Week 4 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Best QB and TE Pickups to Target

It's time again to scour the waiver wire for some of the best available players. Setting your fantasy lineup starts days before Sunday (or even Thursday), as finding the best waivers can be the difference between confidently filling that hole in your lineup and scrambling for the bottom of the barrel, especially when byes start next week.

Let's look at some of the best quarterback and tight end options on the waiver wire as we enter Week 4. 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 each week!

Quarterback

Michael Penix, Atlanta Falcons

Penix made his season debut on Thursday night after continuing his recovery from a torn ACL suffered last year. He impressed, throwing for 256 yards on 10.2 per attempt, and the Falcons dominated the Packers (Green Bay doesn't look good, but that deserves its own column).

Penix was very average in limited starts prior to 2026, needing more time to prove to his team (and fantasy owners) that he was a worthy player to build around. This game is far from enough to prove that he is the guy, but it's better than starting the year on the other side of things.

He is likely to be somewhere in the middle as a fantasy player, worth considering when the matchup is right but also producing plenty of middling or worse games. This week takes the Falcons to New Orleans for a Monday night matchup with the Saints, a team that was a little better than average with yards per pass attempt allowed and a little worse than average with fantasy points allowed to QBs heading into Week 3. They let Kirk Cousins go for 248 yards on 7.5 per attempt with three scores, so those numbers are likely to look worse with the newest information factored in.

Penix is a fantasy streamer. Don't pick him up thinking that he is going to set the world on fire because of one game; we have more information saying that he is in the middle. That doesn't mean he can't provide value some weeks, but at a position where so many guys can put up numbers, you don't necessarily need to go out of your way for the Atlanta passer.

Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns

Watson was a fantastic fantasy player for several years in Houston, finishing as a top-five player at the position at his best. It has been over a half-decade since we saw that player, though, leaving Watson undrafted in essentially every league this year and an afterthought for most fantasy owners.

He has started on the right track this season, averaging over 220 passing yards per game on 8.5 per attempt in the first two weeks. Sunday was his worst game, as Watson threw for just 144 yards on 4.8 per attempt, but he had two touchdowns and ran for 45 yards, making for a decent fantasy day.

If Watson uses his legs (as he used to at his peak), he would be an intriguing fantasy player. He will have good and bad passing games, but guys who run make up for that inconsistency with their legs, setting a nice baseline of points to build off. I don't propose that he will get anywhere close to his best days, but Watson could become a valuable fantasy player on the right weeks, a guy worthy of a rotational spot if your starter is someone like Jared Goff, for instance.

Geno Smith, New York Jets

Smith looked very average through the first two weeks; that might not seem like a lot, but for a Jets quarterback, it's the best thing they've had in a long time. He had his best game of the season in Week 3, throwing for 321 yards on 8.7 per attempt with three touchdowns and no interceptions.

That came with a great matchup against the Lions, the main reason that Smith was listed as a player to start in our Week 3 QB start/sit article. Smith is going to be dependent on the matchup each week, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it means that you shouldn't be too excited about jumping on him on the waiver wire.

Next week's matchup against the Bears is a positive one, as they ranked fifth in most yards per pass attempt allowed prior to Monday night's game. If you are in a deeper league or trying to deal with the loss of Jayden Daniels, Caleb Williams, or Jaxson Dart, Smith is a good pickup who can fill in for a week.

Tight End

Juwan Johnson, New Orleans Saints

Johnson is owned in more leagues than many of the guys we put on the waiver list, but after his Week 3 performance, owners are going to be giving him an even deeper look than usual. He hauled in eight passes for 53 yards and two touchdowns against the Raiders.

Johnson is averaging five receptions, 57.6 yards, and one touchdown per game, close to 12 standard points and 17 PPR points per week. It's impossible to expect anything more out of a guy who went undrafted in many leagues, leaving Johnson as a major waiver pickup if you can still grab him.

He probably won't be that good on a weekly basis moving forward, but if you don't have a weekly tight and or are struggling to find production (did you draft Kyle Pitts?), then you can upgrade your roster by grabbing Johnson with the hope that he can at least be a decent option who can get you points each week.

Johnson's teammate, Noah Fant, also had two touchdowns this week, but the former is more likely to perform on a regular basis, making him the player to target here.

Kenyon Sadiq, New York Jets

Sadiq finally had his first big week in his third game, catching seven passes for 105 yards and a touchdown. He had combined for five receptions and 38 yards in the first two games, though he did score on a rush attempt in Week 1. This looked like a whole new player.

I recommended Sadiq in our start/sit column because the Lions have been very vulnerable against tight ends, and that trend continued. Sadiq is likely to be dependent on matchups, as most rookies are, so while he showed here that he is capable of big games, he's not a weekly starter yet.

We talked about Sadiq's quarterback, Smith, above, and the fact that Week 4 brings the Bears to town, a team that has struggled to stop the pass. They have been good against tight ends pending Monday night's game, but Sadiq is fine to grab if you're in a deeper league or have a deficit at tight end, even if he is unlikely to repeat this performance very often.