We’re still a few days away from locking in our main-slate lineups for Week 3, but it’s always an advantage to get a head start on roster construction for Sunday. Each week this NFL season we’ll provide a mid-week article to point out some of the standout plays as we prepare for the weekend.
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NFL Week 3 plays
Quarterback
Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers (1.25x score multiplier)
Chargers/Cowboys was one of the most popular games to stack last week. But that game ended up a fantasy dud. So Herbert’s multiplier has risen in Week 3, and he gets a matchup with division rival Kansas City. The Chargers are currently 6.5-point road underdogs here. Herbert had a solid outings against the Chiefs in his rookie year last season, averaging 306 passing yards and throwing four touchdowns to just one interception. Through two weeks this season, Herbert has averaged 44 pass attempts per game. I think that stays consistent in what should be a shootout at Arrowhead Stadium. It’s hard for me to pass up on the combination of Herbert’s opportunity and elevated multiplier.
Daniel Jones, New York Giants (1.55x)
I won’t sugarcoat this: From a name recognition standpoint, it doesn’t feel great to recommend that we roster Danny Dimes into our lineups this week. But in daily fantasy, we have to overcome our season-long biases for leverage, and I think this is a perfect spot to put that practice into play. Jones has shown the rushing upside similar to some of the elite fantasy quarterbacks against two tough defenses in Denver and Washington in this season. This week he’s in a much better spot on paper against this lowly Falcons defense. This is a team that made Jalen Hurts look like a stud in Week 1. Then got picked apart by Tom Brady in Week 2 to the tune of five touchdown passes. The Giants are three-point favorites at home and in a must-win situation sitting at 0-2. I like rostering Jones at his high multiplier this week.
Running back
Saquon Barkley, New York Giants (1.35x)
If you can’t stomach a Sunday afternoon with Daniel Jones, I urge you to at least get a piece of this offense with Barkley. He’s let down season-long managers thus far as New York brings him along slowly in his return to play. We saw Barkley play 84% of the Giants offensive snaps last week, a number I think increases here in Week 3. With the weaker Atlanta defense coming to town and the expectation of an increased workload, I see the fourth year back putting up a solid stat line in this one. If he’s able to snag a couple touchdowns, his 1.35x could help boost you to the top of GPP leaderboards.
Najee Harris, Pittsburgh Steelers (1.4x)
Harris is another highly touted running back who has disappointed both season-long and daily fantasy managers in this young season. But I’m going back to the rookie here even in a tough matchup against a stout Bengals run defense. If you’re running multiple lineups, I don’t know how you don’t get exposure to a talented back who has been on the field for 97.4% of a team’s offensive snaps at a 1.4x multiplier. The Pittsburgh offensive line is below average, but we saw glimpses of the raw ability Harris possesses when he stiff armed Jonathan Abram into another dimension last week and snuck into the end zone on a pass from Ben Roethlisberger. He should see even more work in the passing game if Diontae Johnson (currently questionable) is ruled out. That would be a
boost to both Harris and WR JuJu Smith-Schuster in an air attack that relies on quick passes from an aging QB.
Wide receiver
Mike Williams, Los Angeles Chargers (1.55x)
An obvious stack opportunity here. We’ve witnessed the breakout of Mike Williams through the first two weeks of the 2021 season. He has graduated from a sparsely successful deep threat to a heavily targeted volume receiver. We’ll find out over the next month or so if this is a mirage, but I’m leaning toward this being the new normal for the Chargers fifth-year wideout. He’s been targeted 22 times through two games. Pairing him with Herbert at this 1.55x multiplier gives you a ton of upside especially in large-field tournaments.
Rondale Moore, Arizona Cardinals (1.85x)
The Cardinals rookie receiver has burst onto the fantasy scene early in the season, and it might not look like it at first glance. but there is still a ton of room for Moore’s opportunities to grow in this offense. While he’s been targeted on a massive 34.8% of his routes so far this season, Moore is just fourth on the team in routes run. This is not a player Arizona can keep off the field for much longer, and I think his multiplier continues to shrink as the season wears on. It’s a small two-game sample size, but he’s averaging 15.8 SuperDraft points per game while not being a full-time player. At his high multiplier I’m willing to roster Moore against the lowly Jaguars defense, as one big play could result in a massive fantasy day just like we saw last week against the Vikings.
Tight end
Darren Waller, Las Vegas Raiders (1.3x)
After a monstrous 19-target game in Week 1, Waller came back down to Earth a bit last week as the Steelers double-teamed him on defense for most of the game. But the Raiders tight end being anything higher than a 1.1x multiplier is going to catch my attention this season and his 1.3x here in Week 3 is just a misprice. QB Derek Carr has been locking in on Waller as his favorite target for multiple years now (145 targets in 16 games last season) and I’m not going to get cute and fade him this week.
T.J. Hockenson, Detroit Lions (1.4x)
If you’re entering multiple lineups or just can’t bring yourself to jump on the Waller wagon, look to the shaggy haired third-year tight end for the Lions. Hockenson seems to have a good connection with new Detroit signer-caller Jared Goff, with the QB targeting Hockenson 20 times through the first two weeks. The Lions will likely be playing from behind in the majority of their games this year, so the game script sets up for the Goff-Hockenson connection to continue. Factor in the matchup with a beaten-up Ravens defense who has given up games of 10-105-1 to Darren Waller and 7-109-1 to Travis Kelce in the first two weeks of the season and you’ve got a recipe for a big game out of the Detroit tight end
This article expresses the personal views of the writer and does not reflect the view(s) of SuperDraft in any way.
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