What a bad week to be a quarterback. Ben Roethlisberger and Trevor Siemian were both knocked out for the season, Drew Brees will miss half of the year because he high-fived Aaron Donald, Sam Darnold is quarantined with mono, Eli Manning was replaced earlier than we thought, Cam Newton apparently reinjured his foot and Kirk Cousins is just bad. This could leave many fantasy owners in a panic, trying to find a new starting QB for next week. But underneath all of this QB drama, there are plenty of interesting tidbits and useful information for Week 3 in the fantasy season. These are six tidbits to keep in mind and possibly use in your Week 3 preparation for fantasy dominance!
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Cam Newton has not scored a touchdown in his last four games.
What an ugly Thursday performance from Cam, only for him to enter his press conference looking even uglier. His struggles this season have been prevalent, but they actually date back to last year. Cam has not scored a single touchdown over his last four games, which is now a legitimate cause for concern. Over these four games, he has completed just 57.2 percent of his passes, thrown three interceptions, fumbled twice, and averaged just 239.75 passing yards and 7.75 rushing yards per game. This equates to an average of 7.9 fantasy points per week. This season, 34.2 percent of his passes have been deemed uncatchable, which is the worst in the league. He is clearly not right mentally after these continued struggles, so no matter the matchup, we are in a situation where we need to see it before we can believe it.
Now, reports have come out and said that Cam re-aggravated his foot injury, which could cause him to miss Week 3. While this is breaking news, it’s not especially surprising. He was throwing off of his back foot (left foot is the injured one), and we all remember the fourth down at the goal line to win the game. A healthy Cam takes the ball himself and does his Superman celebration. Instead, an injured Cam hobbled to the right and didn’t sell anyone on the fake. If the Panthers sit their QB, at this point, it seems like it could be an upgrade for this receiving corps.
Leonard Fournette has struggled to run against the Titans, while Derrick Henry has found success against the Jaguars.
The Thursday night matchup features the uninteresting AFC South rivalry of the Tennessee Titans versus the Jacksonville Jaguars. From a fantasy perspective, the two biggest names in the game are in the backfield of each team: Leonard Fournette and Derrick Henry. Both are bruisers that have struggled to stay healthy. But as of now, both seem to be in good health, so let’s look at how they’ve performed against each other’s stout defense, historically.
It has been tough sledding for Fournette on the ground against Tennessee. He has played three games against the Titans but has only totaled 145 yards on the ground. His yards per attempt sits at just 3.09 yards, and Fournette has found the end zone just once. With only 113 rushing yards so far this season, it doesn’t look like he will dominate with the football on Thursday.
Henry, on the other hand, has been terrific running against Jacksonville. In his six games, he has totaled 511 rushing yards and six touchdowns. His yards per carry sits at a terrific 5.27. While yes, these numbers are inflated by his 238-yard outing in the last meeting, he has still had success with the football. He has totaled at least 55 rushing yards in four out of the six games. In a game where the Titans are favored to win, look for there to be another heavy dose of Henry out of the backfield.
Multiple signs point to Ezekiel Elliott being the top RB in Week 3.
In his second game of the season, Ezekiel Elliott played 77 percent of the Cowboys’ offensive snaps, which means he is fully up to speed from his holdout and the team is comfortable giving him the full workload. This full workload led to 25 total touches, leading to 120 yards and a touchdown.
This week, Zeke and the Cowboys face the Dolphins. If you haven’t heard, Miami is really bad. The defense has given up a league-high 195.5 rushing yards per game. Now facing the Dallas offensive line, this game may not be safe for TV. The line has led the charge for Dallas RBs to average 1.91 yards before contact (fourth in NFL). The defense is giving up an average of 51 points per game, and remember, both of those games were at home. Now, the Dolphins, or what’s left of them, head to “Jerry World.” With the spread currently favoring the Cowboys by an astounding 21.5 points, you can bet the game flow will call for a heavy dose of the run game in this one.
The New England Patriots D/ST scored 37 fantasy points in Week 2, the most since the Tennessee Titans in the 2012 season, and there’s no sign of slowing down.
When thinking of the 2019 New England Patriots, the first thing that comes to mind is their offensive dominance in both outings. However, they may be just as talented on the other side of the football, which has translated into big fantasy points for owners so far. In their 33-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Patriots D/ST put up a solid 10 points. Last week against the Miami Dolphins, this group exploded with fantasy value, posting 37 points, which was the most since the Titans in Week 17 of the 2012 season. The three points given up through two games ties the NFL record for fewest in the Super Bowl era, along with the 1970 Lions, 1976 Oilers and 1981 Bills.
Heading into this week, this defense may not slow down. They are home against a New York Jets team that is on their third QB in just as many games. The Patriots’ defensive strategy always is to take away the opponent’s strength and force them to win in other ways. This week, look for them to shut down Le’Veon Bell, forcing Luke Falk to win with his arm with Robby Anderson and Jamison Crowder as his targets. After this week, the Patriots schedule doesn’t get much tougher: at Buffalo, at Washington, home versus Giants then at Jets. It’d be tough to rank them outside the top three any time in the first seven weeks.
Mitchell Trubisky has been terrible in night games under Matt Nagy.
On Monday Night Football this week, the Chicago Bears head to the nation’s capital to take on the Washington Redskins. The terrific Chicago defense will be on display in prime time. Unfortunately, so will Mitchell Trubisky, who has been nothing short of terrible in his five night games under Matt Nagy. Over this span, the QB has averaged just 174.4 yards per game and has a 3-6 touchdown-interception ratio. In all, his five performances equate to an average of 9.9 fantasy points per game.
His most recent primetime night game was the kickoff to the 2019 NFL season, against the Green Bay Packers at home. Many came away from the game focusing on Trubisky being the lone factor holding this team back. He completed almost 58 percent of his passes for 228 yards and an interception. Through two games, he ranks as QB29, so hopefully, you have a better option. While he does face an easier Washington defense, it’s tough to have any faith in the Bears QB after looking at these stats.
After the training wheels were taken off last week, David Montgomery is prepared for a big Week 3.
While the second-year QB in the backfield has looked rough, the rookie RB has done nothing but impress. The limited workload in Week 1 left fantasy owners clamoring for more. But after Nagy took off the training wheels, David Montgomery shouldered a full workload in Week 2 in Denver. After seeing just 38 percent of the snaps in the opener, Montgomery played 45 percent last week. Against the Broncos, he took 18 carries for 62 yards and a touchdown while adding one catch for six yards from Trubisky. He touched the ball or was targeted on 77.8 percent of his snaps.
With this success and Nagy’s emphasis on getting him the football, we can expect his snap share to continue to rise into Week 3. As stated before, the Bears are on Monday Night Football against Washington. With Trubisky struggling in this spot, Montgomery should be used to establish the run early. With Washington giving up 168 rushing yards per game (second-most in the NFL), it feels like the stars are aligning for the rookie to break out on the big stage.
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Zach Brunner is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Raju, follow him @fantasyflurry
