Key Starters and Tough Calls: Lineup Spotlights for Week 3

Scott Engel provides Week 3 fantasy football lineups analysis, spotlighting key NFL players to start and tougher lineup start/sit decisions to make.

Welcome to the third week of the 2021 season, RotoBallers! Below you will find some of my spotlight choices and players to go with when faced with tough lineup decisions in Week 3.

These choices are based off my Premium Weekly Lineup Rankings, available as part of the RotoBaller's NFL Premium Pass. Enter promo code KING at checkout for a discount and get access to all of my ranks in all formats, plus a full roster of tools and analysis for the 2021 season. Skill position picks here are based on my PPR rankings.

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• Wide receiver fantasy football rankings
• Tight end fantasy football rankings

Running Backs

-Trey Sermon should get the bulk of the carries for the 49ers on Sunday night. In a tight decision with Sermon and another player not in line for a heavy workload, go with Sermon. San Francisco may want to play ball control and keep Aaron Rodgers off the field as much as possible, Sermon has no solid competition for carries behind him this week.

-Antonio Gibson has seven rushing TDs in seven career road games. Many of those who drafted him have been concerned about his lack of extra involvement in the passing game, but Gibson will remain a strong drive finisher for Washington and should still produce well. I think there will be enough points scored in Washington-Buffalo for him to get into the end zone at least once. I am taking the over in this game, too (47.5).

-Nick Chubb has a rushing TD in eight straight games, the longest such streak since 2008. That type of TD production is why I did not veer away from drafting him in PPR formats. I hardly see people targeting Chubb in trades. Maybe they should more often.

-Ty'Son Williams is aiming for his third game in a row with 90+ scrimmage yards. He is a Top 20 fantasy RB against the Lions. Detroit is allowing the most Fantasy Points Per Game to RBs so far this season.

-Chase Edmonds had five catches and 75 scrimmage yards (46 rushing) last week. Jacksonville allows the fourth-most FFPG to RBs so far. Edmonds has more upside this week than we have seen in the first two games.

-Clyde Edwards-Helaire had 70 scrimmage yards (38 rushing) last week. He is a polarizing figure on fantasy social media right now. Until we see otherwise, Edwards-Helaire is all hype. The Chiefs consider the run game and their RB as a secondary piece in an offense that is very successful without utilizing him prominently. He is not in my Top 25 RBs this week. I would not be surprised at all to see him unlock his potential at any point, but he is certainly no lock for lineups right now.

-Michael Carter led the Jets with 88 scrimmage yards (59 rushing) in Week 2. The breakout game is coming soon, so do not hesitate to use him as a flex option if you need to dig a bit deeper for one. He is an upside play who is needed to provide a spark in the Jets offense. I have been saying that about Carter since the summer.

-Kenyan Drake has a “revenge game” this week. I don’t think it matters. The Miami defense is going to bounce back and he won’t deliver much fantasy-wise.

-Chris Carson is aiming for his fourth game in a row vs. Minnesota with 75+ scrimmage yards and a rushing TD. The Seahawks want to establish the run to help set up the passing game, so expect a good outing this week. Do add Alex Collins as the insurance/handcuff play behind Carson.

-Tony Pollard had 140 scrimmage yards (109 rushing.) and a rushing TD in Week 2, his third career game with 100+ rush yards. He should be able to challenge the Eagles on the perimeter this week and Pollard is a quality flex play.

Wide Receivers

-Darnell Mooney has five-plus catches in his last three games. Justin Fields could help Mooney perform even better as a downfield threat. He has some promise as a WR3 this week.

-Marquise Brown has a TD catch in four consecutive games and I will be banking on a fifth vs. Detroit. He is a must-start this week and also deserves strong DFS consideration.

-Quintez Cephus has caught a TD pass in three consecutive games. The Ravens are 26^th in FFPG allowed to WRs so far this season. Cephus certainly deserves fantasy WR3 consideration in Week 3. The Lions passing game has shown more life than expected and Cephus is seizing an opportunity to be a top WR for Detroit. He can still have fantasy starting lineup potential even when Tyrell Williams (concussion) returns.

-If you are questioning who to go with between Christian Kirk or Rondale Moore, they are both upside plays against the Jaguars. Do not be reactionary to Moore outperforming Kirk last week. I have seen some people cut Kirk, and that is a mistake. It could be one outdoing the other without solid predictability each week. But the Cardinals can be explosive enough to make both of them worthy of lineup consideration on a frequent basis. In this matchup, both Kirk and Moore are WR3 plays. Very often in the NFL, if one WR has a big outing, the other could produce well in the next game, so I have ranked Kirk just ahead of Moore for Week 3.

-Chase Claypool had 3 catches for 70 yards last week. He had 56 receiving yards and two TDs in his last home meeting with the Bengals. With Diontae Johnson (knee) ruled out this week, Claypool now deserves fantasy WR3 consideration. Ben Roethlisberger will get him the ball for contested catches and in situations where he can gain yardage after the catch.

-Michael Pittman Jr. set career-highs in catches (eight) and receiving yards (123) last week. He had seven catches for 101 yards in the last road meeting with Tennessee. If Carson Wentz can stay in the game, Pittman will produce well. The Titans have allowed the most FFPG to WRs so far this season.

-Jaylen Waddle had six catches for 48 yards in Week 2. Expect better numbers this week, as Jacoby Brissett is capable of getting Waddle the ball and is no major downgrade from Tua Tagovailoa (ribs). Miami is going to challenge Las Vegas on both sides of the ball.

-Robert Woods had 12 catches for 130 yards and a TD in his last meeting with Tampa Bay in 2020. The Buccaneers are 28^th in FFPG allowed to WRs so far and the attention Cooper Kupp may generate this week could benefit Woods.

Quarterbacks

-Taylor Heinicke has passed for 300 yards in each of his two starts for Washington. But this will be a much tougher draw against Buffalo than the Giants. Heinicke has been better than expected so far but the sample size is still small.

-Daniel Jones had a career-high 95 rushing yards and his fifth career rushing TD in Week 2. He can become the 4th QB since 1970 with a rushing TD in each of the first three weeks of a season. Jones can usually follow up a promising performance with a stinker, but that seems unlikely against Atlanta. He deserves high-end QB consideration for Week 3.

-Derek Carr is aiming for his fourth game in a row with 350+ pass yards and 2+ TD passes. As I said, I believe Miami will play much better this week, and their secondary can be a strength. I do not have Carr quite near QB territory for Week 3.

-The Vikings are 0-7 against the Seahawks since Russell Wilson entered the league in 2012. But their WRs may be too much to handle for the Seattle secondary. Kirk Cousins has two-plus TD passes in four consecutive games and is a high-end QB2 option.

Tight Ends

-George Kittle has 100-plus receiving yards and a TD in each of his past two Sunday night games. The Packers have allowed the fourth-most FFPG to TEs so far this season.

-The Giants are always vulnerable to TEs. Expect to see Kyle Pitts catch his first career TD pass in Week 3.

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