First a look at week 3

First off thank you for subscribing, I truly appreciate the support from all of you, and hope you are having a FAABulous football fantasy season. If you have been plagued with injuries and bad beats, no worries it is still early. Remember, we are playing to be strongest at the end of the season going into playoffs and securing the win. Stay active on waivers and keep your head in the game, you got this! Before we get into week 4 I want to review some of the waiver pickups I made in week 3 and update everyone on how all the teams are performing.

Week 3 waiver wins

When I say “wins” it is in reference to player(s) won on the waiver wire, not a performance evaluation. Because I am releasing this article after the conclusion of week 3 many things in hindsight may not be a win after all. I include this section not for bragging rights or victory laps, but rather to keep myself accountable and demonstrate that I am in fact bidding on many of the players I am writing about (for better and worse).

I also want to touch on a strategic element where many times you can win players by bidding very little. I included ranges some of the same players I got in one league went for in others, and it should be obvious there is a lot of variance between leagues. If you love a player or are weak at position and need them then by all means be aggressive and bid what you believe can win or what their “worth”is. However, in many cases I like to just go down the list and try to get guys for as little as possible. When I do not overspend it also helps make it easier to drop and churn players quickly. When you make a more sizable financial investment there is more of an emotional attachment, so to speak, and tendency to hold onto a player much longer than one should even when it is clear the situation changed or never came to fruition.

Kendre Miller 

Winning Bid $378, Next highest bid $339

Jonathan Mingo

Winning Bid $2

Ronnie Rivers

Winning Bid $1

Matt Breida

Winning Bid $1, other leagues went in range $300-$68

Pierre Strong (3 shares)

Winning Bids $47, $1, $1, other leagues went in range $118-$13

Craig Reynolds (2 shares)

Winning Bids $1,$2; other leagues went in range $100-$2

Devante Parker

Winning Bid $2, other leagues went in range $156-$9

Latavius Murray

Winning Bid $1, other leagues went in range $68-$6

Tony Jones (3 shares)

Winning Bids $1, $1, $1 other leagues went in range $321-$58

Gary Brightwell

Winning Bid $1, other leagues went in range $3-$36

Eric Gray

Winning Bid $1, other leagues went in range $8-$12

KC Team Defense

Winning Bid $1, other leagues went in range $87-$19

MIA Team Defense (3 shares)

Winning Bids $1,$1, $1, other league went $6

CLE Team Defense (2 shares)

Winning Bids $1, $1, other league went $25

CIN Team Defense

Winning Bid $1

LAR Team Defense

Winning Bid $2

Jason Sanders (2 shares)

Winning Bids $1, $1, other leagues went in range $44-$7

Brandon Aubrey (2 shares)

Winning Bids $1, $1

KC Team Kicker

Winning Bid $1

Week 3 Standings

Here is a look at how the Ship Chasing and my other teams are performing so far, as you can see some are much better than others. There is still a lot of football, and many of the teams are built to become stronger as the season comes on (ie zero RB and rookies).

NFFC Prime Time

Buckeye Boomers (2-1) 2nd Place 464.45 pts

Chalk this one up as a big time win for the boomers with who else other than a team of boomers! The team put up a massive top league 199.6 score for the week thanks to Davante Adams and Keenan Allen who continue to prove age ain’t nothing but a number.

Ship Taeking (1-2) 8th Place 395.30 pts

Not going to sugar coat the fact that this could have been a massive win instead of a lackluster performance. Ill give you a hint we started Breece Hall and left a guy who rhymes with pain on the bench… oh wait does Achane rhyme?

Ship Chasing (2-1) 5th Place 419.80 pts

This team put up a solid middle of the pack performance, at least we made good start/sit decisions here and sat Breece Hall in favor of Jerome Ford and D’Andre Swift. Tee Higgins and Mark Andrews were the biggest starting disappointments in this one, but there were not any viable alternatives.

Waiver Chasing (2-1) 7th Place 376.80 pts

The prime time team I drafted live in Vegas with the ship chasing crew had a solid performance week 3. There is a lot to be both worried and optimistic about concerning this team. Going into the season we were well aware of the likelihood the team would start slowly after taking a falling Kelce, Breece Hall, and a ton of our favorite rookies. We had a bad beat with our first round pick Garrett Wilson after Aaron Rodgers went down at the start of the season, however I am not giving up and will continue to fight to the end on this one…can we please get this man a quarterback?!

FFPC Main Event

Chasin’ Go Bills (3-0) 1st Place 536.50 pts

This main event team was drafted live in Vegas, and so far is living up to its namesake sitting in 10th place overall in the Main Event. Anyone who is unaware “Go Bills” is the name of the back to back Main Event Championship team, who just so happen to be in this league. Last week this team put up 233.40 points by starting Justin Herbert (33.35), Keenan Allen (45.95), Raheem Mostert (45.20), and Buffalo Defense (33.0)… this team absolutely Fucks!

SC (mini episodes) (3-0) 1st Place 457.60 pts

Anyone who watched the Ship Chasing mini episodes should remember this team that began pissing yellow with AJB, Ceedee Lamb, and both 49er receivers. They struck zero RB gold with Raheem Mostert as Pete’s offseason mantra continues to ring true with managed teams as well, “roster a Miami RB in every draft.” What if a Miami RB is the guy you need?

Stat Chasing (2-1) 3rd Place 430.25 pts

The boys of Stat Chasing managed to pull out a win on the heels of Matt Breida (who outscored Bijan Robinson 10.8 to 10.0) and Kendre Miller starting at RB. Another victory lap was able to be celebrated by “whipping boy”, Sackreligious, after he cast the deciding vote in favor to start Jerry Jeudy over Zay Flowers (Jerry Jeudy scored exactly .1 more points than Flowers). However, unironically the real reason the team won was because it started the two top scoring TEs of the week in Travis Kelce and Sam Laporta…don’t forget FFPC is TE Premium. By the way this week’s matchup is a long anticipated one as Stat Chasing takes on Dirty Davis & Da Bois who are currently in 4th place.

April/ Cranking Purple (2-1) 5th Place 417.50 pts

Week 3 was a rough one for our beloved CrakRoc after every starter not name Justin Jefferson seemingly decided to shit the bed at the same time… better days are ahead for this one.

Slo bros (2-1) 2nd Place 444.40 pts

This was a bit of a slo week where most players scored closer to their floors rather than ceilings. Jahan Dotson remains one of the bigger busts on the fantasy season and we have him rostered on several teams. I look forward to this team bouncing back next week.

StephWuGee (2-1) 4th Place 425.55 pts

Week 3 was huge for our main event team as we were able to lock in a win against the former first place team in our league and move up the leader board. Keenan Allen and Ken Walker were the stars of the show. I’m very lucky Walker is a hit after passing on Cooper Kupp to take him in the lives, which was a controversial decision amongst my teammates.

FFPC FantasyPros Championship

Ball Knower (1-2) 11th Place 328.15 pts

This team recorded its first victory in Week 3, albeit a narrow one. The upward trajectory has been set in motion, nothing can stop this team now (except maybe the giant Burrow/ Bengal double stack, Jahan Dotson, Rashod Bateman and of course the Jets).

SuperShorty (0-3) 12th Place 331.45 pts

While I scored more points than previous weeks, this team is still off to a slow start. Surprisingly all hope is not lost, as there are several terrible teams clustered together in this league. This is a Mahomes/Kelce team that just needs a little more T Swift love.

Special shoutout to my SFB13 team

I drafted my SFB13 team live in Dallas this year, which was a blast and met some fantastic people. The team was a zero RB team with JK Dobbins as my first RB drafted, so the team needed some major waiver work.

Currently, my team is 2nd place in the Whataburger division with 542.42 points, posted a league high 277.88 points in Week 3, and is 170th Place overall in SFB13! Apologies to my competitor, ThaDirtyDawgs, who cried “mercy” after Raheem Mostert put up a 50 burger but proceeded instead to get “his ass whooped like Sean Payton and Coach Prime this week” (his words not mine).

Week 4 Waiver Priorities for FFPC/NFFC

Below are all the players I like for Week 4 for FFPC and NFFC leagues. The inclusion criteria for players on this list is < 60% rostership on FFPC. I break down all players into tiers with FAAB suggestions, followed by analysis, and a list of players to consider dropping. These tiers can be used for deeper leagues as well as a good guide for players worth targeting on waivers. If you play in home leagues most top tier players are still good bets, but it is unnecessary to dig deep into lower tiers as there are better players at the position likely available on your waivers. All stats and data for this article are pulled from Fantasy Life, PFF, and Ben Gretch of Stealing Signals.

Tier 1

Joshua Palmer, CJ Stroud, Justice Hill

Suggested FAAB 10-25%

Joshua Palmer makes the list as a top add of the week after Mike Williams suffered a season ending ACL tear. Similarly to last year when Keenan Allen missed time, Palmer was on the field as an every down player. I personally hope and expect that Quentin Johnston emerges sooner than later, and have doubts that Palmer is very good. My recommendation for Palmer is roster dependent as to what your WR room looks like, I will not be breaking my bank for what is likely a usable WR3 stop gap.

CJ Stroud is looking like the most complete of all the rookie QBs so far this year. The Texans are letting the rookie sling the ball and it has been legitimately fun to watch this offense. Stroud has the 2nd most drop backs over first 3 games (140), behind only Kirk Cousins. Stroud also looks like he is already showing growth increasing completion percentage from 64% the first two games to 67% last week, and took no sacks Week 3 (did I mention without his star left tackle Laremy Tunsil?!) after posting a 9% and 11% sack rate in weeks 1 and 2. There have been several QBs already performing below expectation for fantasy, I like picking up Stroud as there seems to be an opportunity for a good ceiling with his aggressive downfield play style.

Justice Hill missed week 3 with a toe injury, the injury that is said to be minor and he is not expected to miss significant time. Hill could return this week and see a big opportunity for a sizable workload should Gus Edwards who suffered a concussion Week 3 miss, in which case his only competition would be Melvin Gordon and Kenyan Drake.

Tier 2

Tutu Atwell, Matt Breida

Suggested FAAB 5-10%

Tutu Atwell is still low owned enough to make the article again, go back and read my previous blurbs if you need some incentive to pick him up. Tutu was third on the team Monday night in snaps and routes run, but lead the team with 9 targets. The entirety of the Bengal’s game plan Monday night was to take Puka Nacua away, and so the Rams leaned on Tutu. Van Jefferson had 3 targets and 1 catch for 46yds, it is clear that the Rams trust Atwell more than Van Jefferson at this point, and I expect Tutu to remain involved even when Kupp returns.

Matt Breida played the majority of snaps 80% and ran 56% of routes but matched Gary Brightwell in carries week 3 when Saquon Barkley was held out for ankle injury in a difficult matchup against the 49ers. This week’s matchup vs Seahawks is much more favorable, as Seattle has allowed the 7th most points to RBs this year. Should Barkley sit again (I think he does) I expect Breida to get the majority of the opportunities, making him a strong start this week.

Tier 3

Wan’Dale Robinson, Calvin Austin, Nelson Agholor, Latavius Murray

Suggested FAAB 3-7%

Wan’Dale Robison made his debut on a night the Giants offense did’t do much of anything, but he had a ridiculous 56% TPPR even if he only ran 9 routes and was mostly deployed only as a Paris Campbell backup. I still like to stash Robinson believing he demonstrates an ability to earn targets and can overtake Campbell soon on an offense that desperately needs playmakers to step up.

Calvin Austin has seen a big rise in play time since Dionte Johnson went on IR. The 4.32 speedster took 1 of his 2 receptions Sunday night to the house as a 72 yard TD. Austin while playing majority of snaps in slot is also playing in 2 receiver sets and outperforming Allen Robinson in target share (24% to 14%) and TTPR (23% to 17%), giving hope that he can continue to maintain WR3 role when Dionte Johnson returns.

Nelson Agholor played ahead of Rashod Bateman last week when OBJ missed the game running 87% of routes with a 13% target share and 12% TPPR. Should OBJ miss more time or Bateman, who experienced hamstring tightness, be limited his role and usage could increase this week making for a viable start if you are weak at the WR position.

Latavius Murray seems to have secured the RB2 role over Damien Harris, During week 3 Murray lead in snaps 17 to 9, routes run 10 to 2 and was only back aside from Cook to receive a target. Murray matched James Cook with 3 HVT and bettered Cook for goal line touches 2 to 1. Damien Harris only value at this point is as a stash if Cook or Murray suffers an injury, he is droppable.

Tier 4

Trayveon Williams, Melvin Gordon, Isaiah Spiller

Suggested FAAB 1-3%

Trayveon Williams remains clear RB2 in the Bengal offense with 14 snaps, running 7 routes and tying Joe Mixon with 2 targets. Chase Brown was only other back active and played just 1 snap. We have seen the value the RB2 role in the Bengals offense can provide last year, he is a premium stash with the hopes this offense continue to improve as Burrow gets healthier.

Melvin Gordon has a chance to be the lead back for the Ravens this week should Gus Edwards and Justice Hill miss the game. Gordon was the next back in line after Gus Edwards suffered a concussion week 3 playing on 17 snaps to Kenyan Drake 3 snaps. Keep an eye out on Hill’s chances to play as I would not be looking to start Gordon in a tough matchup against the Browns, but if you are desperate for a fill-in something is better than nothing.

Isaiah Spiller is an interesting add as he could potentially be more involved going forward after by passing Elijah Dotson for RB2 role week3, running 12 % of routes while Dotson ran none. Josh Kelley has not been very efficient in his opportunities, only gaining 12 yards on 11 carries in week 3, opening the door for another back to earn playing time should Ekeler continue to miss time.

Tier 5

Keaton Mitchell, Trey Sermon, Patrick Taylor, Rico Dowdle

Suggested FAAB <1%

Keaton Mitchell is on IR with a shoulder injury and could return in week 5. The rookie is a bit undersized, but demonstrated some play making ability during the preseaon with good speed and receiving ability out of the backfield. I like Mitchell as a sneaky stash in deep leagues.

Trey Sermon is now the number 2 RB on the Colts after Dion Jackson was released (at least if and until Jonathan Taylor returns). Zack Moss is playing well on a massive workload so Sermon is just a injury contingent stash at this point for me.

Patrick Taylor played on 31 snaps while running more pass routes than AJ Dillon (23 to 21) and was targeted 4 times, while AJ Dillon was not targeted. Should Jones miss more games or remain limited I think Taylor is worth a stash, especially given how underwhelming AJ Dillon has been when given every opportunity to impress this season.

Rico Dowdle put up some points in Week 3 after seeing 3 targets on 7 routes run, 5 carries and getting into the end zone on a 15yd pass. Rico posted 4 HVT and 1 goal line touch. Make no mistake Tony Pollard’s role is massive as he had a career high 25 rush attempts and is leading the league with 9.3 HVTs per game. Dowdle remains the clear RB2 and elite handcuff behind the workhorse Pollard and is worth a bench stash.

Tier 6

Trey Palmer, Pierre Strong, Derius Davis

Suggested FAAB <1%

Trey Palmer finally takes over the WR3 role for the Bucs playing on 34 snaps, running 24 routes and receiving 1 target. He is worth a pickup and stash if the Bucs begin spreading the ball around more.

Pierre Strong saw some use, but 5 of 8 snaps came late in a game that the Browns had a sizable lead relegating him to RB3 on the depth chart at this point. I still think he is worth stashing if you have deep bench in the event of an injury or that Hunt performs poorly because he is washed.

Derius Davis split the WR3 role with Quentin Johnston after the Mike Williams injury, however Johnston was playing ahead before that point. Davis could be worth an add as stash in deep leagues with bench room as a wait and see long shot bet.

Drops

Mike Williams, Jamaal Williams, Salvon Ahmed, Damien Harris, Rashaad Penny, Devin Singletary, Gary Brightwell, Eric Gray, Elijah Dotson, Tony Jones, Craig Reynolds, Paris Campbell, Mecole Hardman, Durham Smythe

Week 4 Priority Home League Targets

I wanted to include some players for all you home league heros out there! These players are rostered in <50% of ESPN leagues, I did not include any players from section above, however as mentioned previously most of the early tiers are still good targets. I listed the players in my ranked order instead of breaking into tiers for how I prioritize them and offer FAAB suggestions ranges for each player followed by a list of droppable players.

De’Von Achane (16.5% Rostered ESPN; Suggested FAAB 25-75%) whose name is easier to spell than say apparently, ran 203 yds, 4 receptions for 32 Yds and had 4TDs in the game against Denver alongside Raheem Mostert who posted 4 TDs of his own! To say speed kills is the understatement of the year after the Dolphins hung 70 on the Broncos. Jeff Wilson is set to return from IR, but it should stand to reason the rookie has earned more playtime in this offense, and the ceiling is obviously there, even if we can’t expect a 200+yd, 4TD performance every week.

Tank Dell (23.5% Rostered ESPN; Suggested FAAB 10-20%) led the Texans in targets for the second consecutive week. He is becoming Stroud’s favorite target and lighting up the score board posting a Week 3 stat line 5-141-1 on an offense that has not been afraid to pass the ball. If Tank is available in your league go get him!

Rashee Rice (8.3% Rostered ESPN; Suggested FAAB 5-10%) led the Kansas city wide receivers in targets Week 3 and posted a season high 51% of routes with a 36%TPPR this season, taking full advantage of increased opportunities because of injuries to other players. He is the top KC receiver for me currently, and a priority bench stash this week.

Quentin Johnson (46.2% Rostered ESPN; Suggested FAAB 5-10%) is not a player you can start, but after the Mike Williams injury there is a clearer path to playtime and the guy I want longterm in this offense. I still don’t believe Joshua Palmer, his main competition, is very good, and am willing to bet Johnston can emerge sooner rather than later.

Josh Downs (3.2% Rostered ESPN; Suggested FAAB 3-5%) continues to see solid usage in the Colts offense. He is the primary slot receiver seeing 75%-80% slot snaps out of 11 personnel, which is the Colts highest used formation.

Elijah Mitchell (36.7% Rostered ESPN; Suggested FAAB 3-5%) had increased usage on a short week posting 33% snap share, 28% routes run and 3 HVT of his own cementing his role as the RB2 back. While Mitchell is not likely to have enough value to start, his value would sky rocket in event of a CMC injury and remains the premier priority stash.

Tyjae Spears (15.7% Rostered ESPN; Suggested FAAB 3-5%) played more snaps in Week3 than Derick Henry thanks to a trailing blowout game script. However, he still did not get many touches, and neither back did much this game. I look for Spears to continue to grow his role as season continues, and has already exceeded early season expectations in terms of playtime and stand alone role, I just wish this offense was better overall.

Romeo Doubs (27.1 Rostered ESPN; Suggested FAAB 3-5%) saw an increase in playtime week 3 finally being removed from injury report playing on 68 snaps, running 43 routes with 11 targets. PFF graded Doubs as best Packers best receiver, he is a solid add where available.

Roschon Johnson (33.4% Rostered ESPN; Suggested FAAB 3-5%) is splitting the backfield with Khalil Herbert and out produced Herbert Week 3. Johnson could continue to increase his role, overtaking Herbert for the starting job and become an every week starter. However, until the Bears offense improves overall neither back is a comfortable fantasy start.

Marvin Mims (8.6% Rostered ESPN; Suggested FAAB 3-5%) continues to do a lot with very little only running 11 routes last week but was targeted 5 times and given a carry. Whenever he is on the field it is evident that Denver is trying to get Mims the ball as he is an explosive play maker averaging 7.22 yards per route run. However he remains difficult to start with current usage, but it should be a matter of time that his role and playtime increase on an offense in desperate need of talented playmakers.

Drops

Mike Williams, Dion Jackson, Jamaal Williams, Juju Smith-Schuster, AJ Dillon, Damien Harris, Alec Pierce, Rashaad Penny, Devin Singletary, Paris Campbell, Michael Gallup, Skyy Moore, Darnell Mooney, Mecole Hardman