RADIO
Here we are, Week 4, and we have a whole have of stars out of action. Whether due to off the field issue, injury or lack of production, fantasy owners are scurrying to waiver to pick up either the new starter, or the hot hand from the past two weeks. While riding the hot hand is always smart in fantasy, I’m here to distinguish the contenders from the pretenders. Here are the five most added fantasy football players according to our friends at Fleaflicker, along with my analysis as to whether they should be added on your team or left on the waiver wire.
(Note: Kirk Cousins, 4,048 adds, was excluded this week due to his previous inclusion in this list.)
Editor’s Note: Our famous 2014 fantasy football waiver wire pickups list is updated daily, and is a running list of waiver wire pickups for all fantasy football positions. You can also download our free waiver wire pickups iPhone app, to easily follow our waiver wire analysis on the run.
Top Fleaflicker Players Added For Week 4
Detroit Lions Defense - 5,982 Adds
The Lions are in no way an elite fantasy defense. That doesn’t mean they aren’t capable of having a great week, and that proved especially true Week 3 against a struggling Green Bay Packers offense. Only giving up 7 points, Detroit sacked Aaron Rodgers twice. Eddy Lacy was also tormented by not only being tackled for a safety early on, but coughing up a fumble that was ran back for a TD. That ended up with the Lions having 16 standard league fantasy points. This follows a Week 1 where Detroit picked off Eli Manning twice and week 2 where they sacked Cam Newton four times. Granted, the game against Carolina was a 24-7 loss where Detroit only managed 4 fantasy points, but that proves my point about the Lions not being elite.
Detroit, owned in 35% of Fleaflicker leagues, is probably better than any DEF or bench D you have on your team. I especially like them Week 4 when they go up against a Geon Smith-led Jets who is just begging to be sacked and picked off repeatedly. They also get the Bills and Vikings in weeks 5 and 6, making them a nice add for the next 3 weeks.
San Diego Chargers Defense - 5,471 Adds
Two defenses in this column? Preposterous! However, I think I actually like the Chargers D more than the Lions from a fantasy perspective. First off, Week 4 the Chargers are going up against the Jaguars… That should be it, add them now. However, they also have a lot going for them. They had 9 points last week against Buffalo on a safety along with 3 Sacks to bring their season total to 7, tied for 4th in the league. Not to mention their rather soft schedule the next few weeks. After Jacksonville, San Diego faces the previously mentioned offensively soft Jets, followed by Oakland and then Kansas City.
If you have San Diego (owned in 33% of Fleaflicker leagues) and Detroit both available and need to add a defense, I’d go with the Chargers simply because of their upcoming stretch of unimpressive offensives on their schedule. After that stretch San Diego travels to Denver to take on the Broncos for Week 9. That leaves the Charger’s D with a pretty sizable run of fantasy relevance.
Cody Parkey (K, PHI) - 4,256 Adds
“A fantasy kicker is only as good as their team’s offense is bad.” – Justin Berglund
At 41 standard points through 3 weeks, Parkey is the #1 most productive fantasy kicker so far. Parkey has gone through the uprights 8 times including twice from 50 yards+. He has also been helped out by the Eagles scoring at least 3 offensive TDs a game to pad his stats with 11 extra points. Another reason for the adding of Parkey might by that this is the first round of bye weeks. Plenty of fantasy owners have to bench or drop their kickers, including Seattle’s Steven Hauschka, meaning they will be adding whoever the hottest hand, or foot, is available. Cue Parkey. Parkey is now up to 52% owned in Fleaflicker leagues, and is establishing himself as an elite fantasy kicker, whatever that means.
Lorenzo Taliaferro (RB, BAL) - 3,852 Adds
Another week, another Raven’s running back in the discussion. After Ray Rice, Bernard Pierce and Justin Forsett, Lorenzo Taliaferro is Baltimore’s new flavor of the month. Or week, I guess. During a Week 3 where Pierce was out with a thigh injury, Taliaferro’s 18 touches were better than Forsett’s 11, which he used to the tune of a 91 yard, 1 TD performance against the Browns for 15.10 standard fantasy points. This week against Carolina, Taliaferro seems to be the RB to roll with. The Panthers are going to be tough, and Pierce will definitely be on a short leash considering he is not at 100%, assuming he even gets the start.
From all angles, Baltimore’s backfield has been a mess. Nobody is a safe bet between the likely dispersal of carries and overall lack of proven skill. However, Taliaferro, owned in just 29% of Fleaflicker leagues, is the best power back in the group, is the likely goal line option which will lead to some easy TDs, and is a worth an add in most leagues if for nothing for than RB depth.
Donald Brown (RB, SD) - 3,757 Adds
Another Charger on the list, Donald Brown is a must add for the immediate future. After a lackluster first two weeks where Brown was coming off the bench, injuries to Ryan Matthews and Danny Woodhead have now made him the featured back for the Chargers. Even after he was getting the carries in Week 3, he still only ended up with 62 rushing yards on 31 carries for a measly 2 yards per carry. However, one word can be said to make Brown immediately more fantasy relevant for Week 4: Jacksonville. The Jags have given up the most fantasy points to opposing RB’s this year, and this doesn’t even take into account Browns ability to catch passes out of the backfield.
While Woodhead will likely be out for a considerable amount of time, Matthews will be out for at least 3 weeks. After Jacksonville the Chargers play the Jets then visit the Raiders. Donald Brown, 56% owned, is a must start for these two games, and should still be owned afterwards depending on the length of Matthews’ injury.
Well there you have it. A case can be made to add any and all of the players on this list. However, there is generally a reason these five were not drafted in most leagues. There is obviously a risk in starting every player, and these waiver wire adds might be a risk for your teams and not worth starting until you know for sure what you are getting out of them. Feel free to share your thoughts, comments and questions below, or holler at me @JustBerglund. Good luck in Week 4 RotoBallers.
