Fantasy Football 2021 Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickup Advice

Is your fantasy team in need of new blood? Each week I’ll bring to you the best pickups to make ahead of the waiver deadline. All the players I list will be owned in fewer than 50 percent of leagues, with the roster percentages coming from Yahoo.com

Quarterbacks

Sam Darnold, Panthers (22% Rostered): It’s a light week on waivers for QBs, as fantasy managers seem to still be comfortable enough to carry multiple QBs and try to play matchups. The lone potential game changer left that’s widely available is Darnold, who might not generate much interest if Christian McCaffery is shelved. It’s a blow no doubt, but this offense functioned well for fantasy without CMC for most of last year, and Darnold has appeared to be an upgrade on Teddy Bridgewater. So far Darnold has surpassed 300 passing yards in back-to-back games, thrown three touchdown passes against only one pick, and rushed for two touchdowns on Thursday to atone for a lack of passing scores. Darnold isn’t going to be confused for Josh Allen anytime soon as a rusher, but he’s capable of making plays with his legs, and the upcoming slate – at Dallas, vs. Philadelphia, vs. Minnesota – look like juicy game scripts even with Carolina’s surprisingly vicious pass rush.

Running Backs

Chuba Hubbard, Panthers (25% Rostered): Hubbard will be the priciest pickup of the week, especially after those who spent up for Mike Davis last season reaped major rewards. Hubbard filled in nicely for CMC, rushing 11 times for 52 yards and catching three passes for 27 yards, but don’t think you’re slotting in McCaffery numbers. The biggest benefactor of CMC’s absence will likely be Robby Anderson, though his owners are probably going to wait and see for at least one week. If you’ve got McCaffery, feel free to spend on Hubbard because he’s going to produce, but this is not a league-winning add.

Wide Receivers

Henry Ruggs III, Raiders (50% Rostered): WRs are the fattest group on waivers this week, led by Ruggs, who is establishing himself as the WR1 of this team and the clear No. 2 option behind TE Darren Waller. He’s averaging 79.5 yards per game and more than 20 yards per reception, but unlike other players of his ilk, he’s seeing six targets per game. Las Vegas has become one of the pass-happiest teams in football, and Carr has identified Ruggs as his primary deep shot option. He struck for a TD vs. Pittsburgh, and while I wouldn’t expect a ton of TDs going forward, he can be a fairly consistent game-changer with this type of target share. He can certainly go off this week vs. the Chargers, who should force a shootout, and even against tougher defenses speed like his is typically matchup-proof. At 50% he is right at the limit of where I focus, but I think he is relevant enough to include here, just because you need to check if he’s available.

Tim Patrick, Broncos (23% Rostered): Patrick continues to be disrespected, and fantasy managers are missing out on good production. He was kept out of the end zone this week by the Jets, but he did catch all five of his targets for 98 yards, and now should see his targets increase with KJ Hamler joining Jerry Jeudy in the trainers room. The upcoming matchups vs. Baltimore and at Pittsburgh are surely tougher than what he’s seen so far, but he has yet to disappoint anyone so far and should get more love from us.

Emmanuel Sanders, Bills (26% Rostered): Sanders broke out for 94 yards and two scores in an explosion from the Bills on Sunday, but he was due. The touchdowns may be a bit of a mirage, but he’s yet to see fewer than eight targets in any game this year, and those are high value opportunities with Josh Allen under center. Stefon Diggs is still the man, and there will be times where Cole Beasley and Gabriel Davis eat into his work, but he clearly has rapport with Allen and a long track record of competence. Sanders provides valuable depth to any fantasy roster.

Darnell Mooney, Bears (45% Rostered): It’s been an ugly start for Mooney, who likely hit rock bottom last week with one catch for nine yards, but don’t lose hope. There’s been turnover at the QB position, and he’s dealt with very tough defenses in two of Chicago’s first three games, road matchups at the Rams and at Cleveland. In the one soft matchup, home vs. the Bengals, he put up six receptions for 66 yards. Mooney has seen only two fewer targets than Allen Robinson, and has two more receptions and 15 more yards. As a big play threat, Mooney’s time will come and now is a buy low opportunity with the Lions next up.

Hunter Renfrow, Raiders (11% Rostered): Renfrow wasn’t appealing early in the year as a slot guy on this team, because Waller is hyper targeted, and this was expected to be the Waller and Josh Jacobs show. But through three games, the Raiders have thrown the second-most passes in the NFL behind only the Buccaneers, and Renfrow has seen six or more targets in every game despite being a third option. If this is how the Raiders offense is all season, Renfrow has a lot of value in full-PPR formats, and even though he has a low ceiling for TDs, he provides real security in heavy bye week/injury situations.

Bryan Edwards, Raiders (17% Rostered): Edwards, like Ruggs, is averaging more than 20 yards per reception. While he’s built more like a prototypical WR1 than Ruggs, he is providing efficiency on fewer opportunities, so while his plays are helpful, he carries more risk of a doughnut or very poor game than Ruggs or Renfrow. Still, he’s a young third round pick and could explode if his role increases or Ruggs gets injured and Edwards fills the vacuum.

Tight Ends

Dawson Knox, Bills (10% Rostered): Like QB, it seems like fantasy managers own the important TEs right now, as bye weeks haven’t started forcing hard decisions. Still, Knox is out here as a desperation play. There’s high risk with Knox, since Buffalo is stocked up with quality WRs, but he has scored in back-to-back games, and has upcoming matchups vs. Houston, at Kansas City and at Tennessee, all of which are bad defenses, should be high-scoring, or both. Houston is allowing 10.5 points per game to TEs, and KC allows 8.0 per Football Outsiders. Those two defenses currently allow the second and third-most yards to TEs as well.