10 WR sleepers to target for fantasy football Week 3
By Dustin Baker
1. Tre’Quan Smith (NO)
Game: Green Bay Packers at New Orleans (Sunday, 9/27, 8:20 pm EST)
Here’s the deal: The Green Bay Packers have defended the pass fairly well through two games in 2020. This is amplified if you subtract the numbers the Minnesota Vikings accrued in Week 1 when Green Bay played a relaxed second-half defense.
Yet, in the upcoming Saints-Packers tryst, Drew Brees’ passing yards have to go somewhere. Superstar wideout Michael Thomas will miss Week 3 leaving Tre’Quan Smith and Emmanuel Sanders as Brees’ primary aerial options. Brees threw in Smith’s direction seven times last weekend, so it’s safe to assume a comfortable level with the young pass-catcher is budding.
Smith and Sanders should have handsome showings, but let’s pluck Smith as the sleeper because he tabulated 86 receiving yards last week in Las Vegas.
2. Justin Jefferson (MIN)
Game: Tennessee Titans at Minnesota Vikings (Sunday, 9/27, 1:00 pm EST)
The Vikings are in a rut. This week at home versus the Titans could conceivably their last chance to pull themselves out of turmoil. NFL teams that start the season 0-3 are typically relegated to futility.
Adam Thielen has been Kirk Cousins’ sole target in 2020, and Minnesota has an 0-2 record to show for it. The Vikings spent a high draft pick on Justin Jefferson to act as Stefon Diggs’ replacement (who was traded to Buffalo). Sooner or later, Cousins will need to trust Jefferson’s playmaking acumen.
That will begin this week vs. Tennessee who is beset by injuries to various cornerbacks.