Week 4 was incredibly frustrating from a fantasy perspective. With the early games there were a bunch of no-name players scoring touchdowns, the Browns surprised the Ravens on the road, Patrick Mahomes didn’t record a single touchdown, the Patriots’ defense carried them to victory once again, and the Atlanta Falcons continue to disappoint. Week 4 was definitely an unfortunate series of games with a few takeaways for the Waiver Wire including some guys you may need to rush back out to get that you may have dropped.

Quarterbacks

Jameis Winston TB; FAAB Bid: 15% - There are probably a lot of people in need of some help at the quarterback position and Winston has really turned it around the last two weeks. Last week against the Giants, Winston threw for 380 yards and three touchdowns and he followed that up with another 380+ yard performance on Sunday with four touchdowns. This is what people were expecting when they drafted Winston. He’s actually available in over half of ESPN leagues, but the Bucs have a pretty difficult road matchup next week against the Saints and their dreaded pass rush. It’s not a great matchup on paper, but Winston is flashing top ten upside at his position.

Matthew Stafford DET; FAAB Bid: 12% - Stafford likely won’t get as much love on waivers this week because the Lions are off next week, but he had a great game on Sunday against the Chiefs despite being on the losing end. Stafford threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns on Sunday, and has nine touchdowns through four games. The downside with Stafford is that the Lions have 12 games remaining, and half of those are still against their division. That division features defenses of the Bears, Vikings, and Packers are about as difficult as taking the LSAT’s with a hangover, if not more so. Winston’s the quarterback to target this week, but keep an eye on Stafford despite the bye week on the horizon.

Daniel Jones NYG; FAAB Bid: 8-10% - Jones didn’t light up the stat sheet on Sunday with just 225 yards, a touchdown, and a pair of interceptions, but he did enough to get the Giants their second straight win. It’s abundantly clear that Eli Manning will not be getting his job back anytime soon unless there’s an injury to Jones. The rookie is an intriguing fantasy addition in two-quarterback leagues, but they have some difficult matchups on the horizon against the Vikings and Patriots. But if you are looking ahead the fantasy playoff schedule is pretty tasty for the Giants. In Weeks 14-16 they’ll play the Eagles, Dolphins, and Redskins so if you don’t have a great option at quarterback and have found yourself streaming, then you could do a lot worse than Jones.

Running Backs

Frank Gore BUF; FAAB Bid: 30% - Gore is the big waiver addition for running backs this week (similar to last week) and he seems to be available in about 40% of leagues. He was pretty much the most impressive individual player in Sunday’s game between the Patriots and Bills. He ran for over 100 yards on 17 carries and became the fourth player in the history of the league to run for over 15,000 yards in his career. It’s been a long time coming for Gore to reach this milestone as he got his start before the invention of television, and surprisingly he’s still relevant for fantasy. Devin Singletary was inactive once again and T.J. Yeldon caught four passes, but that was with the Bills trying to play catch up. Gore’s proving that he can still handle 15-20 touches each game so he should definitely be owned in more leagues.

Ronald Jones II TB; FAAB Bid: 20% - Both Jones and Peyton Barber found the end zone in a shootout with the Rams on Sunday, but Jones led the team in carries with 19 compared to Barber’s nine. Jones has over 200 all-purpose yards on 35 touches over his last two games, and he’s played a role in the awakening of the Tampa Bay offense. Believe it or not he actually has three games with at least 70 rushing yards so far, which you’ll take from a guy available on waivers. He only has one touchdown through four games but more should come. A big concern for Jones and Winston is that Tampa’s travel schedule is absolutely brutal the next few weeks as they travel back from Los Angeles, then go to New Orleans, Tennessee, Seattle, and London. The NFL subjecting a team to that kind of schedule is completely asinine.

Wayne Gallman NYG; FAAB Bid: 15-18% - The downside with spending this much on Gallman is that Saquon Barkley will eventually return. But if you haven’t spent any FAAB and Gallman is still out there (mostly in shallower leagues) then spending up is okay. Gallman touched the ball 24 times on Sunday for 118 all-purpose yards and a score. His usage in the passing game was fairly surprising as he had six receptions on seven targets, which was tied for the second-most targets on the team. Barkley claims he can beat the four-to-eight week timeline he was given for his injury, but if Gallman can continue to produce maybe it entices the Giants the decrease Barkley’s workload just a bit to keep him healthy and they could get Gallman a little more involved. That would be disastrous for Barkley owners, but Gallman’s proving his worth.

Jordan Howard PHI; FAAB Bid: 15% - This recommendation is coming largely off his big game Thursday night against the Packers. He finished with 87 yards rushing yards and three touchdowns, giving him four in his last two games. He’s gradually seen more carries as the games have progressed so hopefully this is a sign that Howard is becoming the lead back in Philadelphia. Miles Sanders has still seen double-digit touches in each game, but he hasn’t done much with them and he hasn’t scored. It’s not a sure thing, but things are heading in the right direction for Howard.

Darrel Williams KC; FAAB Bid: 5-10% - Williams is a risky play in the sense that LeSean McCoy is still getting about 12-15 touches per game and once Damien Williams comes back, then Darrel probably gets relegated to the sideline. And that could easily be next week, but something has to be said for a guy who has shown some reliability in PPR formats and who just found the end zone twice against the Lions. The committee approach the Chiefs take is incredibly frustrating so hopefully you aren’t relying on Williams as an RB2 or flex play. He’s worth adding with 165 all-purpose yards in his last two games.

Wide Receivers

Jamison Crowder NYJ; FAAB Bid: 12-15% - Crowder’s stock took an immediate hit once Sam Darnold went down with injury. Don’t forget that Crowder saw a whopping 17 targets in Week 1 and then Darnold got Mono and ruined my mojo. Crowder has struggled with the Average Joe’s Jets have started the last couple games, but hopefully Darnold is a full go next week. It would be great for his fantasy prospects just to see him get back to eight or nine targets each game with a promising young quarterback throwing him the ball.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling /Geronimo Allison GB; FAAB Bid: 10-12% - Marquez Valdes-Scantling comes with less availability than Geronimo Allison so you may have to pay more of a premium, but both are pretty interesting waiver additions if Davante Adams has to miss any time with his turf toe injury. The Packers don’t believe the injury is serious, but both MVS and Allison proved to be pretty valuable once Adams left last Thursday’s game. The Packers offense hasn’t been as explosive as we’ve seen in previous years, but last Thursday’s game just might be a push in the right direction for this team.

Golden Tate NYG; FAAB Bid: 7-8% - He was mentioned last week and he’s coming off his suspension so he’s ripe for the taking. Daniel Jones has developed some solid chemistry with Sterling Shepard and Evan Engram , but there’s an opportunity for Golden Tate to get a good amount of targets as well. He was a pretty big free agency acquisition for the Giants so they’d obviously like to get their money’s worth out of Tate, and another weapon at Jones’ disposal can’t hurt. As mentioned above, the Giants have some tough games coming up against the Vikings and Patriots so he’s a bit risky to play right away.

Phillip Dorsett NE; FAAB Bid: 5-7% - Dorsett managed to catch three touchdowns in New England’s first three games before being held to just two catches for ten yards Sunday against Buffalo. Don’t let this ruin your opinion of him. He was still targeted nine times and has gradually a trusted option for Tom Brady . Nobody on the Patriots had a stellar game on Sunday against the Bills so don’t take the box score as literature. Dorsett is a streamable flex option if he keeps getting passes thrown his way from the GOAT.

A.J. Brown TEN; FAAB Bid: 4-5% - Brown doesn’t get many targets. He has just 17 through four games. However, he had a very big game on Sunday against Atlanta turning two of his three targets into touchdowns. So hopefully this chemistry-building exercise with Marcus Mariota blossoms into some more looks. He has some nice big play potential with ten catches for 223 yards through four games. His teammate, Corey Davis , is available in shallower leagues and if you want him you’ll have to spend some more money. But Davis only has 18 targets through four games and just one touchdown. We’ve seen his upside and it’s great, but he and Marcus Mariota can just never string it together consistently.

Mohamed Sanu ATL; FAAB Bid: 2-4% - In a surprising development, Sanu actually led the Atlanta Falcons in targets this past Sunday. Matt Ryan looked his way a dozen times, and Sanu turned it into nine catches for 91 yards. He hasn’t scored yet, but through four games he now has 24 catches on 31 targets for 239 yards. He’s seeing enough work to warrant consideration as a deeper league flex play in PPR leagues, and hopefully he finds the end zone sooner rather than later.

Tight Ends

Chris Herndon NYJ; FAAB Bid: 10-12% - Well the suspension is over and Herndon is still widely available and if you’re having serious struggles at tight end, he could be worth grabbing. Additionally, Sam Darnold should return from his illness and that benefits the Jets offense. It’s hard to imagine the Jets getting Herndon involved immediately, but they’re 0-3 and need some excitement in the offense. Herndon put together some productive games in his rookie season and the Eagles just allowed Jimmy Graham to put up 61 receiving yards and a touchdown. He’s a flyer, but Herndon at least has some rest-of-season appeal.

Benjamin Watson NE; FAAB Bid: 6-7% - Players returning from suspension is quite the theme this week. Watson, like Tate and Herndon, is available to play now. Tom Brady certainly is missing a big body target to get the ball to in the red zone since Rob Gronkowski retired. Watson will be a breath of fresh air, since things haven’t gone well with Matt LaCosse and Ryan Izzo . Watson turns 39 in December, but there’s a need for a big target in this offense to help move the chains.

Jason Witten DAL; FAAB Bid: 5-6% - It’s not a great week when you’re looking to add Witten off of waivers. He has at least three receptions in each game this year, it just depends on what he does with them though. He scored a touchdown in each of his first two games and then had 54 receiving yards last week. He’s not a great option, but he’s serviceable in deeper leagues. He does have a tougher game next week against the Packers, but he should still get his typical workload, which can provide for a decent floor.

Tyler Eifert CIN; FAAB Bid: 3-5% - This is if you’re looking to get a jump on the Arizona Cardinals next opposing tight end. The Cardinals once again failed to defend an opposing team’s tight end as Will Dissly finished Sunday’s game with seven catches for 57 yards and a touchdown. They’ve not given up a touchdown to a tight end for each of their opponents. Life now has three guarantees: death, taxes, and the Cardinals sucking wind against tight ends.

Defense/Special Teams

Unfortunately the Dolphins are on Bye next week so they cannot be picked on. We’ll get through this together though. There are still a few good streaming options next week, but they aren’t particularly overwhelming.

Tennessee Titans – The Titans host the Bills next week and Josh Allen ’s status for the game is currently up in the air. Allen left last week’s game against the Patriots with a potential concussion so he may not even play in Week 5, which means Matt Barkley might get the spot start in a tough road game against Tennessee. The opening line has the Over/Under at 38.5 and the Titans have allowed just 62 points through four games and they just held the Falcons to ten points and 58 rushing yards while sacking Matt Ryan five times. They shouldn’t have any trouble next week if the Bills are without Josh Allen .

San Francisco 49ers – The 49ers host the Cleveland Browns next Monday night and they’ll be fresh off their bye week. After three games the 49ers ranked second in defensive DVOA according to Football Outsiders with nine sacks and seven forced turnovers. The Browns hit their stride this past week against the Ravens, but let’s see how they fare in another primetime game. Their last two offensive performances on national television didn’t go well and it doesn’t appear as if enough people realize the 49ers have the makings of a great defense.

Cleveland Browns – Oh hey look at that, the 49ers opponent made the list too. It’s not so much hedging against the 49ers as it is recommending a good D/ST. Myles Garrett alone has six sacks on the season and the Browns defense just held the Baltimore Ravens explosive offense to ten points through three quarters. The Ravens got a little more aggressive in the fourth quarter and garbage time so they padded the stat sheet a little bit. This Monday night pairing currently has an Over/Under of 47.5, which is a little too high for a couple of good defenses.