10 Fantasy Football Waiver Wire Targets Heading Into Week 3

Giovani Bernard, RB, Cincinnati Bengals

Yahoo Ownership: 27%

One benefit of the Cincinnati Bengals having played on Thursday this week is that we know the extent of Joe Mixon's knee injury before we have to make our waiver claims -- reducing some of the uncertainty that can often come with an injury situation. And the report is that Mixon will miss two to four weeks.

That's two to four games where Giovani Bernard will likely be the team's unquestioned lead back -- creating huge fantasy football value. And that's even before you factor in the potential that Mixon suffers a setback, is slowly worked into the lineup or re-injures his knee, creating even more value for Bernard.

In two games sans Mixon last year, Bernard averaged 12.5 carries and 6.5 targets per game, compared to 5.7 carries and 3.4 targets when Mixon played. It's a small sample, but that volume earned Bernard 16.2 PPR points per game.

Volume is huge at running back, and from a points-per-opportunity standpoint, targets are worth even more than carries -- in both PPR and non-PPR leagues.

Getting a top-end receiving workload to go with solid rushing volume makes Bernard an easy pickup, and he's someone you can feel good about starting until Mixon returns.