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Should I start Chuba Hubbard, Isiah Pacheco, Nick Chubb for Week 3? Fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks and recommendations for the 2025 NFL season.
One of the biggest detriments to a fantasy team is not having good running backs to start. While there are often great options on waivers for tight ends, wide receivers, and quarterbacks, for running backs, not so much.
In general, evidence points to the best RBs being selected earlier in drafts. Teams generally score much fewer fantasy points with their backs than they do with their receivers, in total.
And because RBs tend to break out early in their careers, rather than after a few years, like TEs, it's tough to get ahead of the curve. With that in mind, it's also important to make the right start 'em, sit 'em decisions, so let's dive into those for three RBs.
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Should I Start Isiah Pacheco for Fantasy Football?
I don't think so. There was widespread speculation that Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco would return to his workhorse role at the start of the 2025 season. He put up good fantasy numbers in 2023 and in 2024, before his injury, so it was believed that the injury was the reason he never regained his role in 2024.
I wasn't so convinced. I was deeply concerned at the Chiefs' usage of backup Kareem Hunt, a free agent who wasn't even signed to another team before Pacheco's broken leg injury in 2024. Pacheco never even got an increasing workload after he came back.
Pacheco in Weeks 1-2:
-3.97 YPC (RB26 of 40)
-0 runs of 15+ yds
-0.12 MTF/Att (RB28)
-1.97 YACO/Att (RB29)I think Andy Reid shifts to a committee backfield in 2025. Many might get excited about Elijah Mitchell. I'm not. It's exceedingly rare for 5th year RBs to break out.
— JohnJohn Analysis (@JohnJohnalytics) May 25, 2025
Pacheco, through two weeks, has done virtually nothing. Rather than rip off the big runs we're accustomed to, he's averaged a miserable 3.1 yards per carry and has been outperformed by Hunt. Pacheco has carried the ball 15 times for 47 yards and caught three passes for 10 yards.
He's one of the worst "RB1s" in the NFL. Kansas City head coach Andy Reid likely recognizes that Pacheco simply isn't able to play like he used to now that defenses have more tape on him and can exploit his weaknesses. Their offensive line is also playing well, so it's hard to blame them.
Pacheco might be a worthless fantasy asset moving forward. He should be benched in all leagues facing the New York Giants.
Should I Start Nick Chubb for Fantasy Football?
While Houston Texans running back Joe Mixon (foot/ankle) remains on the Reserve/Non-Football Injury list, where he's been since the start of the 2025 season, Chubb remains the team's clear lead back. The volume hasn't been exactly what we want it to be, and the offense as a whole has struggled.
But a 25-yard touchdown scamper in the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 2 at least gives us some hope that Chubb will be a start-worthy player.
“Nick Chubb is done.”
“No way he comes back from that.”
Also Nick Chubb:pic.twitter.com/VIKz4gVnfX
— Aaron Leicht (@aaronleicht) September 16, 2025
It appears that sometimes the offensive line can indeed function competently. Chubb can run forward in a mostly straight line, without making cuts, if the blocking is good enough that he doesn't even get touched on the way in. But he's actually done a solid job breaking tackles this season.
Against the generally weak Jacksonville Jaguars defense, he's a fine player to start at flex in deeper leagues. Jacksonville has been a bit stingy against the run this year, though, so don't expect a huge game, and his floor is very low.
Should I Start Chuba Hubbard for Fantasy Football?
Yes. There isn't a situation in which you should bench Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard yet. Despite the Panthers signing RB Rico Dowdle before the 2025 season, he hasn't had much of a role, and it's been Hubbard reprising his workhorse status from a year ago.
His outlook isn't all sunshine and roses, though. Carolina's interior run-blocking has been a huge driver of Hubbard's success. Austin Corbett (knee) and Robert Hunt (biceps), the team's starting center and right guard, were massive cogs in that well-functioning machine. Now, both are set to miss significant time due to injury.
Panthers guard Robert Hunt underwent successful biceps surgery this week in L.A., per sources. Renowned surgeon Neal ElAttrache performed the procedure.
Panthers have not laid out a recovery timeline yet for the Pro Bowler.— Joe Person (@josephperson) September 18, 2025
Hunt had surgery and doesn't have a specific return date. It's not known yet whether Corbett will opt for surgery, so we don't know when he'll return. But both are out at least four games, and it's a massive blow to the offense in general.
It remains to be seen how it will initially affect Hubbard and the run game. It might take a few weeks for defenses to get more film on the team's replacements for the two fallen stud OL, but it could get pretty ugly pretty quickly. So while I recommend starting Hubbard against the Falcons this weekend, his fantasy outlook is definitely hurt by the bad news.
Who Should I Start Tool
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Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some common Week 3 fantasy football lineup decisions are regarding players like Chuba Hubbard, Isiah Pacheco, and Nick Chubb. But not to worry, we are here to help make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 3. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 3 of the 2025 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Week 3 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players - Chuba Hubbard, Isiah Pacheco, and Nick Chubb. These are some of the most common searches for fantasy football lineups in Week 3.
Using The Tool. This is a simple tool, but very powerful. The first step is to enter the player names that you want to compare. In the first box, search for the first player's name. In the second box, search for the second player's name. Compare up to four NFL players at once, and then click the Who To Start? button to see who the recommended starts are based on weekly fantasy football matchups.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our Who Should I Start? tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, enhanced search results with data to compare, and a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
How It Works. Each week, our RotoBaller staff puts together their weekly fantasy football rankings and projections based on their research. That information is the core data that is powering the decision-making in this tool. When you search for player names, you will only see those players who are ranked. If someone is out for the week, they will not appear in the search results.
Scoring Formats. Fantasy football managers play in various types of leagues, and this tool allows you to choose whether it's PPR scoring, Half-PPR scoring, or Standard (Non-PPR) scoring. The second thing you want to do is to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circles), so click on the scoring format you prefer. The results may vary based on the scoring format you select.
Popular Week 3 Searches. Curious to see some tough lineup decisions for Week 3 (2025)? Below you will find a list of some popular Who Should I Start? searches that RotoBaller readers are looking at this week. Click any of the links to see the result and recommendation.
Popular Week 3 Searches - Start/Sit Player Comparisons
Below are some popular Week 3 searches and comparisons from our 'Who To Start' tool for Chuba Hubbard, Isiah Pacheco, and Nick Chubb compared to others:
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