NFL
NFL Fantasy Forecast Week 3: Busts, Breakouts, Sleepers, and More
Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined Sportscasting in 2021. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike & The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs. As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He's a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early '90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer — with a Manchester City focus — in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA. When he's not enjoying a round of golf or coaching youth soccer and flag football, Tim likes reading the work of Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Chuck Klosterman, and Tom Wolfe.
Get to know Tim Crean betterPublished22 Sep 2022
As the 2022 NFL season rolls on to Week 3, so do Sportscasting’s fantasy football busts, breakouts, sleepers, and more. In Week 2, our experts warned you about Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill, the Chicago Bears defense, and told you Washington Commanders rookie wide receiver Jahan Dotson would have another solid performance.
With Week 3 about to kick off, here are the QBs and Ds to avoid and the rookies, kickers, and player props to help you win your fantasy football matchup this week.
Sportscasting’s Week 3 NFL Fantasy Football Forecast
Quarterback Bust of the Week: Tua Tagovailoa
Luke Norris: Coming off a career day in which he threw for a career-high 469 yards and a franchise record-tying six touchdowns against the Ravens, Tua Tagovailoa comes back down to Earth on Sunday against the Buffalo Bills.
Tua has never beaten the Bills, but they’ve sure beaten up on him. In Week 2 last year, Tagovailoa was knocked out of the game with a rib injury after throwing just four passes in a 35-0 loss. In his two other starts against Buffalo, both losses, the Hawaii native has averaged 283 passing yards (361, 205) but has thrown just one touchdown against four interceptions.
Is Tua better now than he was in those previous matchups? Yes. But so is the Bills’ defense, and they’re going to give him fits in this AFC East showdown.
Player Prop of the Week: Chase Edmonds under 11.4 PPR points
Jack Dougherty: Chase Edmonds entered the season as Miami’s expected No. 1 running back after signing a two-year, $12.6 million contract in the offseason, but that doesn’t look to be the case following Week 2. The former Arizona Cardinal tallied just five carries and one reception against the Baltimore Ravens, finishing the game with a meager 5.1 PPR fantasy points.
The most troubling development for Edmonds fantasy owners is that he was out-snapped by Raheem Mostert by three in Week 2. It’s starting to look like a true timeshare in the Dolphins’ backfield, and Miami won’t be relying on its running backs much this week with the Buffalo Bills coming to town.
Leave Edmonds on your bench this week.
Breakout Rookie of the Week: Romeo Doubs
Tim Crean: After two weeks, we know a few things about Aaron Rodgers’ wide receiver situation. We know that Allen Lazard is his No. 1, and we know that he has growing confidence in veteran Sammy Watkins. We also know that his rookie WRs, Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs, haven’t gained the MVP’s full faith just yet.
Against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this weekend, the Packers’ opponent will look to take away Rodgers’ two top options with their excellent secondary, and the Bucs stout run defense will key on Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillion. This means Rodgers will have to look to his youngsters to get the job done.
Watson already has one massive drop on his resume — on the first offensive play of the 2022 season — so Doubs has a leg up there. This week, the fourth-rounder will become Rodgers’ guy and have a nice fantasy day to boot.
Defensive Disaster of the Week: New England Patriots
Mike Thomas: It’s bad enough the Patriots face the explosive Lamar Jackson this weekend. What’s worse for New England is it’s an angry Lamar Jackson.
The Baltimore Ravens quarterback certainly proved he’s worthy of a massive payday last week, throwing for 318 yards and three touchdowns while also racking up 119 yards and another score on the ground. The problem was that he didn’t have anything to show for it in the ‘W’ column.
The Ravens’ defense collapsed late, allowing 28 fourth-quarter points in a 42-38 loss to the Miami Dolphins. Don’t expect Jackson to let up this week, knowing no lead is safe. Jackson now knows 38 points isn’t enough, and he’ll light it up in Foxboro.
Kicker Sleeper of the Week: Greg Zuerlein
Adam Fromal: Greg Zuerlein is rostered in just 0.8% of ESPN leagues, giving him a lower mark than even Rodrigo Blankenship, who was cut by the Indianapolis Colts after a dismal Week 1 showing. On the surface, that’s understandable. The 34-year-old is more than five years removed from his lone Pro Bowl campaign with the Los Angeles Rams and swings his leg for the New York Jets and their anemic offense helmed by Joe Flacco.
But in Week 3, Zuerlein and his powerful lower limb, which converted a 57-yarder against the Cleveland Browns in Week 2, face a Cincinnati Bengals defense best characterized as bend-don’t-break. Cincy gave up three field goals (20, 48, and 50 yards) to Chris Boswell in Week 1 and two (54 and 50 yards) to Brett Maher in the follow-up outing.
Even if Joe Burrow gets back on track and the Bengals fare better in the field-position game, the young New York offense has enough weapons — yes, I said it — to move the ball and position Zuerlein for a few long attempts.
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