Week 3 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Bryce Young, Kirk Cousins, and TE Targets

Last week, I hammered home the point that we don't really know much after one week of NFL football. There are too many things that change from week to week to really focus on one game too much for any player, and we are especially light on useful information after Week 1.

Well, guess what? We still don't know much after two weeks. We know twice as much as we did last week, but that's still just a drop in the Cuyahoga River when thinking about where we will stand come the new year. Fantasy football doesn't stop, though, so we have to use what we know now and our past knowledge to make the best fantasy football decisions that we can.

Let's look at two quarterbacks (plus two others) and two tight ends who are hot names on the waiver wire heading into Week 3. Most stats are from NFL.com, and fantasy points and rankings are from FantasyPros.

Use FantasySP's waiver wire tool to find the players who are being added to fantasy rosters most often!

Quarterback

Tyson Bagent, Chicago Bears

Marcus Mariota, Washington Commanders

Let's just hit these two quickly: Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels both suffered injuries in Week 2 and are likely to miss multiple games, moving Bagent and Mariota into the starting lineup. While you can dream of Bagent stepping into a Ben Johnson offense and succeeding, there's a reason these guys are backups, and they are unlikely to have too many big performances.

Both quarterbacks also have tough matchups in Week 3, with the Bears hosting the Eagles and the Commanders facing maybe the best defense in football in Seattle. Resist the urge to grab either of these guys, instead playing matchups if you lost one of the starters from your lineup.

Kirk Cousins, Las Vegas Raiders

It was easy to think that Cousins would start the season until the Raiders had enough rough games that Fernando Mendoz finally took over. Well, Las Vegas has started 2-0, and Cousins had 253 yards on 8.7 per attempt with three touchdowns against the Chargers on Sunday. While Week 1 wasn't as good (160 yards on 5.3 per attempt), Cousins threw three TDs in that game as well.

The Week 3 matchup against New Orleans is somewhere in the middle, as Jared Goff struggled a bit against the Saints in Week 1, and Lamar Jackson had highs and lows on Sunday but decent overall numbers. You might have a better option, but if you just lost Williams or Daniels and need a replacement, Cousins has put up some numbers so far.

Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers

Maybe we shouldn't be surprised that a former top overall pick is performing well in his fourth NFL season. Young struggled mightily for much of his career before this point, though, and it was easy to see him as a bust who would never reach the heights that his draft status portended.

After 361 yards and three touchdowns in Week 1, Young had 287 and three more scores against the Falcons on Sunday, showing that it wasn't a one-week fluke against a poor defense. He's unlikely to average 300 yards and three TDs per game, but it wouldn't be a surprise to see Young keep finding success with a majorly upgraded pass-catching group.

Week 3 against the Browns will offer another chance to find both volume and efficiency, and that's followed by a matchup with the Lions, who have really struggled to stop teams so far. Young is a decent pickup if you don't have a weekly starter at QB.

Tight End

Dalton Schultz, Houston Texans

I listed Schultz as a guy to start in our tight end start/sit article last week, and he came through in a big way, catching 12 passes for 140 yards, both by far the most on his team. That was with a fantastic matchup against the Bengals, the team that was by far the worst against tight ends in fantasy last season, so it wasn't a surprise to see Schultz show out, even as the Houston offense struggled mightily.

In Week 1, he had a non-descript four catches for 35 yards. That came in a tougher matchup against the Bills and, again, wasn't really a surprise. Schultz is the kind of player who will almost always be reliant on the matchup to be in his favor, especially with his quarterback falling into the same category. That makes Schultz a guy not worth prioritizing on the waiver wire unless you're in a deep league or really hurting at tight end.

Houston travels to Indianapolis this week, another matchup that is somewhere in the middle (though Travis Kelce had nine receptions, 101 yards, and a touchdown on Sunday night). I'm expecting another middling game at best, leaving Schultz as a guy better left on the bench or free agent market even after his big performance on Sunday.

Darren Waller, Carolina Panthers

I considered putting Waller here last week when he caught a touchdown early in Week 1, but that play was wiped out by a penalty, and Waller ended with just two catches and 28 yards. Those numbers were close to the same this week (three receptions, 33 yards), but Waller found the end zone on two of those three catches, making for a big fantasy week.

At his best, Waller was a strong fantasy player with the Raiders. Injuries have been an issue throughout his career, though, and now 34 years old, it's tough to expect that to get any better. When he doesn't score touchdowns, Waller is likely to have middling or worse games.

If we're expecting Young to keep excelling, as we discussed above, then Waller will at least have a little intrigue when he is on the field. I'm not expecting too many big outings, but Waller will be a target in the red zone, and he could score on any given week. That makes him a guy worth considering when the matchup is right, and the Week 3 game against Cleveland will give Waller a decent chance to have another successful performance.