Every Friday I will list some players who I think, if things go their way, will wind up in those waiver articles the following Tuesday. You don’t have to stash all of them – it depends on who you have on your roster, the depth of your benches, the scoring system of your league, etc. But these are guys that should at least be on your radar.

Stashing players is only something that can occur in deeper leagues with large benches, so to make this information worthwhile, I will only be recommending guys that are under 20% owned on both Yahoo and ESPN, and in many cases, you’ll see percentages in the single digits. If you’re in a league where guys like James Robinson (78% on Yahoo, 84.9% on ESPN), Joshua Kelley (53% on Yahoo, 52.5% on ESPN), or Laviska Shenault (21% on Yahoo, 21% on ESPN) are on the waiver wire, you’re either in a league too shallow for stashing, or you should go pick them up right away.

In addition, for those of you in really deep leagues (16+ teams), we will also include some deep cut players that are rostered in less than 3% of leagues on both Yahoo and ESPN in a section at the end to try and give you the best chance of winning your fantasy league.

Week 1 was a success where we advised you to pick up Joshua Kelley, Laviska Shenault, and Jerick McKinnon. Week 2 wasn’t quite as successful in finding huge steals, but still pretty good as Corey Davis, Myles Gaskin, Logan Thomas, and Tre’Quan Smith showed that they are rosterable. Who made the list(s) this week? Let’s dive in!

 

The Must Stash

 

Mo Alie-Cox, TE, Indianapolis Colts (6% on Yahoo, 3% on ESPN)

 

Mo Alie-Cox has had an appearance before in this article series in the ‘Deep Cuts’ section of week 1. Now, after a fantastic week 2 performance against the Minnesota Vikings where Alie-Cox caught five of six targets for 111 receiving yards he will be making the jump to the ‘Must Stash’. Jack Doyle has still not practiced since his injury and Trey Burton is still on the injured reserve for at least another week with a calf injury. In addition, with wide receiver Parris Campbell out after injuring his knee and being put on injured reserve, there are a few more targets up for grab this week. If Alie-Cox has another strong performance against the New York Jets, he could seize the starting job long-term in Frank Reich’s offense. And that’s valuable. In Frank Reich’s 98 games as an offensive coordinator or head coach, his TE room has averaged 9.73 targets per game. In addition, his quarterback Philip Rivers also loves to throw to his tight-ends, targeting his tight ends an NFL-high 36.3% of the time from 2014-19. The 27-year-old is entering the perfect opportunity, it’s just a matter of him capitalizing on it.

 

Jeff Wilson, RB, San Francisco 49ers (5% on Yahoo, 5% on ESPN)

 

So far this season the San Francisco 49ers have suffered a slew of injuries with Soloman Thomas, Nick Bosa, Jimmy Garoppolo, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Raheem Mostert, and Tevin Coleman getting banged up so far this season. This means that other players that normally aren’t featured much are going to need to rise to the occasion and embrace a larger role. One player that will almost assuredly have a larger role is running back Jeff Wilson. While Jerick McKinnon is expected to be the starter with Tevin Coleman and Raheem Mostert injured, Kyle Shanahan has said in the past that he likes to embrace the ‘hot hand’ at the position. Wilson has been capable of filling in a pinch the two seasons prior (2018 and 2019) taking 93 carries for 371 rushing yards and 4 rushing touchdowns. He’s a good player to take a shot on before Sunday’s game against the New York Giants.

 

JaMycal Hasty, RB, San Francisco 49ers (0% on Yahoo, 0.2% on ESPN)

 

JaMycal Hasty is in the same situation as Jeff Wilson. There have been a ton of injuries in the 49ers running back room and the door is open for someone to fill the void with Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman out for a while. While I prefer Jerick McKinnon or Jeff Wilson at this time for fantasy purposes, Hasty made waves during training camp and just barely missed the 53 man roster due to the team’s depth at the position, his pass-blocking ability, and not being great on special teams. The 49ers kept him on the practice squad and have protected him from playing for other teams prior to Sunday, meaning that he will likely be on the active roster and in the running back rotation against the Giants. Given his electric playmaking ability, it’s a good idea to add him if you have an open bench spot (One note: prioritize McKinnon and Wilson before considering Hasty).

 

Michael Pittman, WR, Indianapolis Colts (17% on Yahoo, 17% on ESPN)

 

Parris Campbell was projected to be a big breakout player for the team, but he destroyed his PCL and will be out indefinitely. Losing Campbell means that there will be more opportunities for the other Colts wide receivers to see more playing time. The most intriguing of these receivers is 2020 second-round draft pick (34th overall) Michael Pittman. He is a big, physical receiver who is listed at 6’4”, 223 lbs, and led the Colts in routes run during week 2’s game against the Minnesota Vikings, running 25 routes. Against a poor New York Jets defense, there’s a good chance that Pittman breaks out and is a hot waiver-wire pickup next week.

 

K.J. Hamler, WR, Denver Broncos (3% on Yahoo, 2% on ESPN)

 

K.J. Hamler is seeing a promotion from the ‘Deep Cuts’ list last week to the ‘Must Stash this week. While he hasn’t gotten as much hype as many of the other rookie receivers, Hamler was a second-round and he has blazing speed. It was unlikely that Hamler would have a ton of value this season with Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy at wide receiver, but after Courtland Sutton tore his ACL there is a path to fantasy relevance for Hamler this year. This seems like the perfect week to jump on the Hamler hype train because Jerry Jeudy is a little banged up as well after the game with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Hamler saw a team-high seven targets in his NFL debut last Sunday. 

 

 

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Deep Cuts

 

(Less Than 3% owned in ESPN and Yahoo)

 

Royce Freeman, RB, Denver Broncos (2% on Yahoo, 0.9% on ESPN): With Phillip Lindsay out, “Rolls” Royce Freeman will have a larger role backing up Melvin Gordon. Freeman may not have seemed that impressive in the past when he played, but it’s important to remember that he did take 132 carries for 496 rushing yards and catch 43 passes on 50 targets for 256 receiving yards last year. If he sees the field a decent amount, there could be value here.

 

Darwin Thompson, RB, Kansas City Chiefs (0% on Yahoo, 0.5% on ESPN): Chiefs running back Darwin Thompson took four carries for 21 yards against the Los Angeles Chargers last Sunday. Clyde Edwards-Helaire‘s presumed backup, Darrel Williams, left Sunday with an ankle injury and wasn’t very effective when he was playing. Thompson has a shot to take over the backup role here, and if he does he’s a handcuff for one of the best offenses in the league.

 

Lamar Miller, RB, Free Agent (0% on Yahoo, 0.6% on ESPN): Lamar Miller may not be on a team right now, but with how many teams have faced injuries to their running backs he’s a player to watch out for in the coming weeks. If he ends up in a good situation, he could be fantasy relevant.

 

Trenton Cannon, RB, Carolina Panthers (0% on Yahoo, 0.1% on ESPN): With Christian McCaffrey out, Mike Davis is presumed to be the starter, but right behind him on the depth chart is Trenton Cannon. If Davis is ineffective, Cannon could be decent as long as Christian McCaffrey is out.

 

Trey Burton, TE, Indianapolis Colts (1% on Yahoo, 0.2% on ESPN): As I touched on last week, Burton is worth keeping an eye on based on Frank Reich and Philip Rivers‘s past history of utilizing the tight-end position. He needs to get healthy first though, and it might be harder to earn playing-time if Mo Alie-Cox keeps playing well, but the Colts main pass-catching TE needs to be rostered in most leagues.

 

That’s it for week 3. Feel free to weigh in and mention any players you believe should be on this list.

 

Featured Image by Justin Paradis (@freshmeatcomm on Twitter)