Start/Sit for Week 3
Ed. Note: This column was authored by HMF Guest Columnist Dan Mattox
Every week I ATTEMPT to bring you solid, no nonsense advice on who to start and sit outside of the obvious choices. I stress ATTEMPT, because Week 2 was an unmitigated disaster. Fantasy football SHOULD be easier, right? Start your studs, make a good dart throw pick here and there, and pay attention. Unfortunately, my Week 2 dart throws were about as accurate as Andy Capps after a long night in the pub. What to do? Man up, dig a little deeper, and evaluate where I went wrong!
MISSES
QB Carson Wentz, Eagles. Yuck. Bad receivers, terribly inaccurate, like this pick.
RB Benny Snell, Steelers. Apparently its #snellno until (when) James Conner gets hurt.
RB Sony Michel, Patriots. He looks as old and slow as a Sony Betamax.
WR Emmanuel Sanders, Saints. Hard to tell if Brees is near the end or Sanders just plain sucks.
WR Anthony Miller, Bears. He played behind someone named Darnell Mooney. Bears are worst 2-0 team ever and Matt Nagy is a horrible coach.
TE OJ Howard, Buccaneers. What can I say? Should’ve known better.
TE Eric Ebron, Steelers. Clearly that huge year in Indianapolis was an outlier. Yuck.
QB Russell Wilson, Seahawks. My thought process was solid as Wilson only had 28 attempts, but he was crazy efficient and put up week-winning numbers.
RB James Robinson, Jaguars. When the Jags cut Len Fournette, i thought they were tanking. But apparently Robinson is good.
RB Miles Sanders, Eagles. Slow start but great finish in a losing cause.
RB Melvin Gordon, Broncos. Not a great overall day, but a score through the air helped. It’s a miss.
WR D.J. Moore, Panthers. Big day reestablishing himself as Carolina’s 1A.
HITS
QB Joe Burrow, Bengals. Took 60+ attempts but hard to argue with 300+ and three touchdowns.
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, Dolphins. 300+ and 2 in a losing effort. HIT.
RB Len Fournette, Buccaneers. Ripped off the big touchdown run to save his day.
WR Brandin Cooks, Texans. 5 for 95 not a standout game, but depending on scoring format I take it as a hit.
WR Henry Ruggs, Raiders. Until Carr figures out how to throw to anyone but Darren Waller, Ruggs is gonna be a sit.
WR Sammy Watkins, Chiefs. Sure, he had a head injury forcing him out, but it probably took a head injury to put him in your starting lineup.
With Week 2 hopefully in the distant rear view, time to adjust the mirror, change the radio station and present the week three prognostications.
STARTS
QB Gardner Minshew, Dolphins @ Jaguars. Minshew Mania is in full effect. He’s mobile, smart, and accurate. Plus, he has an underrated cast of skill players. Roll him out and watch the fun Thursday night.
QB Jared Goff, Rams @ Bills. Goff has been very quietly good. Buffalo can score so Goff has potential for 300 and multiple touchdowns.
QB Carson Wentz, Bengals @ Eagles. The classic “get right” game for Wentz. If he cant feast on the ‘My Pillow” soft Bengal defense then might be time to cut bait.
RB Darrell Henderson, Rams @ Bills. The former 3rd round pick looked fast, decisive and every bit what they hoped he’d be. A factor in the passing game as well. Huge upside with Akers likely out and Brown nursing a bum pinky.
RB Ronald Jones, Buccaneers @ Broncos. Literally nothing to support this “start” with other than the gut feeling Bruce Arians runs the classic misdirection and pounds Jones instead of Fournette.
RB Jeff Wilson, 49ers @ Giants. With the injury to Raheem Mostert, Jet McKinnon and Wilson are the only viable backs on the roster. McKinnon has never been a high volume or goal line back. He should flash but count on Wilson for 15-20 touches and a touchdown.
WR Allen Robinson, Bears @ Falcons. If ARob cant get off in a shootout against the awful Falcon secondary, well I blame Matt Nagy and Mitch Trubisky, but definitely time to panic.
WR CeeDee Lamb, Cowboys @ Seahawks. Lamb is quickly becoming the WR1 in Dallas. He finds the end zone this week.
WR DeMarcus Robinson, Chiefs @ Ravens. Perhaps more of a true dart throw, but slippery fingers Robinson would’ve been on everyone’s roster had he pulled down a couple drops last week. He will against the Ravens.
TE Jonnu Smith, Titans @ Vikings. Smith is a true YAC stud who is the Titans top threat as long as Brown is out.
TE Tyler Eifert, Dolphins @ Jaguars. Eifert is becoming a nice security blanket for Savage Gardner.
TE Dalton Schultz, Cowboys @ Seahawks. Filled in nicely for the injured Blake Jarwin last week. Grab him now before he’s gone.
SITS
QB Mitch Trubisky, Bears @ Falcons. Sure, if you like 225 yards and one touchdown, he’s your guy. Otherwise stay away.
QB Derek Carr, Raiders @ Patriots. “Dink and dunking” donuts Carr will struggle to keep up with Cam and the suddenly potent Patriot air game.
QB Baker Mayfield, Washington @ Browns. Yes Baker looked good last week, but the Bengals never got close enough to smell Mayfields Drakkar Noir. Washington will be in his pocket like IRS agents.
RB Austin Ekeler, Panthers @ Chargers. Yes Carolina is gawd awful on defense, but the phasing out of Ekeler and transition into Josh Kelley means bad things for Ekeler.
RB Melvin Gordon, Buccaneers @ Broncos. After a decent showing against the Steelers, my gut tells me that Tampa will light up the scoreboard and force Denver to rely on Jeff Driskel.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Chiefs @ Ravens. The stellar Week 1 from Edwards-Helaire will look like an outlier after facing the Ravens defense.
WR Robby Anderson, Panthers @ Chargers. Anderson has been a fantasy darling through two weeks, but the stingy Charger defense will slow his roll.
WR AJ Green, Bengals @ Eagles. AJ looks slow and old, Burrow cant find him deep and Cincy has other weapons. Looks like a Boyd/Mixon week.
WR Terry McLaurin, Washington @ Browns. Denzel Ward negated AJ Green last week. McLaurin is very good but he wont fare any better with Dwayne Haskins chucking ducks his way.
TE Darren Waller, Raiders @ Patriots. The dark lord will find a way to scheme out the Raiders only real receiving threat.
TE OJ Howard, Buccaneers @ Broncos. Don’t feel like I should have to say this, but I learned my lesson on Howard. Drop in all formats.
TE Evan Engram, 49ers @ Giants. With no running game to speak of, the Giants will need to keep Engram in to block or Danny Dimes might get murdered.
There you have it, all the most accurate start/sits for Week Three. If they aren’t i will formally apologize and try again Week Four. I cant be wrong every week, right?