RADIO
Justin's fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em picks for Week 3 of 2025. He looks at surprising performances from Drake Maye, Javonte Williams, Rome Odunze, Hunter Renfrow, Brock Wright.
Welcome back to our fantasy football series Fact of Fiction as we head into Week 3 of the NFL season. Week 2 of the NFL season is behind us, and we saw a few surprising performances last week, like Patriots quarterback Drake Maye finishing as a top-5 fantasy QB.
Is this the start of something big for Maye, or just a blip on the radar that will fade as he settles back into the QB2 tier?
Every week, I'll examine five NFL players whose numbers from the previous week were better than expected. I'll analyze their games and consider their showings in the larger scheme. Below, you'll find my analysis of the biggest fantasy football surprises of Week 2. Are those surprising results a fact, i.e., a sign of good things to come, or a fiction, i.e., an anomalous result?
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Drake Maye, QB, New England Patriots
Week 2 stats: 19-of-23 for 230 yards and two touchdowns, 10 carries for 31 yards and one touchdown -- overall QB3
New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was very, very good on Sunday against the Dolphins, completing 82.6 percent of his pass attempts with two touchdowns. He also rushed for a score. Was this game a sign that Maye is starting to break out, or was it simply a product of Maye getting to face what might end up being the NFL's worst pass defense?
The Dolphins defense is not good. The team was absolutely shredded in Week 1 by the Colts, which means that the team was absolutely shredded by Daniel Jones. I guess Miami can feel a tad better that Jones was good again in Week 2, but this is still a defense that fantasy managers should be attacking in 2025. Need a streaming quarterback? See if the guy facing the Dolphins is on the wire.
Maye was pretty good in the season opener against the Raiders, throwing for 287 yards and a touchdown. It's clear that facing Miami in Week 2 contributed to Maye's success, but there were signs in Week 1 that he was capable of performances like this.
If we're talking purely about talent, Maye has a chance to be a very good player over the remainder of the season, but I'm a little worried still that won't translate to fantasy success because he's in an offense without consistent weapons. Stefon Diggs has been fine, but when your leading receiver in a game like this one was Rhamondre Stevenson, well ... it speaks to the limitations of the receiving unit.
I'd say that I trust Maye in real life, but I'm only placing him in the "guys I can play at quarterback if I really have to" tier in fantasy until we see someone out of Kayshon Boutte, DeMario Douglas, or Mack Hollins step up.
Verdict: Slightly more fact than fiction
Javonte Williams, RB, Dallas Cowboys
Week 2 stats: 18 carries for 97 yards and one touchdown, six catches for 33 yards -- overall RB4
For the second week in a row, I'm writing about Cowboys running back Javonte Williams, mainly because it's important to acknowledge when you make a mistake.
Javonte Williams now has 194 total yards and 3 touchdowns in 2 games.
4.57 yards per rushing attempt, btw.
Are you a believer yet❓
— Outl✭w (@OutlawCowboyNFL) September 14, 2025
Williams scored two touchdowns in the season opener against the Eagles, but only averaged 3.6 yards per carry. It seemed fluky, like one of those games where a guy just happened to be in the right place at the right time. Then Williams did it again against the Giants, finishing as a top fantasy running back again and ending the day with 130 scrimmage yards.
The fact that Williams would have still had a strong fantasy line even without the touchdown is notable, as is the fact that between his carries and his targets, he had 25 opportunities in this game while Miles Sanders had just seven. Jaydon Blue, meanwhile, was a healthy scratch.
I don't know if I believe Williams is a "good" NFL back, but that doesn't really matter. He plays in a prolific offense that is going to basically be forced into shootouts every week because of the defensive woes in Dallas. You need to start him every week until something changes.
Verdict: Fact
Rome Odunze, WR, Chicago Bears
Week 2 stats: seven catches for 128 yards and two touchdowns -- overall WR4
In the season opener against Minnesota, Bears second-year wide receiver Rome Odunze was targeted nine times, bringing in six of those for 37 yards and a touchdown. It was a good showing, but could he follow it up with another strong game?
Yes. Yes, he could. Odunze was unstoppable against the Lions, catching seven of his 11 targets for 128 yards and two touchdowns. Say what you want about Caleb Williams and his progression in his second season, but one thing is clear: Williams wants to get the ball into Odunze's hands. His 20 targets through two games are tied for the ninth most in the NFL.
The Bears might be better off if they spread the ball around more. Rookies Luther Burden III and Colston Loveland need way more targets than they're getting, for example. But as long as Odunze keeps playing like he is, Williams is going to keep feeding him the ball.
Verdict: Fact
Hunter Renfrow, WR, Carolina Panthers
Week 2 stats: seven receptions for 48 yards and two touchdowns -- overall WR7
It's time to acknowledge that Xavier Legette's weird senior season breakout at South Carolina was just that: weird. Legette went from being a benchwarmer to a star in that final year with the Gamecocks, prompting the Panthers to spend a first-round pick on him. He was decent as a rookie, but through two games of his second NFL season, he's been a disaster.
Legette enters Week 3 with 15 targets on the year, but he's turned those into just four catches for eight yards. Meanwhile, the trade that sent Adam Thielen back to the Vikings has opened up room for a surprise name to make an impact in the Carolina receiving game: Hunter Renfrow.
Against the Cardinals, Renfrow was targeted nine times, catching seven passes for 48 yards and a pair of touchdowns. It was a throwback performance for the veteran wideout, but fantasy managers likely don't need to expect too many repeats.
Hunter Renfrow with his 2nd TD of the game
CARvsAZ on CBS/Paramount+https://t.co/HkKw7uXVnt pic.twitter.com/Nagn9JuZJF
— NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2025
That's because Renfrow's days are numbered. Jalen Coker began the year on injured reserve with a quad injury, but he'll be eligible to return in Week 5. Once he's back, Coker should take over Renfrow's role in the slot, and that'll be it for his fantasy value. Bryce Young can't support three fantasy-relevant wide receivers.
Verdict: Fiction
Brock Wright, TE, Detroit Lions
Week 2 stats: three catches for 28 yards and a touchdown -- overall TE6
Brock Wright is a perfect illustration of what's wrong with the tight-end position in fantasy. He finished this week's win over the Chicago Bears with just three catches for 28 yards, but because he found the end zone, he wound up as the TE6 in half-PPR scoring.
Wright played 53 percent of Detroit's snaps this week as the team ran a lot of double-tight-end sets with him and Sam LaPorta on the field. That comes after a Week 1 game where he played 36 percent of snaps. Something is encouraging there, right?
.@Lions TE Brock Wright is the first TE in franchise history who entered the League as an undrafted free agent to produce 10-or-more career receiving TDs.#OnePride pic.twitter.com/Fd3JKHT67u
— Detroit Lions PR (@LionsPR) September 14, 2025
I mean ... maybe, but with LaPorta ahead of him in the pecking order, plus wide receivers Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams as well as a really good pass-catching back in Jahmyr Gibbs, it's hard to really see where consistent targets will come from for Wright.
More than likely, Sunday represented the high point of Wright's season. The only thing that would really change that would be if LaPorta misses time, but no one needs to waste a fantasy roster spot on a guy who needs a player ahead of him to be injured just for him to become a TE2 option.
Verdict: Fiction
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