Waiver Wire Wizardry: Pickups for Week 4

Quarterback:

Kirk Cousins (48% Y!): As mentioned last week, Cousins is a great QB2 add. He torched a poor Eagles secondary for over 400 yards and 3 scores in week 3. Could he be this season’s Nick Foles? Seems so. With Jay Gruden now calling the shots on offense, Cousins can sit back in a pocket-style offense and toss the rock to his plethora of weapons. He’s a great add with the bye weeks upon us. Cousins has a chance to shine.

Blake Bortles (5% Y!): It finally happened, Blake Bortles is the Jaguars’ starting QB. After two downright horrid games from Chad Henne, something had to give. At halftime, Gus Bradley had no choice but to bench Henne and start Bortles. When Blake took over, he threw for over 220 yards and a TD in one half. Granted, it was mostly garbage time against the Colts, but it’s clear who the better signal caller is. Bortles will be the starter moving forward with the potential to boost the Jaguars offense substantially. Bortles is definitely worth a flier.

Running Back:

Lorenzo Taliaferro (7% Y!): Finally! The best back in this committee may get his shot. Taliaferro didn’t disappoint as the complementary back to Justin Forsett as Bernard Pierce was inactive with a thigh injury. He was given a healthy amount of touches with 18 carries, gaining 91 yards and a TD. That is good enough for 5 YPC on the day and could really put pressure on Justin Forsett and Bernard Pierce for touches in the very near future. This is a muddled backfield but by far Taliaferro is the most talented of the three and going forward needs to be owned in all formats. Go scoop him up while you still have the chance.

Donald Brown (50% Y!): Wow, injury after injury to the San Diego backfield. Ryan Matthews will miss several more weeks and Danny Woodhead will not be back until 2015, leaving Donald Brown as the de facto starter. He is in line for a ton of touches, and despite only gaining 2 yards per tote last week, still had 31 carries in the afternoon. He’s my #1 waiver scoop this week, as he is assured volume in the carries department in the coming weeks. Go get him.

LeGarrette Blount (20% Y!): The Steelers blew out Carolina on Sunday, and I was impressed by Pittsburgh’s offensive line, they straight up beat the Panther front four. Both LeVeon Bell and LeGarrette Blount both rushed for over 100 yards in the game. The Steeler run game looks dangerous right now. There is no doubt that Bell is the top back, but with how much the black and gold like to run the ball, Blount is ownable  in most leagues and would be the beneficiary should something happen to LeVeon.

Wide Receiver:

Allen Robinson (2% Y!): Bortles taking over the play calling for Jacksonville is an instant boost to all of their wideouts. Robinson had 10 targets, hauling in 7 of them for 79 yards. There’s a chance that we can put this stat line on repeat moving forward. Robinson was a very talented WR prospect coming out of Penn State. Even once their recieiving core is healthy, Robinson looks like he’ll be in the plans. He and Bortles obviously have a connection. I see him as a mid-tier WR4 right now with a lot of room to grow.

Jeremy Kerley (3% Y!): Kerley had 11 targets, hauling in 7 catches for 81 yards and a TD. He seemed to be a favorite of Geno Smith’s, especially after Eric Decker went down with a re-aggravation of his hamstring injury. Kerley should be the number 1 option in New York if Decker is forced to miss any time, making him a must add across the board. They will play it safe with the former Bronco, so Kerley may be the go to guy for gang green in the coming weeks. He is a high-end WR4/low-end WR3 for next week’s game against the weak Detroit secondary.

Hakeem Nicks (42% Y!): Nicks is owned in too few leagues. If you remember, Hakeem didn’t score at all last season. He’s found pay dirt twice already this season. He may not be the deep threat he once was, but he is still just 26 years old and is getting a lot of looks in the red zone for the Colts. In a pass-first offense, you want to own Nicks. The Indianapolis running backs have failed to impress through three weeks. Further, TY Hilton suffered an injury in week 3 which would put Nicks in line for a ton of looks. If Hilton is out, Nicks becomes a nice play in week 4.

Tight End:

With Dennis Pitta done for 2014, Owen Daniels is a must-add.
With Dennis Pitta done for 2014, Owen Daniels is a must-add.

Owen Daniels (27% Y!): Daniels only had one catch on Sunday, but the big news here is that fellow-tight end Dennis Pitta will miss the remainder of the season with yet another hip dislocation. Daniels stands in line to benefit big time here, as he has a past with OC Gary Kubiak. Everyone knows that Kubiak will find ways for Daniels to get the ball and he could be a guy who is a TD-threat every week, making him a valuable TE2 that could potentially turn into low-end TE1. But for now, after the Pitta injury, Daniels needs to be owned as a TE2 with potential to do more.

Niles Paul (44% Y!): As I pointed out last week, Niles Paul is going to be a good target for Kirk Cousins to throw to and he proved that again in week 3. Paul got 9 targets, and caught 6 of them for 68 yards. Another solid week in the books for Paul, who could be the starting TE for a while as Jordan Reed doesn’t seem to be coming back any time soon. He is producing low-end TE1 stats right now and could keep that up for the foreseeable future.

Photo cred: http://goo.gl/puvzpc

Doug Moore is a fantasy football contributor at The Sports Script. Follow him on Twitter @DMM0822!

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