Two weeks of the 2023 NFL season are in the books. Now it’s time to scour the fantasy football waiver wire for pickups for Week 3.
Whether you’re replacing a high draft pick who sustained an unfortunate injury or eyeing under-the-radar stash players, Action Network’s Sean Koerner has you covered.
He breaks down all the hottest names and projects both short- and long-term outlooks.
RB Zack Moss
Moss returned and dominated the Colts backfield, playing in all but one of their 57 offensive snaps.
In fantasy football, volume is king at the running back position, and Moss was downright royalty in Week 2 as the opportunity led him to solid lines of 18/88/1 (rushing) and 4/19/0 (receiving).
Moss will be an RB2/3 fringe option if this type of usage holds.
The huge concern is how many more games can we expect Moss to start?
Jonathan Taylor might return in Week 5, which would push Moss to the bench and relegate him to being an injury upside stash. We could also see Taylor get traded and Moss become the workhorse back for the remainder of the season. Or we could see the Colts bring in another running back — like Leonard Fournette — if Taylor is dealt, which would be a huge blow to Moss’ value.
There is a path to league-winning upside for Moss, though it's largely contingent on the Taylor situation.
If you want to roll the dice on that, go for it, just know there are a wide range of outcomes after Week 4.
RB Matt Breida
Saquon Barkley is expected to miss 2-3 games, which opens the door for Breida to become the Giants' new lead back.
However, he won’t dominate touches like Barkley and could be part of a 50-50 committee with Gary Brightwell.
The key here is the passing-down role considering the Giants could be involved in trailing game scripts over the next 3-4 weeks against tough competition (at 49ers, vs. Seahawks, at Dolphins, at Bills). I would give Breida the slight edge, but Daniel Jones might be less willing to check down and opt to scramble more.
I’m OK with scooping up Breida if you need a 2-3 week rental who offers the potential of low-end RB3/Flex value — just don’t go overboard.
You might be able to get Brightwell dirt cheap and stash him on your bench in case he ends up emerging as the lead back.
RB Roschon Johnson
I mentioned in my Fantasy Rankings/Tiers story last week that the Bears backfield situation would be cleared up if they just cut D’Onta Foreman from their gameplan — and that’s exactly what happened in Week 2 when they made him a healthy scratch.
Khalil Herbert operated as the lead back, but this is very close to being a 50-50 split with rookie Roschon Johnson. Unfortunately, the Bears offense is a hot mess, which prevented either from having a big game.
Johnson is a must-add considering he’s a Herbert injury away from being the lead back, not to mention there's a chance he could leapfrog Herbert in general at some point in the season.
Johnson will be tough to trust as a RB3/Flex in the meantime unless the Bears offense starts performing.
WR Josh Reynolds
Reynolds has posted two solid games to open the season and his underlying usage supports the production.
He’s run a route on 80% of Jared Goff’s dropbacks in each game and has commanded a target on 20% of his routes.
Reynolds is clearly the No. 2 WR on one of the higher-scoring teams in the league, and I’m projecting him as a high-end WR4 until Jameson Williams returns (Week 7). There's even a chance that Reynolds plays well enough to stave off losing his role to Williams.
Amon-Ra St. Brown is dealing with a toe injury that isn't believed to be serious enough to sideline him, but in the scenario it does, Reynolds could offer high-end WR3 value in the short term.
RB Craig Reynolds
David Montgomery was forced out of the Seahawks game with a thigh injury. He’s currently day-to-day and his status for Week 3 is a mystery.
Jahmyr Gibbs will likely see his role expand if Montgomery does miss time, but I don’t think the Lions want to give the rookie a true workhorse role. It's possible Reynolds ends up inheriting most of Montgomery's role and pushes RB3/Flex value.
I doubt many managers will have Reynolds on their radar for waiver wire bids, so he’s worth considering if you are in a deep league with bench space for a short-term flier.
