We now have three weeks of data. With one week, anything can happen. With two weeks, you might be looking at a 50/50 on which performance was the “real” one. Three weeks isn’t perfect, but it’s our best bet to establish some trends. That’s especially true if the trend spans all three games but, at this stage, we’ll be happy enough to settle for two out of three games. 

With more games, we also have a number of injuries. And that’s especially true at the running back position this week, which often makes or breaks your fantasy season. This article will include all of the players that have the best combination of short- and long-term upside, then the rest of the waiver options, for those deeper leagues, will fall into our Streamers & Stashes article. And, as always, make sure you stay tuned down to the bottom for our Yin & Yang Tight End rankings!

2026 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Week 4 Top Targets And Strategy

As we mentioned above, the key to navigating waivers is understanding your league and understanding what you need. We’ll give our guidance on whether to use your waiver claim or your FAAB, but every league is unique, so go with your gut for the final numbers.

You also need to know what kind of player you want to target. My rule of thumb is that, if the player goes DIRECTLY into my lineup at QB, WR, RB, or TE, I’m willing to use that top claim or a minimum of 25% of your budget. This is a weekly game at its

We will do our best to differentiate whether this is a guy we can start right away or whether we like to have them on the bench to see if they break out. As always, if you play in deeper leagues like FFPC, check out our Streamers and Stashes article that gets down to the much lower-rostered players for those deep sleepers!

 

 

 

NFL Week 4 Waiver Wire Quarterbacks

Deshaun Watson - Cleveland Browns, Yahoo: 7% | ESPN: 8% | Sleeper: 12% 

A lot of folks seem to be willfully ignorant of what’s going on here. Or maybe they are just more interested in mentioning what is popular or won’t rock the boat. But we have always weighed the data and narratives in these articles to bring you the upside that we think will give you the best chance to win your fantasy leagues. And right now those signs point to Deshaun Watson.

After a shaky start to Week One, there is no question he’s putting the Browns in a position to win leagues. The Browns have a 73% conversion rate on third and fourth down, and Watson has the best passer rating of any QB in the 4th quarter. More importantly for fantasy, Watson is tied with Josh Allen with 8 designed runs that weren’t scrambles, sneaks, or kneels. That leads the league and is one of the top indicators for fantasy football. You won’t need to spend up likely because of who it is, but if you read Streamers & Stashes last week, we already started adding him in spots. 

  • Waiver Priority: Low Priority
  • FAAB: 0-5%

Kirk Cousins - Las Vegas Raiders, Yahoo: 14% | ESPN: 10% | Sleeper: 28% 

I think people now understand that the Raiders were dead serious about starting Kirk Cousins for the entire year. Klint Kubiak is a great offensive mind, and Cousins knew his scheme from their time in Minnesota, so he was the perfect candidate to run the show this year. That doesn’t mean Fernando Mendoza won’t be good - Patrick Mahomes has made it clear that his year behind Alex Smith was instrumental in his success.

Meanwhile, Kirk Cousins has done nothing but win games and stuff the box score doing it. He’s thrown three touchdown passes in each game and, in two of those games, he didn’t have Brock Bowers. One of the cheat codes for Drew Brees all those years was how the RB pass game was an extension of the run game, and Ashton Jeanty’s 13 catches (tied for second most among RBs) all count for Cousins too.

  • Waiver Priority: Low priority
  • FAAB: 0-5%

Honorable Mention or Deep League Options: Sam Darnold, Malik Willis, Geno Smith

NFL Week 4 Waiver Wire Running Backs

Braelon Allen - New York Jets Yahoo: 20% | ESPN: 21% | Sleeper: 36%

There is a big decision to be made here. Because we have multiple running back injuries. But they aren’t created equal. If Breece Hall was done for the year, like De’Von Achane is, he would be the clear top RB off the wire. But Hall got good news via the MRI, so he’s considered only week-to-week. That makes things a little more murky.

Even then, we are prioritizing Allen. He’s looked like the better player compared to the Dolphins options. The Jets are also clearly the better team in 2026. And, perhaps most importantly, as we will get to below, we don’t have clarity on exactly what the split will be like without Achane. So Allen remains the top play, especially if you need someone to start for you this week.

  • Waiver Priority: Medium Priority
  • FAAB: 15-25%

Ollie Gordon - Miami Dolphins, Yahoo: 5% | ESPN: 2% | Sleeper: 2%

As we mentioned above, De’Von Achane is done for the season. So we’d typically be jumping to grab the new starter. Only two problems with that. One, is that the Dolphins are the worst team in the league. The other is that we don’t know for sure who the “starter” is.

I would expect the bruising Ollie Gordon to handle the short-yardage work and the goal-line work. But how much goal-line work will there even be? Jaylen Wright should skew more towards pass downs, but even Achane wasn’t that great in fantasy, and he’s a megastar. Technically, Wright is listed as the RB2 on the depth chart, so we don’t even know who will start here. I lean Gordon since the better rusher usually gets the start, but I’m putting in fairly similar bids for both, with Gordon only slightly ahead. 

  • Waiver Priority: Low to Medium Priority
  • FAAB: 10-15%

Alvin Kamara - New Orleans Saints, Yahoo: 43% | ESPN: 6% | Sleeper: 55%

We had Alvin Kamara as an add here last week, considering he got 15 looks in his first game back, including six targets. Well, now that Travis Etienne could miss some time with a hamstring injury, Kamara is even more of a priority. I still expect them to split with guys like Kendre Miller and CJ Donaldson, as they seem to want a split this year, but Kamara should be the tip of the spear for the more high-leverage situations. 

  • Waiver Priority: Low Priority
  • FAAB: 10-15%

Honorable Mention or Deep League Options: Keaton Mitchell, Emmett Johnson, Emanuel Wilson

 

 

 

NFL Week 4 Waiver Wire Wide Receivers

Chris Bell - Miami Dolphins, Yahoo: 4% | ESPN: 3% | Sleeper: 10%

If you think what I’m about to say is wishful thinking, it’s the exact thought process of the Dolphins themselves. A lot of folks, including us at Fantasy Alarm, like Chris Bell as a prospect. But he tore his ACL late in the 2025 college season. So competing teams were hesitant to take a shot at him, as this was expected to be a lost season - and you never know the long-term outcome with ACL injuries.

The Dolphins, however, were playing the long game. They are carrying more dead cap than active spending, so clearly tanking. So they could afford to take a shot on Bell since they are devoid of talent and need upside. As luck would have it, Bell’s recovery went as good as you could imagine, so he’s actually ready to play, right in time for fellow WR Caleb Douglas to hurt his ankle and their target hog RB De’Von Achane to suffer a season-ending injury. So Bell is the big upside play here. If we don’t get Bell, Malik Washington and Caleb Douglas are still intriguing as well, but Bell is the mystery box. 

  •  Waiver Priority: Medium Priority
  • FAAB: 10-15%

Keenan Allen - Indianapolis Colts, Yahoo 22% | ESPN: 24% | Sleeper: 19%

We didn’t include Wan’Dale Robinson in this article despite being rostered in less than 50% of leagues on Yahoo because I get yelled at on Reddit if guys are rostered in too many Sleeper leagues. But if you need someone to go right into your lineup this week, check for Wan’Dale first. 

If he’s rostered, Keenan Allen is your next best bet. He might not be the best long-term play as he’s clearly a part-time guy at this stage in his career. Plus, they will ramp up Darius Slayton, and Alec Pierce should be back down the stretch. But for now, Keenan Allen offers a better floor than virtually every other option available on the wire, as the crafty veteran will be involved in some capacity every week. 

  • Waiver Priority: Low Priority
  • FAAB: 0-5%

Adonai Mitchell - New York Jets, Yahoo 39% | ESPN: 34% | Sleeper: 55%

Adonai Mitchell has been in these articles already. The main reason that he hasn’t been added in a lot of leagues (or was dropped) is that he’s dealing with a finger injury. But when he’s back up and running, we’re hoping he’ll resume his role opposite Garrett Wilson, where he was playing a ton of snaps and getting peppered with targets. If you can put players who are OUT into IR spots in your league, Mitchell is much easier to navigate until this issue is resolved. 

  • Waiver Priority: Low Priority
  • FAAB: 0-5%

Honorable Mention or Deep League Options: Khalil Shakir, Malik Washington, Dontayvion Wicks 

NFL Week 4 Waiver and Yin & Yang Tight End

Kenyon Sadiq - New York Jets Yahoo: 19% | ESPN: 34% | Sleeper: 34%

Sadiq was our top add last week. And anyone who was using the Yin & Yang chart from the bottom of this article or referencing the Streamers & Stashes article likely already had him even before then. But if you didn’t grab him yet, it’s officially your last chance.

Injuries to Adonai Mitchell and Mason Taylor opened the door for Sadiq this week. And he kicked that door wide open with 7 catches on 8 targets for 105 yards and a TD. And the crazy part is he left the game briefly, so he actually only ended up with a 60% snap share.

  • Waiver Priority: Low Priority
  • FAAB: 0-5%

Darren Waller - Carolina Panthers, Yahoo: 14% | ESPN: 10% | Sleeper: 32%

We mentioned last week that we would really like to see Waller get ramped up to a bigger role. In first game he route participation started around 40%. That hit 55% in Week Two. We were hoping to at least get into the 60%+ range this week, but he finished the game sitting at 31 of a possible 53 routes, which is 58%.

That said, the average NFL pass attempts per game is around ~32. So Waller running 31 routes this week is at least promising for his overall conditioning. The fact that he got 8 targets is even more impressive and, if Jalen Coker actually does miss time with this quad issue, he’ll at least be on the streaming radar. 

  • Waiver Priority: Low Priority
  • FAAB: 0-5%

Greg Dulcich - Miami Dolphins, Yahoo: 7% | ESPN: 2% | Sleeper: 6%

Once upon a time (2024), this very Dolphins organization had a tight end who started his season like this (screenshot per Pro-Football-Reference).

That very same tight end, Jonnu Smith, went on to finish TE4 in fantasy. One year, Logan Thomas was the TE26 in fantasy through five weeks and finished as the TE3. In 2022, Evan Engram started his season with games of 28, 46, 9, and 16 yards - he finished top 5 as well. Breakout can be a slow burn sometimes, but as long as the Dolphins are hurting for pass-catchers and Dulcich is running ~70% of the routes like he did this week, he has a chance to blossom into a decent option for fantasy. So we aren’t saying he’s going to get seven targets every week like he did this week. But we’re not saying to ignore it either. Some of these guys are simply stuck behind elite WRs or even other elite tight ends. With Dulcich, a path exists. 

  • Waiver Priority: Low Priority
  • FAAB: 0-5%

Honorable Mention or Deep League Options: AJ Barner, Pat Freiermuth

NFL Week 4 Waiver DST

Green Bay Packers, Yahoo: 32% | ESPN: 19% | Sleeper: 42%

Well, streaming the Green Bay Packers against the Falcons didn’t really work because Michael Penix came along and ruined all the fun. If you did add the Packers, they could be worth a stream again here, as Baker Mayfield is out with this thumb injury and Jalen Daniels is now atop the depth chart. We’re willing to run them out there. 

Cleveland Browns, Yahoo: 2% | ESPN: 32% | Sleeper: 2%

The Cleveland Browns defense really has not been the problem all along. It’s been the offense. But now the offense is looking like they can actually sustain some drives here, which at least gives the defense a rest. They obviously got Jared Verse in the Myles Garrett deal with the Rams, but it’s actually been Mason Graham, who they took at fifth overall last year, who has been super disruptive on this defense with four sacks so far. They’ll get Aaron Rodgers and company this week. 

Honorable Mention or Deep League Options: Bills vs. NE, Cardinals vs. NYG

 

 

 

NFL Week 4 Waiver K

Tyler Bass - Buffalo Bills Yahoo: 25% | ESPN: 12% | Sleeper: 11%

The Bills now have a fancy new stadium that, while not a true dome, has a canopy and shape that is designed to dissipate wind by up to two-thirds compared to what a true open-air stadium would do. So Tyler Bass is a good kicker for a good team who no longer has the element issues of the past. The one main hurdle is the near-automatic ability of Josh Allen to convert close fourth downs, so Bass is a better option in leagues where every kick is worth 3 points than leagues where you get extra points for distance (trade for Cam Little in those). 

Spencer Shrader - Indianapolis Colts, Yahoo: 16% | ESPN: 7% | Sleeper: 22%

Spencer Shrader saw a little pre-game scare with a groin issue but was luckily cleared to play. And he went on to hit all four of his field goals, including two from 50+. That brings him to a perfect 8 for 8 on the season heading into a nice matchup with the Washington Commanders. So Shrader is a solid option, and he’s available in a lot of leagues.   

Yin & Yang Tight End Chart

As always, this section below will be updated with Yin & Yang tight end rankings for the rest of the season each week. The way Yin & Yang tight end works is, if you have someone from the standalone section, you only need to roster one player. Beyond that, we are likely rostering two - someone to start and someone to stash. 

  • Standalone - Guys we currently trust that also have big upside.
  • Yin - A “safe” player that we can start while trying to hit on a breakout with a bench spot.
  • Yang - A higher-risk, higher-reward option ideally stashed on your bench for upside. 
  • Handcuff - Guys with minimal usage now who could have upside if the starting TE gets hurt.

[Check back for Week 4 Yin & Yang tight end update soon!]