Fantasy Football Start or Sit, Week 3

This is a very interesting week for the NFL as there’s a lot of Fantasy Football match-ups that might be a little difficult to choose but that’s why we’re here to help!

Some of the decisions for Week 3 Fantasy Football are pretty easy but there is a lot of grey area this week where it gets a lot tougher. Quarterbacks are difficult because there aren’t many options to sit and the starts seem like they’re straight forward. The running backs and tight ends are pretty much starting whoever you have and the receivers just have so many options that we’re struggling to decide there as well. Last week was a mixed back with highs such as calling to start Chris Thompson and lows such as sitting players like Matt Ryan and Amari Cooper. As we do every week, let’s try to get better this week. There’s definitely certain routes to take so let’s dive right in.

Fantasy Football Quarterback Starts

Ryan Fitzpatrick, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Vs Pittsburgh Steelers 

I’ll take the low hanging fruit since the Bucs quarterback is still under 65 percent owned on Yahoo, which is still too low. Maybe people think he is actually Conor McGregor and don’t want to pick him up because I can’t think of many other reasons. The Steelers defense is in tatters right now and it just got carved up by the Chiefs at home. Now they have to travel to Tampa Bay to face the hottest quarterback in football and his trio of receivers. Fitzpatrick has thrown for 400+ and four touchdowns in both games so far this year and the Steelers have given up the most passing touchdowns in football(largely thanks to Patrick Mahomes, the new GOAT). Pittsburgh showed no ability to stop the pass in Week 2 and it’s likely not going to change this week.

Deshaun Watson, Houston Texans – Vs New York Giants 

Don’t overthink this one and sit Watson this week. He’s still got some kinks to iron out and he hasn’t been near as good as he was last season. So far this year, the Giants have given up the second fewest passing yards, only two passing touchdowns and are eighth in passer rating given up. I don’t care about any of that given the opponents they have played, also known as the Jaguars and the Cowboys. Jacksonville didn’t ask Blake Bortles to do much in Week 1 and Dak Prescott has exactly zero good receivers right now. It’s not a surprise that the Giants have done well against quarterbacks but Will Fuller and DeAndre Hopkins are the best receivers they’ve had to deal with so far. Watson threw for over 300 yards and rushed for 40. He’s on track to be a great fantasy quarterback again, even if he seems underwhelming compared to last year.

Also Consider – Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs – Vs Green Bay Packers, Blake Bortles, Jacksonville Jaguars – Vs Tennessee Titans

Fantasy Football Quarterback Sits

Philip Rivers, Los Angeles Chargers – At Los Angeles Rams 

There’s pretty much zero chance I would start Rivers into the teeth of one of the best defenses in football. The Rams are especially talented in the secondary with Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib, Lamarcus Joyner, Sam Shields and Nickell Robey-Coleman. They’ve allowed the fifth least passing yards in football so far and have only given up a 58.9 passer rating. On top of all of that, they are the only team in the NFL that has yet to give up a touchdown pass to go along with being second in interceptions. Keenan Allen is one of the better receivers in the game and he can get his, but I don’t trust any of the other pass catchers in this spot. Rivers was taken very late in drafts and this isn’t the time you should roll him out to start.

Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders – At Miami Dolphins 

Some people might just look at the box score from last week in Denver and see that Carr threw for 288 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions while going 29-32 in passing attempts. That seems like an anomaly game for Carr and this offense and he’s still sitting on a 1-3 TD/INT ratio for the season. The Dolphins have given up a lot of yards but they’ve also picked off opposing quarterbacks five times in two games already. Xavien Howard is a very good corner and I’m not sure I like Amari Cooper in that matchup. The Dolphins are leading in passer rating given up and Oakland has to come East, which doesn’t always work out for the West Coast teams. The NFL actually discussed limiting these types of games during the offseason and I wouldn’t start Carr even in 2QB leagues this week.

Also Consider – Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals – At Carolina Panthers

Fantasy Football Running Back Starts

Matt Breida, San Francisco 49ers – At Kansas City Chiefs 

This game has one of the highest over/unders on the week and I’m going to make sure I have a piece of it. You likely drafted Breida pretty late, even after the news that Jerick McKinnon tore his ACL. I of course don’t think that he’s going to lead the league in rushing yards as he’s currently doing but he should be able to rattle off some points in this one. The Chiefs got destroyed by the duo of Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler in Week 1 and then they still gave up 65 total yards to James Conner, despite the Steelers not running the ball at all. Breida should get at least 8-12 carries and is seeing almost 11 percent of the target share. The 49ers should have to pass in this game to keep up with the best offense in football and Breida is going to be a big part of it this week.

Corey Clement, Philadelphia Eagles – Vs Indianapolis Colts 

He’s going to be the chalk in DFS circles this week but you should be very interested to start Clement in your weekly leagues as well. It looks like Jay Ajayi will miss this game with a back injury. Darren Sproles is listed as day-to-day but coach Doug Pederson also described his recovery as a little longer, according to Mike Garafolo –

Ajayi played 27 percent of the snaps last week as he fought through his back injury while Clement was on the field for about 40 percent. Wendell Smallwood just isn’t that good of a football player so it sure looks like Clement is going to be the lead dog in this backfield this week. He’s second in red zone touches with four, only behind Ajayi with seven. On top of the workload, Carson Wentz is back this week which makes the Eagles offense even more dangerous. If Ajayi and Sproles are out like it seems like they should be, fire up Clement with confidence.

Also Consider – James White/Sony Michel, New England Patriots – At Detroit Lions, Phillip Lindsay, Denver Broncos – At Baltimore Ravens(if C.J. Mosley is out for Baltimore), Theo Riddick, Detroit Lions – New England Patriots(PPR only)

Fantasy Football Running Back Sits

Peyton Barber, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Vs Pittsburgh Steelers 

If you just look at rushing yards given up through the season, Pittsburgh has given up the fifth most rushing yards and you might be tempted to play Barber in a shootout game. However, keep in mind that they only gave up 100 yards to the Cleveland running backs. 77 yards came from quarterback Tyrod Taylor. When they played the Chiefs, they only gave up 78 yards to the backs because 49 yards came from Patrick Mahomes and Sammy Watkins. That means they have only given up 177 rushing yards to actual running back which would put them 12th in the NFL. Now you factor in Barber only has 91 yards on 35 carries and I can’t see a route Barber produces for fantasy unless he falls into the end zone and scores.

Kerryon Johnson, Detroit Lions – Vs New England Patriots 

I very much believe that Johnson is the most talented back in Detroit. I also don’t believe that it’s all that close and I feel like some folks might see his increase in touches from last week and be gung-ho to start him. I’m not ready to go that far as this seems like a game where the Patriots are ahead by a fairly wide margin and I think they deploy Theo Riddick more often than not. Johnson saw 13 touches but Riddick still saw double his targets in a game that Detroit was behind. Johnson’s increased snap percentage from 22 percent to 46 percent but it’s not time to get on board quite yet. It would be nice for the Lions to realize he gives them the best chance to win. He still doesn’t quite give your fantasy team the best chance to win in Week 3.

Also Consider – Royce Freeman, Denver Broncos – At Baltimore Ravens, Buck Allen, Baltimore Ravens – Vs Denver Broncos, Derrick Henry, Tennessee Titans – At Jacksonville Jaguars

Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Starts

Sammy Watkins, Kansas City Chiefs – Vs San Francisco 49ers 

This past game showed me a lot for Watkins and he’s actually leading the Chiefs in routes run so far this season. He’s also ahead of Tyreek Hill in snaps as of right now and he gets a home matchup against a secondary that just let all three Detroit Lions receivers score a touchdown last week. He also got a rushing attempt so he’s clearly going to be involved in this offense the whole season. The 49ers have given up the eighth most passing yards in the league. Watkins gets to play with the hottest quarterback in football and I don’t think San Francisco can put a stop to it this week. Watkins should be played just about everywhere this week and should be a top 30 receiver without much of an issue.

Chris Godwin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Vs Pittsburgh Steelers

First off, I don’t know what players on Yahoo are doing but Godwin is only 40 percent owned. Stop reading the article for just a minute, pick up Godwin, and come back to finish. OK, now that you’re a happy owner of Godwin, get ready to fire him up this week. I’ll admit that I wish he was seeing more than the 50 percent of snaps that he saw last week and don’t understand why Adam Humphries is getting the same amount. Godwin is averaging 2.17 points per target to .50 for Humphries which is a massive gap. We’ve already got over all the poor numbers for the Steelers passing defense and Godwin is ready for his prime time breakout on Monday.

Also Consider – Quincy Enunwa, New York Jets – At Cleveland Browns, Pierre Garcon, San Francisco 49ers – At Kansas City Chiefs, Demaryius Thomas, Denver Broncos – At Baltimore Ravens

Fantasy Football Wide Receiver Sits

Devin Funchess, Carolina Panthers – Vs Cincinnati Bengals 

Many people will just auto-start Funchess this week because he came through last week with seven receptions and 70+ yards. He also always has seen more volume with Greg Olsen out but I’m not sure that he can get the best of the Bengals secondary. Regardless of whether he sees William Jackson and Dre Kirkpatrick, it’s a tougher individual matchup for him. Both these corners rate over 72 on Pro Football Focus, depending on how much stock you put into those ratings. John Brown for the Ravens had a nice game against the Bengals last week but he and Funchess are very different receivers.  I think it’s going to be a lower end day for Funchess this week.

Michael Crabtree, Baltimore Ravens – Vs Denver Broncos 

I just can’t get too excited for Crabtree this week, in part because he’s going to need to score a touchdown to really have much value. He’s been seeing plenty of targets and snaps which is something that I usually will chase. I’m just not sure how good Crabtree is right now as he’s only catching 50 percent of his targets and his aDOT was at 9.0 this past week. He’s not the deep threat in the offense, he’s not a high reception player and he’s scored one touchdown against one of the worst teams in the league. This game should stay competitive and I think Crabtree is going to fall into the wide receiver two role.

Also Consider – Corey Davis, Tennessee Titans – At Jacksonville Jaguars, Mike Williams, Los Angeles Chargers – At Los Angeles Rams, Sterling Shepard, New York Giants – At Seattle Seahawks

Fantasy Football Tight End Start/Sit

As usual, tight end is going to be compressed into one slide because the options are just so limited at the position.

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Start – Jack Doyle, Indianapolis Colts – At Philadelphia Eagles 

Doyle certainly let you down last week as owners watched Eric Ebron find the end zone yet again. With tight ends, you’re going to see some variance from week to week but one thing you want to stay consistent with is snaps and targets. Doyle is leading the team in snaps, is in the top eight among all NFL tight ends in market share of targets on their team, and is only one red zone target behind T.Y. Hilton for the most on the team.

Doyle is going to continue to be a large part of the Indy offense, especially until Andrew Luck starts throng downfield a little more. Don’t spite sit Doyle from last week because the Colts will likely have to throw a ton in this game against an Eagles defense that doesn’t allow much on the ground.

Also Consider – Ian Thomas, Carolina Panthers – Vs Cincinnati Bengals, David Njoku, Cleveland Browns – Vs New York Jets, Austin Hooper, Atlanta Falcons – Vs New Orleans Saints

Sit – Will Dissly, Seattle Seahawks – Vs Dallas Cowboys 

Alright, Will Dissly. I’ve had enough of you and I wouldn’t be starting him this week in one of the grossest games of the week. These teams play at such a slow pace, the opportunity is lower than normal. He also scored one of the most garbage time touchdowns you’ll ever see last week at Chicago.

In that game, he and Nick Vannett saw the exact same number of targets and they’re sharing the field at about the same rate. Granted, five targets as a tight end is tough to find anywhere but this offense isn’t functioning highly enough for me to keep believing in Dissly scoring for the third straight week.

Also Consider – Ricky Seals-Jones, Arizona Cardinals – Vs Chicago Bears, Ben Watson, New Orleans Saints – At Atlanta Falcons, Tyler Eifert, Cincinnati Bengals – At Carolina Panthers