Fantasy football 2017: Week 3 starts, sits, pickups and drops

Quarterbacks (1/3)

Start: Jameis Winston – Wrong (12.5, 20th at position)

Winston threw 30 passes against a bad Chicago Bears’ defense, but only got 204 yards and a touchdown. An efficient football game, but not enough volume per attempt to be a starter. I’m going to say that it’s an anomaly and that he would normally score more points against the Bears, but last week, it was a miss.

Sit: Dak Prescott – Right (15.9, 11th at position)

Prescott tied for the league lead in attempts last week (50), which I was not expecting given that I thought this wouldn’t be a blowout. However, the Broncos’ defense made the most of his increased number of attempts, picking him off twice.

Pickup: Carson Palmer – Wrong (16.1, 12th at position)

Palmer only completed 19 of 36 passes against an underwhelming Colts’ secondary and threw an interception. I’m beginning to think the Cardinals’ offense, especially without David Johnson, isn’t as good as initially thought. Palmer throws too many interceptions and doesn’t complete enough passes to be startable for the time being.

Running Backs (2.5/4)

Start: Terrance West – Half-right (12.5, 20th at position)

If there’s one thing I hate in fantasy football, it’s a timeshare. If there’s one thing I hate more than that, it’s a timeshare in which you don’t know who is getting the targets any given week. That’s the Ravens’ backfield right now. People who started Terrance West lucked out with a touchdown this week, but he’s definietly not getting as many reps as I thought he would, hence the half-credit.

Sit: Frank Gore – Right (10.6, 28th at position)

Gore got more than half of the carries among Colts’ running backs this week, which is nice considering how much Marlon Mack cut into his workload a week ago. Even if he continues to get this many carries, however, it looks like the Colts’ inability to take the top off the defense with the passing game—Jacoby Brissett averages less than six yards per attempt—means more defenders in the box and less of an opportunity for Gore to get more than three yards per carry. Which means that Gore is now touchdown-dependant in a way he wasn’t before. He got one this week, which is good, but long-term it looks like he’s no more than a flex option or bye week starter until the Colts give him the ball more or they can figure out how to give him some running room.

Pickup: Kerwynn Williams – Wrong (2.2, 66th at position)

Williams got the start, then got benched for Chris Johnson—yeah, that Chris Johnson—while putting up only 22 yards on nine carries. What this means for Williams long-term is unknown, but he got the opportunity fantasy football players wanted him to get, and didn’t produce.

Drop: Demarco Murray – Right (0.6, 83rd at position)

Murray got six yards for the second consecutive week and C.J. Ham scored a one-yard touchdown for the Minnesota Vikings. Dalvin Cook isn’t giving up many carries, nor should he for a while.

Wide Receivers (1/3)

Start: Tyreek Hill – Wrong (8.9, 46th at position)

Hill isn’t going to lead his team in targets very often, but he has a tendancy to break big plays, which makes him a matchup-based play. I thought he’d break a big play or two against the Eagles, but it was Travis Kelce and Chris Conley who got chunk yardage for the Chiefs on Sunday, leaving Hill with not terrible, but pretty meh numbers.

Sit: T.Y. Hilton – Right (8.9, 45th at position)

Hilton is the best receiver on a bad offense, which is usually fine, but the Colts are unusually bad. You don’t start Hilton to get single-digit points, but that’s probably what he’s going to be stuck with until Andrew Luck returns.

Pickup: Cooper Kupp – Wrong (6.3, 62nd at position)

I got excited about Kupp’s week one performance against the Colts and thought he might stick. As it turns out, it might have been a bit of an anomaly as he only caught three passes in week three and two passes in Thursday night’s shootout.

Tight Ends (1/4)

Start: Martellus Bennett – Wrong (9.7, 17th at position)

Tight end is a hugely touchdown-dependant position, and Bennett is unlucky to have none despite being third in the league in targets among tight ends.

Sit: Jimmy Graham – Right (1.1, 58th at position)

Graham caught one pass for one yard. As I mentioned earlier, I’m going to keep sitting him until the Seattle Seahawks start throwing to him more.

Pickup: Charles Clay – Wrong (5.3, 30th at position)

I still like Clay’s upside as one of the few targets in the Buffalo Bills’ offense, but he hasn’t gotten the targets I thought he would.

Drop: Hunter Henry – Wrong (15, 8th at position)

Henry is still in a timeshare. he went from zero points to 15 points in week two, but he’s most likely going to score in the middle more often than not until he gets more of the snaps.

Next: Detroit Lions predictions vs. Atlanta Falcons

Overall – 5.5/14

Two bad weeks in a row. Here’s hoping the fantsy football scene falls into place more in week three.