It was a wild and wacky Week 3 around the NFL. There may be even more questions as the dust settles on this past weekend’s slate then there were before the games kicked off.
The best thing to do is to learn as much as you can from what happened in the past and focus making the best decisions for the future. With that in mind, here’s a look at some players on the rise, some sliding down and a couple to keep on the radar heading into Week 4.
Rising up
Todd Gurley, RB, Los Angeles Rams
Thursday night’s contest between the Rams and the 49ers had a combined 80 points scored in it and Gurley led the charge. He had 33 total touches and finished with 149 combined yards and three touchdowns. Gurley had two runs of over 15 yards and got six carries inside the 5-yard line. Through three weeks, no running back has received more attempts and only Kareem Hunt has scored more fantasy points. He’s one of only six running backs that have played at least 75 percent of his team’s snaps so far this year and will definitely continue to garner a high volume of carries. The schedule gets a little tougher over the next month, but Gurley is looking like a reliable RB1 with Sean McVay’s offense taking shape in Los Angeles.
Christian McCaffrey, RB, Carolina Panthers
McCaffrey is another one of the six running backs to play at least 75 percent of their team’s snaps so far this season. While his 1.9 YPC leaves a lot to be desired, the rookie’s usage in the Panthers’ passing attack is promising. Playing without Greg Olsen already, the team also had Kelvin Benjamin (knee) get hurt in Week 3 against the Saints. That, coupled with game flow, opened the door for McCaffrey to see 11 targets. He pulled in nine of them, finishing with 111 yards receiving and 20.7 fantasy points. Play-caller Mike Shula is still trying to figure out ways to get McCaffrey involved, but even so he enters Week 4 as the RB15 in PPR formats with plenty of room to grow.
Stefon Diggs, WR, Minnesota Vikings
Without Sam Bradford under center for a second straight week, it was a risky proposition for fantasy owners to play Diggs in Week 3 versus the Bucs, but those who rolled the dice were rewarded. Diggs delivered with eight receptions on 11 targets for 173 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He garnered 33.3 percent of the targets for Minnesota, including a team-high three deep-ball targets. The performance catapulted him to being fantasy’s No. 1 scoring wide receiver through the first three weeks of action. He’s had hot streaks before, only to fizzle out eventually. However, regardless of whose under center, Diggs has earned the starting nod in fantasy lineups until further notice.
Zach Ertz, TE, Philadelphia Eagles
With so many tight ends either banged up or underperforming, the steady play of Ertz has really stood out. He led the Eagles in Week 3 with nine targets and finished with eight catches for 60 yards and a touchdown. He has emerged as the go-to option for Carson Wentz and an elite fantasy option. Ertz garnered 31 percent of the team’s targets on Sunday, including two in the end zone. Since Week 9 of last season and through the first three games of 2017 no tight end has put up more than 205 PPR fantasy points (17.1 ppg) he’s amassed and it’s not even close.
Sliding down
Philip Rivers, QB, Los Angeles Chargers
The Kansas City defense wreaked havoc on Rivers in Sunday’s AFC West showdown as the veteran threw three interceptions in the first half alone. He has now been picked off an astounding 21 times over his last 12 outings. He only managed to complete 50 percent of his 40 pass attempts, his lowest completion rate since facing the Broncos in Week 8 of 2016. His struggles last year were mostly tied to the heavy dose of injuries the Chargers endured. This year that has not been the case and the signal-caller is currently outside of the top 20 passers in fantasy points. After throwing for multiple scores in 10 straight games dating back to last season he has now only managed one touchdown pass over his past two contests. Rivers is nothing more than a QB2 at best, but he’ll still have some big games here and there. He shapes up to be a dicey play next week at home versus the Eagles.
Isaiah Crowell, RB, Cleveland Browns
The disappointing 2017 campaign continued for Crowell in Week 3 as he rushed for just 44 yards on 12 carries (3.7 YPC). Sadly, that is his best effort on the season. Through three games, the Browns’ running back has registered 114 yards on 39 carries (2.9 YPC). Often impacted by a negative game flow with the Cleveland trailing, Crowell simply isn’t getting the volume necessary for him to deliver full fantasy value. He’s not making things happen on his own with the ball as much as he did last year. So far, he’s posted 1.6 YAC this year after delivering a solid 3.2 YAC number a year ago. Crowell is flex fodder at best right now and really needs to play his way back into fantasy line-ups.
Terrelle Pryor, WR, Washington Redskins
Kirk Cousins threw for 365 yards and three touchdowns in Sunday’s win over the Redskins, but Pryor still just managed two catches for 19 yards. Pryor has yet to click with Cousins and is still trying to find a role in the Washington offense. He’s only been targeted 18 times during his first three games with the team, catching 10 balls (56 percent catch rate) for 118 yards and no touchdowns. There was some hope that with Jordan Reed (chest) sidelined Pryor would see a spike in targets, but it did not happen. With the Chiefs on tap, things aren’t likely to get much better in the short term.
Austin Hooper, TE, Atlanta Falcons
After his monster yet fluky Week 1 stat line, Hooper has come crashing back down to earth over the past two weeks. On Sunday, he only had one catch for nine yards on two targets. He still ranks as a top-10 TE in standard formats after three weeks. Expect that to change in the near future. Hooper simply doesn’t get enough targets to be a viable fantasy starting option. Through three games Hooper has been targeted just six times. He’s made the most of his opportunities though as he’s caught five balls for 144 yards and a score. However, in most 10- and 12-team formats he can be safely dropped.
On the radar
Deshaun Watson, QB, Houston Texans
Even though he didn’t even start in Week 1, rookie Watson has now scored more fantasy points than Derek Carr, Ben Roethlisberger, and Cam Newton, to name a few, through three weeks of action. He nearly led the Texans to an upset of New England in Foxborough in Week 3 on his way to 301 yards and two touchdowns through the air and 41 yards on eight carries. Watson leads all quarterbacks on the season with 124 rushing yards on only 15 carries.
Sterling Shepard, WR, New York Giants
When the Giants added Brandon Marshall in free agency, many assumed Shepard wouldn’t have much value. After watching Shepard on Sunday perhaps his demise was a bit premature. The second-year wide receiver turned in his best day of the season with 133 yards and a touchdown and seven catches on 10 targets. He only had 67 yards in the first two weeks though so perhaps it’s best to see if he can build on this performance before jumping to conclusions.
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