Which Rookie WR should you prioritize on the waiver wire for week 4?

Tuesday, Sep 29, 2020 at 12:22 pm ET

In week 2 we saw the Dallas Cowboys rookie wideout Ceedee Lamb post his first breakout performance of the year with 6 receptions for over 100 yards in his game vs the Atlanta Falcons. But in week 3 we also saw three additional rookie wide receivers emerge with breakout games.

Here is the question at hand, excluding Ceedee Lamb (who should already be owned in all fantsy leagues) which week 3 breakout rookie WR should be your waiver wire priority for week 4?

Here’s what I think:

Top priority: Justin Jefferson

Vikings WR Justin Jefferson had a big game to say the least. Jefferson posted 7 receptions off of 9 targets for 175 receiving yards and 1 TD against the Tenessee Titans.

After this performance against a decent Titans secondary, I believe Jefferson has not only officially become the Vikings WR2 behind Adam Thielen, but has also developed decent chemistry with Kirk Cousins that will pay off in the long run. Another reason he's my top waiver wire priority out of these players as well as other waiver wire options this week (other than he should be the Vikings WR2 moving forward), is his upcoming schedule hosts favorable matchups for WRs.

Jefferson’s schedule includes him playing the Texans, Seahawks and Falcons which have all given up decent yardage to opposing WRs and should solidify him as a good flex play in fantasy over the next couple of weeks.

Tee Higgins would be the second best rookies WR to target off this list.

Higgins proved to be the WR3 the Bengals need going forward where he caught 5 of 9 targets for 40 yards and 2 TDs against the Eagles. This is good for him seeing as how he’s on a Bengals offense that has averaged QB Joe Burrow throwing 47 passes in each of the 3 games he’s played in with the Bengals.

What does this mean for Higgins?

It means there are a lot of balls being thrown around in this Cincinatti Bengals offense and it should correlate to a lot more targets to Higgins over the next few weeks.

Then you factor in the way fellow Bengals WR, AJ Green, has performed in 2020 (13 reception out of 28 targets for only 116 yards & 0 TDs in 3 games) and if Green continues to play like this Higgins could end up being the WR2 faster than we know it! Not to mention Higgins is getting a lot of redzone targets. This past weekend against the Philidelphia Eagles, Higgins caught all three of his redzone targets where two of them were TDs.

Even though he didn’t have the best game in terms of yards gained and he isn’t at the place Jefferson is on the Vikings depth chart, for all the other reasons mentioned, Higgins should be at least a worthy stash on your bench.

Lastly, the 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk stepped up big time this past weekend against the New York Giants. Aiyuk caught 5 balls off 8 targets for 70 yards along with 3 carries for 31 yards and a rushing Touchdown.

Being one of the only healthy guys on the 49ers, Aiyuk proved himself as a decent weapon for QB Nick Mullins (and hopefully for their injured QB Jimmy Garapolo in the future).

Watching Aiyuk play, one thing that stood out to me was how similar his running style was to his teammate, Deebo Samuel. To me this is both a good and a bad thing for his value.

It's a good thing because right now while Deebo and Kittle are sidelined, Aiyuk should see a lot more action. It's a bad thing because Kittle and Deebo should be back sooner than later.

However, the talent Aiyuk flashed is sure to give him at least more field time in an excellent Kyle Shanahan offense and mark Aiyuk as the WR2 on the 49ers offense.

The main take away is that as long as Kittle and or Deebo is out, Aiyuk should be considered a flex play in fantasy especially in deeper leagues.

If you have any start/sit questions feel free to ask!.