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Fantasy Football 2022: 3 Bold Predictions for Week 3
John Clayton is a sports writer and columnist with three decades of experience who has won over 30 awards including Georgia AP's award for best sports story. Additionally, he's a former Heisman Trophy elector and member of the Pro Football Writers Association. Though his expertise is wide, John's coverage strengths are with Pro Football, College Football, and NASCAR. He covered the Colts, Pacers, Purdue, Notre Dame, and Indianapolis Motor Speedway throughout his time working as a columnist for the CNHI newspaper group in Indiana. He also spent time freelancing for the Associated Press, covering the NCAA Men's Championship Basketball Tournament and Clemson basketball along the way. Outside of his writing career, John is an avid and long-time fantasy football player. His first fantasy quarterback was Jim Everett.
Get to know John Clayton betterPublished23 Sep 2022
A short time ago, there were more predictions that Jimmy Garropolo would be the Week 3 starter in Carolina or Seattle than in San Francisco.
But here we are. Baker Mayfield is in Carolina, and Jimmy G is back behind center with the 49ers due to Trey Lance’s horrific Week 2 injury.
Outside of Garoppolo, Week 3 offers several toss-ups for the NFL but opportunities for fantasy football managers to make moves to help themselves.
Jared Goff is a top-10 play in Week 3
Lions QB Jared Goff has fallen into “game manager” status in the NFL, but that doesn’t mean he’s not fantasy relevant.
Goff is ranked ninth among quarterbacks after two weeks, and his four-touchdown performance in last week’s 36-26 home win over Washington was good enough for seventh overall.
If not for Tua Tagovailoa’s six-touchdown performance in a come-from-behind win over Baltimore and Josh Allen continuing to do Josh Allen things for the Bills, Goff may be dominating fantasy conversations right now.
After Commanders’ QB Carson Wentz, Goff was the most-added quarterback in NFL.com leagues this week. He was added in more than 14,000 leagues after being largely overlooked in preseason drafts outside the deepest leagues.
In the entirety of the NFC North, Goff may be the best fantasy quarterback at this point in the season. He’s undoubtedly been the most consistent in fantasy through two games. Yes, Aaron Rodgers is still in Green Bay, but a dearth of wide receivers has made him look mortal through two games.
Meanwhile, Goff scored 26.02 points in NFL.com leagues last week after opening the season with 16.5 points (2 TDs, 215 yards) in a 38-35 loss to Philadelphia in Week 1. He has something special going on with WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, who is tied with Miami’s Jalen Waddle for second among wideouts with 42.8 fantasy points in PPR heading into Week 3. Against Washington, St. Brown had nine catches on 12 targets for 116 yards and two touchdowns and also rushed for 64 yards.
Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has been calling plays with a healthy Goff at the helm for seven games, and in those contests, Goff has 17 touchdowns, three interceptions, a 66% completion percentage, and a passer rating of 104.9.
Goff and Company head to Minnesota after two games at Ford Field this week, and while he isn’t confused with Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts as a dual threat, he could end up in a shootout with the Vikings, who rank 21st against opposing quarterbacks. Goff, who has six touchdown passes and just one interception through two games, could reward the faith in savvy – or maybe desperate – fantasy managers.
Jonathan Taylor remains the only trustworthy player for the Indianapolis Colts
The first two weeks of the season have been inexplicable for the Indianapolis Colts, leaving fantasy managers baffled – especially after a Week 2 shutout loss.
A 20-20 tie in Week 1 with Houston followed by a 24-0 loss at Jacksonville, which apparently now owns the Colts – much to Jim Irsay’s surprise and chagrin.
This week, Kansas City is visiting Indy, so an 0-3 start is a distinct possibility for QB Matt Ryan and the Colts.
Colts RB Jonathan Taylor was the top overall pick in most fantasy drafts, so there should never be a thought about sitting him – even after a confounding 9-carry, 54-yard rushing performance with one catch for nine yards (6.3 fantasy PPR points) against the Jaguars.
With starting wideouts Michael Pittman and Alec Pierce out due to injuries, it was reasonable for fantasy owners to assume that RBs Taylor and Nyheim Hines would have had significant roles in the offense against Jacksonville. It made sense that Hines, who can play in the slot and the backfield. Hines had 7.7 PPR fantasy points (four catches on five targets for 37 yards) but played only 15 snaps and had one touch after halftime.
Pittman and the rookie Pierce are expected to return to the lineup. Pierce was ineffective in Week 1, and the receiving corps without Pittman was underwhelming in Week 2’s debacle.
The Colts will try and use Taylor and Hines to keep drives alive and shorten the game against the Chiefs’ prolific offense.
At least that’s the reasonable assumption, but apparently, that’s not enough for fantasy managers to count on with the Colts. I had high hopes for Hines and others in the Colts offense behind Taylor, but they’re all fading now.
This has to be the week Kyle Pitts breaks out
Surely someone on the Atlanta coaching staff has to realize they have a freakish tight end in Kyle Pitts, who is being targeted on less than a fifth of his routes. Someone has to figure out a way to get the 2020 first-round pick the ball. He’s the best weapon Marcus Mariota has ever had as a starter, and he needs to find him. A lot.
Over the first two weeks of the season, Pitts has four catches for 38 yards on 10 targets for 7.8 PPR fantasy points.
Before the season began, I thought that would be a poor game for Pitts. The 0-2 Falcons have scored at least 26 points in each of their first two games without Pitts being a factor.
The Seahawks’ defense doesn’t conjure images of the old “Legion of Boom,” so there should be room for Mariota to find Pitts in the end zone least once.
Stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference
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