Waiver Wire Week 3: Matthew Stafford, Zack Moss, Reynolds Highlight Pickups to Know
In the fantasy football world, if you aren't looking forward your team might be moving backward.
Much like in the NFL, there's really no such thing as living in the present. You don't have time to celebrate a victory or mourn a loss. Not with another round of games always on the docket.
With this forward-thinking in mind, let's skip ahead to an early breakdown of some of the best waiver-wire targets—rostered in fewer than 70 percent of Yahoo leagues, per FantasyPros—for Week 3.
Zack Moss, RB, Indianapolis Colts
With Jonathan Taylor on injured reserve, there has been a major opportunity for someone to seize control of this backfield. Zack Moss may have done exactly that on Sunday.
The veteran running back, who missed Week 1 while recovering from a broken arm suffered in training camp, couldn't have been more prominently featured in the Week 2 game plan.
He was the only Colts running back to touch the football in their 31-20 takedown of the Houston Texans. He handled 18 carries—quarterbacks Anthony Richardson and Gardner Minshew had Indy's five other rushing attempts—and hauled in all four of his targets, tallying 107 scrimmage yards and a score.
Moss was on the field for 98.2 percent of Indianapolis' snaps, per Football-Reference, cementing his status as the obvious RB1 in this offense. Run—don't walk—to put in your waiver claim.
Josh Reynolds, WR, Detroit Lions
This Lions' passing game has plenty of juice with creative playcalling and Jared Goff zipping the ball around, meaning it can support more fantasy-relevant pass-catchers than only rising star Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Josh Reynolds, the second option in this attack, has impressed with both his number of opportunities and the way he has made them count.
His 13 targets are second-highest on the team, and he has come down with nine of those passes. He had four receptions for 80 yards in the opener, then upped the ante in Week 2 wit five catches for 66 yards and two touchdowns.
His scoring numbers could fluctuate, but there is no reason to think his usage will slip. As long as he keeps getting this number of looks, he should post good enough stats to thrive as a WR3 or flex option.
Matthew Stafford, QB, Los Angeles Rams
No Cooper Kupp, no problem? OK, maybe that isn't entirely the case, but the touchdown column might be the only reflection of Kupp's absence on Matthew Stafford's stat sheet.
Despite being without his top target, Stafford has thrown for the third-most yards so far (641) while eclipsing the 300-yard mark in each of his contests. While all of this passing (93 attempts, second-most) has yielded only a single scoring strike, that number could skyrocket at any moment given his arm talent and the volume in this passing game.
Remember, Stafford has racked up this yardage against two talented defenses in the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers. If the schedule ever softens, he could conceivably put up even bigger numbers.
His chemistry with young pass-catchers Puka Nacua and Tutu Atwell will only improve, and Kupp, who went on injured reserve with a hamstring issue, could return as soon as Week 5. Stafford's stock, which is already in decent shape, should be trending up in other words.