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John's wide receiver start 'em, sit 'em picks for fantasy football Week 3 lineups (2025). Read his expert WR start/sit advice for Alec Pierce, Dontayvion Wicks, Quentin Johnston, others.
Choosing who to start and sit, outside of your elite players, is often a difficult task. But it's something you just have to do -- no fair league has one team stacked with clearly elite players from Week 1.
It's rare to have a lineup full of must-starts at every position, and even players that were seen as sure-fire season-long starts, like Cincinnati Bengals WR Tee Higgins, become shrouded in uncertainty due to uncontrollable external factors.
Injuries and underperforming players often lead fantasy managers to consider starting different receivers on their bench or even hunt waivers for someone that could have a nice game one week. So let's dive into some WR starts and sits for Week 3 of 2025!
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Week 3 Starts - Potential Fantasy Football Booms
Alec Pierce, Indianapolis Colts
The Colts have a variety of weapons to choose from in the passing game, like tight end Tyler Warren and wide receivers Michael Pittman Jr., Adonai Mitchell, and Josh Downs, along with Pierce. Unfortunately, this often leads to poor target volume for most of their pass-catchers.
But Pierce is set up well this week, and if you're in a deep league and don't know who to start at one of your WR or flex spots, he could be a nice addition to the lineup. He has a great matchup schematically this week against the Tennessee Titans, who run a high rate of Cover 4 defensive shells.
The Titans use the fifth-highest rate of zone coverage, with the 10th-most Cover 3 and the highest rate of Cover 4.
Josh Downs ranks fifth in target per route rate at 32%, with a 2.41 yards per route run versus zone.
When we filter by Cover 3 and 4 coverages, Downs rocks the… pic.twitter.com/LBMwe1f2gz
— Corbin (@corbin_young21) December 19, 2024
Downs also has a pretty solid matchup this game, but Pierce has a much higher snap share. He played 74 percent of his team's snaps in Week 1 and 90 percent in Week 2. He's kept on the field more due to his size and blocking abilities, and he's a great field-stretcher.
Pierce has been highly efficient against Cover 4, as has Downs, but Pierce is just 8 percent rostered, meaning he can be picked up in free agency and give a boost to teams in deeper leagues.
Dontayvion Wicks, Green Bay Packers
There's been a lot of chatter about Wicks being a good betting option for Week 3, and with good reason. With fellow Packers wide receiver Jayden Reed (foot/clavicle) set to miss significant time and tight end Tucker Kraft (knee) dealing with a knee injury.
Kraft is apparently expected to play, but considering that he was initially feared to be forced to miss time, he could have capped reps in the game and see his snaps reduced. Wicks is thus likely set for a bigger role in the offense, and it's against a team that he matches up well with.
Who were the best separators at the WR position in 2024?
The chart below takes a look at how WRs performed vs. both man and zone coverage, using @FantasyPtsData's average separation scores.
+ Dontayvion Wicks = 👑??
+ Ravens WRs did a good job helping out Lamar
+ Deebo in… pic.twitter.com/lO1wmzhuyz— Dataroma (@ffdataroma) February 21, 2025
Wicks has a history of being an excellent separator. The problems he's had -- lack of target volume and a couple of high-profile, bad drops -- seem to have improved this season, at least for now. And Wicks excels against man coverage, which the Cleveland Browns run at the highest rate in the league.
The Packers will face the Browns next week, and while Cleveland doesn't boast a great offense, they have potentially the best run defense in the NFL. This should help slow down the already inefficient Packers RB Josh Jacobs and force QB Jordan Love to throw more.
All good signs for Wicks as a nice flex start.
Hollywood Brown, Kansas City Chiefs
With the recent news that Chiefs WR2, Xavier Worthy (shoulder), won't play in Week 3, Brown immediately becomes a start-worthy player. The Chiefs could get in a low-scoring defensive battle against the New York Giants, but there are few other options in the passing game for Kansas City.
Their WR1, Rashee Rice, remains suspended. And their top tight end, Travis Kelce, is 34 years old and has lost much of his athleticism in recent seasons. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes II has been forced to scramble and run to pick up yards for his team as his pass-catchers are often failing to get open.
Leading fantasy scorers so far:
Quentin Johnston (0% started)
Justin Herbert (10.9%)
Tyler Conklin (0.1%)
Marquise Brown (0.9%)
Keenan Allen (0.3)
JuJu Smith-Schuster (0.1%)— NFL Fantasy Football (@NFLFantasy) September 6, 2025
Brown's Week 1 was followed by a disappointing Week 2, but he has a much easier matchup this week, and the Giants have a much softer pass defense than the Philadelphia Eagles, who the Chiefs faced in their last contest. Brown is still a viable flex play.
Week 3 Concerns - Potential Fantasy Football Busts
Quentin Johnston, Los Angeles Chargers
Johnston has been one of the bigger surprises of this fantasy season. Through two weeks, he's the WR7 overall in PPR scoring formats, having racked up eight catches on 14 targets for 150 yards and three touchdowns. He's been the top-scoring Charger receiver so far.
But Week 2 featured most of the points in his 15.9 point performance coming on one play featuring horribly busted coverage by the Las Vegas Raiders defense. And Johnston has a much tougher test ahead, facing the Denver Broncos and All-Pro cornerback Patrick Surtain II.
Pat Surtain II in Week 1:
🔒 34 coverage snaps
🔒 0 receptions allowed
🔒 1 forced incompletion
🔒 39.6 passer rating allowed pic.twitter.com/CJDuLr0Nef— PFF (@PFF) September 9, 2025
Surtain played very well in Week 1, and had a poor Week 2, but the Indianapolis Colts offense has been playing excellent football, and their offensive line has bought a ridiculous amount of time for their quarterback to work. The Chargers offensive front is much shakier.
Much of Johnston's production last season and this season has come from busted coverages. And the problems he had with terrible drops and lack of separation might not totally be in the rearview mirror. Denver has one of the league's best pass defenses, as they allowed just 6.3 yards per pass attempt to opposing teams in 2024.
Quentin Johnston has an uncanny ability to get lost in zone coverage. pic.twitter.com/0iIOxPQVcN
— Powder Blue Blood (@pwdrblueblood) September 16, 2025
Johnston will likely be shadowed by Surtain, who's known to follow around a team's perimeter receiver. That makes him a risky start.
Rashid Shaheed, New Orleans Saints
Shaheed caught four of his five targets for 52 yards and a touchdown in Week 2, and has 14 targets through his first two games. But the matchup is absolutely less than ideal. Seattle has surprised by having one of the league's better pass defenses this season, and they could exploit a vulnerable Saints passing offense.
Seattle has allowed just 17.2 PPR points per game to opposing wide receivers. That's the lowest mark in the league. Their defense has majorly clamped down, as they're also good against the rush. Shaheed might struggle to find space to get open, and first-year starting quarterback Spencer Rattler has a tough test ahead.
Stats about the Seahawks Defense:
- 1st in Pressure%
- 1st in Hurries
- 2nd in INT%
- 2nd in Points Allowed Per Drive
- 4th in Turnovers
- 6th lowest YPC pic.twitter.com/PDvUr9tDMW— Seahawks Today (@TodaySeahawks) September 17, 2025
It may have taken defensive-minded head coach Mike Macdonald a full season to fully implement his scheme, but he has Seattle playing at a much higher level than expected after they were middling last season. Patience with him appears to have paid off.
Rattler, though he's not been totally terrible, has yet to pass for over 220 yards in a contest, and while he threw three touchdowns last game, he didn't manage any in Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals. Shaheed is probably someone I'd leave on the bench for now.
His target volume was solid in Week 1, but Rattler attempted 46 passes in that game. It's unlikely that throwing that much will work against the Seahawks, and could lead to multiple interceptions. Pushing the ball downfield against them is risky.
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