A summary of the first three weeks of the 2026 season in three words: injuries, injuries, injuries.
For a third straight week, some of the NFL's biggest stars sustained injuries. Among those injured was yet another starting quarterback – Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield – plus a few lead running backs and standout wide receivers.
The fantasy football implications are clear: fantasy managers will need to hit the waiver wire to find replacements for their teams' key players. Who is available, and, more importantly, who among the available players is actually worth submitting a claim for?
USA TODAY Sports evaluated some of the biggest Week 4 breakout candidates most likely to be on fantasy waiver wires based on Yahoo fantasy league
data.
Here are seven players worth claiming on waivers this week.
Week 4 fantasy football waiver wire targets
QB Kirk Cousins, Las Vegas Raiders (Rostered in 14% of Yahoo leagues)
There's a really good reason Cousins has been left off of so many rosters: the Raiders spent the No. 1 overall pick on quarterback Fernando Mendoza, his eventual replacement. Three weeks into the season, the Raiders are 3-0, and Cousins' runway keeps getting longer. Through two weeks, the veteran signal-caller was QB11 in fantasy football. Through the Week 3 Sunday slate, Cousins was again a top-10 quarterback in fantasy scoring. Las Vegas has a tough matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs' defense ahead in Week 4, but Cousins has been eating well in head coach Klint Kubiak's offense. He's worth a roster spot – and some starts! – until he's inevitably benched for Mendoza. For now, so far, so good.
QB Deshaun Watson, Cleveland Browns (Rostered in 7% of Yahoo leagues)
Watson threw an interception on his third pass attempt of the 2026 season. Throughout his Browns tenure before this season, he's either been injured or played poorly. Even outside of his poor performance, his off-the-field issues – more than two dozen women came forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct since March 2021 – were plenty of reason for fantasy managers to avoid rostering Watson.
For desperate fantasy managers – those who drafted some combination of Jaxson Dart, Jayden Daniels, Caleb Williams and/or Baker Mayfield (injuries) or took Justin Herbert, Drake Maye, Cam Ward and/or C.J. Stroud (underperformance) – Watson may be worth considering. He entered Week 3 just behind Cousins as QB12. He was a top-12 fantasy quarterback in Week 3 through the Sunday slate. As with Kubiak getting the most out of the Raiders' offense in Las Vegas, Browns head coach Todd Monken has done the same with Watson in Cleveland so far.
RB Ollie Gordon II, Miami Dolphins (Rostered in 3% of Yahoo leagues)
Dolphins star running back De'Von Achane injured his knee in Week 3's loss to the Chiefs, and head coach Jeff Hafley said afterward that initial signs are "not ... very optimistic." In his absence, Gordon, the Dolphins' second-year back, was literally the only other option to run the ball with Jaylen Wright's foot injury keeping him out of Week 3. Gordon departed the game briefly with some cramping, but he ultimately returned and finished with the heaviest workload of all Dolphins rushers. With Achane potentially out long-term and Wright's short-term future still unclear, Gordon will get plenty of touches going forward. He'll be among this week's top waiver targets.
RB Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints (Rostered in 43% of Yahoo leagues)
In a bad week for running backs with last names pronounced "AY-chan," Saints lead back Travis Etienne suffered a hamstring injury in the third quarter of his team's clash with the Raiders. He missed the rest of the game, leaving Kamara and fellow veteran Kendre Miller to split looks out of the backfield. Between the two, Kamara had the better output, with nine carries for 36 yards and a five-yard catch. With Etienne likely to miss some time with a hamstring injury – one he'd been dealing with all week before the game – Kamara is a worthy pickup as a running back with tons of pass-catching ability. He's likely to get the bulk of the Saints' backfield workload until Etienne is healthy.
WR Keenan Allen, Indianapolis Colts (Rostered in 21% of Yahoo leagues)
One of the biggest questions of Week 3 was who would step up for the Colts' passing offense in Alec Pierce's absence. Of course, Josh Downs was the primary target for quarterback Daniel Jones against the Texans, as expected, but Allen saw plenty of targets himself. He's also a player much more likely to be available to target on waivers. The 14-year NFL veteran scored his first touchdown with the Colts in his third game in Indianapolis, and he finished the day with six receptions for 63 yards and the score. Until Pierce returns, Allen will be well in the mix for targets alongside Downs and tight end Tyler Warren.
WR Malik Washington, Miami Dolphins (Rostered in 20% of Yahoo leagues)
Washington is an intriguing add in PPR-scoring leagues specifically. The Dolphins' offense has really struggled – particularly in the passing game – and things were especially rough with Caleb Douglas's ankle injury keeping him out of Week 3. But even when Douglas was around, Washington still led Dolphins receivers with 13 targets through two weeks. He once again led Miami's pass-catchers against the Chiefs with 10 targets on Sept. 27. The yards and touchdowns haven't been there much for Washington week to week, but the target share and catch output make him an intriguing addition at WR3/FLEX in PPR scoring. Add in Achane's injury, and perhaps Miami will have to throw the ball his way even more.
TE Darren Waller, Carolina Panthers (Rostered in 14% of Yahoo leagues)
Tight end is a position of slim pickin's in fantasy football these days, so when veterans like Waller lead their teams in targets a week after scoring two touchdowns, it's enough to raise an eyebrow or two. With breakout receiver Jalen Coker departing early with a quad injury and Tetairoa McMillan shut down by the Browns' defense in Week 3, Waller became quarterback Bryce Young's primary target. The veteran tight end is emerging as a key pass-catcher in the Panthers' offense. For fantasy managers in need of help at the position, there won't be many better options on waivers. Snatch Waller before it's too late.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fantasy football waiver wire Week 4: 7 players to pick up
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