Read Jake Ciely’s latest fantasy football waiver wire advice. 

The fantasy football Week 4 waiver wire has interesting names — starting with De’Von Achane and his historic performance. We also have another season-ending injury, with Mike Williams out for the season and Joshua Palmer and/or Quentin Johnston stepping up. There are plenty more worries, starting with Justin Fields — plus Jameis Winston is back!

Advertisement

HEADS UP

• Players must be under 60% rostered on Yahoo
• Listed in order of preference — I’ll often prioritize potential upside over immediate middling production
• You will find no FAB suggestions here: It varies wildly by league tendencies and is always relative (ex: if you lost your RB1 to injury and there is a clear backup, you’re going to be more aggressive)
• Streaming QB and TE are grouped together — weekly rankings can change once projections/ranks run — DST could shift a bit, too

Related: Gary Davenport’s column dedicated to the players you can drop

WORRY REPORT
More Ducks (and Eggs) = More Concern

• Justin Fields, CHI 🦆🦆🦆🥚 — It’s officially time to worry. The offensive line doesn’t help, as Fields has been pressured on 47.8% of his dropbacks, second only to Zach Wilson’s 52.1%, which goes with his fifth-highest 2.98 AVG Time to Throw (waiting too long and allowing more pressure). Fields has a high 13.6 OffTGT% for his throws and he just looks indecisive. The Broncos defense hasn’t stopped much, but even without the passing concerns, Fields is only on pace for 136-for-618 rushing.
• Trevor Lawrence, JAX 🦆 — The Jaguars lead the league for targeted receiver drops (nine) and are still 12th in Plays/G and 11th in Pass% (60.4). I’d buy low on Lawrence.
• Derrick Henry, TEN 🥚 — Not concerned. The Browns’ defense has been the best since the 1999 Buccaneers in many areas, and even with far fewer snaps than Tyjae Spears in Week 3, Henry had 11 touches to Spears’ eight. Henry only has an egg for the horrible Titans offense so far.
• Rhamondre Stevenson, NE 🦆🦆 — Patriots Games are back. I believe this was more about the matchup (Ezekiel Elliott breakdown below), but in similar games, the workload could be 50/50 again.
• Breece Hall, NYJ 🦆🦆🦆 — Similar to Henry, the offense is ruining anything good for the Jets. Even as Hall ramps up, the offense would need to rise all the way up to “functional” for Hall to be startable.
• Jahan Dotson, WSH 🦆🦆🦆 — This is getting frustrating. Dotson again led in Routes/Route% and has been the only Commanders receiver over 90% each game — Terry McLaurin was 84.6, 77.8, 79.5 — but the targets aren’t consistent (they mainly come in the first quarter) and haven’t resulted in production 16-10-83-0. McLaurin is tied for the team lead with Dotson in targets/TGT% (16/17.4%) but has 13-126-1. The rapport between Sam Howell and Dotson can improve, but until then, Dotson is a stash and not a start.

STREAMING QUARTERBACKS

Emojis

• 😤 = I Tried to Tell Ya — players included for several weeks (not much more to add if you don’t want them)
• 🔍 = Check if Dropped — players whose managers might have cut for other need or impatient
• 🎯 = Long-Term Target — players with starter+ upside who require patience (stash picks)
• 🫡 = Backup/Next Man Up — players who have almost no value but starter+ upside if injury ahead of them

WAIVER WIRE RUNNING BACK RANKS

1. Justice Hill 🔍, Melvin Gordon and Keaton Mitchell, BAL — If Hill can return for Week 4, with Gus Edwards out, he’s the easy play  and the top pickup. MG3 would be a volume play if both are out and is here as a one-week play but still behind Jaylen Warren as a one-week pickup, and Gordon is down by Matt Breida if Hill plays. Mitchell returns after Week 4 and is a nice explosive player in the Achane conversation, and he could end up being the most valuable part of this backfield in time. Stash him over Gordon/Breida if you don’t need a starter.
2. De’Von Achane, MIA — Achane is the hottest name, but be reasonable with bids. Jeff Wilson returns next week and will add more uncertainty. Achane is explosive and talented, but the Dolphins were without Jaylen Waddle and doing anything they wanted against the Broncos. Raheem Mostert isn’t going anywhere, which means Achane has weekly RB1 upside but a floor near zero. Definitely grab him, but you should consider an immediate sell-high if you had him or get him off the wire.
3. Zach Charbonnet, SEA — 😤 Charbonnet has seen a weekly uptick, with 43.7% of the snaps in Week 3 to 49.3% for Kenneth Walker. Charbonnet isn’t startable… yet.
4. Kendre Miller, NO — First game and Alvin Kamara returns this week, but Miller pushed Tony Jones for touches and has Jamaal Williams similarities and potential.
5. Jaylen Warren, PIT — 😤 Until the Steelers shift to Warren as the lead (Najee Harris 63.3% of the RB touches and 70.4% of the rushes in Week 3), Warren is a stash for his RB2 potential.
6. Kenneth Gainwell, PHI — 🔍 Gainwell is 61% before this week’s waivers, and many managers might drop him with D’Andre Swift a “Duck Yea!” when it comes to being the clear lead. Gainwell is still worth holding/rostering, even with a good chunk of his work coming late against the Bucs (just six touches through the first three quarters, then nine in the fourth with zero for Swift). Gainwell could be in a position for late touches frequently given this team, and there is always the risk Swift gets hurt (three missed games all three years with others where he wasn’t 100%).
7. Roschon Johnson, CHI — 😤 Johnson pushed ahead of Khalil Herbert in touches despite playing 45.1% of the snaps compared to 54.9 for Herbert. The Bears are a mess and could continue the shift to Johnson to get something working.
8. Ezekiel Elliott, NE — 🔍 Elliott is the backup plan for Rhamondre Stevenson, but against tougher defenses with a more run-focused approach, he can carry RB3 value (Cowboys this week).
9. Elijah Mitchell, SF — 🫡 Next up and gets some work in blowouts… though, not guaranteed predictable.
10. Rico Dowdle, DAL — 🫡 Next up if Tony Pollard were to get hurt.
11. Tyjae Spears, TEN — 🫡 As mentioned, even with the snaps, Spears was behind in touches. Unusable unless Henry is hurt, but Top 20 upside if something opens up.
12. Tank Bigsby, JAX — 🫡 He had a goal line carry and touchdown, but Bigsby isn’t startable without a Travis Etienne injury… but if that happened, Top 20 value is more than likely.
13. Clyde Edwards-Helaire, KC — 🫡 CEH looks to be the next RB up if Isiah Pacheco misses time.
14. Jeff Wilson, MIA — Yes, this is how little I want to be frustrated by Wilson and the Dolphins. Wilson will be a thorn for Mostert and Achane, but without an injury to either, he’s likely never usable. Wilson would be in play if down to him and one of those two (don’t forget Salvon Ahmed could always mix in too when healthy).
15. Matt Breida, NYG — Breida saved desperate managers with a touchdown and has an easier go this week.
16. Sean Tucker, TB — 🫡 Simply a Rachaad White backup plan.
17. Keaontay Ingram, ARI — 🫡 This workload for James Conner feels dangerous given his history, and Ingram would be startable.
18. Gary Brightwell, NYG — Brightwell had 46.2% of the touches in Week 3 with some interesting passing game work but is no more than a deep stash for now.

MEH 😒

• Jerick McKinnon, KC — McKinnon had just five touches, which is how many he had in Weeks 1-2. Touchdown or bust.
• Latavius Murray, BUF — Sharing the backup duties behind James Cook. Same as McKinnon — touchdown or bust.
• Tony Jones, NO — Miller already ate into his touches in his first game ever, and now, Kamara is back, pushing Jones down to third (likely).

DUMPSVILLE 🗑️ (Order I’d Drop)

• Damien Harris, BUF — As mentioned with Murray, a backup in a timeshare.
• Dalvin Cook, NYJ — Jets offense is trash. Cook looks… cooked. There’s nothing here, possibly even if Breece Hall were to miss time.
• AJ Dillon, GB — Dillon isn’t even an RB2 when Aaron Jones is out, and that was always the appeal of stashing Dillon.
• Khalil Herbert, CHI — If Johnson were to get hurt, we could trust Herbert with low-RB2 value, so I don’t want to drop him, but he’s movable for anyone through Johnson and maybe even Bigsby if going pure upside stash.
• Joshua Kelley, LAC — We gave him one more chance because of the matchup, but Kelley is worse as the lead than when timesharing behind Austin Ekeler. Droppable through Gainwell.

WAIVER WIRE WIDE RECEIVER RANKS

1. Tank Dell, HOU — Dell started as the third option, but in the past two weeks, he is second in Route% (90.4) but leads in TmTGT% (23.6) and TmAirYD% (35.1) with 17-12-217-2 and 39.7 points.
2. Joshua Palmer, LAC — Palmer is clearly ahead of Quentin Johnston with 91 to 38 routes (67.9% to 6.8%). While Johnston has the edge in RouteTGT% (21.1 to 14.3) and a higher ceiling, the Chargers might not be ready to let Johnston step up more than into the previous Palmer role. Palmer is the better add for now, but Johnston shouldn’t be far behind given his ability and ceiling.
3. Romeo Doubs, GB — 😤 Christian Watson could finally be returning, and Doubs is tied with Jayden Reed for a team-high 20 targets, tied with Luke Musgrave for a team-high 11 receptions and has the second-most yards (129) and most touchdowns (three).
4. Quentin Johnston, LAC — See: Palmer breakdown.
5. Adam Thielen, CAR — 🔍 Thielen continues to lead the Panthers in Route% (92.3), TmTGT% (21.0) and FPPG (15.0) but sees more value with Andy Dalton and is a better floor play than upside pick.
6. Zay Jones, JAX — 😤 Looking to return from his Week 2 injury, Jones has been the No. 2 ahead of Christian Kirk, but also look for Jones more in zone-heavy matchups and Kirk in man-heavy ones.
7. Josh Reynolds, DET — 😤 Played through an injury and likely wasn’t 100%. Reynolds is still the No. 2 wideout, and Jameson Williams is still weeks away.
8. Tutu Atwell, LAR — It’s quite possible we have only one more week of Atwell startability, assuming Cooper Kupp is back for Week 5. It’s a nice Colts matchup in Week 4. Atwell is down after DJ Chark if you wouldn’t even start him this week based on his value evaporating.
9. Rashee Rice, KC — Not the leader in routes (51.2% in Week 3), but Rice is making a case to push into a top-two receiver role with Skyy Moore — and especially Kadarius Toney — doing little to claim the spot.
10. Jayden Reed, GB — Repeating previous weeks. Mainly a three-wide option but higher ceiling than Doubs if he pushes past him.
11. Josh Downs, IND — 😤 Even Gardner Minshew sees the usefulness of Downs, targeting him the most in Week 3 (12-8-57-0).
12. DJ Chark, CAR — 🔍 Chark doesn’t have the same ceiling with Bryce Young, but it’s not far off… while healthy. You can play Chark as a boom/bust WR4 as long as he’s on the field.
13. Rashid Shaheed, NO — This was the bust side of Shaheed, but the boom could return with Jameis Winston at home.
14. Marvin Mims, DEN — Still hard to trust with another week of low routes (11, 28.2%), but it’s harder and harder for Sean Payton to ignore giving Mims more.
15. Michael Wilson, ARI — 🎯 Second option and Cardinals leader in receiving yards.
16. Jonathan Mingo, CAR — 🎯 With Chark back, Mingo is a long-term stash and droppable in shallower leagues.

MEH 😒

• Rondale Moore, ARI — When your rushing line (3-54-1) destroys your receiving line (4-8-0) on… six targets(!), you’re not a pickup.
• Robbie Chosen, MIA — No Jaylen Waddle. No interest in any Dolphins wideout after the big two unless one sits again.
• Michael Gallup, DAL — The Cowboys have Gallup and Brandin Cooks fighting for the second spot behind CeeDee Lamb, and that’s before factoring in Jake Ferguson, Tony Pollard and the run-heavy approach.
• Ronnie Bell, SF — Sure, the first-touchdown call was fun, but that was a matchup and situational-based play with Brandon Aiyuk out and the Giants having rookie outside corners.
• K.J. Osborn, MIN — One catch, one touchdown, giving him seven and two on the year. He’s a distant fourth for Kirk Cousins.

DUMPSVILLE 🗑️ (Order I’d Drop)

• JuJu Smith-Schuster, NE — Surprised rostership is still high (56%) unless 56% of leagues have already gone dead.
• Brandin Cooks, DAL — Cooks isn’t the clear No. 2, which makes him hard to trust.
• Jaxon Smith-Njigba, SEA — Again, great long-term upside similar to the Chargers situation — DK Metcalf or Tyler Lockett gets hurt — but unusable outside of that.

STREAMING TIGHT ENDS

STREAMING DST

Week 4

• LAC vs LV
• CIN at TEN
• MIN at CAR
• HOU vs PIT
• DEN at CHI
• DET at GB
• TB at NO
• LAR at IND

Week 5

• CIN at ARI
• WSH vs CHI
• DEN vs NYJ
• DET vs CAR
• MIA vs NYG
• TEN at IND
• GB at LV

(Photo by Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)