Waiver Wire - Week 4

As is always the case, Fantasy Managers need to make Waiver Wire acquisitions to be successful.

Our fantasy coaches, Trip Smith and Bryce Johnson, share their thoughts below.

So last thing today, the waiver wire. Who are you going to pick up this week, Tripp? Who's at the top? You already mentioned Dontayvion Wicks. I mean, Christian Watson, high ankle sprain. He has, I mean, it seems like the guy has been in the league for 10 years for how many leg injuries he has already. And I think this is, you know, only his third season. But, um, yeah, also the Jonathan Taylor owner maybe should have already had this as a handcuff, but it's Trey Sermon. He's out there. You were hearing some good things about him in the preseason, and Taylor also has a high ankle injury. They're not putting him on the IR, so that might be a short-term one, but if you need a running back that you can start in a pinch during one of these bye weeks, Trey Sermon is a guy that I would pick up.

Here's one I want to ask you about: Tank Bigsby. You know, fantasy zombie. He’s come back to life after we left him for dead. He looks better than Travis Etienne right now. The Jaguars have got to figure out something to try to turn things around. I mean, that's a guy that I just keep an eye on. If he's not owned, maybe stash him at the end of your bench and just see what happens with that Jaguars running game.

Yeah, I agree. No, he looks good. I mean, Jacksonville is the weirdest team this year. Christian Kirk had a great game, I’m thankful for that. He was in the starting lineup. We’re still waiting for Ingram to come back. Brian Thomas Jr. is legit at times. He looks like a great rookie, and then Tank Bigsby looks like he's running with some power out there, some big runs. Hasn't had a ton of volume, but, uh, yeah, Etienne getting off to a slow start. So yeah, Bigsby is worth picking up for sure.

But I'm going all in on Wicks. I'm going all in—well, not all in, 50% in. I saw that earlier today, and I go, “Yeah, that's probably fair.” They love him, man, and he looks like a dynamic, athletic player. So, I mean, go check and see if Clyde Edwards-Helaire is on waivers in your league. Look, listen, I’m tired of the Chiefs’ backfield already, right? It's going to be a mess in that backfield, but this is Edwards-Helaire’s last chance, and they're going to bring him off IR soon. Or I guess it's actually the non-football injury list, the NFI, whatever. I don’t know all these lists, but go see if he's out there. And then, don’t start him, but just see how things pan out. Because if this is Edwards-Helaire’s last chance—I mean, he was highly touted coming into the league, and he was good for his first season—this is his last chance to do something. And I believe that he's better than any of the other three running backs that they're rolling with right now, including Kareem Hunt. So again, if you are desperate for running backs—and there are a lot of people who are desperate for running backs—put him on your bench and see what happens.

The thing I always like to tell people at this time of the season is, if you're 4-0 or you're 3-1, and these bye weeks start to hit, take advantage of other people's panic, you know? So, go look for that team who has three wide receivers who are all on bye on the same week, and then see if you can trade somebody like an A.J. Brown or something like that, who that team is struggling. He was probably their first-round pick. Go see if you can trade for A.J. Brown with one of your decent, middle-tier receivers, especially if you got a team in your league that's like 1-3. If you're 4-0, you know, I’m not—again, we don't tell people to take advantage of their friends on this podcast, but you just play the game the way that it's meant to be played. Take advantage of people's panic and their anxiety about those bye weeks.

Yeah, the bye weeks, it changes things. It's interesting because I like to only have one quarterback on my roster for the most part, so now I got two. So, I’m getting antsy about that. I'm like, “Ah, I gotta keep Goff after his performance. I can't drop Goff in the bye.” So, you know, my big decision—we gotta keep the streak alive. I’ve yet to mention Kamani Vidal, so, uh, so everybody celebrate! I got it in there. Aaron’s shaking his head. But he's on a bye. I’m not sure he's going to survive the bye on my team, because I’ve got a short bench, especially in a couple of leagues. It's going to be tough, so we shall see.

I’m still hanging on him. Gus Edwards? Forget about it. Stop activating him, Chargers, what are we doing? Oftentimes, you'll see teams start playing these rookie running backs after their bye. So, I mean, I know I'm just enabling you at this point, but hang on, see what happens after the bye.

You're right. I’m hanging on. Come on, we’re sticking together, buddy. We’re gonna ride this out. We’re gonna—yeah, it might be to my detriment, but it's okay. It’s all right.