Week 3 in the NFL should have been the week of quarterback matchups. Dak Prescott against Russell Wilson, Lamar Jackson against Patrick Mahomes, and finally, Drew Brees against Aaron Rodgers. Unfortunately, this game loses some of its luster as both teams will likely be without their top wide receivers. Michael Thomas has already been ruled out, and it is very doubtful that Green Bay Packers wide receiver Davante Adams will see the field on Sunday. Therefore, we need to look at who else on the Green Bay Packers roster can pick up the target load vacated by Adams. One of the more intriguing players is Packers wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling, but is he worth trusting in your fantasy football roster?
Davante Adams injury opens up a massive opportunity
The loss of Davante Adams is hard to understate as he has accounted for over 27% of Aaron Rodgers’ targets on the season. He has turned those into 17 catches for 192 yards and two touchdowns through two weeks. The entire Packers offense has had a solid start to the season, as the Packers are the first team in more than a decade to open a season with consecutive 42-plus-point games. Therefore, with Adams missing, there should be plenty of opportunities.
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Someone potentially locking in a large role, even for just a game, could be a solid player to pick up off the waiver wire and hope they can turn their success into a WR2 spot on your roster. The role behind Adams has been a competition between both Valdes-Scantling and Allen Lazard so far this season.
Valdez-Scantling finished his Week 2 matchup with three receptions for 64 yards, but most importantly, he had a total of seven targets. Lazard, on the other hand, caught three of his five targets for 45 yards. The one part of the game that Lazard had the upper-hand on was in the snap percentage. Lazard was on the field for 84% of their plays (same as Week 1) compared to Valdes-Scantling’s 63%, an increase from the 51% that he saw in Week 1. However, in Week 3, both players should be on the field for nearly every play if Adams does indeed miss their matchup against the New Orleans Saints.
New Orleans is a difficult matchup to opposing wide receivers
Here is where I start to get concerned for Valdes-Scantling and even Lazard for fantasy. When lining up on the outside, both will see a healthy dose of either Marshon Lattimore or Janoris Jenkins. Lattimore, especially, is a tough matchup on his own as he is used to going against Julio Jones and Mike Evans four times a year. Neither of these receivers is close to that level.
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One aspect that is working in favor of Lazard is that he has lined up in the slot on 63% of his routes ran. If Jenkins does not follow him inside on three-wide receiver sets, he could have a better matchup that Rodgers could look to target. He is going to want to test these elite cornerbacks as few times as necessary. Both of these cornerbacks have been notorious for ruining fantasy hopes each week.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling is a low-end fantasy WR4 in Week 3
We all expect that Adams will miss this game, but I can’t sit here and say that it makes either Valdes-Scantling or Lazard a must start. Unless injuries ravaged your team in Week 2, there are likely other options I would look at first. If you want to take a shot, both receivers are currently rostered on less than 35% of leagues. I would wait until we have a definitive word on Adams before making the decision. If anything, it wouldn’t surprise me if Aaron Jones came out of this game as the leading receiver thanks to Adams’s absence.
Both Valdes-Scantling and Lazard are risky fantasy plays where the danger of the floor is likely to outweigh the potential ceiling.
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Tommy Garrett is a writer for PFN covering Fantasy Football. You can read more of his work here and follow him at @TommygarrettPFN on Twitter.