FAABulous Football Week 4: I Will Take Jauan Victory Lap
Welcome to Week 4
There have not been a ton of things I feel like I have gotten right so far this season, so having Jauan Jennings in the top tier for high stakes waivers and correctly starting him in several leagues is a big win I am going to celebrate… I hope that some of you benefitted as well.
The tough thing about managed leagues is not only do we have to correctly identify potential gems on the waiver wire and bid accordingly, but we have to pick the right time to start them, which can all be a tough needle to thread. It is very rare to find players who are obvious fantasy starters every week off the waiver wire, but sometimes if we are lucky there are team situations that make it obvious when we should start and sit players.
The difficulty in making start/sit decisions in managed leagues is not only applicable to those players who we pick up on waivers, and can be equally as frustrating with certain player profiles we drafted as well… sometimes guys are just better in best ball.
In managed leagues we want to roster players with true league winning upside and take big swings on these players we believe can be league winners. Sometimes we have rough starts to our fantasy season and feel our only path is to pick up players who can provide a temporary start as a bandaid option to stay a float, especially when we are hit hard with injuries. But it is important to avoid holding onto too many roster cloggers and make sure to leave room for these potential league winners. Sure I get that you have to make it to the end first, but don’t only focus on the present, you have to look ahead and take chances to play for these breakouts.
I try to provide a drop list of players every week, which honestly is one of the more difficult things I do in this article, as so many nuances come into play for every roster and league. However, one of the best things you can do is not hold onto backup onesie positions that offer no meaningful value over replacement of other players at the position (yes statue pocket passers, I'm looking at you).
That means when the buy weeks hit you can likely find a streaming option that is comparable allowing you to open up a spot for a handcuff running back or rookie wide receiver type stash instead.
Well now let’s get down to business and hopefully we can find the Jauan to give us a random 50 point PPR spike week because that is always worth celebrating as we welcome the start to Week 4.
A Look at Week 3
Week 3 Waiver Wire Wins
When I say “wins” it is in reference to the player(s) won on the waiver wire, not a performance evaluation. Because I am releasing this article after the conclusion of Week 1, many things, in hindsight, may not be a win after all. I include this section not for bragging rights or victory laps but rather to keep myself accountable and demonstrate that I am, in fact bidding on many of the players I am writing about (for better and worse).
Several of the top waiver options were not available or right for teams’ roster needs. I included these players I did not win any shares of as well ones along with the winning bid range I saw these players go for in other leagues.
Jauan Jennings (3 shares)
Winning bid(s): $21, $51, $121
Price range won in other leagues: $75-$148
GB Def (3 shares)
Winning bid(s):$1, $1, $1
Price range won in other leagues: $7-$29
Geno Smith (1 share)
Winning bid(s): $21
Price range won in other leagues: $22-$166
Kareem Hunt (1 share)
Winning bid(s): $31
Price range won in other leagues: $7-$291
Miles Sanders (1 share)
Winning bid(s): $21
Price range won in other leagues: $1-$37
Jamaal Williams (1 share)
Winning bid(s): $11
Tyrone Tracy (1 share)
Winning bid(s): $51
Deuce Vaughn (1 share)
Winning bid(s): $1
Jalen Tolbert (1 share)
Winning bid(s): $31
Price range won in other leagues: $29-$164
Xavier Legette (1 share)
Winning bid(s): $21
Ja’Lynn Polk (1 share)
Winning bid(s): $51
Dontayvion Wicks (1 share)
Winning bid(s): $31
Price range won in other leagues: $124
Brenton Strange (1 share)
Winning bid(s): $11
Price range won in other leagues: $1-$72
Mike Gesicki (1 share)
Price range won in other leagues: $88
Blake Grupe (1 share)
Winning bid(s): $1
Price range won in other leagues: $3-$7
TB Def (1 share)
Winning bid(s):$1
Price range won in other leagues: $6-$41
CIN Def (1 share)
Winning bid(s): $1
Price range won in other leagues: $1-$72
Derek Carr (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $58-$275
Carson Steele (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues:$326-$651
D’Onte Foreman (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $8-$185
Emmanuel Wilson (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $49
Dameon Pierce (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $2-$61
Cam Akers (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $50-$419
Clyde Edwards-Helaire (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $11-$55
Khalil Herbert (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $52
Jalen Nailor (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $67-$125
Jordan Whittington (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $82-$185
Tutu Atwell (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $29-$44
Josh Reynolds (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $1-$57
Alec Pierce (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $28-$121
Darnell Mooney (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $259
Noah Brown (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $9
Andrei Iosivas (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $34-$55
Mike Williams (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $159
Ray-Ray McCloud (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $18
Quentin Johnston (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $272
Jonnu Smith (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $62-$72
Hunter Henry (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $373
Chris Boswell (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $11-$21
CHI Def (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $13-$68
SEA Def (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $2-$18
LV Def (no shares)
Price range won in other leagues: $1-$46
Week 3 Ship Chasing Team Standings
FFPC Main Event Teams
Live A Little (0-3) 11th Place 356 pts
I'm not gonna lie, starting out the first three weeks winless feels pretty bad. It is easy to feel defeated and the irony is this team is fully healthy outside of Keenan Allen, the players have just not performed well enough. There are several upside stashes here and no obvious holes, we just need variance to turn in our favor.
Top 2 Win It Win It (1-2) 9th Place 329.15 pts
This week was another tough loss, where the guys had a big hit with the best quarterback of the week in Josh Allen and almost all the rest were complete misses... complete with not one but two goose eggs, Mark Andrews and Bengals defense.
We Just Don't Know (1-2) 9th Place 392.70 pts
Another Mark Andrews victim here, this matchup was much closer and had Green Bay defense that was third best player on the team behind Jayden Daniels and Zach Charbonnet. I can't believe the Cowboys let us down again here with Ceedee Lamb... wait a minute, yes I can.
Tree Branches (1-2) 9th Place 379.35 pts
This loss was by far the most brutal, losing by only 2 points after deciding to start Tyler Johnson over Jauan Jennings... OUCH!
Hear Ye Hear Ye (0-3) 12th Place 309.25 pts
Continuing to look at these teams things are getting worse before they get better, another winless squad that got slaughtered. Basically every player on this one had a floor game, failing to reach 100 pts.
@CrakRok (3-0) 3rd Place 433.10 pts
Praise be we have found the light in the dark with the only undefeated team in the portfolio! CrakRok's team over came a down Jalen Hurts game and uninspiring Brock Bowers performance to emerge victorious late Monday night on the heels of a Zack Moss touchdown. This team has some battle wounds and will likely need a bit of waiver love to stay undefeated.
Dairy Queen (2-1) 6th Place 422.10 pts
Where so many things went wrong this week, my team got almost everything right (let's just ignore my Hunter Henry call) and put up a massive 195.10 pt score! Jayden Daniels had a career night, we started Jauan Jennings, Andy Dalton resurrected Dionte Johnson and Rashee Rice showed to be him for the Chiefs.
Caveish (0-3) 11th Place 374.50 pts
This team had a tough break this week where even Ja'Marr Chase was not enough to save it from the robust boomer running back trio of Saquon Barkley, Derrick Henry, and Jonathan Taylor.
FFPC $5,000 Big Payback Teams
Leone HS1 (1-2) 12th Place 344.15 pts
Leone's team finally got it's first win of the season thanks to Jauan Jennings and Rome Odunze... we don't have to look at the rest here.
Leone HS2 (1-2) 8th Place 433.35 pts
Leone got another win making for the best week so far and this team score 184.50 pts on the week without Jauan Jennings! It is very fitting that instead it was Josh Allen and Dalton Kincaid and even ex Bills WR Stefon Diggs contributed to this one... Go Bills.
Week 4 Waiver Priorities for FFPC
Below are all the players I like for Week 4 for FFPC leagues. I break down all players into tiers with FAAB suggestions, followed by analysis and a list of players to consider dropping.
This article is also intended to provide value for those of you who play in deeper league formats and dynasty leagues.
Please note with a drop list, you do not have to drop these players and all suggestions are general as it is impossible to cover all nuances of individual leagues.
