Top fantasy football waiver wire pickups for Week 3

Yahoo: 51% owned | ESPN: 49% owned

It's hard to dedicate a roster spot to a second quarterback. It's even harder to dedicate a roster spot to a quarterback who is still the second guy on the roster. But when 50 percent of the fantasy football community decides to pick up a guy before he even has the starting gig, you know there's a lot of potential.

Seeing as Andy Dalton got hurt in Week 2 and Fields had the opportunity to take over, the 50 percent of leagues in which he's not currently rostered will likely flock to the waivers to try and get their hands on him. Fields fits that fantasy football dual-threat mold, and if you're new to fantasy football, "dual-threat QB" is a phrase that often leads to a lot of fantasy points. That's why someone like Jalen Hurts, who is typically regarded as a bottom-10 starting quarterback in the league, is a top-10 fantasy QB.

Fields didn't do anything all that exceptional in his brief debut, but the opportunity is now his — so long as Dalton's injury is serious enough to keep him out — and should he run with it, that will pay big dividends for both the Bears and his fantasy owners.

Yahoo: 53% owned | ESPN: 39% owned

The No. 2 running back of the week, trailing only Derrick Henry and his monstrous 41.7-point effort, Pollard made the most of his opportunities in a back-and-forth game. These weren't garbage-time touches. This wasn't some small workload that he was extremely efficient with. This was 13 carries, three targets, and 140 yards of production that came out of it.

The speculation that Ezekiel Elliott's best days are behind him has been out there for some time, and Pollard's production isn't going to make that buzz go away. And while Zeke owners likely don't have to worry too much that his role will fade, I think we should start to feel confident that Pollard has carved out his own role, even in the crowded Dallas offense.

Oh, and any sort of Zeke injury? You're looking at a clear-cut RB1 in Pollard going forward.

Yahoo: 14% owned | ESPN: 8% owned

I was never really sold that Mike Davis would be as productive as his ADP would have suggested, even with a lead role in the backfield. That hypothesis was partially confirmed in Week 1, when he just seemed like a much less dynamic back than Patterson against the Eagles. And in Week 2, with Patterson earning four red zone looks to Davis's zero, these thoughts were even further reinforced.

Neither guy is someone that I necessarily would be thrilled to start at this point, but the upside seems like it's on the 30-year-old Patterson's side, whether that's due to the eye test, or the Week 2 red zone touches, or the yards per reception, etc. The moment that Patterson becomes much more alluring is when he starts to take touches away from Davis, and at this rate, that looks like it could surprisingly be the case.

But let's pick him up, stash him, and temper our expectations until that actually goes into effect.

Yahoo: 33% owned | ESPN: 19% owned

Just watch this play.

And that wasn't even his biggest one of the day, as he was left *wide* open by Minnesota's secondary and made it count for a 77-yard touchdown. Now, last week we mentioned that Christian Kirk was someone to pick up on the waivers, and this is also an offense with a receiving corps that is fronted by DeAndre Hopkins. But who says that all three of them can't be valuable assets to a fantasy team? Heck, Kyler Murray has had an MVP start to the season, and we've seen teams with three (or more) viable pass-catchers before, especially with an MVP-caliber quarterback.

Moore seems little more exciting than Kirk (and A.J. Green, for that matter), as in he can probably do more with his opportunities and will be a sought-out target when he's on the field, so pick him up and play him in juicy matchups.

Yahoo: 45% owned | ESPN: 49% owned

Mooney's stock probably fell a little bit after Week 1, seeing as he had Andy Dalton at quarterback and he only have 26 yards to show for. But he did get seven targets, meaning he was still going to get his fair share of work. But then Week 2 came, Dalton got injured, and the Fields-Mooney connection began, ending with a six-catch, 66-yard day for the second-year wideout. Mooney also dropped a would-be big gain, and that's a ball that we assume he comes down with more often than not.

With a WR2 role locked up and an offense that's bound to become more exciting, there's no better time to look at Mooney on the waivers.