Week 3 Fantasy Football Starts, Sits & Streamers You Can’t Ignore!

Week 3 is upon us, let the fantasy season chaos begin. I’m breaking down all 16 NFL matchups for week 3 of the 2025 NFL season. I am covering key offensive changes, defensive matchups, offensive snaps and involvement from last week, and everything you need to make smart lineup decisions. I review my favorite start, sit, and steaming options for week 3. Now go steal a championship!

0:00 Welcome
0:19 JSN Jersey Give Away
0:42 My Decision Making Process to Start Sit
3:58 Carolina Panthers vs Atlanta Falcons (Bryce Young, Chuba Hubbard, Rico Dowdle, Tet McMillian, Xavier Legette, Ja’Tavion Sanders, Tommy Tremble — Michael Penix Jr, Bijan Robinson, Drake London, Darnell Mooney, Ray-Ray McCloud, Kyle Pitts)
8:11 Green Bay Packers vs Cleveland Browns (Jordan Love, Josh Jacobs, Matthew Golden, Tucker Craft — Joe Flacco, Jerome Ford, Dylan Sampson, Jerry Jeudy, Cedric Tillman, David Njoku)
12:26 Houston Texans vs Jacksonville Jaguars (CJ Stroud, Nick Chubb, Nico Collins, Jayden Higgins, Jaylin Noel, Xavier Hutchinson, Justin Watson, Dalton Schultz — Trevor Lawrence, Travis Etienne, Brian Thomas Jr., Travis Hunter, Brenton Strange)
16:02 Cincinnati Bengals vs Minnesota Vikings (Jake Browning, Chase Brown, JaMarr Chase, Tee Higgins, Mike Gesicki — JJ McCarthy, Aaron Jones, Jordan Mason, Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, TJ Hockenson)
20:29 Pittsburgh Steelers vs New England Patriots (Aaron Rodgers, Jaylen Warren, Kaleb Johnson, Pat Freiermuth, Jonnu Smith — Drake Maye, Rhamondre Stevenson, TreVeyon Henderson, Stefon Diggs, Kayshon Boutte, Hunter Henry)
24:15 Los Angeles Rams vs Philadelphia Eagles (Matthew Stafford, Kyren Williams, Puka Nacua, Davante Adams, Tyler Higbee — Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, Tank Bigsby, AJ Brown, Devonta Smith, Dallas Goedert)
28:25 New York Jets vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Tyrod Taylor/Justin Fields, Breece Hall, Bealon Allen, Garrett Wilson, Mason Taylor — Baker Mayfield, Bucky Irving, Mike Evans, Emeka Egbuka, Cade Otton)
32:15 Las Vegas Raiders vs Washington Commanders (Geno Smith, Ashton Jeanty, Jakobi Meyers, Donte Thorton Jr., Brock Bowers — Jayden Daniels, Austin Ekeler, Jacory “Bill” Croskey-Merritt, Terry McLaurin, Deebo Samuel, Zach Ertz)
34:41 Denver Broncos vs Los Angeles Chargers (Bo Nix, JK Dobbins, RJ Harvey, Cortland Sutton, Marvin Mims Jr., Troy Franklin, Evan Engram — Justin Herbert, Omarion Hampton, Ladd McConkey, Keenan Allen, Quentin Johnston, Will Dissly)
37:53 New Orleans Saints vs Seattle Seahawks (Spencer Rattler, Alvin Kamara, Chris Olave, Brandon Cooks, Juwan Johnson — Sam Darnold, Kenneth Walker, Zach Charbonnet, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Cooper Kupp, Tory Holt, AJ Barner)
39:32 Arizona Cardinals vs San Francisco 49ers (Kyler Murray, James Conner, Marvin Harrison Jr., Michael Wilson, Trey McBride — Brock Purdy/ Mac Jones, Christian McCaffrey, Ricky Pearsall, Jauan Jennings, George Kittle, Jake Tonges)
41:19 Dallas Cowboys vs Chicago Bears (Dak Prescott, Javonte Williams, CeeDee Lamb, Jake Ferguson — Caleb Williams, D’Andre Swift, DJ Moore, Rome Odunze, Colston Loveland)
42:27 Kansas City Chiefs vs New York Giants (Patrick Mahomes, Isaiah Pacheco, Hollywood Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Travis Kelce — Russell Wilson, Tyrone Tracy Jr., Malik Nabers, Darius Slayton, Wan’Dale Robinson, Theo Johnson)
44:05 Detroit Lions vs Baltimore Ravens (Jared Goff, Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta — Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry, Zay Flowers, Mark Andrews, Rashod Bateman, DeAndre Hopkins)
46:39 Outro

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[Music] Welcome to the Fantasy Syndicate podcast with your hosts Joshua Ponyattowski and Alex Taylor. Let’s talk football. Hello, hello, and welcome to the Fantasy Syndicate podcast. My name is Joshua Panicowski and we are going to be doing week three start advice today. As a reminder, we are doing a JSN autograph jersey drawing at the end of the year. In order to enter that drawing, all you have to do is be a subscriber and comment on the video. It could be a stir sit question. It could just say good job. You could say you missed last week. I hate you. Whatever you want it to be. We’re giving away that jersey. If you comment, if you subscribe, then you’ll be entered into that drawing. Uh let’s just have some fun. Before we get into the uh start sit advice, I wanted to share my method behind making these decisions. I am not a fortune teller in any way whatsoever. I can’t predict the future. I’m going to be wrong weekly. It’s going to happen. Uh if you can find somebody in this space who is right 100% of the time, please let me know and I will go follow and listen to them and see how to get better. I wanted to break down the start sit logic on how I make these decisions. Number one is opportunities. I look at offensive snaps, route run, expected targets, carries, red zone usage, and really anything else that goes into determining the opportunities. If a player is on the field getting opportunities, that gives them a much better chance to score fantasy points. It’s really as simple as that. The second thing I typically look at is matchup. What is the opponent’s defensive scheme? Do they run more man or zone? What type of zone do they run? Do they have a lock down corner to shadow corner? What does the cornerback versus wide receiver matchup look like? What does the offensive line look like? Does the opposing team have a elite defensive line that could interrupt the quarterback? things like that. I really focus on and look at matchup. Next, I looked at talent and efficiency. These are players that are next level. They don’t need to see as many opportunities to be as productive with their touches. Maybe they’re better against cover three versus cover two and the two high looks. I try to look at talent efficiency based off of a combination with that matchup. The next thing I I look at is game script. One of the reasons why I include the Vegas lines is because it gives us decent idea of what we can expect out of the game. uh whether it’s going to be pass more or run more based on who’s favored. While these typically aren’t always right, these are at least a way to point us in the right direction. When teams are ahead, certain fantasy players perform better, specifically running backs because they get the ball more. These can help us make informed decisions on certain position groups based off of what Vegas thinks will happen in those games. Next thing I look at injury and depth chart. This isn’t just for starting players, but for defensive and offensive injuries that really could just impact the overall team. Last week, I was high on Sutton because of his opportunities, but also because the two starting quarterbacks for the Colts were just completely injured. Now, I whiffed on this, right? was a complete miss because Troy Franklin broke out. But that was my thought process behind that decision, his opportunities, the scheme, as well as what we saw from the quarterback group just being decimated with injuries. The last thing I look at is kind of a combination of things. What does the weather look like? Are they playing in a dome? They not playing in a dome. Is there some coaching tendencies that you should be aware of? Is there historical performance? Has this player ever broken out before? Have they scored more than 15, 20 points? Is there consistency or upside to this player? And you know, just making a gut decision, too. Sometimes I’m just like, you know what, this one’s close. I feel like this player is gonna break out. I do play the gut into that factor into it. I’m not going to be right all the time, and I want I want you all really to make the best decisions for your team, but I do put a lot of thought into my recommendations, and hopefully, again, you find value in them, even though I I don’t always get them right. Let’s jump into the uh games for the week. Uh I’m sorry I’m getting this out a little bit late. the Falcons at Panthers. For the Falcons, their overunder for this game is a total of 43.5 points. Carolina is projected to score 19.5 points and the Falcons are projected to score 24.5 points. Now, starting on the Falcons side, Michael Penn Jr. is a bench candidate for me. Even in a extremely favorable matchup, we still really haven’t seen much from him as of yet and I’m not starting him even in this matchup one because of the overunder total and what we expect to have happen in this game. Djan is a start obviously, but the Panthers have allowed 141 yards in the game. Small sample size, but he should absolutely feast. Now, the real more important talk is the wide receivers and tight ends. The Panthers run a cover three at around a 50% rate on defense. It clearly isn’t working because they’re losing games, but it has capped the passing and receiving upside in two games that they have played. Panthers also lose more games. The opposing team doesn’t have to throw as much. It’s simple as that. We talk about matchups, talk about over and under, we talk about what happens in the game script. That paired with cover three is really something to consider. Drake London though for me is still a start. He didn’t really produce much last week, but he’s still seeing 40% first read on average, 30% team target share. Not scared away from a bad week 2 performance to bench London. Darno Mooney is much more interesting. In week two, he was option three on this offense. Actually, this could have been due to chemistry. Mooney can do well against the Panthers, but I will be benching him until I see how the next week or two goes. Usually when a wide receiver loses time with their quarterback one in preseason or even early in the season, it takes time, couple games at least to get them ramped up, to get them kind of back into that scheme in that chemistry. And that’s what we saw last week, him being the number three option. I am going to be benching him this week because this is only his second week back. This also might be the worst take or the best take of the week for me, but I am firing up Kyle Pitts. I am starting that man. Pitts is still involved even though Mooney and London were back last week. He saw first read targets of 31% in week two. The Panthers have given up 12.4 points per game to tight ends, which is number one in the NFL. This cover three is a big deal for me. Pitts has thrived in this situation that we’ve seen over the past couple weeks. He’s getting opportunity. He’s getting looks. I’m starting Pitts this week and I’m willing to take the L if he does not hit. Moving over to the Panthers, I’m not starting Bryce Young in week two. He ended up having 170 yards and two touchdowns that came in the last five minutes of the game last week. You should have better options out there to choose from. Chuba Hubard is seeing elite volume. Rico currently isn’t eating into his opportunities from what we’ve seen over these past couple weeks. And we actually saw Chubuk some of the passing game work. That’s actually better news for him. His upside is only curbed by the Panthers scoring. Pat Mc McMillan might finish the season with 160 targets. Obviously, that’s a gross overestimation, but it’s crazy. With this defense and script, always playing from behind. His opportunities for me are as good as a Wilson. I’m viewing Tat as a high-end wide receiver, too. With wide receiver one upside, honestly, as the season just progresses, if he can find the end zone some weeks, he’s just going to have monster performances. I am benching everyone else based on their involvement. They’re really just too touchdown dependent for me. Sanders did have a great showing last week, but he is only on the field for 66% of the offensive snaps. That’s too low for me to start. This might ramp up and get better. We’ll continue to monitor this, but I’m not starting him in this game. Hunter Renfro only played in three wide receiver sets. This is another guy who saw plenty of opportunities, and maybe we will see this continue in week three because of Xavier Legette’s performance. If you if you aren’t on the field, you can’t be as as consistent of a producer. He remains on my bench. Uh he should also face Billy Bowman almost all game in that quarterback slot. So, it’s not a matchup that I’m I’m looking at or favoring. Moving over to the Packers versus Browns. The overunder for this game is 41.5 points. Green Bay is projected to score right around 24.5 points and Cleveland and abysmal projected score 16.5 points. Jordan Love is a start as you need more of a reason than it being the Browns. Jordan Love has played his best football against man coverage. He averages around 0.5 points per drop back against man. The Browns have run a league high 50% man through two weeks. The only thing I’m really worried about in this game is the game script because if they get ahead too soon, then they’re going to run the ball more consistently. I’m firing up if I have him as a start candidate. Next up is Josh Jacobs. He is definitely a start uh and he should be looked at as a running back one moving forward in my opinion. He’s on pace again to see over 350 opportunities just on the ground. He did pop up on the injury report this week. This is really something that you need to monitor. I haven’t seen a report yet on what is happening, but it could be a low ankle sprain or a high ankle sprain. Obviously, low ankle is better than high, but this is just something that you definitely need to monitor. Another thing to be aware of is that the Browns just held King Henry to 23 yards on the ground in week one and Chase Brown to 43. I get if you are hesitant to start Josh Jacobs. However, it seems unlikely that you’re going to have another top 10, top 15 running back to plug in in Jacob’s place. I’m riding with him. And then the last reason I want to ride with him is because he is currently trying to break Odenian Tomlinson’s touchdown record and this game would tie that record. I completely see the Green Bay Packers scheming opportunities around the goal line to get him to that record. I know a lot of people are saying, “Well, we might be touchdown dependent this week.” I get that from a Browns defense, but I also understand that there’s a record to be broken from LT and I think that is going to have him see at least a touchdown this week and then next week to break that record. I’m riding with Josh Dos. The entire wide receiver room for me is getting benched on Green Bay. One of the wide receivers will probably pop off, but really it’s a dice roll. From a scheme standpoint, Wix should benefit the most based off of the defensive scheme. Matthew Golden also has some potential, but Benin based on what we’ve seen out of that room and how spread around the love is. Tucker Craft for me is a start. He’s a wide receiver one. He has had his most offensive snaps, most route runs last week. He’s still a part of the wide receiver and tight end rotation, but because he’s a tight end, he’s seeing more opportunities. He’s on the field, and honestly, he just brings value. I am worried about the Browns not being able to keep up. They have only allowed 5.2 two fantasy points on average a game to tight ends, but he should be involved enough to at least be considered a starter. And let’s be honest, you’re not benching craft after last week. Moving into the Browns, so either one of two things are going to happen this week. First, the logic logical thing is that the Browns can’t do anything on offense and everyone’s fantasy points are earned in garbage time. So, that’s the first thing because the Green Bay Packers have one of the best defenses in the league. The second thing, and this is the one that’s going to defy laws of logic. We essentially see a shootout out of this game. I’m going to go with the Browns can’t do anything because I like to use logic, but the football gods have a sick sense of humor. What I will say is that Joe Flacco shreds cover three, who Green Bay has played at around a 32% rate. Flaco might be able to find success. I just don’t think he will have time to pass the ball. The Browns still have one of the worst offensive lines. And Green Bay has Devonte Wyatt who actually has more pressures than Micah Parsons, which that’s telling you something. I feel like he’s just gonna be pressured all game and really not going to be able to do much. I’m benching everybody else if I have that option, including the tight ends. The Packers defense has led Washington and the Lions, two of the best defenses in the league, to 98 yards rushing through two weeks, 225 passing yards a game, and only three touchdowns, two of which came in the fourth quarter during garbage time. This is why I’m benching everyone because of that defense, that matchup, and what we’re going to see. Next up, we have the Texans versus the Jaguars. The overunder total for this game is 44 points. Houston is projected to score right around 21.5, as well as Jacksonville is projected to score right around 22.5. I honestly might end up getting burned on this one, but I am benching Trevor Lawrence. Last week was a product of great play calling and a better wide receiver play. I might have to eventually just ignore how good he is and just trust the coaching and the weapons. Through two weeks, his completion percentage over expected is -4.2%. He plays the best against cover three, which detections do run at a 42% rate, which is why I might be getting Bird. I could see see him being a low-end QB2 with upside due to the scheme, but I’m still not starting him. He just hasn’t looked good enough for me to feel confident plugging him into my lineup. Ryan Thomas Jr. is a start. He seen 9.5 targets weekly. He’s TAW’s first read. The squeaky wheel gets the oil and BTJ should be the squeaky wheel this week due to two weak performances and all the doubt that’s been floating around really the league as well as the fantasy community. So, I’m firing up Brian Thomas Jr. Next up, we have Travis Hunter. Travis Hunter cannot be trusted, unfortunately. While he has been TAW’s number two first read target, he did find some success in week one against the Panthers, league high cover three, and that might be he breaks out, but I’m still benching him. In week two, we saw Hunter lose offensive snaps to help really fill in for the defense. Every week this could happen. This is unpredictable. He is a dice roll. Even with a great matchup for him based on the coverage that the Texans play, I’m I’m benching uh Travis Hunter. Brenton Strange is a streaming tight end for me, for the same reason I am starting Pitts. He should see opportunities due to defensive scheme. The downside is that he is truly the option four at the moment in first read. He is a much riskier tight end play, but he is on my list as a streaming option. ETN is getting the start. He is a volume running back who still commands the backfield. He is a low-end running back, too, until we see Toutton take more of his playing time, but that hasn’t happened yet. But keep an eye on it. If you don’t have Toutin and he’s available in your league, he needs to be rostered because see big big things for this guy moving forward. For the Texans, CJ Shroud is a bench, but for me, this is the first game I’m actually excited to watch him play this year. Everyone thinks CJ is cooked at this point, but he’s faced some of the best defensive lines in the NFL in week one and two and he has no offensive line. This matchup really is going to be more realistic for him as far as what we should expect moving forward. I’m still benching him though. This should be a much better game for CJ based on the past two weeks matchups. Nick Chub I am benching. Woody Marks is a guy I am high on. I was high on to start the season and last week he actually ate into Chubb’s workload. Chub saw 50/50 split with the two other backs. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw Woody maybe take a little bit more snaps this game. He is a great blocker and he has the potential to play a Joe Mixon role if he is on waiverss is another guy consider stashing if I have space especially before this game. Nico Collins is a start. 28% team target share. 31% first read is really all you need to know. And again, I expect CJ to do much better in this matchup. I am benching everyone else due to usage and really just how the ball has been spread around between those players. Going into the Bengals at Vikings for the Bengals, as I was updating this document, it really hurt my soul to delete Joe Burrow’s name from this list. Next man up is Jake Browning. I was considering him as a streaming option this week. He is honestly an intriguing quarterback simply because he has Jamar Chase, T. Higgins, Chase Brown to help be productive. And when he did plug in last year, he was a productive quarterback for the most part, but this is only his first week on the field. I’m not there just yet. Jamar Chase is a start in 2023 with Browning. Chase saw an average of 8.2 targets, six receptions, 71 receiving yards, and right around 13.9 PPR points a game. I’m not fading Chase even with the Browning situation. T. Higgins is still a start for me, but he is a much lower lower end wide receiver two. He’s honestly creeping in the wide receiver three range for me. With Browning at quarterback, he only saw 5.7 targets a game. 3.5 receptions and 60 receiving yards with a 10.5 point per game finish. He was much more touchdown dependent than Jamar. That’s what you’d be really betting on with T. And with Browning at quarterback, as you can see, with the overunder and Cincinnati being projected to score 19.5 points, their touchdown and their offense upside is capped a little bit. Chase Brown is a start. He saw 100% 100% of the running back opportunities in week two. I don’t care about Burrow or the defense, honestly, or really anything else. It doesn’t get better than 100%. So, start him. Also, the Vikings defense based on gap schemes and runs are favorable for Chase Brown. I expect a bounce back this week. Everyone else is getting benched for me on the Bengals. And I guess the only guy left is Mike Giki, but he’s getting benched simply due to opportunities not seeing enough. Moving over to the Vikings, JJ McCarthy is out with an injury. Carson Wentz gets the nod. I need to update this on my document. I thought I did. Even though the Vikings have a great offensive line, they are down to their third string left tackle. Wentz obviously isn’t very mobile at his age. Trey Hendrickson should be able to terrorize him. He’s leading the league in pressures right now. I am not starting Wentz. Aaron Jones is out and being placed on the IR. If you drafted Jordan Mason, you are about to find out what he is really worth. There have been murmurss and everyone’s been talking, coaching staff, players, everyone in the fantasy community that he will see just an absolutely insane usage this week, which might happen. He is absolutely a start, but for me, I’m looking at him more as a a solid running back, too, with potential running back upside. I’m not getting crazy just yet until we see what happens this week. Justin Jefferson is a start. Wentz is a veteran who should be able to process defenses better than JJ at this point in his career. He is also willing to push the ball down the field more consistently and force it to his playmakers based off history and what we’ve seen. He doesn’t really scramble much. JJ should be his main target guy. So, I’m not worried about Justin Jefferson at all. And I really think he’s going to see an uptick in his fantasy performance because Wentz is in a quarterback. Jaylen Naylor uh is an interesting one. He is still a bench candidate, but he’s floating around low-end flex territory for me this week. He has emerged as a clear wide receiver, too. He has been running as many routes and been on the field for as many plays as JJ. While it’s really only week two, the Bengals have struggled against non-primary receivers and covering the slot. Naylor has run 45% of the slot plays really close behind Theelen. However, Nen plays two wide receiver sets. He’s on the field more consistently. TJ Hawinson is also a potential streaming option, but he’s a much riskier one similar to Naylor. Last week he lost snaps to Josh Oliver and he was on the field for less routes ran than Adam Thelen who only plays 11 personnel. But there is good news and this is why he’s a potential streamer for me. Carson Wentz in his career has a team target share of 24% and 32% touchdown percentage looking at tight ends when he was a starter. If TJ is on the field, which we’re not 100% certain if he will be based on usage last week, Wentz should be an upgrade for him at the quarterback position, which is why he might be a streamer and is why he’s he’s somebody I am considering this week based off of the other tight ends I have on my team. For the Steelers versus the Patriots, the overunder for this game is 44.5 points. Pittsburgh is projected to score right around 20 in New England. Aaron Rogers is a bench. Dylan Warren is a fringe flex high-end running back three for me. He is still be only really being played around 58% of the offensive running back snaps in week two. This was an uptick for week one, but it’s just not quite enough for me to feel super confident in like automatically plugging in him into my lineup. Yes, Aaron Rogers did come out and say that they should get him more involved in the offense, which honestly might happen. And this is one of the reasons why I stuck him into my start column this week as a fringe flex high-end running back three. If we see maybe 5% increase in opportunities, he becomes a starter and much less of a split backfield. We just haven’t seen it yet. I am pausing a little bit is why he’s a little bit lower on my running back tier list, but he’s still a start. DK Metaf is also a starter. Even though he didn’t see a route greater than 15 yards last week, he is still Rogers first read target. He’s the best option on the passing side of the ball and the Patriots are just getting shredded by wide receivers so far this year. You’re going to start DK Metaf and I hope he has a great performance. I’m expecting that out of him this week. Everyone else for me is a bench just simply due to usage and honestly quarterback matchups based off some of these other guys. For the Patriots, Drake May is again moved into the start category. Even if you have a good quarterback, if this man is on waiverss, pick him up and have him on your bench. He has rushing and he has passing upside. It’s just too juicy not to have. This week he is going up against the Steelers defense who have given up the six most points to quarterbacks and they they have faced Justin Fields and Sam Darnold in that time. So nothing elite, but they’ve been giving up massive points to the quarterback position. We thought their defense was going to be great coming into the year, but we just have not seen that. Raandre Stevenson is a sit candidate for me. It was a lot closer this week. He usage doesn’t really dictate a starting running back role for me. Henderson is also a sit because he has three holding penalties last week. He was removed from the game script. I don’t know what week three will look like even though he does have the receiving upside. Now, if you are in a pinch going back to Raandre, we expect because of last week’s uh penalties that Henderson’s usage might go down a little bit, which means you’re might go up. We know the Steelers have not been playing good defense. If you’re in a pinch, Raandre could be a potential start. But if you have other options, I’m looking there. All the wide receivers for the Patriots are bench candidates right now. Even Ka Booty, who appears to be their main guy. Darius Slay and Jaylen Ramsay should be covering him most of the game. Darius Slay has only allowed four receptions on the year. And Jaylen Ramsay is really just a great cover guy, even though he was shredded by JSN in week one. Booty is not JSN, so I’m benching him. Stefon Diggs is a little bit more interesting because of coverage, but again, I’m still benching him because he hasn’t seen a whole lot of opportunities and he’s seen an uptick in his slot usage, which is great, but he’s still not on the field as consistently as I would like him to be to fire up as a wide receiver. He does have good upside, though. Hunter Henry was the most involved player on offensive snaps last week. He ran the second most routes on the team, only trailing by two from the number one option. It was tragic for me to see Austin Hooper getting all those fantasy points when it should have been Henry. Even though his usage is good, he is not seeing opportunities. And because of that, I’m benching Henry. Diggs is get starting to get more involved. If you have no other tight end options, he’s on the field a lot. You could plug him in. He’s worth a dart throw. But right now, he’s getting benched simply because he’s just not getting the looks from May, even though he’s involved in the offensive scheme. For the Rams versus the Eagles, the overunder for this game is 44.5 points. The Rams are projected right around 20.5 points and Philadelphia is projected 23.5 points. For the Rams, Matthew Stafford is getting benched for me. The Eagles have held the Cowboys and the Chiefs to 20 points or less. They’re playing good defense. They’re controlling the game script. I am starting Kairen Williams, Devonte Adams, and Puka. The Eagles have given up 120 rushing yards a game and they have faced my Sanders, Javvante Williams, Kareem Hunt, Kareem Hunt, and Pacheco. Granted, 60 of the yards last week rushing. We’re from Mahomes scrambles, but either way, Kairen should be able to find some success on the ground. I am slightly worried about Corm after last week, but Kairen is still right around the 75% usage area, so I’m firing him up. I am benching everybody else. For the Eagles, Jayen Herz will continue to be a start. One bad fantasy week has makes no difference for me. Saquon Barkley is an obvious start. Before I get into the receivers, I would like to blame Jaylen Herz and the new offensive coordinator, Evan Pluto. Uh this is why these receivers haven’t been doing well. I’m going to go through some data points that I believe are very important. Slow down a little bit. First read target rate over these past two weeks has been 30% for AJ Brown, 30% for Devonte Smith, and Dallas Goddard has also been 30%. We’re looking at overall these players seeing 90% of the offensive first read, which you would think, wow, that’s fantastic. It’s not, unfortunately. In 2024, the split was 42% AJ Brown, 33% Devonte, and 22% Dallas Goddard, which puts us at 97% first read target shares. We are seeing him spread the ball a little bit more uh around the offense. We’re losing 7% there, which doesn’t seem significant, but it has been. Now, when we look at the team target share split, TJ Brown last year saw 31%, Smith saw 25%, and Goddard saw 18%. Through two weeks, it has been reversed. Goddard has seen 30% of the team target share, and AJ Brown and Devonte Smith are both around 20%. in an offense that requires AJ Brown and Devonte Smith to be insanely efficient as receivers with their opportunities. This is fantasy relevant and the percentages ends up really being a killer to their offensive performance and this is what we’ve seen through two weeks. AJ Brown though, with all that being said, he is still a starting wide receiver for me. I am going to go down with this ship. But I will say curb your expectations. In the playoffs in January, AJ finished with two receptions and 14 yards of a statline against the Rams. Squeaky wheel is going to get some oil. AJ Brown should be schemed up some targets and see some good usage in this game. Devonte Smith has also moved to a very low fringe wide receiver three range for me. Another guy who’s a little bit too risky. He’s on that fringe starting and if you have a better options, I am looking there. Dallas Gddard truly is the real winner here in this matchup and he is a start for me. He was back at practice this week and if he’s healthy, I believe he is a great option. This does also hurt AJ Brown and Smith. If Dallas Goddard can’t play, this elevates AJ and Smith a little bit. But every week I look at Goddard as a full reception, 40 yards kind of guy. I also see upside in this matchup for him. And this is why the Rams run cover three at 44% rate. In 2024, Goddard ran a crazy 3.21 yards per route round when facing cover three and had a 31% team target share per route run. If we do some just simple math here, Goddard should run around 30 routes, giving him around 13 routes run versus cover three, giving him about three to four receptions and 40 yards just for cover three. The math is telling us if he is healthy, he is a starter. We talked about that January game. He led all receivers in that playoff game based off of the Rams defense, which really hasn’t changed much since that since that game. Mathematically, Gddard just makes a whole lot of sense. If you have him, plug him in as a tight end option. Moving over to the Jets versus Buccaneers, the overunder for this game is 44 points. The Jets are projected to score 18.5 points. Tampa Bay is projected to score 24.5 points. Tyrod Taylor is a bench. Reese Hall is a starter for me due to his receiving upside. Bejon crushed Tampa Bay in week one. In week two, Woody Marks and Nick Chub both finished with three receptions on 66 yards, only 44 less yards than the receiving core that week. While Tyrod doesn’t really go out of his way to target running backs, there’s definitely value to be found in Bree’s receiving upside in a game that we expect the Jets to be playing behind from almost all game. Garrett Wilson is also a start. I’m looking at Taylor as an upgrade from Fields. He should scramble much less and you see a negative game script. I could see over 10 targets for him in this game. He’s just a volume play and the Bucks defense and their scheme is also favorable to Garrett Wilson which I love. I am benching everybody else though. For the Bucks, Baker’s a start even with another injury to his offensive line. I’m sorry, Bucks fans. Uh, it really isn’t going to get more difficult than the Houston pass rush that we saw last week. Bucky is a start. Imbuka and Mike Evans are starts. Kate Uton is a bench candidate for me. He is on the field 90 91% of offensive snaps and is running routes, but he only has 9% team target share and 9% first read target share. something to monitor, but I’m not starting him. Rashad White is also a bench. He’s only seeing around 30% of the opportunities. He’s very touchdown dependent. I am benching him, especially in the game script that we should see. Moving over to the Colts versus Titans. The overunder for this game is 43.5 points. The Colts are projected to score 23.5 points and Tennessee is projected to score 19.5 points. Daniel Jones is a start. I am starting him. I saw what I needed to see against Denver defense to make him a starting QB with upside. I’m gonna be honest, this might be a crazy take, but I like Daniel Jones moving forward. I could see him finishing the year as like a QB top top 10 quarterback, maybe even top five based on his rushing upside. I know that sounds crazy, but what we’ve seen out of this offense and just a team as a whole, it could be there for Daniel Jones. If you need a quarterback, pick him up. Jonathan Taylor is a start. Michael Pitman is a fringe start, and he does get elevated to a start if Tyler Warren is sidelineed. He is currently the second option on the team behind Warren. Tyler Warren is a starter if healthy. He’s seeing 25% team target share and 25% first read target share. Everyone else is a bench candidate. If Warren can’t play, Josh DS will absolutely see a increase in slot usage and target share, but he will be covered by Roger Mccuri, which really curbs his upside a bit. In deeper leagues, DS could absolutely be a streamer based on the situation with Warren. Or maybe he just finds value individually against this Titans defense. For the Titans, Cam Ward is a bench. He has no rushing upside. He needs to throw for 225 to 250 yards and at least two touchdowns every game in order for him to be fantasy relevant. Tony Pard is a start. 90% of offensive snap usage and 100% of running back opportunities, which is number one in the NFL, timed with Chase Brown. Don’t fade running back usage, even on a bad offense. Calvin Ridley is a low-end wide receiver, three flex start. He is still the number one wide receiver in this offense based on usage. The only thing that is missing currently is opportunities, and he’s had a couple tough matchups through the first two weeks. This will be the first matchup where we really see a Ridley in a situation where he should be able to produce. Everyone else is the bench. Felix showed promise last week, but I’m not ready to start him just yet. Moving over to the Raiders versus Washington. The overunder total for this game is 44 points. Raiders are projected to score 20.5 points and Washington is projected to score 23.5 points. For the Raiders, Gino Smith is the bench. Ashton Genty, Jacobe Meyers, and Brock Bowers are all starters. We’re just looking at volume for this game and hope that a touchdown sticks to one of them. Everybody else is a bench for the Commanders. If Jaden Daniels is healthy, he’s an obvious start. If he isn’t isn’t though, you ready for this? Marcus Mariota is a streamer. Risky streamer this week, but I like him. The Raiders have played zone at 90% rate only behind the Dallas Cowboys. Mariota has rushing upside. Last year when he stepped in, he had 16 carries for 90 yards and a touchdown in two games. While this is a super small sample size, this is optimistic and why I like him as a streaming option. Washington has plenty of weapons was his ruting upside to make him a streamer for me. Debo Terry are starters. Debo Samuel actually I think will benefit from this Raiders zone defense and concept. I like him over Terry if I had to decide between the two, but both are starters. Bill is also a starter, but I’m viewing him as a low-end running back three who has the potential to be a running back, too, and is touchdown dependent. Uh, this is why I know everybody’s high on the Eckler in injury, but Jeremy Nicholls immediately took over the third down and two-minute drill snaps last week when Eckler was hurt, and he did the same thing in five weeks through the season last year in 2024. During those five weeks in 2024, Ryan Robinson either did not see an increase in opportunities or he saw a small increase. Through those games, Brian Robinson averaged 12.18 PPR points per game, which is about running back 21 to 25 range and 11 point per game in half PPR, which is about 23, running back 23 to running back 30. We haven’t seen the increase. I know everybody’s saying he’s going to get all the receiving work and uh two-minute drill, but we do not know that. And history tells us that that is not going to happen. So, I’m curbing my upside for Bill. And I believe he’s a little bit more touchdown dependent than some of the other running backs, but he’s still a start in this game with a positive game script. Has been an enigma for me this year. He’s going in the start category due to his opportunities and volume he has seen. And I’m I’m probably going to get burned again with Z because I have not been able to iron down what this man is going to do. But I’m putting him in a start category for right now. Moving over to the Broncos at Chargers. The overunder for this game is 45.5 points. Denver is projected to score 21.5 points. The Chargers are projected to score 23.5 points. For the Broncos, Boicks is a low-end starter for me. He is creeping just outside the top 10. The Chargers are much more challenging matchup for the Broncos this week. We have seen them keep Kansas City to under 21 points. The Raiders to nine points. Bo does have his rushing upside. Mahomes almost had 60 yards in week one. There is opportunity there, but he is a low-end starter for me. Sutton is much more interesting. I’m going to agree with my counterpart Alex. If you didn’t see his short, he did a quick start sit column in a short. We give you some insight into some guys. But for me, I am also going to be benching Sutton. The Chargers play one of the highest too high safety rates in the league. Sutton does not perform well against two high safeties. We also saw Troy Franklin break out last week. And for me, if I had to decide between Franklin or Sutton this week, I’m firing up Franklin, which is super risky because Shawn Peyton is a madman and Franklin could see his opportunities just drop and cut in half. But Franklin is the underneath guy and he thrives when there’s a two high safety and we saw that last week. Franklin is on the field for opportunities. He really should be their main guy that they’re looking towards. This is a boom play. I’m looking for when it comes to Franklin versus Sutton. I’m looking upside versus floor here. Um, Sun can still obviously get it done with a touchdown because he is their main guy, but I just like the opportunity for Franklin based off of the scheme and based off of week two opportunity. And if Shawn Payeyton gets a little bit crazy and says, “No, we’re not using you. We’re going to split you with Marvin Mims or we’re giving Marvin Mims the nod to see what happens here.” Then it’s going to be a total bust. You know, we saw what we did last week, so we roll with what we have. JK Dobbins is a start as a middle tier kind of running back three range. If you have other options, go with him. While he did see the majority of opportunities, R.J. is starting to eat into his usage. Everyone else I am benching. Ingram is not seeing the usage we need to start the season. He is honestly a fringe drop candidate at this point. For the Chargers, Justin Herbert is a start. Even against an elite Broncos defense, the Chargers have been on fire. Not going to fade away from, you know, a a hot streak. The Chargers have been well overexpected when it comes to their pass rate. His most fantasy production on a per dropback basis has been against cover two and cover three, which is what the Chargers run about at a 57% rate. Amaran Hampton and Naji Harris are going to be a bench for me. The usage has been there for Hampton, but the production has just been non-existent, unfortunately. Naji has also ramped up his usage in the past two games. If you have other options, I would look there. Like many rookie running backs, you’re going to have to be patient with Hampton, too. Lad Mani, Keenan Allen are start candidates. Quinton Johnson is a much more flex and fringe start for me. Everyone else is getting benched. Moving over to the Saints versus the Seahawks. The overunder for this game is 41.5 points. New Orleans is 16.5 points and Seattle is 24.5 points. for the Saints. Spencer Rattler is a sit. Even though we saw him have three touchdowns last week, I’m not starting him. Alvin Kamar is a start because of the volume and just receiving upside. Chris Alave is also a start because he has seen 23 targets in two weeks, which is top three in the NFL. You want opportunities. Jawan Johnson is also a start. He has seen 97% usage in week one, 95% usage in week two, and he is actually the first read target for Rattler over a lav through these two weeks, which is insane. If you got Jawan, start him and you got to feel good about that tight end start. Everyone else though is a bench candidate for me due to usage or some combination of opportunities. For the Seahawks, Sam Darnold is getting benched even though it’s the Saints. Kenneth Walker and Zack Charbanet continue to be a slit backfield. Kenneth Walker came out on the better side last week and Sharb was out for two uh different practices at this point. He has a foot injury. Kenneth Walker is going to go absolutely ballistic this week. If Sharb cannot play start Kenneth Walker for JSN, he’s seeing the most ridiculous team target share we have ever seen. He’s a star obviously. Cooper Cup for me is a low-end flex wide receiver three with potential upside in PPR scoring, specifically PPR scoring. While I like Cup’s value, I’m continue to look elsewhere if I can, but he could be a fringe potential starter. AJ Barner, Tory Hull are our bench candidates. Cardinals versus Ner. The overunder for this game is 45.5 points. Arizona is projected to score 21.5 points and San Francisco is projected to score 23.5 points. For the Cardinals, Kyler Murray is a fringe starter. He has plenty of weapons and rushing upside. This is what we want to see in a guy that is a flyer. He’s finished with over 20 points 40% of the time through his last 20 games. He does get a tough Nerin draw, but he’s a fringe starter for me. Marvin Harrington Jr., same situation. He is a starter. He’s floating around wide receiver, low wide receiver two, wide receiver three range for me. Marvin Harrison Jr. is still the wide receiver two and should be viewed like that until something changes. McBride is dominating team target share and first read looks. He’s sitting at 40%. The ners play a cover three, cover four, and cover six as their main combination of defensive schemes so far this year, but they have played 20% cover one. In 2024, this was the one coverage that Marvin Harrison Jr. saw the most targets, had higher team target share, higher first read target, better yards per route run, and almost every other statistic revealed data points that was better than Trey McBride. I am hoping he finds some success this week against that specific coverage. From now, he’s staying in my start category. Trey McBride is an obvious starter. James Carer is also a start. We haven’t seen any indication that Trey Benson is going to be taking snaps from him at this point. He is still considered a running back, too. I know the opportunities look bad the past two weeks, but all of the actual snaps and what he’s playing on the field, Benson has not taken any of James Conor snaps. When we look at the actual data and we do a deep dive, I’m starting James Connor. Moving over to the Cowboys versus the Bears. The overunder for this game is a massive, massive 50.5 points. The Cowboys are projected to score right around 24.5 points. And the boys are Bears are also projected to score right around 24.5 points. To save some time, I’m just gonna going to run through almost everyone. Dak Prescott, CD Lamb, Javvante Win Williams, George Pickkins, Turd Ferguson are all getting the start for me for the Cowboys. Caleb Williams, Roma Dun, DJ Moy are all starters. I will personally be streaming Caleb this week in one of my leagues with the DJ Moore stack. I also think Caleb has the potential to be a top five quarterback this week based on the shootout that is expected. I do see it there based on this opportunity. DeAndre Swift is a low-end running back two, high-end running back three based on usage and opportunities. Cole KT and Lovelin are getting benched. What I will say is KT outnapped and ran more routes than Lovelin last week. But I really don’t want to have anything to do with this tight end situation right now. KT could be a low-end fringe stream just because of the game script of this game. But we don’t really know what’s going to happen from an opportunity standpoint. Moving over to the Chiefs versus Giants, the overunder total for this game is 44.5 points. Kansas City projected to score 25.5 points and the Giants are projected to score 19.5 points. Russell Wilson is a bench for me. Of the other streaming options, like Caleb for example or Mariota, I feel like there’s better options out there. He is intriguing if he’s def desperate. I don’t see him putting up another 450 yards against that Chief’s defense. Tyrone Tracy is a bench candidate after last week. So is Cam. Uh I believe that we will see Cam as the running back one, but this will probably be a split back split backfield for the most part this week. This is a little too risky for me, so I’m benching both of them. Avers is a start volume is a lowend wide receiver three, wide receiver four for me, and maybe a potential wide receiver in deeper leagues after what we saw last week. They let Wandelle finally do something more than just take five yard crossers. Is this the new Giants? I really don’t know. Or was he just propped up by 450 yards passing? Either way, unless you’re desperate, I’m not firing up Wando. As for the Chiefs, I am starting Patrick Mahomes. I will be sitting Isaiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt. The split backfield and the usage does not look great. Hollywood Brown, Juju Smith Schustster are also bench candidates for me. uh due to the game script, maybe they see some opportunities, but we saw we’ve seen a lot of mixed bag out of those two as well as out of Mahomes spreading the ball around. The only starter other than Mahomes for me is Travis Kelce. He’s on the field. He’s seeing opportunities. He’s seeing red zone looks. He’s seeing slot roll. That’s all I need. Starting Travis Kelce. Moving over to the Monday night game, the Lions versus the Ravens. The overunder for this game is 52.5 points. Detroit is projected to score 23.5 points. Baltimore is projected to score 28.5 points for the Lions. This might be an unpopular opinion, but I am streaming golf against the Ravens. The Ravens have run man coverage at a league high top seven at 38% through two weeks. They’ve run cover one at 34% and one high safeties at 58% of the time. When playing against man coverage, golf averages 1.03 points per drop back. If he can find one touchdown through the air, he should be able to put up at least 20 point performance and how well he has played against man coverage. We also expect this to be a shootout. Ravens are favored, so we should see more of a passing attack from the Lions this week. I am starting Gibbs. Monty for me is a low-end running back three and he’s just too touchdown dependent, but he’s still in that fringe start category. I’m Ross St. Brown start. I am also starting Laaporta, but I would like to note in 2024 his worst production coverage as a tight end was against cover one. Leaporta has been much more involved this year though than in 2024. I’m not stressing about that too much. I am starting Laaporta. Jameson Williams is also a deep flex wide receiver for for me in that range. Uh maybe he could creep into wide receiver three territory. JMO is on the field but he just hasn’t been getting many looks. He only has a 13% team target share and 13% first looks off has been looking elsewhere. He is the third option in this passing attack and he’s averaging 4.5 targets a game while also facing a test tough secondary matchup. If I had an option, I would bench him and try to look elsewhere. This could be a shootout. JO could see plenty of value and opportunities, but based on what we’ve seen over the past couple weeks, I’m a little hesitant for the Ravens. Lamar, King Henry, and Zay Flowers are all starters. Until we see Zay come back down to Planet Earth, you need to ride the hot hand. He’s going to be in the lineup. Everyone else I am benching. Even Mark Andrews, while week two was optimistic with the 80% offensive snap usage from him, up from 50% in week two, he has not been involved. I mean, need a couple weeks of good matchups to consider starting him confidently. He could again have a great showing this week against the Lions that we expect to shoot out, but he just has not been involved in the opportunities. Even though we see an uptick in his usage, I’m much more hesitant to start Andrews. And of the streaming tight ends that I shared earlier, I would much rather do that. All right. Well, that’s it. If you like what you heard, give us a like and subscribe. If not, I just appreciate y’all hanging out. And until next time, go steal a championship later.