We cover the basics in our Weekly Waiver Wire Article. But Fantasy Alarm members are a different breed. Real sick individuals, like myself. We play in incredibly deep leagues and crazy formats, like the Scott Fish Bowl. We can’t help it. So we need to no DEEPER than just the basics. And that’s where the waiver wire streamers and stashes article comes in.

Here we get to the next layer of the waiver wire. We hit those “break glass in case of emergency” streamers for a desperate lineup decision. And we cover those deep sleeper stashes to hold with only a hope and a prayer. As deep as you want to go, we will go. 

Best Fantasy Football Streamers and Stashes For Week 3

What is a Streamer?

A streamer is a player that you can actually start in your lineup currently. They might not be the flashiest players, but they won’t get you a zero. In deeper leagues with a lot of starting spots, you may need to call on them from time to time - especially when bye weeks and injuries come around.

What is a Stash?

The stashes are players that have appealing upside for one reason or another but aren’t reliable guys you can start now. Maybe they are injured, and you can put them in an IR spot. Maybe they are handcuffs that could have big upside if the starter gets hurt. Maybe they are rookies that need time to develop and carve out a role. Whatever it is, we want to keep an eye on them. And stash them on deep benches. 

 

 

 

NFL Week 3 Quarterback Streamers

Bryce Young - Carolina Panthers, Yahoo: 33% | ESPN: 34% | Sleeper: 42% 

Bryce Young is our top waiver add of the week in the main article, but he’s also available in enough leagues to consider our top streamer as well. If he’s out there, get him going against the Cleveland Browns

Geno Smith - New York Jets, Yahoo: 5% | ESPN: 4% | Sleeper: 10% 

Being the quarterback for the Jets always makes folks nervous. But Geno Smith has essentially already proven that he’s the best quarterback that they have had in years (Aaron Rodgers obviously doesn’t count because he tore his Achilles). Going up against the Detroit Lions this week should provide the Jets every opportunity to let the ball fly. 

Superflex Special: Marcus Mariota, Washington Commanders

We are still waiting on info from the Jayden Daniels injury, but it looked pretty serious. The Commanders don’t change the offense much when Mariota gets in there, which typically sees him run a decent amount. So this is a guy you can likely use in Superflex lineups in a pinch, especially if you have had Daniels yourself. 

  • Honorable Mention or Deep League Options: 

NFL Week 3 Quarterback Stashes

Malik Willis - Miami Dolphins, Yahoo: 36% | ESPN: 21% | Sleeper: 30% 

The lack of designed runs for Malik Willis makes us a little nervous. The New England Patriots did this with a rookie Drake Maye when they were a bad team, so they didn’t call many designed runs because they didn’t want him getting hurt. But Willis is still scrambling which is what brings the upside potential for him in fantasy. At the very end of the first half, he got tackled right at the goal line, or we would have had back-to-back rushing TDs for him. 

Michael Penix Jr - Atlanta Falcons, Yahoo: 3% | ESPN: 2% | Sleeper: 6%   

Kirk Cousins playing well makes it less likely that we see Fernando Mendoza, at least early. Michael Penix returning at some point is probably our best shot at a QB taking over a team that actually has decent weapons. Cooper Rush and Jack Strand are not the answer. 

NFL Week 3 Running Back Streamers

Jonah Coleman, Denver Broncos Yahoo: 27% | ESPN: 22% | Sleeper: 36%

We are monitoring this situation, but RJ Harvey was already banged up, and now J.K. Dobbins left the Week 2 game with injury. So Jonah Coleman could be the starting running back for the Broncos in Week 3. 

Alvin Kamara - New Orleans Saints, Yahoo: 29% | ESPN: 38% | Sleeper: 45%

Kamara returned in Week Two and continued the split that Kendre Miller started in Week One. In fact, Kamara got 15 touches to 10 for Travis Etienne, so it seems like Kamara could be on the weekly streaming radar, especially in PPR leagues, as he got 6 targets. 

Emanuel Wilson - Seattle Seahawks, Yahoo: 1% | ESPN: 1% | Sleeper: 3%

Those other two guys might be rostered in your league - this guy almost certainly isn’t. We were hopefully for George Holani to carve himself out a role but, in Week Two, the Seahawks gave Emmanuel Wilson a bigger look as the RB2. Then, when Jadarian Price left with a chest injury, Wilson slid right into the primary back role, leaving Holani on the outside looking in. If Price misses time, it’s actually Wilson over Holani for us, though I expect both guys to play. 

NFL Week 3 Running Back Stashes

Emmett Johnson - Kansas City Chiefs, Yahoo: 27% | ESPN: 16% | Sleeper: 35%

Both of these two running backs in Kansas City have been fun to watch so far, huh? Kenneth Walker has gotten the bulk of the meaningful work, which relegates Johnson to mostly just a quick breather for Walker or mop-up duty. But when Johnson gets in there, he has made the most of it. It’s hard to even tell which handcuffs would do well if the starter goes down, but we get the feeling that Emmett Johnson would be pretty solid if Kenneth Walker gets hurt. And Walker has a pretty unfortunate history of that. 

Tank Bigsby - Philadelphia Eagles, Yahoo: 29% | ESPN: 15% | Sleeper: 28%

Saquon Barkley did come back into the game after leaving with an injury. So we have to pump the brakes hard on Bigsby. But you never know which direction these little dust-ups will go in. Barkley could be completely fine. Or things could trend in a direction for the worse. So Bigsby becomes a slightly better stash than handcuffs behind fully healthy RBs. He’ll still split work with Will Shipley, as we saw, but Tank would be the starter and goal-line back - as we also saw. 

IR Spot Special: Isiah Pacheco, Detroit Lions

Given the way this season is going, you might not have IR spots available. If you do have a free one, you might as well throw Pacheco in there. He won’t be Jahmyr Gibbs if Jahmyr Gibbs goes down, but it’s still the Detroit Lions. 

 

 

 

NFL Week 3 Wide Receiver Streamers

Denzel Boston - Cleveland Browns, Yahoo: 32% | ESPN: 26% | Sleeper: 43%

Boston is our top add across the board, which also qualifies him as our top streamer. 

Tre Tucker - Las Vegas Raiders, Yahoo 29% | ESPN: 25% | Sleeper: 30%

Our top three streamers last week were De’Vaugn Vele, Tre Tucker, and Rashod Bateman. And all three delivered. Vele is now rostered in too many leagues, but Tucker, you can still get in there. 

Rashod Bateman - Baltimore Ravens, Yahoo 17% | ESPN: 24% | Sleeper: 25%

Same thought process here, with or without Zay Flowers in there. We don’t need to get too deep into the explanation of why a top WR for Lamar Jackson is a decent stream.

Adonai Mitchell - New York Jets, Yahoo 16% | ESPN: 17% | Sleeper: 13%

Adonai Mitchell is playing a monster workload and, with Omar Cooper Jr. on IR, we don’t see that changing anytime soon. We can’t expect 12 targets every week, but Mitchell is a decent stream in the current iteration of this Jets offense. 

Laquon Treadwell - Indianapolis Colts, Yahoo: 0% | ESPN: 0% | Sleeper: 0%

A lot of the guys above are going to get added or could even be rostered in deep leagues so we need one more name here for the real deep league sickos. NO ONE is rostering Laquon Treadwell out there - not should they have been until now. But with Alec Pierce going down, Treadwell immediately jumped into that role and actually played more than Keenan Allen. If Pierce misses time, don’t be surprised if Treadwell has a big role again. 

NFL Week 3 Wide Receiver Stashes

Malachi Fields - New York Giants, Yahoo: 3% | ESPN: % | Sleeper: 9%

We are still stashing Fields with hopes that Jaxson Dart returns and things can get back on track here. He’s playing a big snap share ahead of Darnell Mooney, and Malik Nabers has had some scares already. 

Tre' Harris - Los Angeles Chargers, Yahoo: 4% | ESPN: 4% | Sleeper: 9%

We still love stashing Tre' Harris. He’s a talented player, and the Chargers could be looking to shake things up. As a matter of fact, Harris has quietly been playing more than we expected and not just because of Ladd McConkey. This week, the routes run out of 34 possible were Quentin Johnston (26), Tre' Harris (24), and Ladd McConkey (25). With all the tight end injuries, they may need to lean into more three-WR sets. 

Malik Washington - Miami Dolphins, Yahoo: 14% | ESPN: 8% | Sleeper: 34%

Honestly, both top Dolphins wide receivers in Malik Washington and Caleb Douglas are interesting stashes given their usage. And rookie Chris Bell is interesting in really deep leagues too, as he missed most of the preseason with injury. Maybe he’s a sleeping giant that just needs to get ramped up?

IR Spot Special: Ja’Kobi Lane - Baltimore Ravens, Yahoo: 19% | ESPN: 18% | Sleeper: 52%

If you have the spot, might as well throw him in there. This is a broken bone rather than a high ankle sprain or something, so when he’s healed, he should be good to go. 

NFL Week 3 Tight End Streamers

Pat Freiermuth - Pittsburgh Steelers Yahoo: 13% | ESPN: 22% | Sleeper: 20%

Our top streamer last week, Dalton Schultz, was awesome. But now he’s rostered in too many leagues. Pat Freiermuth has quietly gotten similar usage and, with Michael Pittman hurt and DK Metcalf looking terrible, he’s worth a look. He plays the same Bengals defense that Schultz went off against last week. 

Darren Waller - Carolina Panthers, Yahoo: 3% | ESPN: 3% | Sleeper: 9%

We don’t like chasing touchdowns - when we can avoid it. But, when we are doing that, going with a massive guy like Darren Waller who has three endzone targets in his two games is where we go. Waller got a late start to the season so he only ran 40% of the routes in Week One and 55% in Week 2, but maybe that will keep trending up into Week 3 here. 

NFL Week 3 Tight End Stashes

Kenyon Sadiq - New York Jets, Yahoo: 15% | ESPN: 41% | Sleeper: 38%

Sadiq ran 22 routes to 23 for Mason Taylor, so he’s pushing the issue. But the Jets threw a ton, so that’s still floating around 50%. Guys like Colston Loveland and Oronde Gadsden took weeks to overtake their inline counterparts, so we’re stashing Sadiq, hoping that those snap counts increase as the weeks move on. Sadiq did miss a good chunk of the offseason with injury.

Zach Ertz - Philadelphia Eagles, Yahoo: 0% | ESPN: 0% | Sleeper: 0%

This Dallas Goedert injury doesn’t sound good here if they are signing Eagles legend Zach Ertz. Which means that we’ll keep an eye on Ertz to see how his ramp-up goes. He’s going to start out on the practice squad here because he’s coming off serious injury and didn’t have an NFL offseason, so this one could be more of a slow burn. But if Goedert is done for the year, it could pay off.