If there's one thing that fantasy football managers have to do each and every Sunday, it's monitor the injuries and, more importantly, the inactives for the week. That's especially the case in NFL Week 3 as a number of key injuries, as they always do, had bigger-name fantasy players' status in doubt for the action on Sunday, not the least of which were a number of quarterbacks. Some we knew would be out, like J.J. McCarthy and Joe Burrow, but others like Jayden Daniels, Brock Purdy and Justin Fields were being monitored throughout the week.
Of course, it's never just cornerbacks that we're talking about. The skill position players are routinely dinged up and listed as questionable leading into Sunday, and that was certainly the case coming into Week 3. But the good news is that we got some positive updates that some key players will be giving it a go on Sunday. The following players were all but confirmed as good to go for their respective games.
- WR Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- TE Tucker Kraft, Green Bay Packers
- TE Tyler Warren, Indianapolis Colts
Other key fantasy options, however, were not so lucky. So let's check in on the major inactives for NFL Week 3 that we need to have on our radar and make adjustments to our fantasy football lineups as a result.
QB Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders
There was a lot of trepidation about Jayden Daniels' health after the Thursday night loss in Week 2 and, it turns out, that was well-founded. On Saturday, the Commanders finally ruled Daniels out with the knee injury that he suffered against Green Bay.
With Daniels out of the fold, Marcus Mariota will step into action. You're not starting him in fantasy, even against the Raiders, but how he affects the rest of the Washington offense could be worth watching. Frankly, that's a massive downgrade for someone like Terry McLaurin while Deebo Samuel could get even more short touches. I would also slightly give Bill Croskey-Merritt and the backfield an upgrade this week as well in the wake of the Daniels injury.
WR Xavier Worthy, Kansas City Chiefs
Though it's not official with him playing on Sunday Night Football, Xavier Worthy was ruled out by the Chiefs prior to us even getting to Sunday. The speedy wideout was injured three plays into the year and has been trying to get back from a shoulder ailment sooner than expected, but unsuccessfully to this point.
With what the Chiefs offense has looked like over the first two weeks, I'm not sure anyone could believably tell you that there's a ready replacement in Kansas City right now to upgrade over Worthy. This might be a situation in fantasy where you're looking on the waiver wire or, hopefully, your bench for another option and not someone who's going to step up for the Chiefs in Worthy's absence.
QBs Justin Fields, New York Jets
Well before Sunday, the Jets made the official ruling that Tyrod Taylor will be the starter with Justin Fields not being able to clear concussion protocol after suffering the injury last week. But for the Jets, I'm not entirely sure that this will make much of a difference offensively (famous last words) just given how bad Fields looked prior to the injury.
Counterintuitively, this might be a bit of a downgrade on running back Breece Hall with Taylor, simply because Todd Bowles and the Tampa Bay defense should have the ability to hone in more on the run. That, in turn, could open up the upside opportunity on the outside for Garrett Wilson in this matchup, but the Jets might also simply be a stay-away for me outside of that.
TE Evan Engram, Denver Broncos
As Evan Engram deals with a back injury and won't be on the field for Denver in Week 3, there are two options that fantasy managers can turn to. If the waiver wire isn't inspiring, Sean Payton brought Adam Trautman into this offense for a reason, and he figures to gobble up the majority, if not all, of the Broncos target share to tight ends. That's a viable option, especially in deeper leagues.
Outside of that, however, I'd still probably say that there are better options available that you could stream this week to replace Engram. Guys like Chig Okonkwo, Brenton Strange and Hunter Henry, among others, are actually probably slightly favorable to Trautman in this spot.
QB Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
For the second straight week, the 49ers will be starting Mac Jones instead of Brock Purdy as the latter deals with a toe injury. Jones looked more than competent under Kyle Shanahan, however, already, and there shouldn't be much of an adjustment for the San Francisco skill players in this offense for Week 3 as a result.
The only adjustment really doesn't help that many people, unless you're talking about DFS, in that Christian McCaffrey might get another slight boost this week.
WR Jauan Jennings, San Francisco 49ers
A big blow for the 49ers and this offense beyond just Purdy, though, is veteran receiver Jauan Jennings being ruled out with an ankle injury after not practicing late in the week. That leaves this group of pass-catchers for Jones a bit depleted once again.
Having said that, if you have Ricky Pearsall, he becomes something of a must-start option in fantasy this week. While CMC is going to get a ton of work in both the running and passing games, Pearsall is now the de-facto No. 1 receiver target in this offense that's now without Jennings, George Kittle, and still Brandon Aiyuk.
WR Xavier Legette, Carolina Panthers
If you were planning to start Xavier Legette this week, I shiver to think what your roster looks like when it's just Week 3. Having said that, the Panthers wide receiver won't even be an option now, as he's been ruled out while dealing with a hamstring injury.
This would obviously already given Tetairoa McMillan a boost in his fantasy stock this week — especially with A.J. Terrell out for the Falcons — but in deeper leagues, especially in PPR formats, giving consideration to guys like Jalen Coker and Hunter Renfrow becomes much more reasonable as they were already seeing a sizable target share and show now be getting even more looks from Bryce Young.