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Who Should I Start for Week 3? Fantasy Football outlooks for Tyler Shough, Kyler Murray, Drake Maye, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert, Jared Goff, Bo Nix, Geno Smith, Matthew Stafford.
Who Should I Start? Who Should I Sit? Some of the most common Week 3 fantasy football lineup decisions involve players like Tyler Shough, Kyler Murray, Drake Maye, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert, Jared Goff, Bo Nix, Geno Smith, and Matthew Stafford. However, don't worry, we are here to help you make these decisions and build winning lineups in Week 3. Set your optimal fantasy football lineups for Week 3 of the 2026 NFL season. Our free Who Should I Start? tool will help make your fantasy football lineup decisions. Compare up to four NFL players, and we tell you who to start... all free! Get your winning lineups set, and make the right decisions.
Compare up to four players and we'll tell you who to start...
Week 3 Fantasy Football Outlooks
Below are some fantasy football outlooks written by our NFL team here at RotoBaller, bringing you their fantasy football analysis and advice on which players to consider starting in Week 3:
Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
After an underwhelming performance in Week 1, Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff bounced back by completing 26 of 38 pass attempts for 327 yards, four touchdowns, and zero interceptions in his team's 41-31 Week 2 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Two weeks into the 2026 season, Goff is tied for the NFL lead with six touchdown passes and is averaging 38.5 pass attempts per game.
While Goff has led productive Lions offenses for the last several seasons, Detroit's struggling defense looks like it could force the team into pass-happy shootouts in 2026. As long as Goff and the Lions' deep contingent of talented skill position players remain healthy, the veteran signal-caller could work his way into consistent top-12 quarterback production for fantasy managers.
Goff also has a fairly favorable string of matchups coming up on paper, as Detroit will play the New York Jets, Carolina Panthers, and Arizona Cardinals before its Week 6 bye. Heading into Week 3, Goff's redraft value is trending up and holds solid QB1 upside facing the Jets.
Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford completed 22 of his 31 pass attempts for 327 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception during Monday's blowout win over the New York Giants. He also took one sack in the victory. After tallying 155 yards, zero touchdowns, and one interception in last week's season opener, Stafford bounced back in a huge way on national television.
Best of all, he did it without Puka Nacua (hip), who was ruled out shortly before kickoff. Stafford relied heavily on his rapport with veteran receiver Davante Adams, and the reigning MVP should continue to produce at a high level once Nacua rejoins this elite receiver room.
The 38-year-old quarterback may not have the same rushing upside as some of the other flashy names in fantasy football, but his elite arm keeps him in the top-eight quarterback range going forward. He's a borderline must-start quarterback for Week 3 against the Denver Broncos.
Geno Smith, New York Jets
New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith is far from a flashy name in fantasy football, but his high passing volume and mistake-free streak put him on the radar as a solid waiver wire target. Smith threw 41 times in Week 2, completing 27 passes for 247 yards, one touchdown, and zero turnovers. He took four sacks, but he also logged 17 rushing yards. Smith has only one touchdown through two weeks, but it's also worth noting that he doesn't have any turnovers so far.
He has been a steady presence at quarterback for the Jets, leading drives and supporting the fantasy stocks of Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall. Now, he's getting on the fantasy radar himself, albeit as a QB2. The Jets will likely have to throw the ball a lot again in Week 3 against the Detroit Lions, so Smith's projected high volume gives him top-16 upside in fantasy football.
Kyler Murray, Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray (concussion) has cleared the NFL's concussion protocol and will return to the starting lineup for the team's Week 3 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this Sunday, sources told Tom Pelissero of The Ringer.
Murray suffered a scary concussion in the season-opening win over the division-rival Green Bay Packers early in the first quarter and was quickly ruled out, but he was in good spirits after that game and returned to practice last week before ultimately being ruled out for the Week 2 win over the division-rival Chicago Bears.
Veteran Carson Wentz did a commendable job in helping the Vikings start the year 2-0, but now that Murray has been cleared, he will return to the starting role, making him worth a waiver-wire pickup in two-QB fantasy leagues.
The 29-year-old former first overall pick back in 2019 showed good chemistry with top receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison in training camp this summer and has a great opportunity to bounce back in 2026 going forward if he can stay on the field. He is a viable low-end QB1 this weekend.
Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough backed up his huge opener with another strong fantasy game Sunday, completing 27 of 34 passes for 252 yards and a touchdown while adding 23 yards and a score on nine carries against Baltimore.
He did not need another 410-yard afternoon to get there, either. Through two weeks, Shough leads the NFL with 90 passing attempts and 662 yards, and he has now accounted for five total touchdowns. That kind of workload is getting difficult to treat as a temporary streaming situation.
Las Vegas has generated plenty of pressure early this season, but RotoBaller still lists Shough as a potential Week 3 boom and has him second among quarterbacks on its waiver rankings. He is still available in more than half of Yahoo leagues.
Shough should be added in 12-team formats at this point, and managers searching for a quarterback should be comfortable holding him beyond just this week's matchup. Shough holds high-end streaming upside this Sunday.
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 - Tyler Shough, Kyler Murray, Drake Maye, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert, Jared Goff, Bo Nix, Geno Smith, Matthew Stafford. 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.
Improvements For Who Should I Start? You may have noticed that our 'Who Should I Start?' tool has gotten an overhaul. We've added lots of great features for you to give you as much information as possible to win your fantasy football matchups each week. You'll see NFL player tiles with headshots and bye weeks, stats, projections, strength of schedule, players news, and enhanced search results with data to compare with a slick new interface. We hope you enjoy!
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 to select the scoring format. There are three small radio buttons (small circle), 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 Tyler Shough, Kyler Murray, Drake Maye, Trevor Lawrence, Justin Herbert, Jared Goff, Bo Nix, Geno Smith, Matthew Stafford.
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