Fantasy Football Waiver Wire: Early Week 4 Pickups to Add (2025)

I have to be honest: This week’s set of early waiver pickups isn’t the most exciting. This is the result of a weird morning slate, where half of the top 10 scorers were defenses. We also didn’t have any huge surprise breakouts – a lot of the players I’m about to list are veterans who already should have been rostered in more leagues. On the other hand, that doesn’t mean they aren’t good pickups. Without further ado, here are the top super-early fantasy football pickups for Week 4.

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Early Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

Ollie Gordon II (RB — MIA) | 31.7% Rostered

In the Dolphins’ first two games of the season (and the first two games of his career), Ollie Gordon recorded just five opportunities (three carries and two targets) for 16 yards. In Week 3 against the Bills, the sixth-round rookie picked up 38 yards and a score on nine carries.

Of course, nine carries still isn’t exactly an exciting fantasy role, especially given they came on just 25% of the Dolphins’ offensive snaps. But we’ve seen this Mike McDaniel offense support two fantasy-relevant RBs before, and it’s definitely a good sign that Gordon got the call in this one for a goal-line TD. At worst, Gordon is the clear handcuff to De’Von Achane, which is also a role with some value.

Hunter Henry (TE — NE) | 48.5% Rostered

When I mentioned veterans who already should have been more widely rostered, Hunter Henry is who I was talking about. He had a massive day today, catching eight of 11 targets for 90 yards and two touchdowns..

But even before this explosion, Henry was already someone to consider as a borderline TE1 every single week. If you’re just looking for stability at fantasy’s most scarce position, the Patriots vet is a solid option.

Daniel Jones (QB — IND) | 29.7% Rostered

Jones is another player who should already be more widely rostered. In fact, his fantasy performance today wasn’t anything to write home about. He finished with 15.82 points, easily his worst outing of the season so far.

But Jones still led the Colts to 41 points in an easy win over the Titans. The only reason his fantasy production wasn’t better is that he only accounted for one of the team’s five TDs (Jonathan Taylor got three, and the defense accounted for one more). Jones was then pulled early for Anthony Richardson with the game well out of hand. This Indianapolis offense is absolutely humming on all cylinders, and Danny Dimes should be rostered as the man at the controls.

Rico Dowdle (RB — CAR) | 16.4% Rostered

Dowdle didn’t make much of an impact in his first two games as a Panther, recording just 5.0 Half-PPR points as the clear backup to Chuba Hubbard. But he got more involved this week, carrying the ball 10 times and catching his only target (Hubbard had 17 carries and three targets). Thanks to a goal-line TD, Dowdle finished with a solid line of 10.3 Half-PPR points.

Of course, the Panthers aren’t going to have 27 RB carries to go around most weeks. They absolutely dominated the Falcons today en route to a 30-0 victory, which definitely contributed to Dowdle’s increased usage. Still, in deep enough leagues, the fact that he’s capable of games like this makes Dowdle worth adding.

Elic Ayomanor (WR — TEN) | 24.8% Rostered

Ayomanor featured in last week’s article, and his outlook is pretty much the same now as it was then. The rookie still isn’t someone you should start outside of very deep leagues. But, especially now with two touchdowns in the last two weeks, he is someone worth stashing in most formats.

Rookies who flash early like this often end up being some of the biggest league winners in the fantasy football playoffs. If he and Cameron Ward keep connecting, Ayomanor could be the next to continue that trend.

Tre Tucker (WR — LV) | 2.9% Rostered

I wasn’t going to write up Tucker when he had just one touchdown. I debated it even after he scored a second time. But three touchdowns is more than enough to earn Tucker a write-up. On the day, he finished with a massive 36.9 Half-PPR points. He caught eight of nine targets for 145 yards and the aforementioned three TDs, plus added four rushing yards on a carry.

Obviously, that’s a massive fantasy outing. However, Tucker is still only a player to consider in deep leagues. The fact that he scored three TDs doesn’t mean his role in this offense is suddenly going to change. He is very unlikely to overtake either Jakobi Meyers or Brock Bowers in the pecking order for targets, and this is not a good enough offense to support three fantasy-relevant pass catchers. Tucker is clearly capable of a big game now and then, which makes him worth considering in deeper formats. But he’s not going to be a reliable option on a weekly basis.

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