Fantasy football Week 3: Add and drop

Each week I’ll list the best widely available free agents for fantasy football — I define “widely available” as being owned in around half of all ESPN or Yahoo leagues — and some guys who are probably better off in the free agent pool than collecting dust on your roster.

Follow me on X (formerly known as Twitter) @UTEddieBrown if you have questions throughout the week.

Here’s my NFL Week 3 waiver wire cheat sheet for all league sizes and formats, with players you need to add, drop and stream in your fantasy football league:

ADD

— QB Daniel Jones, Colts (ESPN: 21%; Yahoo: 19%): Jones is the overall QB2 through two weeks with only Lamar Jackson surpassing him in fantasy points. Jones, Jackson and Patrick Mahomes are the only quarterbacks who have at least 20 fantasy points in both games this season. If you were apprehensive after the opener (I get it), he just had 316 passing yards and two total touchdowns, including his third rushing TD of the season, against a good Broncos defense. This is where you start if you’re having to find a replacement for Joe Burrow this week.

— WR Troy Franklin, Broncos (ESPN: 2%; Yahoo: 4%): Franklin set career highs in receptions (eight), targets (nine) and receiving yards (89) at Indianapolis. This could be the start of something considering he and Bo Nix have had great chemistry since their days at Oregon.

— RB Quinshon Judkins, Browns (ESPN: 57%; Yahoo: 62%): I thought the Cleveland coaching staff would fast-track Judkins to double-digit touches by the end of the month. Well, despite only playing 27.4% of the offensive snaps, the talented rookie finished with 71 total yards on 13 touches, including three receptions in his NFL debut at Baltimore. Pounce if he’s still available in your league.

— QB Carson Wentz, Vikings (ESPN:

— TE Juwan Johnson, Saints (ESPN: 48%; Yahoo: 45%): Johnson is the overall TE3 in standard formats (TE2 in PPR) and faces a Seahawks defense who is allowing the most fantasy points to tight ends through two games.

— BONUS: QB Sam Darnold, Seahawks (ESPN: 7%; Yahoo: 12%): Darnold hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire since joining Seattle, but he was much more effective in a win at Pittsburgh (295 yards and two TD passes) than he was in the opener against the 49ers. He’s a sneaky streaming option at home against the Saints, who have allowed the eighth-most fantasy points to quarterbacks through two weeks.

— BONUS: TE Harold Fannin Jr., Browns (ESPN: 28%; Yahoo: 42%): Fannin is the overall TE10 in standard formats (TE8 in PPR) through two weeks. His target share dipped in Week 2, but his playing time actually increased. The sky is the limit for this talented rookie if Cleveland ends up trading David Njoku.

— BONUS: WR Kayshon Boutte, Patriots (ESPN: 26%; Yahoo: 28%): Told you there wouldn’t be a stampede to pick Boutte up despite a dominant showing in Week 1. The target share collapsed against the Dolphins, but the underlying metrics were still very strong and he made his one target count by scoring a TD. The future is still bright here.

— BONUS: QB Jake Browning, Bengals (ESPN:

— BONUS: TE Zach Ertz, Commanders (ESPN: 50%; Yahoo: 57%): Ertz is the overall TE2 in standard formats (TE3 in PPR), with at least three receptions and a TD in two straight games to begin the season.

— BONUS: RB Bhayshul Tuten, Jaguars (ESPN: 40%; Yahoo: 55%): This is probably your last chance to grab Tuten off the wire. In Jacksonville’s first game since trading Tank Bigsby to the Eagles, the talented rookie had 74 total yards on 10 touches and a TD. There’s flex upside even if Travis Etienne continues to play well.

— BONUS: WR Elic Ayomanor, Titans (ESPN: 8%; Yahoo: 8%): Cam Ward’s devil-may-care TD pass to his fellow rookie was indicative of the confidence the No. 1 overall pick already possesses in Ayomanor. Of course, it was indicative of the type of hubris talented rookie QBs possess as well. Regardless, Tennessee will likely be playing from behind on a weekly basis, which means Ayomanor could benefit from negative game scripts going forward. This will also make Chig Okonkwo (ESPN: 10%; Yahoo: 31%) a solid streaming option most weeks if you’re in a bind.

— BONUS: RB Jeremy McNichols, Commanders (ESPN:

— BONUS: WR Wan’Dale Robinson, Giants (ESPN: 30%; Yahoo: 23%): This isn’t an overreaction to Robinson’s monster game at Dallas — 142 yards and a TD on eight receptions (10 targets) — it’s a reminder of how consistently valuable he’s been, especially in PPR formats where he was the overall WR36 last season. Robinson had at least five receptions in 12 of 17 games last year and he’s had at least six receptions in both games this season.

— BONUS: WR Romeo Doubs, Packers (ESPN: 20%; Yahoo: 17%): With Jayden Reed breaking his collarbone in a win over the Commanders, I’m giving Doubs a slight edge over Dontayvion Wicks (ESPN:

— BONUS: WR Cedric Tillman, Browns (ESPN: 47%; Yahoo: 39%): Tillman is the overall WR19 in standard formats (WR23 in PPR) through two weeks. In a high-volume pass game — Joe Flacco threw 45 passes for the second straight week — Tillman has WR3/flex upside most weeks. Also, there’s good news beyond Flacco. Dillon Gabriel (ESPN:

— BONUS: QB Mac Jones, 49ers (ESPN: 1%; Yahoo: 3%): Jones finished as the overall QB9 in Week 2 throwing for 279 yards and three TDs in a win at New Orleans. Brock Purdy will likely miss at least one more game, so Jones is in play if you’re desperate for a streaming option at QB.

— BONUS: RB Tyler Allgeier, Falcons (ESPN: 34%; Yahoo: 30%): Here’s your yearly reminder Allgeier isn’t just Bijan Robinson’s handcuff (an extremely valuable fantasy asset). He’s had double-digit touches in both games this season, and just produced 80 total yards and a TD against the Vikings. Allgeier faces the Panthers this week, who he had 177 total yards and a TD against in two games last year.

— BONUS: QB Jaxson Dart, Giants (ESPN: 5%; Yahoo: 6%): We’re still probably one more bad Russell Wilson (ESPN: 4%; Yahoo: 5%) performance from ushering in the Dart Era in New York. Wilson’s throwback performance against the Cowboys was impressive, but the G-men still lost. The good news is that the Giants’ offense has this in them in the first place, so maybe we need to recalibrate Dart’s ceiling if he can hold up his end of the bargain.

— BONUS: RB Kyle Monangai, Bears (ESPN: 2%; Yahoo: 6%): Ben Johnson said he needed to call more runs and get Monangai more involved, and he did just that. Despite the negative game script, one of my favorite running backs in this last draft class (No. 13 in my final rankings) carried the ball seven times for 28 yards and caught a ball for eight yards on three targets. Monangai is a stash candidate for when Johnson gets Caleb Williams and Chicago’s offense completely on track.

— BONUS: D/ST Packers (ESPN: 45%; Yahoo: 54%): Green Bay’s defense is looking like a set-it-and-forget-it option early on. They need to be rostered in more than half of all leagues.

— BONUS: D/ST Colts (ESPN: 37%; Yahoo: 8%): Ward hasn’t been horrible, but he’s only completing 50.8% of his passes and has already been sacked 11 times and fumbled twice.

— BONUS: D/ST Buccaneers (ESPN: 15%; Yahoo: 7%): It’s unclear whether Justin Fields will play in Tampa Bay’s home opener after suffering a concussion against the Bills. If Fields is out, Todd Bowles will direct his blitz-happy ways towards Tyrod Taylor, who hasn’t started a game since the Giants’ season finale in 2023.

DROP

— QB Joe Burrow, Bengals: I’d toss Burrow into an IR slot if you have one, but there’s a chance he doesn’t play again this season.

— RB Austin Ekeler, Commanders: It’s hard to imagine the 30-year-old Ekeler making it back to where he once was after suffering an Achilles tear. He’s been a friend to the fantasy community since he got into the league, so I’m hoping for the best, and I’ll be rooting for him regardless of what’s next.

— WR Jayden Reed, Packers: Reed will miss at least 6-8 weeks with a broken collarbone, so use an IR slot if you have one, otherwise drop him and start checking for his return around Halloween.

— RB Braelon Allen, Jets: Allen isn’t a threat catching the ball out of the backfield, and he only has eight carries through two games. He’s only a potential vulture of Breece Hall touchdowns at this point.

— RB Kaleb Johnson, Steelers: Johnson has only had a single carry in each game, and his special-teams gaffe against the Seahawks likely won’t earn him any more anytime soon. Long term, I’m a big fan, but it’s looking like it might be a while.

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