Fact or Fiction: Fantasy Football Outlooks for Michael Pittman Jr., Tyquan Thornton, Keenan Allen, Jaylen Waddle, Elic Ayomanor

by Justin Carter

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Justin's fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks for Week 4 of 2025. Fantasy outlooks for Michael Pittman Jr., Tyquan Thornton, Keenan Allen, Jaylen Waddle, Elic Ayomanor.

Welcome to another edition of Fact or Fiction, where we try to make sense of recent performances by NFL players as we head into Week 4 of the 2025 NFL season.

Today, we'll be looking at how five wide receivers played in Week 3 and projecting what that performance means going forward. Michael Pittman Jr., Tyquan Thornton, Keenan Allen, Jaylen Waddle, and Elic Ayomanor are the focus of this column.

Were the Week 3 performances by these guys a Fact or a Fiction? Read on for fantasy football outlooks for Week 4, and good luck.

Be sure to check all of our fantasy football rankings for 2025:

Michael Pittman Jr., WR, Indianapolis Colts

Week 3 stats: six catches for 73 yards and a touchdown -- overall WR11

After a disappointing Week 2 effort that saw him catch four passes for 40 yards, Pittman bounced back in Week 3 against the Titans, catching all six of the targets that quarterback Daniel Jones directed his way. Pittman finished the game with six catches for 73 yards and a score.

TUDDY FOR MICHAEL ‼️

📺CBS pic.twitter.com/h4X1EKBHt9

— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) September 21, 2025

That now makes two good games this season for Pittman. Expectations were all over the place heading into the year for No. 11, with a lot of his upside tied to how the quarterback position would look in Indianapolis. So far, Jones looks good, and Pittman has thus looked pretty good as well.

Pittman is now on pace for the third 1,000-yard season of his NFL career. Will he get there? I side with "probably." He's been the recipient of a number of easy throws from Jones, and the fact that he's successful in the short passing game should mean that he can still find success even if Jones falls off.

Pittman feels like a safe WR2 option at this point. Maybe you'd like more targets so you could feel a little better, but he's been very efficient with the targets he's received. Per PlayerProfiler, Pitman actually ranks sixth among all wide receivers in fantasy points per target.

Verdict: Fact

Tyquan Thornton, WR, Kansas City Chiefs

Week 3 stats: five catches for 71 yards and a touchdown -- overall WR15

With Rashee Rice suspended and Xavier Worthy injured, someone needed to step up for the Chiefs. In Week 3, that "someone" was Thornton, who was targeted nine times and brought in five of those passes for 71 yards and a score.

Tyquan Thornton reels it in!

KCvsNYG on NBC
Stream on @NFLPlus + Peacock pic.twitter.com/IjbXoh0P14

— NFL (@NFL) September 22, 2025

Thornton was the Chiefs' leader in every receiving category against the Giants. With Marquise Brown having two quiet games in a row after being targeted 16 times in the season opener, Kansas City needed someone like Thornton to have a big showing.

If you paid attention to the Chiefs during training camp, this shouldn't be a shock. There was a lot of chatter about how good the former Patriots second-round pick looked as he went from the wrong side to the right side of the roster bubble.

Unfortunately for fantasy managers, Thornton's run is unlikely to continue, though you can't blame him for it.

Worthy has been a full participant in practice this week and is expected to play in Week 4 against the Ravens. Baltimore's defense has struggled in two of its three games, so Thornton still has flex value for this matchup, but Worthy's return is just the first part of a two-part drop in Thornton's value.

The second part will come against the Bears on Oct. 26, when Rice is set to return from his suspension. That knocks Thornton down to the No. 3 role at best, and that's only if the team gives him more snaps than Brown.

Play him in fantasy while you can over these next three games, but we may have already seen the best of Thornton.

Verdict: Fiction, but it's not his fault

Keenan Allen, WR, Los Angeles Chargers

Week 3 stats: seven catches for 65 yards and a touchdown -- overall WR12

Forget that old saying. You actually can go home again.

Allen returned to the Chargers this season after what was essentially a one-year vacation in Chicago. His familiarity with quarterback Justin Herbert helped him make the transition with ease, as Allen has now caught a touchdown in each game since returning to Los Angeles.

Now, I don't expect Allen to end the 2025 NFL season with 17 touchdown receptions, but as long as he stays healthy, Allen will clear the 1,000-yard mark once again.

Of course, it's probably worth pointing out a couple of warning signs here. Not counting last season in Chicago, because we can just forget about that season, Allen's averaging his fewest yards per game since 2014. He's also averaging his fewest yards per target since 2020.

Still, a healthy Allen will continue to pile up targets. Maybe he's not as likely as he was in the past to break off some huge gain, but he makes up for that by getting high-value red zone targets, with Allen already having six red zone targets on the season.

Verdict: Fact

Jaylen Waddle, WR, Miami Dolphins

Week 3 stats: five catches for 39 yards and a touchdown -- overall WR23

For the second week in a row, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Waddle found the end zone. However, the rest of his numbers from Week 3 were middling, as he caught five passes for 39 yards. He has under 40 receiving yards in two of the three games so far.

Tua to Waddle before the half!

16 plays. 71 yards. 6 points.

MIAvsBUF on Prime Video
Also streaming on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/euqgY3uOGE

— NFL (@NFL) September 19, 2025

Waddle's a complicated wide receiver to get a handle on. A big-play guy earlier in his career who averaged a league-high 18.1 yards per reception in 2022, his usage has moved shorter and shorter ever since. Last year, he saw a major drop in overall production as well, dropping from 72.4 receiving yards per game in 2023 to 49.6 last year.

Quarterback play is a factor here. Last year's Dolphins featured six starts from Tyler Huntley and Skylar Thompson, and in 2025, Waddle is catching passes from a Tua Tagovailoa who is clearly not the same passer he was earlier in his career.

Another issue this season is that Miami has been feeding De'Von Achane in the passing game, as the running back's 23 targets are tied with Tyreek Hill for the team lead.

Waddle might have two touchdowns, but his week-to-week production is going to be difficult to predict, unless...

Yep, it's time to talk theoretically about something. Miami is a bad football team, and both Achane and Hill have been the subject of trade rumors. If one or both are moved, things suddenly open up for Waddle, and he leaps into the WR2/3 range. For now, though, Waddle is a risky flex option for fantasy managers.

Verdict: Fiction, unless a Hill trade happens

Elic Ayomanor, WR, Tennessee Titans

Week 3 stats: four catches for 38 yards and one touchdown -- overall WR25

One major talking point this offseason was about how the Titans didn't provide rookie quarterback Cam Ward with reliable weapons. Calvin Ridley was a solid No. 1 receiver, but the WRs beyond him were questionable at best. Tyler Lockett, who turns 33 on Sunday? Journeyman Van Jefferson? A pair of fourth-round rookies?

Well, one of those fourth-round rookies, Elic Ayomanor, appears to have carved out a role for the Titans, but how sustainable is it?

Against the Colts this past weekend, Ayomanor found the end zone for the second game in a row. He's second on the team in targets and receptions, third in receiving yards, and is the only Titans player with a receiving touchdown. He's flashed some good plays this season, but he also has only 107 yards through three games. This isn't a high-powered offense.

It's a solid start, but this passing attack is too inconsistent for Ayomanor to be relied on by fantasy managers. His performance is good for Ward's development and good for the Titans' future, but if you're trusting him as anything more than a risky flex play, you're putting your fantasy team in danger.

Verdict: Fiction

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