Next Wide Receiver Up in Los Angeles

Welcome to Week 3 of the fantasy season! It’s been an interesting start to the year, to say the least, with a lot of surprising injuries, duds from established veterans, and stellar performances from undervalued players. That means the waiver wire is more important than ever and adding the right players could be the difference between a win and a loss in some weeks. With that, let’s look at how some of my previously recommended players have fared.

Recap

Ja’Lynn Polk bounced back from a tough Week 1 by catching two of three targets for 12 yards and a touchdown, good for 9.2 fantasy points. You’d like to see a bigger target share for him, but he appears to be making strides. Rico Dowdle also exhibited improvement, putting up 9.1 points on 30 rushing yards and 24 receiving yards on four receptions. His volume was limited due to the Cowboys playing from behind, so the arrow is still pointing straight up for him. Isaiah Likely came back down to Earth a bit, putting up 4.6 points, as it was Mark Andrews who was the most productive Baltimore tight end this Sunday.

If these guys aren’t available in your league, who should you be looking to add this week?

Demarcus Robinson: WR, LAR (33.6% rostered)

Despite being rostered in just a third of ESPN fantasy leagues, Demarcus Robinson has massive potential. The former Raven was steady last year as Los Angeles’s WR3 and built a solid rapport with Matthew Stafford towards the end of the season. Here in 2024, he has a massive opportunity in front of him.

In Week 1, Puka Nacua (WR1) went down with a knee injury and was placed on injured reserve almost immediately, meaning he’d have to miss at least four games. Yesterday, though, reports surfaced that the sophomore pass-catcher may be out until Week 9 – nearly two months from now. While this injury certainly hurt the Rams, the impact was softened by their ability to elevate Cooper Kupp to the role of top wideout.

Until he got hurt, too.

Kupp suffered an ankle injury in Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals and was spotted in a walking boot leaving the stadium. While LA hasn’t set a timetable for his return, there’s a solid chance that he misses at least a week. If that’s the case, the door is wide open for Robinson to put up big numbers.

Through two weeks, the Rams have the fourth-most pass attempts in all of football, averaging 38 per game. This means that there will be a lot of opportunities for Robinson to eat, and I could see him getting 8+ targets per game while Kupp is out. Sure, there’s an argument for Tyler Johnson to take over the WR1 role, but I believe Stafford trusts Robinson more. The two really clicked towards the end of 2023, which is a good sign for the veteran’s fantasy prospects.

Carson Steele: RB, KC (1.6% rostered)

Kansas City’s star running back Isiah Pacheco fractured his fibula in the Chiefs’ win over the Bengals and, according to Adam Schefter, the team is prepared to place him on IR. The downhill back was experiencing a good start to 2024, putting up 15.8 points in Week 1 and 16.1 in Week 2. His absence, though, leaves a massive hole in KC’s offense.

Pacheco was averaging 17 attempts per game this season and had garnered seven receptions along with a touchdown, and his presence in the backfield is very important to what the Chiefs do on offense. Carson Steele, a rookie out of UCLA with a similar skillset, is the favorite to fill most of that volume. Samaje Perine will probably see some work, too, but the bulk of it figures to go to Steele.

I compare this to a toned-down version of the Christian McCaffery-Jordan Mason situation out in San Fransisco. While it’s true that Steele probably doesn’t have as big of a role waiting for him, he’ll realistically be able to carve out one that gets him to 12+ fantasy points per week while Pacheco is sidelined. Running back is a thin position in fantasy, so try to claim him if you can.

Geno Smith: QB, SEA (16.3% rostered)

Smith has been a nice surprise here in the early going of 2024, putting up nearly identical 17.8 point performances in his first two contests. If you’re weak at QB due to injuries (Jordan Love and Tua Tagovailoa) or late-round bets that haven’t panned out (Caleb Williams), claiming the veteran journeyman is pretty appealing. He figures to take a little step back over the next couple of weeks, seeing that he’s facing Miami and Detroit, but I bet he’ll consistently be able to put up fringe-QB1 numbers. He’s carrying the ball more, totaling 13 carries thus far, which fantasy managers obviously love to see. As long as Kenneth Walker’s out, the Seahawks may be inclined to throw the ball more often, allowing Smith to rack up the points.

That’s all for Week 3 of Tanner’s Top Free Agents! Good luck in your matchups.

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