Hey folks! We cannot understate the importance of being in on Week 4 waiver wire players early while the free agency acquisition budget (FAAB) price is cheapest (or free!), so you can add them to your roster. This is not just for adding them to your roster so your league mates don’t get them first; this will help you build a strong roster that has depth and can provide some additional cover from the chaos of the NFL season.

As we know, nothing goes exactly to plan in the NFL, so we want you to be as prepared as possible to weather the uncertain storm of injuries, role changes, scheme changes, and any other general chaos that can happen in a given NFL season.

I’m Kevin Tompkins, and while I may not have drafted a running back ever, I have picked up quite a few in my day as a noted Zero-RB guy; luckily, it won’t just be the running back position I’ll be helping you all with this season.

Each week, I’ll provide five players as look-ahead players for the next week, who could be THE waiver wire claims for the following week. But they won’t be available in your league because you already have them. We’ve got two full data points and an Aaron Rodgers primetime game’s worth of NFL games under our belts for 2024, but we’re already looking ahead to Week 4’s players.

Note: I cannot be held responsible if these players get hurt in Week 3, so please don’t tweet me @ktompkinsii if that happens.

Week 4 Waiver Wire QB

Sam Darnold (QB – MIN)

ESPN Rostership (15%)

It’s entirely possible that your league mates have not picked up Sam Darnold off of waivers because they do not believe. And why would they? Through all of Darnold’s previous stops in the NFL, from being drafted by the New York Jets and his travels to the Carolina Panthers to the San Francisco 49ers, where he was essentially left for dead, Darnold has not shown much in the way of sticking power thus far.

Now, with Kevin O’Connell proving that he’s the real “quarterback whisperer,” Darnold has lit the world on fire — okay, well, maybe he’s singed it a bit. Still, Darnold has put this Vikings team on his back when he expected to, as he’s been a top-12 QB through two starts. Completing 72% of his passes so far on the young season, Darnold put up 19.9 fantasy points against a 49ers team that struggled to contain the best WR in the free world, Justin Jefferson, en route to a 97-yard touchdown. As the QB of the 2-0 Vikings,  what he’s done without T.J. Hockenson and Jordan Addison is no small feat.

Pick up Darnold if you’re QB-needy, as the Vikings have matchups with Houston, the Packers and Jets in his next three. The last two are tougher matchups, but the schedule really opens up in his favor with Detroit, at the LA Rams, Indianapolis, and Jacksonville, where he should have Addison back and may have Hockenson back, too.

Week 4 Waiver Wire RB

Bucky Irving (RB – TB)

ESPN Rostership (32.5%)

Rachaad White is not exactly helping himself by not beating the accusations that he’s a terrible runner of the football. With just a 20% success rate and the third-worst rush yards over expectation (-45) per NFL NextGenStats, it’s only a matter of time before Bucky Irving can siphon off more and more of the rushing workload in Tampa Bay until he’s genuinely a standalone fantasy RB in addition to one of the better contingency plays.

Irving has had a combined 16 carries over the last two weeks. While that’s not super impressive, it shows the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator, Liam Coen’s intent to feature Irving. This recognizes that White may not be adept at doing anything on the rushing front other than running into the back of his own linemen.

Getting in on the ground floor for a fantasy RB is one of the better feelings as you were able to not only be in on an RB before anybody else, but you saved yourself some FAB or your waiver claim ranking. With the Buccaneers offense humming right now to the tune of the fourth-highest mark in EPA/play overall but eighth-worst in rushing EPA/play, Tampa has some strides to make so they do not become one-dimensional. Irving will help with that, so pounce on him now if he’s available in your league.

Emanuel Wilson (RB – GB)

ESPN Rostership (1.9%)

With the Packers in full “service academy” mode with Malik Willis at QB, Green Bay reeled off a -31.1 pass rate over expected (PROE) in their win over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2. That’s 17 total dropbacks and 53 rushing attempts, folks. We can expect more of the same if Willis remains the starting QB when the Packers head to Tennessee to face the Titans in Week 3 and at home against the Minnesota Vikings. The more the Packers win, the less likely the team will rush Jordan Love back from his MCL sprain.

Marshawn Lloyd was placed on injured reserve, so he’s got three more weeks before he’s eligible to get back on the field for the Packers, which makes Emanuel Wilson the benefactor of any contingent value for Green Bay. Not only that but if the Packers are going to run the ball back into the Stone Age, then Wilson will also have quite a bit of standalone value. Call it a win-win for fantasy managers to get a piece of an offense that the Packers really like, who could chip away at Josh Jacobs‘ upside and find his way into carries and receiving work. He’s the same bet as a Ty Chandler, but with an offense that skews more to the run, even if Love assumes QB duties once again.

Week 4 Waiver Wire WR

Jordan Whittington (WR – LAR)

ESPN Rostership (6.9%)

With starting WRs Cooper Kupp (ankle) and Puka Nacua (knee) out for several weeks, numerous receivers have had to step up in recent weeks, like Demarcus Robinson and Tyler Johnson. Add Jordan Whittington to that list, as he played every snap on offense in Week 2 when the Rams were blown out by the Cardinals 41-10. In terms of the hierarchy within the Rams’ pass-catchers, Robinson and Johnson seem firmly ahead of Whittington, but the best part about Whittington is that we really don’t know what he is. But we know precisely what Robinson and Johnson are.

Both Robinson and Johnson have a large sample size of routes in the NFL, and both players are simply mediocre. Both players carry a yards per route run (Y/rr) for their careers right around the 1.00 mark, and while the Rams’ scheme is fantastic using jet motion and has Sean McVay as the mastermind behind it all, the scheme can only take you so far if the talent isn’t great. The Rams have built their entire offense around 11 personnel, utilizing three WRs at over a 95% rate. Whittington is likely a full-time player now, and while Tutu Atwell looms as well, he’ll be used more on schemed touches, if anything.

Whittington is the “mystery box” option for the Rams and fantasy managers, so while the price is low or free, grab Whittington as a low-risk, high-reward player before the market soars on him with any meaningful stat line in Week 3.

Week 4 Waiver Wire TE

Cole Kmet (TE – CHI)

ESPN Rostership (26%)

The mercurial Cole Kmet saga has been a roller coaster ride through two weeks. First, we got preseason rumblings that Kmet would split work with TE nomad Gerald Everett this season. It didn’t sound plausible, but knowing offensive coordinator Shane Waldron’s previous stops – Waldron and Everett linked up in Seattle a few seasons ago – there was familiarity there. Then it happened: Everett ran 64% of routes per drop back, and Kmet only ran 36%. Granted, the offense struggled, but that was still a crazy development.

That one week may have caused a mass exodus of Kmet drafters to outright drop him for whatever options were out there and wash their hands of him.

Week 2 saw a shift back in our boy’s favor. Kmet flipped routes with Everett, running 60% of routes and earning five targets to Everett’s 45% and three targets.

It’s baby steps for Kmet (and this offense), but Kmet should be picked back up again. We’re talking about last season’s TE8 with Justin Fields and Tyson Bagent. Caleb Williams is a much more capable QB than we’ve seen thus far in two games. Hopefully, Waldron will give Williams some easier throws to get in a rhythm. Not to mention, the WR corps is banged up with Keenan Allen‘s heel, and Rome Odunze is having knee issues. Kmet could be the second target in the Bears’ offense when they head to Indianapolis to play the Colts. At a TE position where everybody is looking for production, look for the one in Chicago who HAS produced.

 

Kevin Tompkins is a contributor to Optimus Fantasy Football. Find more from Kevin on X (formerly Twitter) @ktompkinsii and right here on Optimus Fantasy.