Bjorn Yang-Vaernet examines which players on the waiver wire are worth prioritizing for Week 3 and highlights others to preemptively stash.
With the season in its early stages, it is still hard to deduce what is a trend and what is just noise. However, armed with another weekly data point, it becomes that much easier to understand what to trust.
With respect to the waiver wire, Week 2 is still early enough that some waiver wire pickups carry substantial value as they can contribute for multiple weeks of the season. In Week 1, I highlighted Curtis Samuel and Jeff Wilson. Both of these players were the top priorities for me at each position and could have been plugged into lineups right away. Both produced good fantasy scores for managers in Week 2 and should continue to be in lineups in the coming weeks. With that in mind, let’s get to who is worth picking up for Week 3.
The waiver wire is one of the most important pieces of season-long draft leagues. It is the easiest way to acquire new players and every year there are gems to be found. The goal of this article will not only be to highlight which weekly breakout players to prioritize but find others to preemptively pick up before the breakout happens.
This article will be published once on Mondays with a quick run through my favorite pickups and again on Tuesdays with more charts and data points added in.
This article will only reference players that are less than 50% owned in ESPN leagues. The players are categorized by position group and within each group is the order of how I would prioritize them. In lieu of free agent acquisition budget percentages, which are highly dependent on the makeup of each league, I have instead highlighted which players I would prioritize on the week.
Quarterback
Jimmy Garoppolo (Available in 99% of leagues)
The Trey Lance ankle injury turned Jimmy Garoppolo from one of the highest-paid backups to a starter again. There isn’t much to speculate about Garoppolo as what the NFL has seen during the past two years in San Francisco is likely who he will continue to be in 2022. He is a low-floor, limited-ceiling QB in an offense that plays slow and run-heavy. However, he is a starting QB on a team that is expected to score a lot of points and for that reason, he carries some value.
In 2021, Garoppolo scored 10 to 20 fantasy points in 11/15 games. He had two games over 20 points and two games below 10. He only had one game above 25 points and that took two rushing TDs. Going forward, the best way to play Garoppolo is on weeks when the 49ers will be pushed by their opponent to score. Of course, he is much more viable in superflex leagues than 1-QB leagues.
Marcus Mariota (Available in 91% of leagues)
What I wrote about Marcus Mariota last week, still holds true this week. He is a dual-threat QB that carries a low floor, but a high ceiling on any given week. The matchup on the road against the Rams was tough in Week 2, but his matchup against the Seahawks in Week 3 should be a nice bounce back spot.
