Top starts, sits and sleepers in fantasy football for Week 3

After a Week 1 dud, Dak Prescott came back strong with a 22 fantasy point performance last Sunday against the New York Giants, and he gets another fantastic matchup this weekend. The Chicago Bears allowed a league-high 9.8 pass yards per attempt and seven passing touchdowns through the first two weeks of the season, and they allowed both Jared Goff (34 points) and J.J. McCarthy (22.2) to have big fantasy days against them. It won’t get any easier for this defense without their star cornerback Jaylon Johnson, who will miss time due to a groin injury. Prescott should have no trouble finishing as a top-five fantasy quarterback in Week 3. 

Sleeper QB of the Week: Drake Maye (vs. PIT) 

The Pittsburgh Steelers defense was expected to be the stronger unit headed into the season, but it have been a complete pushover. In Week 1, the Steelers allowed Justin Fields to finish with 29.5 fantasy points, and then in Week 2, they allowed Sam Darnold to throw for 295 yards and two touchdowns on their home field. Not only is the Steelers defense suspect against the pass, but they have been gashed on the ground. Drake Maye has shown good rushing upside throughout his career with 30-plus yards on the ground in more than 50% of his starts. Maye had a big fantasy day last Sunday against the Miami Dolphins, and he should continue to find success this weekend in another soft matchup

Ice QB Start of the Week: Jordan Love (at CLE) 

Jordan Love has been playing solid football this season, but through two weeks, he is averaging a modest 18 fantasy points per game with a 16- and 21-point performance. The Cleveland Browns have a great defense at home and held Joe Burrow to just 8.8 points in Week 1. At home, the Browns allowed just two quarterbacks to score 20-plus fantasy points in 2024, Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley, who each had over 40 rush yards in the game. Unfortunately, Love offers very little upside on the ground. I expect this to be a defensive battle between the Packers and Browns with limited fantasy points to go around for either offense. 

Running Backs 

Fire RB Start of the Week: Jacory Croskey-Merritt (at LV) 

With the unfortunate news that Austin Ekeler tore his Achilles, Croskey-Merritt will see a large workload in the Washington Commanders‘ backfield moving forward. After a very efficient NFL debut with 10 carries for 82 yards and a touchdown, Croskey-Merritt saw just four carries for 17 yards in his second game. Don’t be worried, it was a very tough matchup against the Green Bay Packers‘ defense and a terrible game script for rushing opportunities due to the Packers taking a big lead early. The Commanders, with or without Jayden Daniels, should be able to remain in control in their matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders this weekend, which will allow Croskey-Merritt a ton of opportunity in what is expected to be his first NFL start.

Sleeper RB of the Week: Tyler Allgeier (at CAR)

Atlanta Falcons’ star running back Bijan Robinson is going to have a field day against the Carolina Panthers‘ rush defense. Still, there should also be plenty of room for Tyler Allgeier to put up good production as well. Last season, Allgeier averaged 88.5 scrimmage yards and 14.4 fantasy points per game in his two matchups against the Panthers. In a big win against the Minnesota Vikings late week, Allgeier was given the duty to close out the game — he finished with 16 carries for 76 yards and a touchdown. I would not be surprised if the Falcons have a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter again this Sunday, and Allgeier stacks up yards late in the game. 

Ice RB Start of the Week: Omarion Hampton (vs. DEN)

The hype surrounding Hampton heading into his rookie season is starting to fade after a couple of poor performances to start his NFL career. Due to a combination of teammate Najee Harris getting healthy, plus his own inefficiencies, Hampton saw his snaps and touches drop significantly from Week 1 to Week 2. He earned just eight carries last weekend in a positive game script against the Las Vegas Raiders. It seems that the Chargers’ backfield is going to utilize a committee approach for the foreseeable future. With expected limited work, Hampton will have to find the end zone to offer much fantasy upside, but the Denver Broncos have yet to allow a rushing touchdown to a running back this season. 

Wide Receivers

Fire WR Start of the Week: Nico Collins  (at JAX)

Nico Collins and the entire Houston Texans offense have struggled so far this season, but they should be able to get things going against a very weak Jacksonville Jaguars secondary. The Jaguars have allowed the third-most fantasy points to the wide receiver position since the start of the 2024 season — they have allowed 13 receivers to score more than 18 fantasy points in a game in that span, including Collins twice. In his two matchups against the Jaguars last season, Collins combined for 20 receptions for 270 yards and a touchdown. 

Sleeper WR Start of the Week: Elic Ayomanor (vs. IND)

Tennessee Titans’ fourth-round pick, Elic Ayomanor, is leading all rookie wide receivers with a 23.2% team target share this year. First round picks, Tetairoa McMillan (21.8%), Travis Hunter (20.0), and Emeka Egbuka (19.7%)  are the only other rookie WRs with a target share greater than 10% this season. Ayomanor has had at least six targets in both his first two NFL games and put up a solid performance with 56 yards and a touchdown in Week 2. The Indianapolis Colts are dealing with injuries in their secondary, as Jaylon Jones is on injured reserve and Charvarius Ward is in concussion protocol. Ayomanor could see a heavy dose of Xavien Howard in coverage, who struggled greatly against the Denver Broncos receivers in Week 2. 

Ice WR Starts of the Week: Drake London (at CAR)

The connection between Drake London and Michael Penix Jr. that we saw at the end of last season has totally disappeared. London has just 104 receiving yards on 19 targets and is averaging a measly 9.5 yards per reception this season while also failing to find the end zone in either game. This may seem like a good matchup for London, but the Panthers did not allow a wide receiver to record more than 52 receiving yards against them in either of their games this year. 

Over the first two weeks, Marvin Harrison Jr., Brian Thomas Jr. and Travis Hunter combined for a stat line of nine catches, 71 yards and zero touchdowns on 20 targets against the Panthers. I am expecting Bijan Robinson and Tyler Allgeier to run all over the Panthers defense with ease. Kyle Pitts has the most upside among the Falcons’ pass catchers. 

Tight Ends 

Fire TE Start of the Week: T.J. Hockenson (vs. CIN)

Fantasy managers who drafted T.J. Hockenson are not happy campers, but there is a glimmer of hope for him to have a big performance this weekend. Not only does he get a great matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, who have allowed the most fantasy points to the tight end position since the start of the 2024 season, but Hockenson will also be playing with a new quarterback in Week 3. Carson Wentz will be starting in place of J.J. McCarthy, who is dealing with an ankle sprain. 

Among the 34 quarterbacks with 1,500 or more pass attempts since 2018, Wentz has the second-highest tight-end target percentage at 29.2%, trailing only Lamar Jackson. Wentz has averaged 9.6 targets per game to tight ends in that span.

Sleeper TE of the Week:  Kyle Pitts (at CAR)

With at least five targets in both games, Kyle Pitts is leading the Falcons with 11 receptions in 2025 (tied with Drake London). Pitts is the only tight end on his team to have a single target this season. He gets a great matchup in Week 3 against the Carolina Panthers, who have allowed the second-most fantasy points to the tight end position since the start of the 2024 season. 

Ice TE Start of the Week: Mark Andrews (vs. DET)

After a long stretch of seasons with great production, it appears that Mark Andrews is being faded out of the Baltimore Ravens’ offense. Andrews has just four targets this season, which has resulted in a measly two receptions for seven yards. Teammate, Zay Flowers, is dominating looks in the offense with a 42.6% target share — he is the only Ravens’ player above a 17% target rate. Plus, the Ravens could be getting back tight end Isaiah Likely this Monday night, who has missed the first two weeks with a broken foot. If Andrews couldn’t earn targets with Likely on the sidelines, it is unlikely his usage will increase much once he is back. 

Fire and Ice Fantasy Football Plays

Here, I categorize every relevant fantasy player into five different buckets: (1) fire starts (best starts of the week); (2) thumbs up (good starts); (3) risky players with upside (sleepers); (4) ice starts (predicting bad performance from good player); (5) stop (must sits).

Note: If a player/defense is not listed, I am not considering starting them in Week 3. I did not include Dolphins/Bills players as they will have already played by the time this article is published. 

Fire 🔥

• QB: Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Dak Prescott, Baker Mayfield, Justin Herbert
• RB: Bijan Robinson, Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey, Jonathan Taylor, Derrick Henry, Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Javonte Williams 
• WR: CeeDee Lamb, Ja’Marr Chase, Nico Collins, Justin Jefferson, Puka Nacua, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Malik Nabers, Garrett Wilson
• TE: Trey McBride, Brock Bowers, Tyler Warren, Sam LaPorta, T.J. Hockenson
• DEF: Packers, Vikings, Seahawks, Texans

Thumbs Up 👍

• QB: Jayden Daniels (if he plays), Caleb Williams, Patrick Mahomes, Drake Maye, Daniel Jones
• RB: Jahmyr Gibbs, Bucky Irving, Travis Etienne, Ashton Jeanty, Jordan Mason, Jaylen Warren, J.K. Dobbins, James Conner, Kenneth Walker, Alvin Kamara, Breece Hall, Chuba Hubbard 
• WR: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Davante Adams, Ladd McConkey, Zay Flowers, Tee Higgins, DK Metcalf, A.J. Brown, Rome Odunze, Deebo Samuel, Emeka Egbuka, Tetairoa McMillan, Keenan Allen, Ricky Pearsall, DeVonta Smith, Jakobi Meyers, George Pickens, Xavier Worthy 
• TE: Travis Kelce, Juwan Johnson, Zach Ertz, Jake Ferguson
• DEF: Chiefs, Buccaneers, Falcons, 49ers, Colts, Eagles

Upside 📈

• QB: C.J. Stroud, Jake Browning, Bryce Young, Sam Darnold, Aaron Rodgers, Carson Wentz
• RB: Tyler Allgeier, Zach Charbonnet, Nick Chubb, Rhamondre Stevenson, Cameron Skattebo, Quinshon Judkins, Tony Pollard, D’Andre Swift 
• WR: Chris Olave, Courtland Sutton, Terry McLaurin, DJ Moore, Jameson Williams, Michael Pittman Jr., Travis Hunter, Jauan Jennings, Elic Ayomanor, Wan’Dale Robinson, Tyquan Thornton, Cooper Kupp, Kayshon Boutte, Stefon Diggs, Calvin Austin III 
• TE: Tucker Kraft, Kyle Pitts, Hunter Henry, David Njoku, Ja’Tavion Sanders, Dallas Goedert
• DEF: Chargers, Cardinals, Commanders, Bengals

Ice 🥶

• QB:  Jared Goff, Kyler Murray, Jordan Love, Bo Nix, Matthew Stafford, Michael Penix Jr., Mac Jones 
• RB: Josh Jacobs, Chase Brown, Omarion Hampton, David Montgomery, TreVeyon Henderson, Chiefs RBs 
• WR: Drake London, Brian Thomas Jr., Marvin Harrison Jr., Mike Evans, Calvin Ridley, Jerry Jeudy, Hollywood Brown, Quentin Johnston 
• TE: Mark Andrews, Harold Fannin Jr., Brenton Strange
• DEF: Broncos, Steelers, Ravens, Jets 

Stop 🚫

• QB: Trevor Lawrence, Russell Wilson, Spencer Rattler, Cameron Ward, Joe Flacco, Tyrod Taylor, Geno Smith 
• RB: Tyrone Tracy Jr., Kaleb Johnson, Jerome Ford, Najee Harris 
• WR: Cedric Tillman, Josh Downs, Troy Franklin, Marvin Mims, Matthew Golden
• TE: Evan Engram
• DEF: Patriots, Rams, Lions