Fantasy Football Landmines to Avoid for Week 3 - Drake Maye, Baker Mayfield, Sam LaPorta, more

September 26, 2026

Aidin looks at fantasy football landmines, busts, and avoids for Week 3 of 2026. Given these Week 3 fantasy situations, consider benching these players.

After a fun Thursday Night Football matchup that saw the promising return of Michael Penix Jr. and an eruption by Bijan Robinson, which is sure to make his fantasy managers extremely happy, we're headed to the main Week 3 slate!

In this weekly series, I'll highlight five players who could disappoint due to several factors, such as their matchup, team situation, or whether their current run of form is unsustainable. Benching these star names will be tough, but you have to take risks to win. Last week, three out of my five picks failed to record more than 11.0 PPR points. Tyler Shough was the big outlier, as he was the QB8; TreVeyon Henderson had an above-average day with a long touchdown run and 13.6 PPR points; Chase Brown was mediocre as expected, and Chris Godwin Jr. and Michael Mayer had poor fantasy performances. Overall, in the last two weeks, six out of our 10 "landmines" have failed to cross the 11.0 PPR-point threshold.

Without further ado, let's look at five fantasy football landmines you should bench ahead of Week 3 of the 2026 NFL season.

Drake Maye, QB, at Jacksonville Jaguars

Things change quickly in the NFL. One day, you're the next great quarterback; the next day you're playing well below your standards, and your fans are concerned. This is exactly what's happening to Drake Maye (and the next player on this list, who we'll get to).

Drake Maye picked off by Patrick Queen 👀

PITvsNE on CBS/Paramount+
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/EucKKzlBze

— NFL (@NFL) September 20, 2026

Maye racked up 359.0 PPR points in his sophomore season, a tally only bettered by his divisional rival, Josh Allen. The biggest criticism of Maye was that he put up these numbers against a "cupcake" schedule, and the postseason validated that concern.

Maye's passer rating went down by 31.3 from the regular season to the playoffs, but his defense helped him reach Super Bowl LX, where he eventually lost.

Maye's struggles have continued into the 2026 season. Overall, he has accounted for eight total touchdowns to 12 turnovers with a 76.2 passer rating in his last six games, including the playoffs.

A large reason for his decline is the increase in the Patriots' level of competition, and their schedule isn't going to get any easier, at least for the next couple of weeks.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are known for their offensive exploits under offensive guru Liam Coen, but their defense is also potent and very underrated.

They ranked fifth in fewest points allowed per drive in 2025, and currently rank ninth after two games this season. Apart from Bo Nix, no quarterback has eclipsed 280 passing yards against them since Week 12 of last season.

Maye still hasn't proved himself consistently against tough opponents, and you should avoid him in these matchups until he develops that part of his game.

Baker Mayfield, QB, vs. Minnesota Vikings

As mentioned in the Maye section, Baker Mayfield is going through a similar downfall in terms of his reputation. Mayfield was arguably the MVP front-runner midway through last season, but a 2-7 run caused the Buccaneers to miss the playoffs and his stock to plummet.

#Bucs OC Zac Robinson says he can't pinpoint why Baker Mayfield has had throwing struggles. He's looked great in practice and just needs to translate that to the games. pic.twitter.com/pbLo3QOqhi

— PewterReport 🏴‍☠️ (@PewterReport) September 24, 2026

Mayfield played through many injuries during the team's slide, but his struggle for form has continued into the 2026 season. With two total touchdowns to four turnovers, Mayfield has failed to justify his three-year, $165 million contract extension.

Of course, the former first overall pick is far from the biggest issue on this team. But things are unlikely to improve anytime soon, especially in Week 3 against a dominant Vikings defense.

Minnesota defensive coordinator Brian Flores is at the top of his game right now, having successfully stopped Jordan Love and the white-hot Caleb Williams. The Vikings defense ranks third with four takeaways, which spells disaster for such a turnover-prone player like Mayfield.

Coincidentally, Mayfield and Flores made their debuts for their current teams against each other in Week 1 of the 2023 season, with Mayfield performing well in a win. However, the energy has shifted since that day.

Chase Brown, RB, at Pittsburgh Steelers

Once again, Chase Brown finds himself in this article as a fantasy landmine. Much like a running back version of Maye, Brown fails to impress against good opposition and rarely has an outstanding game when the lights are the brightest.

Brown has only had one game in his career with over 20.0 PPR points against a team with a winning record: when he put up 22.4 PPR points against the Ravens, mainly on nine receptions for 52 yards.

Brown has actually had plenty of success on the ground against the Steelers, averaging 92.3 rushing yards per game in his last three games against them, significantly higher than his regular-season average of 61.3 since the 2024 season.

However, this is a far different Steelers team compared to last season, mainly due to new defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. Their defense ranked 27th in yards allowed per drive last season, and that ranking has improved drastically to seventh in 2026.

This is yet another tough matchup for Brown, and I wouldn't be surprised if he puts up around 11.0 PPR points like he did last week, which isn't what you want out of an RB1.

Terry McLaurin, WR, vs. Seattle Seahawks

Good news for Commanders fans: Jayden Daniels, who suffered a scary elbow injury in Week 2 against the Dallas Cowboys, won't head to the injured reserve list and is considered week-to-week, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport.

The bad news is that he's already been ruled out of the team's Week 3 matchup against the reigning Super Bowl champion Seahawks, which could be disastrous for their offense and their fantasy production.

WR1 Terry McLaurin hasn't gotten off to the best start this season, catching four of his 13 targets for 64 yards and no touchdowns. McLaurin does have a solid connection with QB2 Marcus Mariota, having caught three touchdowns from Mariota last season.

However, you should never trust receivers with backup quarterbacks in fantasy, especially not against the dominant "Dark Side" defense that currently ranks first in fewest passing yards allowed. McLaurin was held to 33 yards in his previous meeting against the Seahawks.

Sam LaPorta, TE, vs. New York Jets

The Lions offense struggled once Sam LaPorta went down with a herniated disc in 2025. They scored 283 in nine games (31.4 per game) with LaPorta, and just 198 in eight games (24.8) without him. That offensive slide contributed to them missing the playoffs.

Goff's 3rd TD of the night goes to Sam LaPorta!

DETvsBUF – on Prime Video
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/wRU8aMlVnY

— NFL (@NFL) September 18, 2026

Now that LaPorta is healthy, they have scored 31 points in each of the last two games, and the former All-Pro is currently the PPR TE6.

The Saints and Bills have allowed 48 and 60 points this season, respectively. But don't let their reputation fool you; the Jets are a much tougher defense (30 points allowed) and have done a very good job against tight ends.

Gunnar Helm and Tucker Kraft were held to a combined 43 yards, and their defense currently ranks first in fewest yards allowed and sixth in fewest points allowed.

Their 6.0 PPR points allowed to tight ends is the third-lowest mark in the NFL, and LaPorta might not be able to replicate his usual production against such an in-form defense and his former coach, Aaron Glenn, who knows exactly what to do to stop him.

Who Should I Start Tool

You can also see the Who Should I Start tool here.

Week 3 Player Decisions. Today's focus is on specific players -- Drake Maye, Baker Mayfield, Chase Brown, Terry McLaurin, and Sam LaPorta. 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 name. In the second box, search for the second player 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.

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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 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 (2026)? 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 searches and comparisons from our Who To Start tool for Week 3 for Drake Maye, Baker Mayfield, Chase Brown, Terry McLaurin, and Sam LaPorta: