The NFL season keeps rolling and fantasy football managers have a lot to sort through with all of the injury news that came out this week. What does that all mean for our starting lineups and who should you be looking to start/sit as a result?
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Top RBs To Start in Week 3
Kyren Williams, RB, Los Angeles Rams
Kyren Williams has been fantastic up to this point of the season. He’s emerged out of nowhere to be a viable fantasy starter and someone who is now deserving of consideration as a top-10 option week in and week out.
If you’ve got Williams on your roster, he’s a lock for your starting lineup until further notice.
Alexander Mattison, RB, Minnesota Vikings
Alexander Mattison is a start this week?! Absolutely. Despite not doing much in the stats column over the first two weeks of the season, Mattison is in a prime spot to smash expectations in Week 3.
Cam Akers is likely going to be inactive this week for the Vikings, which means that Mattison will still have this backfield to himself. Additionally, this matchup against the Chargers’ run defense is a favorable one in a game that Vegas anticipates to be the highest scoring the entire weekend!
It’s not a start that makes you feel super great, but it needs to be made. He’s at RB14 on the week for me going into Sunday.
Jerome Ford, RB, Cleveland Browns
Jerome Ford was the hot waiver wire add going into this week, but he draws a tough matchup in Week 3 against the Tennessee Titans. Ford’s still worth starting as a low-end RB2 due to the volume that he’ll most likely see, but we also shouldn’t be holding out hope that he’ll be a top-10 option for fantasy lineups.
Top RBs To Sit in Week 3
Breece Hall, RB, New York Jets
I love Breece Hall’s talent. He’s an incredibly dynamic RB who can win you your fantasy matchup with one big play. However, this offense in New York is barely hanging on after Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles and Zach Wilson took over.
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There’s simply no guarantee for what type of volume Hall will see this week against the New England Patriots, which is a historically stout defense. He can be viewed as a high-end RB3 at best in Week 3.
Dameon Pierce, RB, Houston Texans
I loved Dameon Pierce coming into the year, but things have not exactly gone his way with the offensive line issues in Houston.
At this point, he’s seeing the volume, but he has no room to run. He’s outside my top 24 RBs on the week.
Top WRs To Start in Week 3
Puka Nacua, WR, Los Angeles Rams
It’s simply ridiculous how dominant Puka Nacua has been up to this point of the season. Can he keep up this pace?! While that has yet to be determined, he has to be in your starting lineup at this point due to the amount of volume that he’s seeing and what he’s done through the first two weeks.
Mike Williams, WR, Los Angeles Chargers
There is no reason why Mike Williams should be on your bench going into this matchup. While he has yet to have a big performance through this point of 2023, the volume that he’s been seeing is incredibly comforting for fantasy managers moving forward.
In a matchup against the Minnesota Vikings’ defense that has trouble slowing down opposing passing attacks, plus a high projected team implied-point total, Williams could finish the week as a top-five WR.
Christian Kirk, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
Christian Kirk was not involved in the game plan for the Jaguars in Week 1, but he re-emerged in full force for Week 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Now, the Jaguars get a plus matchup against the Houston Texans and Zay Jones will be inactive for this one.
If you have Kirk on your roster, he belongs in your starting lineups for this one due to the opportunity.
Top WRs To Sit in Week 3
Garrett Wilson, WR, New York Jets
Garrett Wilson can take one pass to the house to save his fantasy day. However, we cannot rely on that for fantasy football moving forward. Wilson’s a phenomenal talent, but the QB play simply puts him outside of the top 24 WRs on the week in a tough matchup against the New England Patriots.
Drake London, WR, Atlanta Falcons
Drake London was able to bounce back for fantasy football in Week 2, but that does not instantly mean that he’s back in my starting lineup for Week 3. This is still an incredibly suspect passing game that does not guarantee London any sort of target volume game in and game out.
He’s a low-end WR3 for me this week and there are plenty of other options to go after that have a more reliable target volume for your starting lineup.
Top QBs/TEs To Start in Week 3
Justin Fields, QB, Chicago Bears
Start Justin Fields?! In this economy?! It has not been pretty for the third-year QB out of Ohio State in Chicago this season, but we saw a bit of a rough start for the Bears QB in 2022 that then led to him being a valuable fantasy asset the rest of the way.
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All eyes will be on this offense in Week 3 and I’m choosing to believe that OC Luke Getsy will choose to lean into Fields’ strengths again versus trying to turn him into something he isn’t yet again. We should see 10+ rush attempts for Fields this week and that’ll lead to a solid fantasy performance.
Let’s speak it into existence, friends.
Hunter Henry, TE, New England Patriots
It’s shocking to me that more analysts and fantasy managers aren’t on board with Hunter Henry as a top-10 option in fantasy lineups this week! He’s done nothing but produce in a big way and smash the value of where he was going in fantasy drafts just a couple of weeks ago.
It’s a tougher matchup in Week 3, but Henry has enough of a guaranteed role for me to confidently start him here yet again.
Top QBs/TEs To Sit in Week 3
Dak Prescott, QB, Dallas Cowboys
Dak Prescott’s been a great NFL QB through the first two weeks of the season. He’s captained this offense well enough to vault Dallas up the NFL Power Rankings, but he isn’t seeing enough volume to push himself into the top 15 from a fantasy standpoint.
In a game that could quickly get out of hand, which would lead Dallas to hand the ball off for the majority of the second half, Dak may end up finishing outside the top 24 QBs simply because he’s not needed at all.
Kyle Pitts, TE, Atlanta Falcons
At this point, Kyle Pitts has to be considering a trade request, right? He has the potential to be the greatest TE in NFL history due to his talent level, but he can’t be in that conversation if he’s never thrown the ball.
Pitts has now slid outside of the top 12 TEs on the week for me, and he’ll remain there as long as Arthur Smith is the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. I can’t trust him.