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Mike Fanelli gives his fantasy football bold predictions for Week 3 of the NFL season, giving fantasy players something to think about when setting their lineups.
Week 3 is here, and I’m back with another edition of fantasy football bold predictions. This week’s list of bold predictions will include Kirk Cousins, Josh Jacobs, Travis Etienne Jr., Amari Cooper, and Cade Otton.
Every week, I will provide some fun and bold fantasy football predictions. While these bold predictions aren’t the most likely outcomes, they are things I believe could happen this week.
Let’s look at my five bold predictions for Week 3 of the 2023 NFL season.
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Kirk Cousins…
Has over 400 passing yards against the Los Angeles Chargers
Cousins has been the top-scoring fantasy quarterback over the first two weeks, averaging 22.5 fantasy points per game. The veteran was outstanding in the Week 2 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles, throwing for 364 yards and four touchdowns. He ended the game with a 125.6 passer rating and 28.56 fantasy points, making him the QB2 for the week.
More importantly, the veteran quarterback has the second-most passing yards in the NFL, only seven yards behind Tua Tagovailoa. However, Cousins is the only quarterback with over 300 passing yards in every game this season, totaling at least 340 yards in both contests. Meanwhile, the matchup this week screams a high-scoring affair.
The Chargers have surrendered 712 passing yards this season, the most in the NFL. Tagovailoa had 466 against Los Angeles in Week 1, the highest total in a game this season and the fourth-highest total over the past three years. Furthermore, they gave up 246 passing yards to Ryan Tannehill on only 24 passing attempts in Week 2. Cousins has 44 pass attempts in both games this season. He could have over 50 in this contest.
Josh Jacobs…
Gets on track this week and is the overall RB1
Jacobs was a fantasy superstar in 2022, ending the year as the RB3, averaging 17.8 half-point PPR fantasy points per game. Unfortunately, he has struggled this season, totaling only 15.5 fantasy points and 46 rushing yards over the first two weeks. However, the former Alabama star will have a bounce-back this week against a struggling Pittsburgh Steelers run defense.
Pittsburgh had a lights-out performance on Monday Night Football in Week 2, forcing four turnovers and six sacks against the Cleveland Browns. However, their run defense was a disaster. They surrendered 64 rushing yards on 10 attempts to Nick Chubb before he left the game with a knee injury. Furthermore, Jerome Ford had 106 rushing yards on 16 attempts against the Steelers, averaging over 6.5 yards per rushing attempt.
More importantly, Pittsburgh has surrendered 30.3 fantasy points per game to running backs this season, the most in the NFL. Running backs have averaged 6.06 yards per rushing attempt and 166.5 rushing yards per game against the Steelers. Furthermore, Ford was the RB6 last week despite playing only 49% of the snaps. Meanwhile, Christian McCaffrey was the RB2 in Week 1 after facing Pittsburgh. Fantasy players should buy low on Jacobs today because the trade window closes on Sunday.
Travis Etienne…
Is a top-three running back against the Houston Texans
The Texans have been one of the worst teams at stopping the run over the past few years. Last season, they surrendered the most rushing yards to running backs, giving up 141.9 yards per game. By comparison, the Los Angeles Chargers allowed the second-most rushing yards per game to running backs, giving up a staggering 14.6 fewer yards per contest than the Texans. More importantly, Houston has struggled to stop opposing running backs again in 2023.
After giving up 28.7 half-point PPR fantasy points per game to running backs last season, the Texans have struggled again this year. They surrendered 23.8 fantasy points per game to running backs over the first two weeks, the eighth-most in the NFL. Furthermore, opposing running backs have four rushing touchdowns against Houston this season. Yet, they’ve only faced the Baltimore Ravens and the Indianapolis Colts without Jonathan Taylor.
More importantly, Etienne owned the Texans last year. The former Clemson star averaged 15.7 fantasy points per game in the two matchups against the division rival in 2022. Furthermore, he averaged 89.5 rushing yards per game on only 9.5 rushing attempts, averaging 9.4 yards per attempt against Houston. After a quiet Week 2 performance, Etienne will rip apart an already poor and banged-up Texans defense.
Amari Cooper…
Builds off of last week’s success and is the overall WR1
Last week, Cooper suffered a groin injury on Friday, putting his status for the Week 2 matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers in severe doubt. However, the star wide receiver suited up for the Cleveland Browns. Furthermore, he put the myth that he doesn’t play well on the road to bed, totaling seven receptions on 10 targets for 90 yards and 12.5 half-point PPR fantasy points in Pittsburgh. More importantly, he was effective with his snaps despite the injury.
The veteran wide receiver played 72% of the snaps. By comparison, David Njoku (85%), Donovan Peoples-Jones (87%), and Elijah Moore (77%) played more snaps than Cooper. Yet, the former Alabama star was the only player on the team with double-digit targets. Furthermore, Moore was the only other Brown with more than four targets in the game.
Cooper averaged 2.14 yards per route run, over a yard more than Njoku, Peoples-Jones, and Moore. More importantly, the Tennessee Titans have been a fantasy goldmine for opposing wide receivers. The Titans have surrendered 42.5 fantasy points per game to wide receivers this season, the third-most in the NFL. Keenan Allen faced Tennessee last week and was the WR1, scoring 27.1 fantasy points. Cooper is in a prime position to repeat that performance.
Cade Otton…
Is a top-12 tight end against the Philadelphia Eagles
The tight end position has several superstars. However, fantasy players who don’t have one of those superstars and are streaming the tight end position should add Otton off the waiver wire. Last year, the former Washington star had a solid rookie season, totaling 42 receptions on 65 targets for 391 receiving yards and two touchdowns in 16 games.
More importantly, Otton had a solid performance in Week 2 against the Chicago Bears. The second-year tight end finished third on the team in targets (six), only behind Mike Evans and Chris Godwin (eight apiece). He caught all six targets for 41 receiving yards against the Bears, scoring 7.1 half-point PPR fantasy points in the win. Otton played 97% of the snaps, coming off the field for only two plays.
Last week, the former Washington star was the TE16, finishing with more fantasy points than Dallas Goedert and Dalton Kincaid. More importantly, the second-year tight end has an excellent matchup this week against the Eagles. Philadelphia has had no answers for opposing tight ends this season, giving up 21.8 fantasy points per game, the most in the NFL. Therefore, don’t be surprised if Otton has a career performance on Monday night.
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