Sometimes you just crush your draft. Or maybe you already have all the players from our 2024 Week 3 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire article. Or maybe you are in a super deep league. Whatever it is, you are in a good spot to stash upside plays. That’s where our Week 3 Fantasy Football Stashes article comes in. 

 

 

 

As I mentioned, we gave you our top adds in general for this week in our Week 3 Waiver Wire article. If you are in trouble and need someone to start RIGHT NOW, look at our Week 3 Streamers article. This article is for those guys that we can’t necessarily trust right now but have upside down the stretch. The best fantasy football stashes that could pay off BIG. 

Don’t believe me? Our top stash from this article before the season, Jordan Mason, is already crushing it. Our QB stash from the second article, Derek Carr, is currently the QB2 in fantasy. Our top tight end stash from that same article, Hunter Henry, just got 12 targets last week. They are out there. 

Best Fantasy Football Stashes For Week 3

We are ideally going to look at players that are rostered in less than 50% of leagues on Yahoo, ESPN or Sleeper Fantasy as those are the guys that are generally actually available. 

We know there are leagues of varying sizes and depths, so we’ll try to cover our bases. And we’ll obviously let you know what it is that makes these players the best fantasy football stashes in Week 3. So let’s dive in!

 

 

 

NFL Week 3 Quarterback Stashes

Drake Maye, QB, New England Patriots, Yahoo: 3% | ESPN: 2.5% | Sleeper: 13%

Look at fellow rookie QB Jayden Daniels. He’s the QB4 in fantasy football right now. And he hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass. There is a reason we call it the Konami Code - rushing QBs truly are a cheat code in fantasy football. Just a couple years ago Justin Fields finished as the QB6 in fantasy throwing for just over 2,200 yards.

So that’s why we are stashing Drake Maye. Daniels had a season in college where he ran 186 times. Maye had a season where he ran 184 times. Maye is faster than Josh Allen - he actually ran about the same 40 times as Jalen Hurts. And, so far, we’re seeing that this Patriots team isn’t as bad as folks thought. At least no worse than the Commanders. If/when Maye gets his chance, there is upside there.

Russell Wilson, QB, New Orleans Saints Yahoo: 5% | ESPN: 4% | Sleeper: 12%

Two things can be true. The Pittsburgh Steelers can be winning. And their quarterback play might not be inspiring. And that could very well be the case for this team. They are 2-0 but they’ve done it scoring 18 and 13 points. With the QB throwing for 156 yards Week 1 and 117 yard Week 2. At a certain point, that can catch up to you.

The defense is obviously great and the Steelers offense has been fine. So I have to ask myself - what would this look like if they maybe had a better passer out there? What if Russell Wilson gets healthy and takes over a team that looks pretty decent? A team that won 10 games last year and went to the playoffs? 

I know the injuries might be piling up for some but, if you can sneak Russ into an IR spot before he’s changed to “questionable” again, you could have a free look for a bit. This one is probably only for superflex or really deep leagues. But something to think about. 

 

 

 

NFL Week 3 Running Back Stashes

Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB, Kansas City Chiefs, Yahoo: 10% | ESPN: 7% | Sleeper: 21%

Isaiah Pacheco is hurt. He has a broken leg in fact. If it’s a typical broken leg, he could be back in about two months. If it’s the kind of broken fibula you get from a high ankle sprain, he could have Tightrope surgery and return late this season. Either way, he’s set to miss serious time. And CEH is currently the best rusher on the team. The rub? He can’t return until Week 5.

We mentioned in the Streamers article that Samaje Perine is probably the better short-term add over fullback Carson Steele. But CEH is a decent stash considering he could take over as the every down back if he’s healthy for Week 5. We just can’t escape the Clyde Edwards-Helaire experience in fantasy football. 

Braelon Allen, RB, New York Jets, Yahoo: 10% | ESPN: 7% | Sleeper: 21%

The conditions to create someone like Jordan Mason are not easy. You basically need a good player in a good offense with a good player behind him that won’t split the work. That’s pretty hard to find. In this case, we knew Breece Hall is good and the Jets could be a good offense but we needed to actually see if Braelon Allen is good at the NFL level. 

And this week we might have seen all we needed to. Not only did Allen score on the ground but he caught 4 of 4 passes and scored there too. Pass-catching was a big knock on him coming out of Wisconsin, but he looked at least serviceable this weekend. Aaron Rodgers and Nathaniel Hackett love their RB screens, and you don’t need to be Matt Forte to catch those. 

Trey Benson, RB, Arizona Cardinals, Yahoo: 48% | ESPN: 43% | Sleeper: 60%

Trey Benson was actually drafted in a lot of leagues. But, after a couple of weeks, we started to see his ownership slide. And we’ll pounce on that where we are stashing guys. This is still the second back drafted in the 2024 NFL Draft. He’s playing in a good Cardinals offense. And he’s doing it behind James Conner, one of the most injury-prone RBs in recent history. 

If James Conner plays the whole season this year, it will be the first time in his career. Since Jaylen Wright didn’t really step up even with Raheem Mostert out, we’re willing to ditch him as a stash for someone like Benson. 

Ray Davis, RB, Buffalo Bills, Yahoo: 14% | ESPN: 11% | Sleeper: 23%

Same game plan here. The Bills under Joe Brady are proving to be a run-heavy offense. They actually have the 6th highest percentage of run plays behind only the Saints, Steelers, Chargers, Packers, and Patriots through two weeks. 

And they are actually letting James Cook take goal-line carries which is a departure from using Josh Allen as a battering ram every week. Ray Davis doesn’t have much standalone value right now but he’s one of the better pure handcuffs given what the Bills are doing. 

 

 

 

NFL Week 3 Wide Receiver Stashes

Romeo Doubs - Green Bay Packers, Yahoo: 45% | ESPN: 30% | Sleeper: 62%

We have been watching the rostership numbers for Romeo Doubs slide the last two weeks. If he gets dropped in your league, add him. He’s been the Packers top outside wide receiver in terms of deployment in two straight weeks. Jordan Love will return and, when he does, the Packers will return to throwing at a normal level. Until then, keep him stashed up. 

Ja'Lynn Polk - New England Patriots, Yahoo: 14% | ESPN: 22% | Sleeper: 30%

Another player whose ownership numbers trended down from Week 1 to Week 2. And that’s good - we want everyone to sleep on our sleepers. Unfortunately, the cat might be out of the bag here as Polk scored a touchdown this week. 

That could have the touchdown chasers adding our guy even though they are adding him for the wrong reasons. We’re hoping that Polk develops into more than that. The Patriots are still figuring out their identity so no wide receiver is playing more than 60% of the snaps. Our hopes here are two-fold. 

One, is that Polk emerges as the obvious best WR on the team the way Malik Nabers has with the Giants. Two, is that Drake Maye is a good quarterback if/when he takes over. Polk is not someone we can trust in lineups right now outside of very deep leagues, but that is the dream. 

Josh Downs - Indianapolis Colts, Yahoo: 21% | ESPN: 9% | Sleeper: 27%

Our stashes won’t really deviate as much from week to week as the Waivers and the Streamers. These are long term plays. So we still like hiding Josh Downs in an IR spot wherever possible. 

He could immediately be the second best pass-catcher in this offense behind Michael Pittman when he gets back. They don’t have any tight end of consequence so the slot belongs to him. And he was a favorite of Richardson this offseason. We are waiting to see what that looks like. 

Jalen McMillan - Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Yahoo: 7% | ESPN: 5% | Sleeper: 17%

This roster percentage for Jalen McMillan HAS been creeping up. And I think folks in deeper leagues are starting to realize what we have been talking about. This offense is good. And it’s highly consolidated at the top with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. 

If either one of them goes down, Jalen McMillan could step into a big role. He has some standalone value as is so he’s basically a “double handcuff plus”. Definitely a guy to stash. 

 

 

 

NFL Week 3 Tight End Stashes

*For those looking for it, our updated Yin & Yang Tight End chart is in our Week 3 Waiver Wire Article.

Hunter Henry - New England Patriots, Yahoo: 24% | ESPN: 10% | Sleeper: 22%

Hunter Henry was our top stash in this article last week and his rostership actually went DOWN across all platforms. Now he’s our top overall waiver claim for those of you who didn’t believe. 

Hayden Hurst - Los Angeles Chargers, Yahoo: 2% | ESPN: 3% | Sleeper: 6%

The Chargers have been a low volume team - their 46 pass attempts are among the lowest in the league. So it’s hard for anyone to really flash. We need to rely on rate stats. Hayden Hurst running 78% of the routes which is top 12 for tight ends, and he did have a 10.9% target share. 

He’s also running 72% of his routes from a WR spot. The target pecking order isn’t settled here and he’s running far more routes than blocking tight end Will Dissly. 

Greg Dulcich - Denver Broncos, Yahoo: 2% | ESPN: 1% | Sleeper: 8%

We are still holding out hope for Greg Dulcich. On one hand, he did get eight targets this week. On the other, he only caught three and two were bad drops. We’re hoping he’s just rusty. 

There’s a real chance that Devaughn Vele cuts heavily into his slot snaps when he returns but there just aren’t enough tight ends that have a chance to be a top two target on their team. And Dulcich is one. 

 

 

 

Why Do We Stash?

Obviously, it would be nice if our entire roster was just chock full of stars. Maybe your lineup is (some of my dynasty leagues certainly are). But, for most of us, there will be holes. That’s why we highlight the Top Waiver Wire Adds each week as well as the Best Streamers to get you by. 

The best fantasy football stashes though? These are the guys that win you the title. That came out of the woodworks down the stretch like rookie Odell Beckham. or Amon-Ra St. Brown. And it’s our job to find them BEFORE they break out!