Fantasy Football Warning Signals for Week 3? DeVonta Smith, Calvin Ridley, Cam Skattebo, more

Dan's warning signals and tough fantasy football sit 'em decisions for Week 3 (2025). Which players are we concerned about - are they worth benching, sitting, avoiding?

Hello again, RotoBallers, and welcome back to my fantasy football Warning Signals column for Week 3 of the 2025 NFL season -- my weekly exercise in hand-wringing over what to do with fantasy football rosters in the week ahead. As we enter Week 3, sample sizes are small, but a season could hinge on decisions made this early. Being aware of trends as they take shape can provide an edge now that will pay off in the long run.

Based on what the defenses of the Rams and Colts have shown us through two weeks, I’m avoiding wide receivers DeVonta Smith and Calvin Ridley. Similarly, I’m steering clear of Cam Skattebo, whose squishy offensive line should struggle to open anything up against the Kansas City Chiefs. Lastly, the rash of injuries to starting quarterbacks will undoubtedly affect playmakers, and this week I zero in on T.J. Hockenson.

If you see a player you have rostered in this article, there’s no need to panic. There is a lot of time left in the season for them all to prove their worth in fantasy football. I do have my doubts that they will contribute to a winning roster this week. Read on for the warning signals keeping me away from Smith, Ridley, Skattebo, and more in Week 3.

DeVonta Smith, WR, Philadelphia Eagles

I’ll start by confessing that Smith (back) is someone I can never sell myself on in fantasy football. His season-long stats have been impressive since his debut in 2021, but living in the shadow of A.J. Brown while in an offense set up to emphasize the run just doesn’t do it for me.

That out of the way, I have real concerns about Smith in Week 3. As I said above, Smith’s outlook should be downgraded based on the defense he is facing. Specifically, the Rams’ secondary is running zone coverage at an above-average rate. In Week 1, we saw the Eagles’ pass game negated by a zone-heavy scheme run by the Cowboys, resulting in just three catches for 16 yards. Los Angeles has also been successful at bottling up slot receivers in the first two weeks of the season. Rams safety Quentin Lake operates as the team’s primary slot cover man and is averaging a league-leading 18.7 snaps between receptions.

Aside from the unfriendly scheme, Philadelphia’s own offense is working against Smith. Their success on the ground has made it hard to turn away from that aspect of their game. The Eagles are the least pass-friendly team in the league, going to the air on just 40% of their plays. They also run at a slow pace, milking the clock for an average of 33.7 seconds per play. So far, this deliberate, run-heavy offense hasn’t done Smith any favors in 2025, and I don’t expect Week 3 to be any different.

Jalen Hurts' 6.0 ADOT (avg depth of target) through the first two games is the lowest of his career in that span as a full-time starter.

2021: 7.9
2022: 6.9
2023: 9.6
2024: 6.8
2025: 6.0

— Brooks Kubena (@BKubena) September 15, 2025

Calvin Ridley, WR, Tennessee Titans

Just as Smith has suffered against zone defenses, Ridley has found it impossible to produce against man coverage so far in 2025. That spells trouble for Week 3, as the Colts utilize the scheme more frequently than most NFL Teams. And when I say impossible, I mean it. Not only does Ridley have no receptions against man this year, but he hasn’t even been targeted. The Titans as a whole have been stymied by the scheme, averaging .01 fantasy points per dropback against man coverage, worst in the league by far.

This, and the other deficiencies in Tennessee’s passing attack, are symptomatic of rookie quarterback Cameron Ward learning the ropes at the pro level. Ward currently has the lowest completion percentage (50.8%), yards per pass attempt (4.7), and seventh-lowest catchable air yard rate (51.3%). Ridley hasn’t been doing himself any favors in his first two games of the season, though. Despite Ward’s struggles, he has mostly been on target when throwing to Ridley, delivering 12 catchable balls. Ridley, however, only turned seven of those into receptions and has three drops.

Calvin already owes Cam 6 first downs and it's only week 2 pic.twitter.com/SDzOpzjmVv

— JetPack Galileo (@JetPackGalileo) September 16, 2025

It is far too soon to pass judgment on 2025’s first overall draft selection, and at the end of the day, Ridley is still a talented receiver. They will find their rhythm in time. I won’t bet on the duo turning things around against Indianapolis in Week 3, however.

Tyrone Tracy Jr. and Cam Skattebo, RB, New York Giants

Initially, this section was going to be dedicated solely to Tracy Jr. (calf), whose role as the Giants’ lead back appears to be done for. However, the more I thought about it, the less convinced I was that this was the week to bet on Skattebo (ankle).

Tracy burst onto the scene as a rookie last season with an 18-carry, 129-yard performance against the Seahawks in Week 5. He alternated a few boom/bust weeks before his production definitively tapered off in the last four weeks of the 2024 season. That trend continued into 2025, with Tracy averaging a mere 2.6 yards per carry in his first two games of the new season.

Enter Skattebo, who saw his snap share go from 11% in Week 1 to 51% in Week 2, while Tracy’s tumbled from 73% to 42%. Skattebo had 11 carries to Tracy’s five, running for 45 yards and his first NFL touchdown. The scales tipped a bit further in Skattebo’s direction on Wednesday as Tracy was listed as a limited participant in practice due to a calf injury on New York’s first injury report of the week.

My expectations for Skattebo to break out this week are held in check by their opposing defense. The Giants will face a Kansas City defense that has stopped 27.1% of rushing attempts at or before the line of scrimmage, the fifth-highest rate through Weeks 1 and 2. They have also held runners to 2.7 yards per attempt on inside zone plays, which New York runs at the second-highest frequency in the league. Tracy is bench material, and I’d explore other options before plugging Skattebo into my starting lineup in Week 3.

Giants' rushing yard leaders this season:

67 — Russell Wilson
42 — Cam Skattebo
39 — Tyrone Tracy Jr.
13 — Devin Singletary pic.twitter.com/WC1Sd3k9Lb

— GiantsMuse (@Giants_muse) September 17, 2025

T.J. Hockenson, TE, Minnesota Vikings

Hockenson was supposed to operate as quarterback J.J. McCarthy’s (ankle) safety valve (or so I thought when I drafted the tight end left and right). Sadly, he has seen just seven targets for four receptions and 27 yards through two games. Meanwhile, McCarthy, the pseudo-rookie, is holding onto the ball for three seconds at a time (second most in the league), taking hits on 25.9% of dropbacks (again, the league’s second-highest rate), and has the lowest checkdown rate (3.7%) among starting quarterbacks.

Not that I’m upset about it or anything.

With McCarthy dealing with a high-ankle sprain, it might be Carson Wentz taking over under center for the Vikings in Week 3. Wentz’s favorite target was tight end Zach Ertz when his career took off with the Eagles. That was back when Philadelphia’s best options at wide receiver were Alshon Jeffery and Nelson Agholor.

Wentz has the experience to know not to overlook his tight end, but he is well aware that it is the Justin Jefferson show in Minnesota. There’s not much separating Hockenson from the options available on the wire. If any of the tight ends who made a splash in the first two weeks (Juwan Johnson, Ertz, Harold Fannin Jr.) are still available, I’d take a shot on them before plugging Hockenson in for Week 3.

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