RB SF
- Tavon Austin, WR JAC
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