Aaron's Week 3 Waiver Wire Pickups

Every Tuesday, I will be bringing to light the best potential waiver wire additions across fantasy football. Let’s begin with some basic principles for each article and some of the qualifiers that will be used each week. First off, the minimum rostered percentage threshold that I will be using is 50%, so any player that is rostered in ESPN leagues above that percentage will not be written about (until near the end of the season when it gets harder to wade through the constantly thinning waiver wire.) Second, not all waiver wire additions are created equal and all are dependent on the roster you have. Each week I will be writing about players and the potential they bring to your fantasy roster, but I obviously don’t know who is on your team or what you may need in terms of roster construction. If I say a quarterback is the top waiver wire addition for the week, and you have Patrick Mahomes, that doesn’t mean you need to add that player to your team while dropping a potentially valuable player in order to do so. Third, I will frequently be using the abbreviation FAAB, which refers to Free Agent Acquisition Budget. This refers to the potential amount you might spend to acquire someone off the waiver wire if your league has that as a part of their system.

Sterling Shepard- Wide Receiver, NYG

ESPN Roster Percentage- 10.2%

In fantasy football, volume is king, and the current king of New York for the Giants is Sterling Shepard. Shepard leads the Giants in targets and ADOT (average depth of target), which means that not only is he being prioritized in the offense but they’re doing so down the field. He has made his way into the endzone once so far on the year and while I don’t expect much from Daniel Jones in the passing game, having a number 1 target doesn’t hurt your fantasy team. Shepard is a low-level waiver priority and is not someone I'm starting unless I have a depleted roster of wide receivers. He is a $0 FAAB offer and even someone I may target after waivers have run.

Darrel Williams and Eno Benjamin, Running Backs, ARI

ESPN Roster Percentage- 3.6% and 4.0%

James Conner left Sunday’s game against the Raiders with an ankle injury and didn’t return. According to reports, he has avoided a serious ankle injury, but that doesn’t give us a timeline on when he is expected to return. With Conner’s potential absence, both Darrel Williams and Eno Benjamin need to be rostered on the off chance he isn’t a go for Week 3. I don’t believe either player is start worthy this week due to the split nature of that backfield, but they need to be added for their potential value. After Conner left the game, Benjamin accumulated 11 touches while Williams saw 10, not providing us a clear lead back or which way the coaching staff may lean. Both are worthy of lower level waiver wire priorities, and I would be willing to throw a 5% FAAB offer in if I were desperate for running back depth or the James Conner manager.