Fantasy football waiver wire: Best wide receivers available in Week 4

Week 3 of the fantasy football season has come and gone. While the first two weeks were mostly supbar, the third week brought the goods with plenty of exciting games and strong fantasy performances. Wide receivers like Odell Beckham Jr. and T.Y. Hilton finally started playing up to their draft position, while Stefon Diggs solidified his WR1 status with an explosive performance. We have a feeling the best is yet to come for fantasy owners.

The good news is that there weren’t many major injuries at the wide receiver position. Jordy Nelson came back from his quad injury to score two touchdowns. Doug Baldwin left with a groin strain, but it’s not considered serious yet. We’ll update you if it is, of course.

The byes are still a week away, but fantasy owners should always be scouring the waiver wire for potential gems. Here are this week’s top wide receivers owned in 50 percent or less of Yahoo! leagues.

Not many people expected the Jaguars to drop 44 points on the Baltimore Ravens, but that’s just what happened in London. Lee did most of his damage in the first half, taking a backseat as Jacksonville used Leonard Fournette to nurse the lead, but he still finished with 65 yards and four catches on seven targets. Stepping up in the absence of Allen Robinson, Lee will be a solid WR3 against the New York Jets.

Eli Manning and the Giants’ offense finally woke up a little from the first two weeks. Looking for a way to jumpstart things, Ben McAdoo threw the running game in the trash and let Eli throw the ball 47 times. The result was 366 yards and three touchdowns against a good Philadelphia Eagles defense, with Shepard going off for 133 yards and a touchdown on seven catches. It probably won’t be like this every week, but Shepard has flex appeal against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who are dealing with multiple injuries in the secondary.

Hey, look who showed up this season. Gabriel didn’t do anything of note in the first two weeks, but in Week 3 he got loose with a 40-yard catch-and-run touchdown, swinging the game in the Falcons’ favor. This is what Gabriel does, of course — his fantasy floor is a zero, but his ceiling is an explosive play or two. That makes him one of the most fascinating boom-or-bust receivers in the game. Gabriel will be another DFS gamble against the Buffalo Bills this week.

With Jared Goff finally developing into a real NFL quarterback, it sure looks like this Rams offense can sustain more than one fantasy-relevant receiver. Sammy Watkins is the obvious No. 1, but Woods benefits from his big-play threat by cleaning up underneath, grabbing six catches for 108 yards against the San Francisco 49ers. More importantly, Watkins is currently in the concussion protocol, so Woods will be elevated to WR3/WR4 status if Watkins can’t go against the Dallas Cowboys.