Week 3 Fantasy Picks

It is now week 3 and you are beginning to see who on your team will be somebody to count on.  You probably won't have a true idea until maybe the fourth or fifth week, but there are definitely some guys that you know you can drop as they have been on the practice squad or maybe even been cut when you thought they were going to possibly be sleepers.  Cut bait if you have a small bench and stick with guys you can use.  If you have a deep bench and you think that you still have some potential home run hitters that you don't want to give up feel fee to do so.  On to the picks.

Quarterbacks

RGIII will take off the safe shirt and
play much better than he has today.

RGIII,  if you have been feeling bad about picking up RGIII, this will be the week that he is going to make you feel good about it again.  The main issue has been the fact that he was kept out of the pre season and he is not in game shape or very confident in his knee yet.  Despite practicing in training camp, it is not the same when you have a safe shirt on and you know you can't be hit.  He needed those games to get mentally ready.  I don't see them having the easiest time running the ball so he is going to need to be able to pass today.  I also expect him to run a bit more as they will need to keep up with Stafford and company. 

Andy Dalton, I don't throw him up on my start list often, but if they want to hang with Green Bay then Dalton is going to have to be able to hit his receivers.  Obviously, he will be looking to AJ Green who was held in check last week by Ike Taylor, but look for Tyler Eifert to get more and more looks.  He looks to be an Aaron Hernandez type TE that is a tough match up for defenses, could be a sleeper TE in deep leagues.  Due to Pittsburgh not being able to score vs Cincy's defense there was no real need to force any throws last week as they felt comfortable playing it safe.  They will not be able to do that this week.  He should be a safe qb2 start and qb1 if you are desperate.

Carson Palmer, I keep putting him on the list as many people don't seem to think he is worthy yet.  He has played it pretty safe and has kept his team in the mix in both games and I expect him to do much of the same today when Arizona goes to New Orleans.  Could be a shoot out, but at any rate they will need to throw in this game.  Safe qb2.

Really Desperate

Big Ben,  a lot of people have lost faith in Big Ben, but I do expect him to turn it around.  I would hold off in a qb1 league as I like to play it safe, but in a qb2 league, this could be time for him to start throwing especially with Tillman hurt for Chicago.  Eventually, they can not just play it safe and will have to start throwing the ball instead of expecting their defense to win it for them.

Don't like

Russell Wilson,  I know he has a great matchup but they might be up pretty quickly and they may just run the ball all day as they have been doing to some degree.  He is not the worst start but there are better matchups out there.

Running Backs

Marshawn Lynch,  obviously people are going to be starting this guy pretty much every week.  I don't love Lynch but I do today as the Jags who actually have the number 2 pass defense, mainly because teams are running out the clock against them at pretty much half time, but at any rate expect much of the same today as it will be running and defense for Seattle.

Joique Bell,  I am mainly putting this guy in because I like his name and if Reggie Bush does not go, this guy could get you 2 touchdowns just because of the offense.  They throw to the running backs fairly often so a double bonus for PPR.

Desperation

Jacquizz Rogers and Jason Snelling,  not sure who will get the majority, but they are going against a good Miami defense.  If you are in PPR, Rogers may give you a boost in that regard, but there is no telling if he will get goal line touches.  Could be low single digits if you guess wrong with this pick.

Don't love

James Starks,  I know he had a big week last week, but they were also up 30 fairly quickly.  Don't expect that to happen against Cincy and a pretty stout run defense.

Matt Forte, in a PPR league he is a start, but in a standard league I don't like him going to an unhappy 0-2 Pittsburgh on Monday night.  I know it is tough to bench somebody like this but if you have a capable backup, now is possibly the time to do so.  I almost feel the same way about Peterson but even in bad games, he somehow puts up 2 touchdowns.

Wide Receivers

Garcon & Hankerson,  I think both of these guys will get their share of targets as RGIII will be moving around a lot and will open these 2 up against a bad Detroit secondary.

Brian Hartline, should get a lot of targets if Mike Wallace is not able to go.  Miami is going to be playing a good Atlanta team that should keep the pressure on Miami to score.

Deandre Hopkins, should get some targets after a good week and even if Andre Johnson goes, which he should, he will have Ladarious Webb covering him.  This should make Hopkins a fairly decent target.  Hopefully I don't eat my words with this one as I just put him in over Decker in a PPR league.  Mostly due to the fact that I will probably get murdered and I like Hopkins big play ability over Decker.

Desperate

Josh Gordon,  usually I would like to wait a week or 2 to see how he looks, especially with a quarterback starting just his second NFL game.  I do think that the Brian Hoyer to Josh Gordon connection could prove to work.  Without much of a running game, Hoyer could throw quite a few times as he will be all juiced up for this one.  Hoyer could be a desperate qb start as well, but I am not sure who your quarterbacks would have to be to need to start this guy.  Stick with Gordon if you have to for now.

Defensive Sleeper

Buffalo,  I don't expect this to be a high scoring game so the Jets wouldn't be the worst call either.  I didn't have a ton of options so I am personally going with the Bills as I like Manuel more than I like Geno Smith.  I also need this to work as I am going against Seattle's defense which might put up 50 points today against Jacksonville.