Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 4: Braelon Allen and Ollie Gordon are next in line

Week 3 is just about over, bringing us another run of waivers to go along with even more injuries. Every player in this article is available in at least half of all Yahoo leagues.

▶ Quarterback

Sam Darnold, Seahawks

Darnold returned quicker than expected and is available in just over half of all Yahoo leagues. He looked like his usual self on Sunday, dicing up the Commanders for four touchdowns, albeit with two interceptions. The passing volume was a new wrinkle in the offense, with Darnold throwing 45 attempts in comeback mode. Seattle has a pass rate over expected of -1.5% this year. That’s up from -6.1% in 2025. Darnold will push closer to a weekly QB1 ranking if he gets to throw more often going forward.

Geno Smith, Jets

Smith looks good this year. He’s 13th in EPA per play and leads the league in completion percentage over expected.

He is fantasy football’s QB15. The Jets get a Chicago defense that ranks 23rd in EPA per dropback allowed. Smith has rebounded stunningly well from his 2025 meltdown and is firmly in the QB2 mix.

Kirk Cousins, Raiders

Speaking of players who have rebounded, Cousins is also playing well. He’s 11th in EPA, 12th in CPOE, and ninth in fantasy points. Unless Jalen Hurts throws four touchdowns tonight, Cousins is tied with Brock Purdy for the league lead in touchdown passes at nine. That includes two games for which he didn’t have his superstar tight end and de facto WR1. The Raiders get a tough matchup with the Chiefs this week, but it’s also a spot with sneaky shootout potential.

Jalon Daniels, Bucs

Baker Mayfield suffered a dislocated thumb in his throwing hand in Week 3 and will likely miss some time. Daniels, a UDFA from Kansas, played well enough in the preseason to make the Bucs’ roster as their No. 2 quarterback. He wasn’t awfully productive or efficient at Kansas, but he did run for 400 yards in three different seasons. Daniels is a Superflex-only add, but it’s rare to get a starting rookie quarterback off the waiver wire unless they have already flopped.

▶ Running Back

Braelon Allen, Jets

Breece Hall suffered a thigh injury in Week 3’s loss to the Lions and did not return. Allen was the only other running back to touch the ball during the game, even though Isaiah Davis was active. Davis has yet to play a snap on offense this year. If Hall were to land on short-term IR, Allen would immediately become the best FAAB bid of the year. Without concrete information on his health, I’m still looking at getting 30-40 percent of my FAAB down on Allen.

Ollie Gordon, Dolphins

Gordon is in a similar spot to Allen, but on a worse team with more role ambiguity. Gordon took over for an injured De’Von Achane—who has officially been diagnosed with a torn ACL and will miss the rest of the year—on Sunday. He racked up 17 carries plus three receptions. Gordon found the end zone on the ground but averaged a pitiful 2.4 yards per carry. Jalyen Wright was inactive because of a stinger he suffered in Week 2. Before going down, he appeared ot be slightly ahead of Gordon in the pecking order for backup duties. Wright was downgraded from a limited practice on Thursday to a DNP on Friday, so he might not be close to a return. Wright could ultimately be the team’s starting running back when healthy, so I’m not fully unloading the FAAB clip on Gordon. Though he’s still worth a 25-30 percent bid.

Keaton Mitchell, Chargers

Mike McDaniel is growing tired of Omarion Hampton’s sluggish running and fumble issues. With eight carries and three catches in Week 3, Mitchell more than doubled his touch total for the year. He looked explosive on the ground, averaging 6.5 YPC. Mitchell also scored through the air, though he finished the game with -5 receiving yards. He has never seen more than a dozen touches in a game, so this is both a big step for the speedy runner, but also a potential ceiling in terms of opportunities. Mitchell is an exciting RB4 right now, but not much more.

Kaleb Johnson, Packers

The Packers might be done with the MarShawn Lloyd experiment. He did not play in the fourth quarter of their Thursday night loss to the Falcons and Johnson matched him in carries with four apiece. Both backs also saw three targets. Chris Brooks led the way in snaps but did not carry the ball once. Ian Rapoport suggested on Sunday that Josh Jacobs could miss upwards of eight games, so this is a backfield that could still give us value from the backups for another month.

Johnson hasn’t taken over the backfield yet, but it’s in the cards over the next two weeks.

▶ Wide Receiver

Malik Washington, Dolphins

Washington once again operated as the Dolphins’ WR1. Just like last week and the week before that, he failed to cash in for more than a handful of fantasy points. Washington is seventh among all receivers in target share and 29th in air yards share. Per PFF’s expected fantasy points model, Washington should be the WR17. He is WR41 in actual points.

His role could take a hit with Chris Bell—a solid waiver wire flyer in his own right—potentially taking on more work over the next few weeks, but it’s rare to find a player on the wire with as many opportunities as Washington has seen.

Tre’ Harris, Chargers

Things can’t get more bleak for the Chargers, but Harris was a bright spot in Week 3. He led the team with seven targets, 76 yards, and six grabs. Quentin Johnston, meanwhile, committed another ghastly drop. Johnston is averaging a truly untenable .8 yards per route run this year while Harris is just over two. Something has to give here, and I think it’s Johnston’s playing time.

Pat Bryant, Broncos

Bryant has solidified himself as the Broncos’ WR3 with a 70 percent route rate through three games, but the team is hesitant to admit he’s better than Courtland Sutton. The veteran’s route rate sits at 90 percent. His 19 percent target share is comfortably ahead of Bryant’s mark of 11 percent. Bryant is a solid stash. He could—and probably should—overtake Sutton this year, but that will take a while if it happens at all.

Keenan Allen, Colts

The Colts’ passing attack narrowed to three players in Week 3. Josh Downs and Tyler Warren each earned 29 percent of the targets, with Downs in particular dominating the air yards. Allen, however, wasn’t far behind at 26 percent. He also earned 28 percent of the targets and found the end zone for the first time this year. Allen is a viable WR4 in a pinch.

Wan’Dale Robinson, Titans

Robinson got on the board with his first touchdown as a Titan in Week 3. He accounted for a season-high 31 percent of the team’s targets, though he remained a check-down merchant with a 5.9 aDOT. Given that the Titans are barely capable of moving the ball at all, an easy completion job on this offense isn’t the worst outcome for Robinson. His ceiling is capped by both the offensive environment and his low-value role, but it’s enough to put him on the WR4/5 border for Week 4.

Jakobi Meyers, Jaguars

Meyers has run 89 percent of the routes this year and amassed a 31 percent target share in Week 3, though that brings his season-long mark to a pedestrian 15 percent. His inflated target share this week could be related to Brian Thomas Jr.’s declining role. BTJ ran fewer than half of the routes on Sunday. Meyers could take on more of a true WR2 role in the offense, but his ceiling remains limited by Parker Washington.

Mack Hollins, Patriots

Mega-contract or not, Romeo Doubs does not appear to be “a thing” right now. Mack Hollins led the team in targets in Week 3 with nine. No one else saw more than five looks. Hollins caught six of his targets for 87 yards. Demario Douglas led the team in air yards and Doubs ran one more route than Hollins, so this is more of a messy situation than Hollins’ target share alone would indicate.

▶ Tight End

Kenyon Sadiq, Jets

The first-round rookie made an entrance in Week 3 with 105 yards and a highlight-reel grab for his first career receiving touchdown.

With Mason Taylor and Adonai Mitchell out, Sadiq was asked to take on a larger role. That only meant a 57 percent route rate, but the rookie earned a 22 percent target share and went from a sub-one aDOT in his first two games to an average target depth of 10 in Week 3. Sadiq is now fifth in the league in yards per route run. His role still has room to grow, but he’s already knocking on the TE1 door.

Darren Waller, Panthers

Waller’s route rate remained muted in Week 3, hitting a measly 57 percent. But unlike his Week 2 blowup, the Panthers got him more involved outside of the red zone on Sunday. He amassed a 20 percent target share, doubling his previous high of 10 percent. Waller could also be in line for more opportunities with Jalen Coker banged up once again.

Tyler Higbee, Rams

Terrance Ferguson left Week 3 with an ankle injury. He briefly returned but went on to miss the entire second half. Higbee was the next man up, running 77 percent of the routes with a 23 percent target share. He totaled eight catches on 11 targets for 62 yards and a score. It was his highest receptions total since 2022. This role will only last as long as Ferguson and Puka Nacua remain out, but that could be at least one more week.