Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

What a start for the 2021 NFL season! Can you believe it’s already Week 3? For some of you, fantasy football has been easy so far. Some of you find yourselves batting .500, and others find themselves in DEEP holes. Don’t worry; we have 15 more weeks of this! Below, you will find five players deserving of a waiver claim. Keep in mind, each player listed is owned in less than 50 percent of ESPN leagues. 

WR/RB) Cordarrelle Patterson – Atlanta Falcons (8% owned)

There is a never-ending need for RB depth in fantasy football. It’s also nice to grab productive WRs, so why not add both at the same time? Patterson has been very impressive through two weeks of the season, as he shares time with Mike Davis out of Atlanta’s backfield. After producing 8.7 PPR points in Week 1, he turned the jets on and accumulated 23.9 in Week 2. If you’re playing in a PPR league, Patterson is especially intriguing. He’s caught seven of his eight targets for 71 yards and one touchdown already. Although his snap-count percentage isn’t the most promising (33 percent), you should expect it to increase given what he’s done with his opportunities thus far. 

QB) Teddy Bridgewater – Denver Broncos (14.6% owned)

Bridgewater has continued to show why he’s worthy of being rostered in most fantasy leagues. Through two weeks, he’s producing as the QB10, and he has yet to fall short of 20 fantasy points in a game. On top of that, Denver looks like they rely on the passing game a little more than the running game. He’s coming off a 328-yard, two-touchdown performance. It’s also nice to find mobile QBs who tend to score fantasy points with their legs. So far, Bridgewater only has 20 rushing yards on the season, but you can expect that number to go up very soon. It also helps that he’s facing a terrible Jets team this week, who has looked pretty shaky on the defensive side of the ball in 2021. 

WR) Rondale Moore – Arizona Cardinals (19.2% owned)

If you haven’t figured it out by now, Arizona loves to give Moore plenty of targets. Even though the Cardinals have DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Green, and Christian Kirk, it was Moore who produced the most fantasy points this past week by a Cardinals receiver. He finished as the WR6 in PPR leagues in Week 2, as he hauled in seven of his eight targets for 114 yards, one touchdown, and 24.4 PPR points. Through two weeks, he’s serving as the WR17, and he should continue to prove that he’s a viable flex option on any given week. If you need more WR depth, target Moore, and use a waiver claim if you need to. 

RB) Tony Pollard – Dallas Cowboys (38.6% owned)

Usually, I wouldn’t advise fantasy managers to submit a waiver claim for a backup RB. But I’m not too certain that Pollard is necessarily Ezekiel Elliott’s understudy. Sure, Pollard has only seen the field for 41 total plays this season (compared to Elliott’s 114), but he has touched the ball only eight times fewer than Elliott has. On top of that, he’s serving as the RB9 in PPR leagues, whereas Elliott is penciled in as the RB25 thus far. And if you think about it, if Elliott were to miss time, Pollard would instantly serve as a “must start” type of player. Even if both are healthy, Pollard should be a solid flex option for your team. 

RB) J.D. McKissic – Washington Football Team (42% owned)

As mentioned in the introduction, RBs are a dire need for any fantasy team. Even if you have five solid backs that you truly believe in, it’s always smart to be on the hunt for another one. McKissic is easily one of the biggest free-agent RBs on the market. He’s rostered in only 42 percent of ESPN leagues, and he brings a ton of value in PPR formats. After an abysmal season debut two weeks ago (1 carry, eight yards, and zero receptions), he turned it around in Week 2. McKissic produced five receptions, 83 receiving yards, 10 rushing yards, and 20.3 PPR points. It’s safe to say that he will be heavily involved in Washington’s offensive game plan going forward.

Did you enjoy this article and want more fantasy content? Make sure to check out my recent posts, and stay tuned for other positional rankings in the future. You can also follow me on Twitter @dirrim23, where I love talking about all things fantasy football!