Fantasy Football: Week 3’s Best Waiver Wire Options

How annoying is the dude who incessantly reminds you how great his fantasy team is this year? “Oh, I have Cam Newton AND RG3; doesn’t that make me, like, the coolest person ever?” No, it means is you are gloating way too early and bad fantasy karma is about to knock at your door. (And P.S., owning those two guys doesn’t make you an athlete by association.)

For the rest of us mere fantasy mortals, let’s get a head start on some good fantasy karma by considering Week 3’s best waiver options:

I love what I have seen out of the TAMPA BAY DEFENSE.  They are fast, tough and always looking for turnovers. Through two games they have 5 interceptions, 1 touchdown, and held Cam Newton’s Panthers to 10 points in Week 1.  A nice start against anyone at this point.

GIANTS TE MARTELLUS BENNETT is worth a pick up if you’re weak in the tight end department. Bennett has a score in each of the first two games and looks to have a nice matchup at Carolina on Thursday night.

RAVENS TE DENNIS PITTA is also worth a pickup after his 15 targets last week. Flacco has been very comfortable with Pitta the first two weeks and while I think Pitta is a decent start, I wonder if  Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin will be more in the mix against New England this week.

Very quietly CHIEFS QB MATT CASSEL had put up solid fantasy numbers with 4 TDs and almost 600 passing yards. Cassel has also thrown three picks and often doesn’t look capable of manning a decent offense. But he has a fantasy-friendly matchup against the Saints this week, a team whose secondary was been lucky to only give up 573 passing yards through two weeks.

GIANTS RB ANDRE BROWN has a chance to make his first start Thursday night, as Ahmad Bradshaw’s status is in doubt due to the neck injury he suffered Sunday.  After replacing Bradshaw, Brown went on to rush for 71 yards on 13 carries and scored the game-winning touchdown (and two-point conversion).  Dare I say he looked better than Bradshaw? Brown is a decent start if Bradshaw is out, and an important handcuff pickup if not.

Former Chief and current CHARGERS RB JACKIE BATTLE made a fantasy impact late in last week’s win with two TDs and 69 yards.  Battle, who outperformed Curtis Brinkley and Ronnie Brown, has value if Ryan Mathews is ruled out another week.

I was shocked to discover RAMS WR DANNY AMENDOLA is only owned in 48% of FleaFlicker leagues. That should change this week, as you can’t ignore a guy with 15 receptions last week, plus 160 yards and a touchdown. Amendola has tough defenses coming his way with Chicago, Arizona and Seattle the next three weeks, but he has already shown an uncanny ability to get open. Until the changes, Sam Bradford will keep targeting him.

Amendola’s partner RAMS WR BRANDON GIBSON also has a TD in each of the first two games. Gibson’s targets will be significantly less than Amendola’s, but his end zone presence makes him a credible Flex.

If you’re dissatisfied with your kicker (which would probably only be due to lack of attempts since there have been few misses), TAMPA BAY K CONNOR BARTH is a good switch-out. He’s 5/5 including a 52-yarder. And it appears the Bucs have some efficiency issues in the red zone and just right outside it.

For more fantasy advice find me on Twitter: @thefootballgirl