Fantasy football: 5 waiver wire pickups for Week 3

Is your fantasy team having as much trouble as the Cincinnati Bengals did in Week 2? Maybe you’re dealing with the early injury bug.

Well, it’s never too early to start looking at making some replacements.

Derek Carr, QB, Los Angeles Raiders: Carr has been one of the most consistent quarterbacks to start off the year. He has thrown over 800 yards and four touchdowns to go along with only one interception. The Raiders are clearly relying on Carr’s arm to win games. It could also lead to some wins for your fantasy team as well.

K.J. Osborn, WR, Minnesota Vikings: A big question has been who would be the third receiver for this offense when Irv Smith went down. He is currently only rostered in two percent of leagues on Yahoo!, and in deeper leagues he has flex potential with 12 catches, 167 yards and a touchdown over the first two weeks.

Alexander Mattison, RB, Minnesota Vikings: Dalvin Cook went down with an ankle injury late in the fourth quarter. That means Mattison could be in line for a big role in the Vikings offense. Obviously, you need to watch closely the injury news with this one, but it could pay off in the short-term.

Cordarrelle Patterson, RB/WR, Atlanta Falcons: The former-first round pick seems to be reinventing himself in Atlanta as a weapon. He saw three key plays near the goal line with the ball in his hand in Week 2 and turned two of them into touchdowns. He is dealing with playing behind Mike Davis, but the snaps are close to an even split and Patterson clearly is favored in scoring situations. Plus the added versatility to play him as a running back or wide receiver in fantasy is a nice bonus.

Sterling Shepard, WR, New York Giants: The Giants are 0-2, but there are diamonds in the rough on this offense. The biggest is probably Shepard who has 19 targets in two weeks already. He has turned those into 16 catches for 207 yards with a touchdown. He is going to be a point per reception monster. This is probably your last chance to get on board as he is already owned in 57 percent of Yahoo! leagues.