Welcome to the 2023 Fantasy Football Week 3 Recap. Weeks 3 and 4 are two of the most important weeks of the season for fantasy owners to really pay attention to. My general outlook on the start of the year is after three games you can start to see the trends that have the potential to become the truth in Weeks 4 and beyond.
After a full month of football, we have a general idea of how coaches are trying to run their teams and can make the necessary adjustments that will help us down the stretch of the fantasy season. If you are in a dynasty league you can start to really get an idea if you are a contender or headed for a rebuild. In redraft leagues, we are starting to see what holes we need to address via trade or free agency to strengthen our teams for a playoff push.
With all that said. let's get to the 2023 Fantasy Football Week 3 Recap.
2023 Fantasy Football Week 3 Recap
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49ers 30 - Giants 12
Brock Purdy (25/37-310-2) shook off a slow start and was ultra-efficient down the stretch as the 49ers took down the Giants in a blowout. With Brandon Aiyuk sitting out this short-week game, Purdy leaned heavily on Deebo Samuel (6-129-1) and Christian McCaffrey (18-85-1, 5-34) and should be able to ride this supporting cast to a top-24 QB finish this year.
The Giants season appears like it could be headed for disaster if they don’t find a way to right the ship immediately. Daniel Jones (22/32-137-0-1) was dreadful for the 3rd week in a row and it’s hard to trust anyone in this offense. Darren Waller (3-20) is the only must-start option of the group at the moment, and it’s only because there aren’t a lot of high-upside options at the TE position.
Bills 37 - Commanders 3
All of the off-season drama between Stefon Diggs (8-111) and the Bills appears to be firmly in the rearview mirror as he was heavily involved and routinely found holes in the Commanders' secondary. Through three weeks he has hauled in 25 of 32 targets and broken the century mark in receiving yards twice.
This throw was/is bonkers. Like, Josh Allen literally just flings (chucks?) the ball downfield, pinpoint, to Stefon Diggs as he’s evading one of the most productive edge rushers in the NFL so far this year#Bills #BillsMafia #GoBills
— Anthony Cover 1 (@Pro__Ant) September 24, 2023
Even in a game where Sam Howell (19/29-170-0-4, 1-15) came crashing back down to earth Terry McLaurin (6-41) hauled in all of his targets and had double-digit points in PPR formats. The Jahan Dotson (2-21) breakout season a lot of us were hoping for appears to be on hold for now as he failed to go over 40 yards for the 3rd straight week.
Patriots 15 - Jets 10
It’s hard to find a lot of fantasy-relevant takeaways in what was the ugliest game of the morning slate. Juju Smith-Schuster (1-5) shouldn’t find himself anywhere near your starting lineup in the near future and is droppable if there is someone on waivers you’d rather take a swing on.
Breece Hall (12-18, 1-9) had a second down week in a row as he works his way back from knee surgery. It’s worth sending out a feeler to the GM who rosters Hall in your dynasty leagues to see if you can secure a top-5 talent at a bit of a discount. This Jets offense may continue to struggle this year so if you can’t get it done now the buy-low window may not be done after this week.
Chargers 28 - Vikings 24
The Chargers offense continued to run through Keenan Allen (18-215) as he had a monster game where he hauled in 18 of 20 targets and added a 49-yard TD pass on a trick play as a sweet cherry on top. Justin Herbert (40/47-405-3, 2-11) appears to be headed for a career season with Kellen Moore calling plays.
Keenan Allen just threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Mike Williams!pic.twitter.com/df7g4vLPgs
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 24, 2023
Alexander Mattison (20-93, 5-32) finally showed some signs of life but it could be a little too late as Cam Akers will presumably not be a healthy scratch next week. Kirk Cousins (32/50-367-3-1) continues to produce juicy fantasy numbers as the Vikings dropped to 0-3.
Dolphins 70 - Broncos 20
The Dolphins duo of De’Von Achane (18-203-2, 4-30-2) and Raheem Mostert (13-82-3, 7-60-1) absolutely embarrassed the Broncos defense, combining for 375 total yards and eight touchdowns. While we shouldn’t expect 70 points each week, there aren’t many offenses that are more fantasy-friendly than Miami at the moment.
Javonte Williams (11-42, 2-23) ability to handle double-digit carries this soon after major knee surgery is incredible, but until he regains that explosiveness and becomes more efficient with his touches he is best suited to remain on your bench. He is a strong buy in dynasty leagues.
Texans 37 - Jaguars 17
Tank Dell (5-145-1) and CJ Stroud's (20/30-280-2, 3-14) early season connection continues to shine as the Texans secured their first victory of the Stroud/DeMeco Ryans era. Dell looks like another solid dynasty asset in what is proving to be an even stronger-than-expected rookie class of pass catchers.
CJ STROUD ? TANK DELL
THE TEXANS ARE COOKING ?
pic.twitter.com/d5T4oJHOXe— PFF (@PFF) September 24, 2023
After a monster week one, Calvin Ridley (3-40) has taken a backseat to Christian Kirk (4-54-1) these past two weeks and looks more like the fantasy WR3 I anticipated him being in the preseason. Travis Etienne (19-88, 4-50) dominated touches out of the backfield and the preseason talk of him seriously splitting work with Tank Bigsby (2-10-1) was a little bit exaggerated.
Packers 18 - Saints 17
Jordan Love (22/44-259-1-1, 9-39-1) added a touchdown on the ground as he racked up his third 20+ point fantasy performance in as many weeks. Love is doing this despite the fact we haven’t even got a chance to see this offense operate at full health once this season.
Chris Olave (8-104) drew double-digit targets for the third week in a row and continues to look like one of the premier young dynasty assets at the WR position. I had him ranked ahead of Garrett Wilson coming into the season and his scorching start has only made me feel stronger about this.
Lions 20 - Falcons 6
In my last dynasty ranks update this past Wednesday I moved Sam LaPorta (8-84-1) up to TE5, ahead of guys like Kyle Pitts, Dallas Goedert, Darren Waller, and George Kittle. LaPorta is the real deal, demanding 11 targets and providing an excellent complement to Amon-Ra St. Brown (9-102) in the Lions' potent passing attack.
Sam Laporta is an example where preseason hype was actually accurate. Doesn’t matter that he is a rookie TE ?
— Troy King (@TKingMode) September 24, 2023
Kyle Pitts (5-41) finally showed some signs of life this week, which predictably meant Drake London (2-31) did next to nothing. I thought Desmond Ridder (21/38-201) was going to be in a good situation to take a step forward in his development with this cast of skill players around him, but he’s underwhelmed in a major way through 3 games.
Browns 27 - Titans 3
Amari Cooper (7-116-1) looked like himself again, getting open routinely for Deshaun Watson (27/33-289-2, 4-16). Jerome Ford (10-18-1, 2-33-1) only racked up 51 total yards in his first start for an injured Nick Chubb but saved his fantasy day with two touchdowns.
The Titans offense is legitimately in the mix for the worst in the NFL right now right now. It's hard to find anything positive to say about anyone after this game. You have to wonder how many more games and losses like this Ryan Tannehill (13/25-104) will get to play through before they turn to one of the young guys behind him.
Colts 22 - Ravens 19
Zack Moss (30-122, 2-23-1) put the Colts' offense on his back in a hard-fought OT victory against the Ravens. Michael Pittman Jr. (9-77) had another productive day with backup QB Gardner Minshew (27/44-227-1) under center and appears to be a must-start WR3 in this offense no matter who is throwing him passes.
This is a Zack Moss appreciation post.
That dude had a day.
30 rushes for 122 yards
2 catches for 23 yards and a TDpic.twitter.com/HK2rIQztpC— Nathan (Curious Colt) (@Curious_Colt) September 24, 2023
Zay Flowers' (8-48) involvement in the offense hasn’t slowed at all with the return of TE Mark Andrews (4-35). In fact, in the two games that both have played Flowers has drawn more targets than Andrews, 15 to 13. He’s a buy-high WR3 target for me in dynasty leagues, as he’s already a top-36 scoring WR despite failing to find the end zone in his first three games.
Chiefs 41 - Bears 10
Three different Chiefs RBs racked up double-digit fantasy points, as Isiah Pacheco (15-62-1, 2-16), Jerick McKinnon (2-9, 3-9-1), and Clyde Edwards-Helaire (15-55-1, 1-2) kept the Bears defense off balance all game long. Patrick Mahomes (24/33-272-3, 3-28) connected with 10 different pass catchers as the Chiefs cruised to an easy victory.
It’s just about time to hit the panic button in Chicago. Not only has Justin Fields (11/22-98-1-1, 11-47) not taken the leap I thought he would, but he has regressed and looks extremely uncomfortable in this Bears offense. DJ Moore (3-41-1) saved his day with a TD but was otherwise unproductive and could have his ups and downs while this Bears offense struggles.
Cardinals 28 - Cowboys 16
In the upset of the day the Cardinals knocked off the Cowboys behind James Conner (14-98-1, 2-18) and Marquise Brown’s (5-61-1) big performances. This team has been more competitive than expected with Josh Dobbs (17/21-189-1, 6-55) under center through three weeks.
James Conner gives the Cards a two possession lead at Dallas.
pic.twitter.com/DVI9djBNiC— The Irish NFL Show (@IreNFL) September 24, 2023
Michael Gallup (6-92) looked more like his pre-injury self, bringing in 6 of his 7 targets and making several nice contested catches down the sidelines. Tony Pollard (23-122, 3-(-1)) was extremely productive for fantasy teams again despite the Cowboys' offensive struggles as a whole.
Seahawks 37 - Panthers 27
Last week I said better days were ahead for Kenneth Walker (18-97-2, 3-59) and that proved to be the case as he ran all over the Panthers defense on Sunday. Jaxon Smith-Njigba (1-10) had another down game and is getting close to the point where it might be worth throwing out a buy-low offer to the GM who rosters him in your dynasty leagues just to check.
Andy Dalton (34/58-361-2) and Adam Thielen (11-145-1) turned back the clock and lit up the stat sheet in the Panthers' loss that required Dalton to throw the ball almost 60 times. Bryce Young should be back in a week or two but it appears Thielen is still startable in the meantime.
Steelers 23 - Raiders 18
Kenny Pickett (16/28-235-2, 3-11) played steady, turnover-free football as the Steelers took down the Raiders in Vegas Sunday night. I do still see a world where he turns into a consistent, solid QB2, but that world doesn’t involve Matt Canada calling plays. For now, he’s a matchup-dependent QB3.
Kenny Pickett ???
pic.twitter.com/VQ9zCqCInB— PFF (@PFF) September 25, 2023
Davonte Adams (13-172-2) had a monster two-TD night as he did everything he possibly could to keep the Raiders in the game. We all knew Adams is great, but it also looks like Jakobi Meyers (7-85) can also be confidently started as a flex or deep league WR3 in PPR leagues when healthy.
Monday Night Predictions
Eagles 31 - Buccaneers 20
Rams 24 - Bengals 13 (Assuming no Joe Burrow)
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