Fantasy Football Week 3 Start and Sits: Quarterbacks and RBs

The injuries are starting to pile up as we move into another week. Caleb Williams will be out for a few weeks, Jaxson Dart unfortunately will be out for the season, and it is still up in the air when Jayden Daniels will be on the field again. So, if you have some injuries going on, my Week 3 starts and sits for quarterbacks and RBs will be your key to another victory.

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Quarterback Starts

Patrick Mahomes II, Kansas City Chiefs (at Miami Dolphins)

The run game has been incredible for the Chiefs, but Patrick Mahomes II is still putting up big numbers. He is the QB3 this year so far and has a great matchup this week. The Dolphins are giving up 22 points per game to quarterbacks through two games. This is a no-brainer, and Mahomes will have a top-three quarterback finish this week.

Jared Goff, Detroit Lions (vs. New York Jets)

If you had Dart or Williams as your starting quarterback, then you need to pick up and start Jared Goff this week. Through two games, he has six touchdowns and no interceptions. The Lions offense has been active, and Goff attempted 39 passes in Week 1 and 38 in Week 2. So, it isn’t just the Jahmyr Gibbs show.

Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints (vs. Las Vegas Raiders)

Tyler Shough is another quarterback who needs to be picked up and started if you had an injury this week. He has a great matchup against the Raiders at home. I expect this game to be a high-scoring game as both teams have firepower on offense. The Raiders have been solid on defense, but they did play against Malik Willis and Justin Herbert, both of whom have been mediocre. Shough, on the other hand, threw for 252 yards and a touchdown against a tough Ravens defense. He has shown he can perform against a tough defense.

Check out all of our Week 3 Rankings: Flex Rankings | QB Rankings | RB Rankings | WR Rankings | TE Rankings | MOP Rankings

Quarterback Sits

Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers (at Buffalo Bills)

I need to see Justin Herbert show up before I start him anytime soon. He does have a good matchup this week against the Bills, who are giving up 23.1 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks. But, for me, it is the Chargers’ play calling and their wide receivers. Every play Herbert ran became broken, and when he did dot up his receivers, they flat-out dropped the pass. The Chargers offense looks dysfunctional, and I would stay away from Herbert until they get this offense figured out.

Drake Maye, New England Patriots (at Jacksonville Jaguars)

Drake Maye has been absolutely terrible this year, and I expected this. The Patriots had one of the easiest schedules last year, and everyone fell into the hype. A.J. Brown missing time feeds into this, too. If the Patriots were at home, maybe I’d give Maye a higher upside, but going on the road against a good Jaguars team is a tough matchup. Maye has one touchdown and four interceptions this year. This is someone who should ride the bench.

RB Starts

Omarion Hampton, Los Angeles Chargers (at Buffalo Bills)

If I’m going to trust anyone on the Chargers offense, it is Omarion Hampton. He has a great matchup this week going against the Bills, who are giving up 27.4 fantasy points per game to RBs. It was great to see Hampton get the workhorse role in Week 2. He played 43 snaps vs. Keaton Mitchell’s 17. Hampton also had 23 carries to Mitchell’s five. It is clear the Chargers want to run the ball more, and Hampton has a great chance to pop off this week.

Ashton Jeanty, Las Vegas Raiders (at New Orleans Saints)

Ashton Jeanty had a rather disappointing Week 2, mainly because he dropped two easy catches. But, on the upside, he was targeted seven times and had 21 carries. The Chargers’ run defense happened to be working last week. However, the Saints run defense has given up an average of 26.2 fantasy points to RBs in their two games. That is the sixth most in the league. I expect Jeanty to have a bounce-back game this week.

Chuba Hubbard, Carolina Panthers (at Cleveland Browns)

It was never a question that this is Chuba Hubbard’s backfield. Hubbard is producing and has three touchdowns on the season, with two of them coming on the receiving end. This is huge, as he is dominant in the passing game. The downside is he only had 10 carries in Week 1 and 12 in Week 2. This was still more than Jonathan Brooks’ five carries in Week 2. However, this week looks enticing against the Browns. The Panthers offense looks great, and they did just torch the Texans, who shut James Cook down to 57 yards in Week 1.

RB Sits

Kyren Williams, Los Angeles Rams (at Denver Broncos)

Kyren Williams is one of those players where his stats look impressive, but he is a touchdown-dependent fantasy player. Blake Corum has a 50-50 split with Williams, and that is not great for Williams’ fantasy owners. On top of it, Williams only has 23 rushing attempts through two games. If you take away his touchdowns, he’s only getting you eight fantasy points in each game. The Rams have a tough matchup in Denver against a tough run defense that shut the Jaguars’ run game down last week.

Travis Etienne Jr., New Orleans Saints (vs. Las Vegas Raiders)

I wouldn’t risk starting Travis Etienne Jr. this week, even with a solid matchup against the Raiders. The problem is we don’t know what the usage is going to be with Etienne. The Saints paid him a ton of money but ended up giving Alvin Kamara nine carries to Etienne’s eight. Kamara was also on the field for 29% of snaps to Etienne’s 54%. Etienne has yet to rush for over 50 yards and has yet to score more than 12 fantasy points.

Make sure to check out all of our Week 3 Fantasy Football Rankings and Analysis!