Who To Start, Sit, And Scoop Up For Your Week 3 Fantasy Football Lineup

Just when you’re easing into the NFL season, half of the top starting running backs in the league get hurt, Aaron Rodgers has the worst game of his career, the Giants and New Orleans have a shockingly low-scoring game and Sam Bradford emerges as a force. We know nothing. No one knows anything. All we can do is make an informed decision and hopefully these stats and highlights will help guide you to a win. This is your Stefon Diggs-themed Week 3 fantasy primer.

Start of the Week

Julio Jones: He was dealing with a tweaked ankle in Week 1, now he’s nursing a strained calf, but his Monday night matchup against New Orleans should prove to be fruitful. Yeah, everyone was off on their predictions of a points orgy between the Giants/Saints, but even though the touchdowns were low, the yards were there. Sterling Shephard had 8 catches for 117 yards, Victor Cruz had 4 for 91, and Odell Beckham Jr. had 8 for 86. Julio is going to get his, and unlike the Giants receivers, he’s going to see the end zone.

Start/Sit

Aaron Rodgers: Yes, Aaron Rodgers was relatively awful Sunday night. He was pressured by the Vikings early and often and he also took unnecessary risks. But make no mistake, Rodgers and the Packers will make the proper adjustments and deliver against the Lions at home in Week 3. Sure, he hasn’t thrown for 300 yards since Week 10 of last year. Yes, gone 14 games with a passer rating under 100, but he’s still Aaron Rodgers. Don’t. Get. Cute.

Matt Ryan: Ryan appears to be playing his best football in years. Julio Jones may have and injured ankle/calf, but Jacob Tamme is catching everything and Mohamed Sanu seems to be keeping defenses far more honest than Roddy White or Harry Douglas ever could. The fact is that this game very well could be a shootout, and you want a piece of that. Ryan also leads the NFL in passer rating with 121.4, and has the second-most touchdowns and passing yards (730-5).

Marcus Mariota: The Raiders have allowed the No. 1 passing game in both weeks 1 and 2. Even if they suddenly right the ship, there’s no reason to think Mariota won’t at least put up a decent game for the Tom Brady/Tyrod Taylor/Andy Dalton owner who is streaming QBs. Mariota is averaging a completely serviceable 25/37, 250, 2 TD, 1 interception line. Good for those who want to bench Bortles or Jameis Winston, even.

Tyrod Taylor: He burned me when I benched him against the Jets, and the Bills offensive coordinator was fired after the game, so right now I just want nothing to do with TyGod. He’s far too volatile. He may put up 30 points again this week, or 10. There are other options out there.

Andy Dalton: Apparently Dalton was limping badly after the game. This week, he gets Denver. Denver is eating QBs for lunch, and those QBs are healthy until they get through with them. Just last week Luck was held to near single-digit points against them. No thanks.

Blake Bortles: His garbage time magic is not what it used to be, and he had to regress to the mean sometime, now in Week 3 he plays the Ravens at home which could be a fine play, and it he’s good for a 300+ yard game, but there are options out there that could be safer (Matt Ryan, etc). Why deal with a guy who looks like he’s regressed and is prone to turnovers (3 in two weeks)? Leagues with 10 or 12 teams can find alternates.

First off, let’s list the injured RBs from Week 2. We cannot supply a barf bag. Read at your own risk:

• Adrian Peterson — out at least four weeks, and possibly the season, with a torn meniscus.

• Doug Martin — MRI on Tuesday.

• Ameer Abdullah — X-rays negative, will be evaluated on Tuesday.

• Jonathan Stewart — out at least two weeks with a hamstring injury. Fozzy Whittaker will start.

• Thomas Rawls — was kicked in the leg and has a contusion. His X-ray came back negative, but monitor his situation. Christine Michael could be in for a big workload if he’s out.

• Arian Foster — day to day with a groin injury, the same groin (obviously) that he tore off the bone last year. Just stay away from Foster. He’s a great player, but isn’t worth worrying about.

• Danny Woodhead – out with a torn ACL.

Melvin Gordon: Let’s do this, Melvin. This is why you’re here. Danny Woodhead is out of the picture, and you carried the rock 24 times for 102 yards and a touchdown against Jacksonville. You also caught 3 balls for 18 yards, and while you may not get 27 touches a week, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t go below 20, and you know this. The Colts have a crap defense, and Gordon is facing New Orleans and Oakland coming up before facing Denver. He’s a start from here on out. Forget last year.

Matt Forte: Volume. Volume. Volume. Forte is getting it. For whatever reason, the Jets don’t want Bilal Powell to touch the ball. Powell had 1 catch for 1 yard, and 1 rush for 1 yard. Forte had 30 carries for 100 yards and 3 TDs, adding 2 catches for 9 yards through the air. The YPC is no bueno, but he’s the red zone back and getting plenty of work in a pretty sweet offense. Ride this wave for as long as you can, because it has to end sometime.

https://twitter.com/SotoSportsTv/status/776622274191384577

DeMarco Murray: He busted off a 67-yarder, which kind of makes his 12 rush, 89-yard day look way better than it was, but Murray also caught all 7 of his targets for 53 yards. He’s pretty much locked into 20 touches a week, and the Raiders defense is just a siev right now. If you have him, this is the week to play him.

Jamaal Charles/Spencer Ware: Charles is coming back, so who knows what’s going to happen in the KC backfield. Andy Reid prefers to use a featured back, but he’d also be foolish to rush back Charles from a torn ACL. That means split carries, people. Split touches in general. Ware has done a lot with that he’s been given, but no one should be comfortable with starting him this week.

Eddie Lacy: In 2003, Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier (Dancer in the Dark, Melancholia) released what I consider his best film — The Five Obstructions. In it, von Trier challenges his mentor, Jørgen Leth, to recreate his 1967 short film The Perfect Human five times, each with a certain set of rules or “obstructions” put in place. Despite the changes, the film is always essentially the same. A nip here, a tuck there, it even may look different, but the theme is always the same.

This is basically Eddie Lacy. Maybe he’ll look different, maybe he’ll sound different. Maybe those around him will sound different. Still, Eddie will be Eddie. We have to stop pretending Fat Eddie/Skinny Eddie/Young Eddie/Jordy Nelson Eddie/Diary-Free Eddie are going to be 2013 Eddie. He’s going to average just over 13 rushes a game (he’ll have big games here and there), have 4.1 YPC, catch 1-2 passes a game at best, and maybe score here and there. But he’s just not going to be someone you can depend on as a top 24 or even top 30 RB at this point. He has 111 yards, 1 catch, and 0 TDs through 2 games. His Minnesota matchup is enticing this week, but you really probably have better a better option. Maybe you’re the Charles Sims owner or something.

I used to love you, Eddie. Writing this depressed me. Here’s a Stefon Diggs route to cheer everyone up:

Jay Ajayi: Arian Foster is likely out, so Jay Ajayi steps up. Last year he was being groomed as the next in line, but then the Dolphins went out and got Arian Foster who couldn’t make it through two games without getting hurt. Ajayi was a healthy scratch in Week 1 and has 5 carries for 14 yards, which is concerning, but luckily he had four catches for 31 yards to save the stat line. Do you want to play him with rookie Kenyan Drake getting the goal line work? Cleveland is enticing, but maybe you should target him on the waiver wire then see how everything plays out.

Stefon Diggs: Last year he was a sexy up and comer. Sunday night against Green Bay, he finally had his coming out party. This kid is Minnesota’s star now. Sorry, AP. Diggs just had a 9-182-2 line and made it look easy against a solid Packers D. How about we let Twitter take over this analysis for a bit:

https://twitter.com/JoshNorris/status/777679654773817344

Embrace the beauty in full motion video:

In a perfect world, everything about that play is recreated in a VR simulation so I can live inside it and grow old, hooked up to an IV. Let’s watch again.

Like, he really, actually digs too. How can you not root for someone who gets so meta?

.@stefon_diggs celebrates the touchdown by … yep, digging. #GBvsMIN #SKOL pic.twitter.com/NDgkVOTfbH

— NFL (@NFL) September 19, 2016

Yeah, he’s playing Carolina this week, but he’s a solid flex play with so many injuries to the RB position.

Demaryius Thomas/Emmanuel Sanders: This is based purely on the “squeaky wheel” theory. When big time offensive players complain, they typically get fed, and the Denver Dynamic Duo aren’t happy with the offense:

“You’ve got two guys … damn, the best duo in the league, and we haven’t had 100 yards in a game yet. He’s got, what, eight catches? I’ve got nine. I mean…”

Let’s hope this leads to something. Thomas is averaging only 6.5 targets through 2 weeks, and hasn’t seen the end zone. He’s used to double that.

Travis Benjamin: Okay, we saw the San Diego offense with Travis Benjamin as the No. 1 receiver, and without Danny Woodhead for most of the game, and everything worked out fine. The Chargers blew out the Jags, and Benjamin caught 6 of 6 targets for 115 yards and 2 touchdowns. Tyrell Williams saw just as many targets as Benjamin, but only caught 3 (and a TD). It seems like there might be a nice floor of 6 targets in what’s still a nice offense for Benjamin.

Golden Tate: I’m not sure what’s going on with Golden Tate. I don’t know if anyone knows what’s going on with Golden Tate. Even Jim Bob Cooter. Tate saw 9 targets against the Titans on Sunday, but only hauled in 2 for 13 yards. He’s being used around the line of scrimmage and the whole situation kind of sucks. He looks like Percy Harvin in Seattle (after the injury). Maybe his ankle is still bothering him, but he’s currently YAC-less and that’s what he needs to be great.

Sammy Watkins: This kind of goes without being said, but I feel like it’s a good reminder to just sit Sammy for now, even if you’re seeing Buffalo putting up 30 points on the Jets. Watkins saw 5 targets on his sore foot, good for a 16.7 percent team target share, but only caught 2 passes for 20 yards. It’s clear he’s not right. Just chill on him.

Corey Coleman: You may look at his stat line of 5-104-2 and his 24.2 percent target share and want a piece, but he has Cody Kessler under center, and now is not the week to get cute.

Delanie Walker: He had a solid 6-83-1 line on Sunday against Detroit, and is averaging 5.5 targets per game. This week, he’s got the worst passing defense in the league in the Raiders. This will likely end up a shootout, and Mr. Walker should benefit from guns-a-blazin’.

Dennis Pitta: 12 targets, 9 catches, and 102 yards. That’s all you need to know. Pitta is back after dislocating his hip over 2 years ago, and he’s going to be leaned on heavily in the Ravens offense. He looked good, and he still only saw 46 of 75 snaps. Can you believe he was the only TE who saw over 10 targets this week?

Jacob Tamme: Somehow, despite being in an offense with Julio Jones and the suddenly relevant Mohamed Sanu, Tamme is out targeting all of Matt Ryan’s receivers. It’s time we all pay attention to Tamme as a real PPR option. Hell, even a standard option.

Gary Barnidge: Josh McCown played through a shoulder injury to deliver 4 passes to Gary Barnidge for 37 yards. Now McCown is out, Barnidge is has a ceiling of 5 targets, and everything is wrong in Cleveland. Maybe even Corey Coleman. Just stay away. It’s time to not even sit Barnidge, but dump him and pick up Pitta or Tamme.

Vance McDonald: Disregard the big plays and the high efficiency ratings, you want nothing to do with a Blaine Gabbert offense. This week, Vance McDonald had 1 catch for 75 yards and a touchdown. Last week, he had 2 catches for 14 yards and a touchdown. This weird penchant for touchdowns cannot continue.

Jesse James: He caught a touchdown last week, which you like, but he’s one of the lowest-graded overall players per Pro Football Focus due to his atrocious blocking. How much action is he going to get, especially with dump-off king Le’Veon Bell coming back next week? That guy needs blocking, not a 4th option downfield for Ben Roethlisberger.

Waiver Wire

NE WR Chris Hogan: I tried putting it off, but it’s clear that Bill Belichick has found another scrappy wide receiver to play with. Hogan played 63 snaps, the same as Julian Edelman, and finished with a 4-59 line. Yes, he’s in trouble without Jimmie G. under center, but when Brady comes back he could be a playmaker.

MIN WR Stefon Diggs: Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!

CAR RB Cameron Artis-Payne: Fozzy Whittaker is banged up and J-Stew is out for at least a week or two, and bowling ball Mike Tolbert is defined in his role, so it falls on CAP.

MIN RB Jerick McKinnon/Matt Asiata: Adrian Peterson is out, which leaves it to these two. McKinnon is owned in over 20 percent of leagues, while Asiata is hovering around 2 percent. The team seems to trust both backs, so you’ll have to grab both to be safe.

NE WR Danny Amendola: Through two games, Amendola is the 19th-highest scorer in standard leagues. That’s crazy, and when Gronk comes back, he’s the one who’ll suffer most, but no one can take away the fact that through two games, Amendola is the 19th-highest scorer in standard leagues. Stash him in deep leagues.

MIA RB Jay Ajayi: Surprisingly owned in just over 60 percent of leagues. See the write up above.

NYJ WR Quincy Enunwa: Thursday was so long ago! Here’s a reminder to get a guy who has 13-146-1 through 2 games. And Brandon Marshall is hurt. If he’s out, that’s 9 targets that need to go somewhere. Decker is nursing his shoulder, too.

And so, that’s the end of this week’s wrap up and WAIT, REAL QUICK LOOK AT HOW STEFON DIGGS IS QUARTERBACK-PROOF: