Fantasy Football: Start or sit for NFL Week 3

Fantasy football starts and sits for Week 3 of the 2020 NFL season.

Week 3 of the 2020 NFL season is here and, with the myriad of injuries that Week 2 brought us, some fantasy football managers may be looking at a roster much worse than the one they drafted.

We saw Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey, who were consensus top two picks in drafts, both suffer injuries, with Barkley’s being season-ending. However, we also saw some promising performances in Week 2, with Baker Mayfield and rookie Joe Burrow putting both putting on a show on Thursday Night Football and rookie quarterback Justin Herbert almost beating Patrick Mahomes in his debut game.

With that being said, here are some of the players you should care about for your fantasy football lineup, with some lesser owned players to fill potential injury spots, as well as those who are likely to underperform in Week 3.

Note: All fantasy stats info via Fantasy Pros.   

Fantasy Football Starts for Week 3

QB Gardner Minshew II, Jacksonville (vs. Miami)

Through two weeks, Minshew is currently the QB11 and has thrown for six touchdowns. More impressively, he has done so against two solid defenses in Indianapolis and Tennessee. Now he draws a juicy Thursday night matchup against Miami, who just gave up a monster game to Josh Allen. Minshew has proven that he has the talent to be an NFL starter as well as provide fantasy value in plus matchups.

Projection: 314 yards, 2 touchdowns, 30 rushing yards, 23.6 fantasy points. 

QB Ryan Tannehill, Tennessee (vs. Minnesota)

In a situation similar to Gardner Minshew’s, Tannehill is currently sitting as the QB9 through two weeks. In Week 3, he gets to play the Vikings, whose defense has appeared lost thus far. It would certainly help Tannehill’s value if A.J. Brown can recover from his injury but he was still able to toss four touchdowns in his absence in Week 2.

Projection: 259 yards, 3 touchdowns, 16 rushing yards, 24.0 fantasy points. 

RB David Montgomery, Chicago (vs. Atlanta）

Montgomery put up a nice game in Week 2, amassing 127 total yards and a touchdown. Though it is still unclear if this is the new normal for Montgomery or just an outlier, his chances to put up a repeat performance in Week 3 look promising, as he draws a plus matchup against an Atlanta defense that has given up 78 points through two weeks.

Projection: 109 total yards, 1 touchdown, 4 receptions, 18.9 fantasy points. 

RB Joshua Kelley, Los Angeles (vs. Carolina)

Kelley has been one of the bigger rookie surprises thus far, seeing 35 rushing attempts through the first two weeks.  Even though his teammate Austin Ekeler has been more efficient with his touches, Kelley is a lock for 15+ touches against a pitiful Carolina defense that has given up six rushing touchdowns thus far.

Projection: 80 total yards, 1 touchdown, 1 reception, 14.5 fantasy points. 

WR Diontae Johnson Pittsburgh (vs. Houston)

Through two weeks, Johnson is tied for second in the NFL in targets, yet is only the WR19. It appears that he is Ben Roethlisberger’s favorite target, though those just looking at fantasy points may be inclined to think it is JuJu Smith-Schuster.

However, Smith-Schuster has come down with 93 percent of his targets, while Johnson has only caught 61 percent. If Roethlisberger continues to target him at this rate and he is able to catch a higher percent, Johnson has a legitimate chance at a WR1 finish.

Projection: 7 receptions, 92 yards, 1 touchdown, 18.7 fantasy points. 

TE Mike Gesicki, Miami (vs. Jacksonville)

Gesicki finally had the breakout game owners were looking for in Week 2, catching eight of 11 targets for 130 yards and a touchdown. In Week 3, he draws a great matchup against Jacksonville but due to the way Miami runs their offense and is usually playing from behind, he has the chance to be one of the best tight ends outside of the top 5.

Projection: 6 receptions, 84 yards, 1 touchdown, 17.4 fantasy points. 

Fantasy Football Sits for Week 3

QB Drew Brees, New Orleans (vs. Green Bay)

Brees has now put up two disappointing weeks to start the season, and it was clear in Week 2 that he was not the same quarterback without Michael Thomas, with the offense being mainly run through Alvin Kamara, who amassed 174 total yards. With Thomas’s status up in the air, Brees is a quarterback to avoid in Week 3, especially with all the attractive streaming options.

Projection: 279 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, 14.2 fantasy points. 

RB David Johnson, Houston (vs. Pittsburgh)

Johnson put up a weak performance in Week 2, only gaining 50 yards on 13 touches. To be fair, he got 100 percent of his team’s touches in the backfield, but it was against a stout Baltimore defense and the game script was not really in his favor.

Week 3 doesn’t get much better, as he draws a matchup against an elite Pittsburgh run defense. Considering he offers little upside, Johnson should be benched this week unless you have no other options.

Projection: 69 total yards, 4 receptions, 8.9 fantasy points. 

WR Jerry Jeudy, Denver (vs. Tampa Bay)

With Courtland Sutton suffering a season-ending injury in Week 2, some may be tempted to immediately slide Jeudy into their lineup. However, the Broncos are also going to be without quarterback Drew Lock for a few weeks due to a shoulder injury. All that considered, there are very few paths that end with the Broncos competing with Tampa Bay, meaning the best-case scenario for Jeudy is he gets some garbage time work.

Projection: 5 receptions, 60 yards, 8.5 fantasy points. 

TE Chris Herndon, New York (vs Indianapolis)

Herndon put up a dud in Week 2, catching only one pass for five yards. With the injuries to the Jet’s backfield and receiving core, it only seemed logical that Herndon would be the prime beneficiary.

However, the Jets are just too bad of a team for anything logical to come to fruition, so, naturally, Chris Hogan and Braxton Berrios led the team in targets in Week 2. There are very few situations where you are going to want to start a single Jets player for the rest of the season.

Projection: 3 receptions, 32 yards, 4.7 fantasy points.