Fantasy Football Week 3: Biggest Takeaways from Sunday
The biggest fantasy football news to come out of Week 3's Sunday action was undoubtedly Ben Roethlisberger's injury, but some other (less somber) talking points emerged as well.
Roethlisberger's injury certainly looms large for the Steelers. How will the injury impact the rest of the Steelers offense, and even players from other teams such as Julio Jones?
Speaking of Julio Jones, he still rules the roost in Atlanta, but another Falcons player—running back Devonta Freeman—dominated in Week 3. We'll review how Freeman should be viewed from a fantasy perspective for the foreseeable future.
The New England offense is also rolling on all cylinders. Is it time to stop being afraid of Bill Belichick's history with running backs and finally put our faith in one or more Patriots backs?
We'll go over all of these takeaways and more, starting with Roethlisberger's injury and its implications.
Brown, Bell Remain Top Options Despite Roethlisberger's Injury
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Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger went down in Sunday's game and didn't return to action.
It was officially labeled a knee injury, and ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Roethlisberger is "expected to miss at least four weeks," citing sources. Schefter added the star quarterback will undergo an MRI on Monday, and that the hope is his ACL is still intact.
If Roethlisberger "only" misses four games—instead of the whole season, which is what the initial fear was—that means the Steelers will have dodged (most of) a bullet. It also means Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell might only have to make it through a few weeks without the leader of their offense.
Brown and Bell are as close to quarterback-proof as it gets, but with Roethlisberger sidelined, their upside obviously takes a hit. On the flip side, the case could be made that Brown and Bell will now be leaned on a bit more while Roethlisberger gets back to full health.
You should continue to start both of them with confidence. Brown takes a bit more of a hit than Bell (since he's more reliant on quarterback play), but he remains a must-start each week. Brown does, however, cede the title of "best fantasy wideout" to Julio Jones as a result of Roethlisberger's injury.
The final question is whether or not you should pick up Michael Vick, who will spell Roethlisberger in the interim. Unless you are in a deep league, Vick isn't worth rostering at this point. He's 35 years old and is several years removed from the last time he was relevant in fantasy.
Devonta Freeman Is an RB2 Until Tevin Coleman Returns
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Atlanta running back Devonta Freeman dominated in Week 3, racking up 193 total yards and three touchdowns. As of this writing, he was the highest-scoring fantasy player in the league (across all positions) in Week 3.
The Falcons were not afraid to lean on the largely unproven back. Freeman carried the ball 30 times. He had just 65 rushes all of last season. As the lead back (for now) in this explosive offense, Freeman can be considered an RB2 for fantasy purposes.
But this assertion comes with a caveat: Freeman's value is strictly tied to the health of rookie running back Tevin Coleman, who missed Week 3 with a rib injury. The good news is Freeman's performance means the Falcons will be less inclined to rush Coleman back, and that once Coleman is back, Freeman should still play a key role.
The bad news is it's extremely unlikely Freeman will win the job outright. He'll still split time with Coleman once the latter returns.
But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Just know it's on the horizon, and that while you can consider Freeman an RB2 for the time being, he slides back down to flex consideration once Coleman suits up again.
There's Room for Lewis and Blount in New England—and in Fantasy
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New England's Week 3 matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars was supposed to feature more LeGarrette Blount and less Dion Lewis. Through one half of play, that didn't seem to be the case.
According to Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com, at halftime Lewis had 28 snaps and Blount had just eight. By the end of the game, Blount had 18 carries for 78 yards and three touchdowns. That was good for 26 fantasy points.
For his part, Lewis finished with 13 touches (eight carries and five receptions) for 67 total yards and a touchdown. That was good for 12 fantasy points.
Both Blount and Lewis were among the top 15 in terms of fantasy points scored by running backs by the time the Sunday afternoon and late afternoon games came to a close.
The Patriots are not going to score 51 points every single game (although they are averaging nearly 40 so far this season), but there appears to be enough room for both Blount and Lewis to succeed. This was supposed to be a "Blount game," and in the end, it was—but not until Lewis had his say.
It's risky business trusting a Bill Belichick running back in fantasy, but it appears we now have two that can be leaned on.
There are no absolutes when it comes to New England's backfield—so take this as a "best guess"—but it appears Lewis will be more reliable than Blount, as he'll be the main back when games are close. Blount could be relied upon more as the goal-line back and late in the game.
There is fantasy value in both roles. Heading into Week 4—or Week 5 in New England's case, since the team is on bye next week—Lewis should be considered a weekly RB2 and Blount a flex player that slides into RB2 territory depending on the matchup.
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Latavius Murray Is Officially an RB1
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Oakland Raiders running back Latavius Murray carried the ball 26 times for 139 yards and a touchdown in Week 3 against the Cleveland Browns. Included in there was a 54-yard scamper; Murray's upside rests in his ability to break a long run at any time.
With some running backs—such as Justin Forsett, DeMarco Murray, C.J. Anderson, Jeremy Hill and others—disappointing to start the season, the door has opened for a few new names to slip into the RB1 conversation. L. Murray is one player who has taken advantage of this fact.
There was some fear entering the 2015 season that Murray would lose snaps—and potentially the entire starting job—to Roy Helu, a newcomer in Oakland. However, Murray has done nothing but trend up so far.
In the first game of the season, Murray carried the ball 11 times for 44 yards. In Week 2, he notched 15 carries for 65 yards and a score. His Week 3 stats were mentioned above. Through three games, the speedster's yards-per-carry averages have also trended up, going from 4.0 in Week 1 to 4.3 in Week 2 to 5.3 on Sunday.
Murray should settle in anywhere between 15-30 carries per game, depending on the matchup and game flow. That gives him a safe floor and a high ceiling (especially when factoring in his breakaway potential). The third-year back should now be considered a tail-end RB1 for fantasy purposes. At the very least, he's one of the best RB2s on the market.
Larry Fitzgerald's Revival Is Legitimate; He's a High-End WR2
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Larry Fitzgerald has now posted back-to-back monster games and has produced at a high level through three weeks this season.
Fitzgerald's final stat line in Week 3: nine receptions, 134 yards and two touchdowns. That's on top of the eight-catch, 112-yard, three-score game he posted in Week 2.
Through three games this season, Fitzgerald has 23 receptions for 333 yards and five touchdowns. That puts him on pace for an absurd 123 receptions, 1,776 yards and 27 touchdowns. While nobody is predicting him to finish the season with those numbers, he has established himself as a legitimate WR2 with tail-end WR1 appeal.
Carson Palmer told reporters after Sunday's game, "He can do that week in and week out. It's not going to happen week in and week out, just because the more times he gets the ball, the more he gets a circle around him and is targeted defensively."
In fact, it's fair to consider Fitzgerald a WR1 at this point. The only reason to temper expectations is because it's not all that unusual for a veteran to be hot in September. Fitzgerald is a safer bet as a WR2 given the likelihood that his production will dip as the season wears on. The "WR2" designation in the headline takes the whole season into account.
In any event, Fitzgerald's revival is legitimate. The veteran is cooking now that Carson Palmer is healthy and playing quarterback for the Cardinals. Fitzgerald should be in starting lineups each week.
Cam Newton Is a Top-5 Fantasy Quarterback
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Carolina quarterback Cam Newton was trending down before the season, with most fantasy players not even considering him starting material.
How wrong they all were.
Through three weeks, Newton has fully lived up to his "Superman" nickname. When Kelvin Benjamin got injured, Newton's lack of weapons scared off the fantasy community. There's really no arguing that point, but Newton has never had one of the best supporting casts in the league, and in three of his first four years he was a top-five fantasy quarterback.
Newton is once again a top-five option, especially when factoring in the injuries to Drew Brees, Ben Roethsliberger and Tony Romo. In fact, the only players who are definitely ahead of Newton at this point are Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady.
Newton did his damage both through the air and on the ground in Week 3. He tossed two touchdowns for the second straight week to go along with 315 yards. The dual-threat quarterback added 33 yards and a score on the ground.
Week 3 marked the second straight week Newton finished (as of this writing) as a top-three fantasy quarterback. Get used to it.
It’s Official: Whatever TE Plays Against Oakland Is a TE1
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If Gary Barnidge can score the second-most points among all tight ends against the Oakland Raiders, anybody can.
We'll give you a second to Google him before reading on.
Barnidge is a tight end for the Cleveland Browns. He caught six passes for 105 yards and a touchdown against the Raiders in Week 3. Heading into the game, Barnidge had 48 receptions for 658 yards and three touchdowns in his entire career—which began in 2008.
The Raiders gave up 22 fantasy points to Tyler Eifert in Week 1 (third-most among tight ends that week), 20 points to Crockett Gillmore in Week 2 (most among tight ends that week) and 16 points to Barnidge in Week 3 (second-most among tight ends this week, as of this writing).
The Raiders' next three opponents are the Chicago Bears (Martellus Bennett), Denver Broncos (Owen Daniels) and San Diego Chargers (Antonio Gates). Bennett and Gates would have been in your starting lineup anyway, but their ceilings in those games are now sky-high. Additionally, you can safely plug Daniels into lineups when the Broncos face the Raiders in Week 5.
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