Week 3 NFL Predictions: Which WRs Will Stuff the Stat Sheet?

The NFL has become a passing league in the last few years and that's a huge benefit to fantasy owners in leagues which require three or sometimes four wide receivers because there are plenty of yards to go around.

Still it's nice to have a stud to carry your team. The following wide receivers will have big games—in some cases, big even for the usual expectations—for their NFL and fantasy teams.

Larry Fitzgerald at Seattle Seahawks

Arizona quarterback Kevin Kolb is wisely following what my FootballGuys.com colleague Sigmund Bloom calls the Fitzgerald plan. It's really simple. If you have the ball in your hand, throw it to Larry.

Is he covered? Throw it to Larry and he'll make a play. Is he streaking down the sideline? Throw it to Larry.

Just throw it to Fitzgerald.

The Seattle Seahawks won't have much chance of stopping that plan either, despite evidence in Week 1. That was, of course, to the San Francisco 49ers and Alex Smith.

Last week, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw for 297 yards and a touchdown. The 'Hawks can't intercept the ball and rarely get sacks so far this young season and they lack the corners to play with Fitzgerald.

Be prepared for Fitzgerald to explode all over this porous secondary.

Greg Jennings at Chicago Bears

I always feel like, come fantasy draft time, Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings gets left behind in the discussion of elite wide receivers. Yet he had a great season last year and has played well this year overall. He struggled last week against Panthers DB Chris Gamble—a bit of a surprise really.

Don't expect that against a Bears secondary which lacks even a Gamble.

The Bears have allowed 270 yards a game and three touchdowns vs. one interception. If New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees smoked this secondary for three touchdowns and 264 yards in Week 2, the Packers' Aaron Rodgers will do as much and the beneficiary will be Jennings.

Kenny Britt vs. Denver Broncos

Kenny Britt is a great example of the NFL draft adage "first-round talent, seventh-round head." A tremendously gifted wide receiver, Britt is always in trouble off the field so you never know if he's going to miss time during the season.

We know he'll be doing his speeding on the field, not off the field, this week and while the Denver Broncos actually have a serviceable pass defense (ninth in the league), they've allowed three passing touchdowns so far and generated absolutely no interceptions. Last week, Bengals rookie quarterback Andy Dalton hit them up for 310 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck isn't what he used to be, but he's playing well in Tennessee and he and Britt appear to be getting comfortable with each other. Hass knows he can count on Britt on vertical plays as well as short yardage and red zone chances.

The Broncos are vulnerable to a guy like Britt and I expect him to have a big game against them.

Andre Johnson at New Orleans Saints

In some ways, you can file this under "well, duh," but I wanted Johnson on this list because, frankly, I think this can be an even bigger day than you normally get from him.

The Saints have been up and down this year, struggling to stop the Green Bay Packers (and ultimately failing) in Week 1 while slapping around the Chicago Bears and Jay Cutler in Week 2.

The difference in my mind is the quality of offense. While Jay Cutler has moments where he is a tremendous QB, he also gets skittish, has a mediocre at best offensive line and OK, but not great wide receivers.

The Houston Texans, led by quarterback Matt Schaub, have none of those issues. Schaub has settled into a groove behind an improved offensive line with a ton of weapons to choose from. The Saints lack a defensive back who can hang with Johnson and they will be hard pressed to slow him down.

On top of this, we know the Saints WILL score points and we know the Texans CAN score points. This could very well be a high-scoring affair.

That makes Andre Johnson an even more prime cut than usual.

Wes Welker at Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills are on a tear this year and the offense and defense are much improved. Still, they meet Patriots quarterback Tom Brady this week and will struggle to contain this offense.

Wes Welker is always a solid play (especially in points per reception leagues), but even more so this week as tight end Aaron Hernandez is out. While the Patriot's other tight end, Rob Gronkowski, will shine as well, Wes Welker has always been Brady's go-to guy.

The Bills gave up huge yards to the Oakland Raiders last week—an eye-popping 454 total yards, 323 of which were through the air—and while they stood up when they needed to at the end, they are vulnerable.

Wes Welker and Brady will exploit that vulnerability.

While Welker didn't score against the San Diego Chargers last week, he notched seven catches on 11 targets, totaling 81 yards.

He'll make that easy this week and add at least one touchdown on top of it.

Andrew Garda is a staff writer for FootballGuys.com. Check out all their rankings, projections and strategy articles daily for the latest updates.