Fantasy Football Waiver Wire and Rest of Season Rankings- Week 3, 2026
The waiver offerings have been slim pickings so far this season, unless your leaguemates drafted poorly. The running back position is the primary reason, not because of lack of potential. None of the widely available backs are immediately start-worthy because of good drafting and lack of major RB injuries. We might have a potential starter available this week though in Jonah Coleman. RJ Harvey has been disappointing and has a hamstring injury and JK Dobins is just old and feeble.
The wide receiver position has a few potential players that could fill in when bye-weeks hit. As humans we have an incredible urge to overreact to what we most recently saw. I’ve noticed many people looking to dump players they drafted in the single-digit rounds, and normally I'd say there is no reason to do that if you drafted from our cheat sheet, but there have been some shocking disappointments at WR so far this season.
Waiver advice for those who play in more typical home redraft leagues will be published each week. We will look at players owned less than 60% in the most popular formats and rank out in order our favorite waiver pickups broken down by position. Most weeks will also feature our Rest of Season rankings which are THE MOST ACCURATE over the past 5 years.
The Rest-of-Season Rankings are really far more important than the waiver wire rankings. There may be players available in your league that aren't available in most leagues and you can't tell that they are higher ranked unless you check the Rest-of-Season rankings by scrolling down.
Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Adds
The Athletic’s Nick Kosmider believes Jonah Coleman “figures to have a growing role in Denver’s offense, even when the backfield is at full strength.” It’s worth noting that Sean Payton intimated that both RJ Harvey and JK Dobbins could be available for Week 3 at a Monday presser. The rookie back looked good in his first extended action in Week 2 with both runners out; that does not mean he’s going to have a major role in the backfield in Week 3.
Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said Aaron Jones was “pretty sore” after Minnesota’s Week 2 win against the Bears. Of course he is, he's old as dirt (31). He also said he will “be talking about options at running back.” The subtext here is that Jones can’t handle 23-carry workloads in his age-32 season. DeeJay Dallas and Demond Claiborne are their backups on the roster with Jordan Mason on injured reserve.
Cardinals coach Mike LaFleur said he “wouldn’t look into too much” about Marvin Harrison Jr.'s usage in Week 2 because “we didn’t throw the ball for crap anyway… Schematically, it wasn’t good,” LaFleur added. Harrison only saw one official target — another was wiped away by penalty — and he played just 74 percent of the snaps. The real problem here is that when the Cardinals ran well on offense in Week 1, Harrison had just one catch for 33 yards on three targets.
Players We Can Drop
When we make waiver claims most of the time we can easily determine who to add, but we struggle with which players to drop. It is very difficult to give-up on a player we thought was worth drafting in the first place. If you are struggling, you should be dropping your questions or concerns in our FREE Discord channel. Don't be afraid of it, I'm over 50 and navigate it fairly well.
Injuries
Adam Schefter reports Jaxson Dart’s knee injury is “worse than initially thought” and the team is now “facing the possibility of season-ending knee surgery.”
Bears HC Ben Johnson said he does not think Caleb Williams (hamstring) will practice this week. While he doesn’t expect Williams to practice this week, Johnson did not rule out the possibility of him playing in Week 4, next Monday night against the Eagles.
Rams head coach Sean McVay said he’s “not sure” if Puka Nacua (groin) will play in Week 3.
Ravens HC Jesse Minter said Zay Flowers (hamstring) has a “good shot” to play in Week 3 against the Cowboys.
Jayden Daniels (elbow) underwent imaging and he and the team will “consult with a variety of experts” over the next few days. As soon as we hear "second opinion" it means the first one was REALLY bad.
The Ringer’s Tom Pelissero reports Marcus Mariota is expected to start in Week 3 against the Seahawks.
Falcons named Michael Penix as the starter for Week 3 against the Packers. Tua Tagovailoa (oblique) returned to practice on Tuesday.
The Ringer’s Tom Pelissero reports Kyler Murray has cleared concussion protocol and will start in Week 3 against the Buccaneers.
Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald said Sam Darnold (glute) is on track to practice this week.
Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said Jadarian Price’s injury is a shoulder issue and “nothing serious, it doesn’t seem.”
Mike Klis reports JK Dobbins suffered leg cramps against the Jaguars and there is “optimism the team has dodged a serious setback.”
Panthers coach Dave Canales said the team is “gathering information” on Jonathon Brooks’ groin injury. He’s undergoing tests to determine the severity. That’s not normally the sort of story that ends positively.
Colts head coach Shane Steichen said Alec Pierce (heel) aggravated the injury that required surgery in March and the Colts are “still gathering information.”
Steelers HC Mike McCarthy said he is unsure if Michael Pittman (foot) will play in Week 3 against the Bengals.
