CFB Waiver Wire: Players to Pick Up Week 3

Nick Grays offers the best pickups for Week 3 in this week's Waiver Wire column. Justin Jefferson is establishing himself as the leader of a suddenly prolific LSU offense but is still available in most leagues.

September 9, 2019

CFB Waiver Wire: Players to Pick Up Week 3

By:

Nick Grays

September 9, 2019

CFB Waiver Wire

Welcome to another installment of the waiver wire watch. Throughout the college football season, I'll pick two guys from every conference who either caught my eye in the previous week or who have a favorable match-up in the near future. As always, I'll get to any questions or comments you have in the comments section below.

AAC

Nelson Smith, RB, Navy
The Midshipmen are coming off a bye in Week 2 which makes this a bit of a sneaky add as people scouring the waiver wire need to go back to Week 1 results. Smith led the triple option attack with 15 carries for 96 yards and three touchdowns in the season-opening win. With a soft defensive opponent in East Carolina, Smith's anticipated workload of double-digit carries could prove to be fruitful for fantasy purposes.

Xavier Jones, RB, SMU
Jones has recorded plenty of touches thus far in 2019; 20 touches for 67 yards and three touchdowns against Arkansas State as well as 18 touches for 137 yards and three touchdowns against North Texas. I doubt the torrid touchdown pace will continue for him personally, however, I do think SMU will continue to score a bunch of points each week. It's not out of the question that Jones could get one or two scores versus Texas State this week.

Last Week; Memphis RB Kenny Gainwell (16 carries for 85 yards and 2 TD, 4 catches for 38 yards and 1 TD) & UCF WR Tre Nixon (No catches)

AAC

Last Week; Memphis RB Kenny Gainwell (16 carries for 85 yards and 2 TD, 4 catches for 38 yards and 1 TD) & UCF WR Tre Nixon (No catches)

ACC

Scotty Washington, WR, Wake Forest
Jamie Newman came through for fantasy owners last week and Washington was a big part of that with seven catches for 158 yards and two touchdowns. My favorite aspect of the Demon Deacons is that their defense isn't any good which means that their offense has tons of fantasy value because they will have to keep scoring deep in to games. I think Washington is just as worthy of a roster spot as his teammate, Sage Surratt.

Matt McKay, QB, NC State
McKay was fantastic in week one with three total touchdowns versus East Carolina, including two on the ground. His services weren't needed much in a win over Western Carolina this past Saturday as he managed just 200 yards passing and a single touchdown. The next three weeks line up perfectly for the Wolfpack with West Virginia, Ball State and Florida State who have all shown early season struggles. Pick up this guy off the waiver wire and he can stay in your line-up for the rest of September.

Last Week; Wake Forest QB Jamie Newman (21/27, 312 yards, 3 TD, 29 yards rushing) & Georgia Tech QB Tobias Oliver (2/3 for 11 yards, 48 rushing yards, 1 TD)

BIG 12

Devin Duvernay, WR, Texas
A recommendation from Week 1, Duvernay continued his ascent to fantasy relevance in the loss to LSU with a team-high 12 catches for 154 yards and two touchdowns. With all of the pressure mounting on the lack of running game in Texas, I'm thinking Sam Ehlinger should lean even more heavily on the slot receiver. It's really a shame that Duvernay was not owned in more fantasy leagues for his breakout performance against the Tigers. Don't let that happen again by picking him up for the rest of the season, just in time for a sweet matchup with Rice.

Ta'Zhawn Henry, RB, Texas Tech
The Red Raiders get to travel to Arizona for one of the highest projected totals in Week 3. While Henry has been splitting the running back reps with Armand Shyne, he's been far more active in the passing game with five catches in each of his first two games. That's a significant boost in PPR formats and I'm fairly optimistic he'll have an opportunity to score once or twice this week.

Last Week; Baylor RB Trestan Ebner (4 rushes for 76 yards) & Kansas State RB James Gilbert (8 rushes for 103 yards, 2 TD)

BIG TEN

Elijah Sindelar, QB, Purdue
Two games for the Boilermakers and 50+ passing attempts for Sindelar in both games. Purdue's preferred tempo is a shoot-out and that makes sense when you have stud receiver Rondale Moore. Sindelar is available in far too many fantasy leagues when you consider he's already thrown for 932 yards and nine touchdowns through the first two games. Upcoming opponents, TCU and Minnesota have decent defenses, but I don't think it matters because Purdue defaults to throwing the ball.

Ihmir Smith-Marsette, WR, Iowa
I think we have found the Hawkeye's top receiver in Smith-Marsette. He put forward a couple of double-digit fantasy performances with eight catches for 148 yards and three touchdowns in the first two games of the year. With looming matchups against Iowa State, Middle Tennessee and Michigan, it's not too crazy to think that he'll keep the touchdown streak alive.

Last Week; Illinois QB Brandon Peters (22/33, 225 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT) & Iowa RB Mekhi Sargent (13 rushes for 59 yards, two catches for 12 yards)

C-USA

Chris Reynolds, QB, Charlotte
Reynolds has been surprisingly good over the first two weeks with at least 30 fantasy points in both of his games. In the first game versus Gardner-Webb, he did it with a pair of scores with his legs. Versus Appalachian State in Week 2, he threw four touchdown passes. As I've mentioned in the past, I try not to recommend Charlotte players, however, they get to play UMass in Week 3 and the minutemen could be the worst team in college football.

Brenden Knox, RB, Marshall
Knox has been efficient as they come with three touchdowns and 5.7 yards per carry on just 20 carries this season. If he can perform like that on the blue turf of Boise State, he can have similar results versus Ohio. I like Knox in a spot start if you need a bye week fill-in or just need an upgrade for Week 3.

Last Week; Louisiana Tech QB J'Mar Smith (17/25, 220 yards, 1 TD, 25 yards rushing) & UTEP RB Treyvon Hughes (10 carries for 27 yards)

MAC

Drew Plitt, QB, Ball State
I recommended running back Caleb Huntley last week, but it was Plitt who had himself a day with a school-record-tying six touchdown passes in a 57-29 rout of Fordham. It would have been nice for a couple of those scores to go to Huntley, but I digress. Plitt should be good for at least one more favorable fantasy performance when the Cardinals host Florida Atlantic this upcoming week.

Giovanni Ricci, TE, Western Michigan
Through two games, Ricci is one of Western Michigan's top receivers with 11 catches for 150 yards and three touchdowns. Available in a bunch of leagues, he gets to go up against Georgia State who is one of the worst teams in college football. I still don't know how that team beat Tennessee. Beyond that game with the Panthers, Ricci can be an every-week starter at a very difficult position to roster.

Last Week; Kent State WR Antwan Dixon (No Catches) & Ball State RB Caleb Huntley (13 carries for 64 yards, 1 TD, one catch for six yards)

MOUNTAIN WEST

Sean Chambers, QB, Wyoming
The freshman dual-threat quarterback is a better runner than he is passer which is completely fine in the fantasy world. For the second consecutive week, Chambers racked up a rushing score and at least 50 rushing yards. Wyoming has started 2-0 with wins over Missouri and Texas State. With Idaho and UNLV in two of the next three games, Chambers should be streamed across most leagues.

Toa Taua, RB, Nevada
Taua had a great opening game with 20 total touches for 120 yards and a touchdown in the upset bid over Purdue. He had the complete opposite performance versus Oregon with a paltry 13 yards on six carries. I expect the sophomore to get back on track versus Weber State, UTEP, Hawaii and San Jose State over the next month.

Last Week; Boise State QB Hank Bachmeier (22/34, 282 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 26 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD), Boise State RB Robert Mahone (17 total yards on eight touches) & Colorado State WR Dante Wright (Seven catches for 111 yards, 1 TD, 33 rushing yards, 1 TD)

PAC-12

Dezmon Patmon, WR, Washington State
Patmon is your window of opportunity in to the coveted Washington State and Houston game on Friday which will challenge to be one of the highest scoring games of the year. His floor has been pretty high in 2019 with at least four catches in the first two games against rather soft opponents in New Mexico State and Northern Colorado. With the competition ratcheting up, expect the receiver who led the Cougars with 61 catches for 816 yards and five touchdowns in 2018 to be relevant in the box score.

Kedon Slovis, QB, USC
Anyone who can complete nearly 85 percent of their passes for 377 yards and three touchdowns versus Stanford's defense should be owned in a lot of fantasy leagues. I guess it shouldn't have been this surprising that Slovis could succeed in an offense that has a bunch of great receivers. I'm not a huge fan of the matchups with BYU, Utah and Washington, but I thought he would struggle against Stanford and that just didn't happen.

Last Week; Colorado RB Alex Fontenot (10 rushes for 42 yards, four catches for 20 yards) & Arizona State WR Brandon Aiyuk (4-for-6 targets and 98 yards)

SEC

Justin Jefferson, WR, LSU
Jefferson is somehow still available in over half of fantasy leagues after catching 14 passes for 250 yards and four touchdowns in the first two games. This isn't the same LSU offense everyone has come accustomed to as quarterback Joe Burrow is the real deal. I expect Jefferson to notch a score in his third straight game before taking seat against Northwestern State. I love him even more against Vanderbilt the following week. If you can't get Jefferson, I also like Terrace Marshall Jr. and Ja'Marr Chase too.

Jauan Jennings, WR, Tennessee
Time to try to provide a silver lining to Tennessee starting 0-2 with two horrible losses at home. Jennings has actually been pretty good with 11 catches for 196 yards and three touchdowns. Moreover, the Volunteers will presumably be fighting from behind against better opponents, so it wouldn't be that shocking to see a large uptick in Jennings' targets. They should handle Chattanooga this week.

Last Week; Auburn QB Bo Nix (19/37, 207 yards, 1 TD) & Vanderbilt WR C.J. Bolar (Two catches for 16 yards)

SUN BELT

CJ Marable, RB, Coastal Carolina
Marable is a versatile lead back for the Chanticleers and has shown that early with over 100 total yards in each of the first two games, including a 100-yard rushing performance versus Kansas. The junior led the team in rushing and had eight total scores in 2018, so leading the way for Coastal Carolina is nothing new. The best part is that he gets Norfolk State and UMass over the next two weeks.

Levi Lewis, QB, Louisiana
Running backs Trey Ragas and Elijah Mitchell get all the publicity and deservedly so, however, Lewis has recorded a couple of rushing scores in the first couple of weeks in the season. He also has wideout Ja'Marcus Bradley to throw touchdowns to which he did twice versus Liberty in Week 2. He's owned in barely any fantasy leagues and that's not right.

Last Week; Arkansas State WR Omar Bayless (Six catches, 149 yards, 1 TD) & Georgia State RB Tra Barnett (Nine carries for 52 yards and 1 TD)

INDEPENDENTS

Kelvin Hopkins Jr., QB, Army
Back to the Hopkins well as Army gets to play UTSA who yielded an embarrassing 368 rushing yards to Baylor this past Saturday. If they thought the Bears were tough to stop, how in the world are they going to slow down Hopkins and the Black Knights who almost took down Michigan at the Big House? Hopkins has three rushing scores in his first two games of the season and is not owned in the majority of fantasy leagues.

Last Week; Massachusetts TE Kyle Horn (No catches)

DEFENSE RECOMMENDATIONS

Oregon (vs. Montana) – The Ducks showed you what they can do against a inferior opponent as Nevada managed just six points and turned the ball over four times.

Missouri (vs. SE Missouri St.) – The Tigers woke up after being shocked by Wyoming in week one by absolutely dominating West Virginia.

North Carolina State (at West Virginia) – Speaking of those Mountaineers, they should be shut down once again by the Wolfpack who have allowed only six points this season.

Last Week; Wisconsin (vs. Central Michigan – Shutout, 1 INT), Illinois (vs. Connecticut – 23 points allowed, 2 INT, 1 FR), Memphis (vs. Southern - 24 points allowed)