Fantasy News & Analysis

PFF's fantasy football cheat sheet for Week 3

ATLANTA, GA - AUGUST 11: Matt Ryan #2 of the Atlanta Falcons runs on the field during player introductions prior to facing the Washington Redskins at Georgia Dome on August 11, 2016 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

If you’ve made it out of these first two injury-plagued weeks with a 2-0 fantasy football record, mazel tov. It’s been a tough road so far. And if the problems so far this fantasy season have you sitting at 1-1 or even 0-2, take solace in the fact that you certainly aren’t alone.

To help get over the dodgy start, we’ve compiled our best fantasy advice of the week in one place. Of course, the best plan is to read everything and put it all to work making your lineup the best it can be, but this is a fine one-stop shop if you’re on a time crunch.

(Interested in DFS? Open a new FanDuel account with a $10 deposit via this link and get your first month of DFS Pro free.)

Below, you’ll find five of our top pieces of advice from the week, with the pieces the advice is drawn from linked. After that you’ll find links to the rest of our season-long content for the week, and from there we move on to our DFS advice. Basically, this is your everything.

Season-long fantasy

Stream Atlanta QB Matt Ryan
(from Mike Castiglione’s look at under-the-radar quarterbacks)

Ryan entered the season as a guy no one trusted anymore after not topping 28 touchdowns in any of the last three seasons and never going over 32. Through two games, though, he’s already thrown five, to go along with 730 passing yards and only one interception. While it’s true that he’s faced two generous defenses so far, that will continue in Week 3 against a Saints defense that has given up 687 passing yards in two games. He’s a top streaming option.

Add Baltimore TE Dennis Pitta
(from Jeff Ratcliffe’s waiver wire check)

Everyone — the Ravens included — figured Pitta was more-or-less done for after his hip injuries, but after Ben Watson tore his Achilles in the preseason and neither Crockett Gillmore nor Maxx Williams did enough to fend Pitta off, the veteran has returned and had 102 yards on nine catches in Week 2. He might not carry Gronkowski-like ceiling, but Pitta is going to continue to be a big part of the Baltimore offense while healthy, and that means he’ll have a high floor.

Start Green Bay RB Eddie Lacy
(from Dan Schneier’s start/sit advice)

Only one team has a worse defense so far than Green Bay’s Week 3 opponent, Detroit. By all rights, this week should be the time for the Packers’ offense to get right, and that should lead to good things for Lacy, who has only 128 yards from scrimmage through two games but is still average 4.3 yards per carry. He should get going in the right direction.

Buy Jacksonville WR Allen Robinson
(from Mike Tagliere’s stock market check)

Robinson has had a slow start to his season, with no scores and 126 yards through two games. But one of the reasons for being wary on Robinson to start the season (the theoretically improved Jaguars defense) has proven to be inaccurate, with Jacksonville allowing 65 points in two games. Robinson’s garbage-time production from 2015 should return this year, and the multi-touchdown games will come along for the ride.

Downgrade Philadelphia RB Ryan Mathews
(from Jeff Ratcliffe’s flex rankings)

Mathews scored twice in Week 2. That’s good. But he also saw three fewer carries than ostensible passing-down option Darren Sproles, and if Mathews isn’t even getting more carries than Sproles, that’s not very inspiring for his fantasy chances. As long as he’s getting two touchdowns a week, a mere nine carries is acceptable. But betting on multiple touchdowns a week is not a winning strategy.

Daily fantasy

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