What a wild day for the New York Football Giants. Daniel Jones proved all the doubters wrong with one of the biggest statistical performances ever by a rookie QB — and he led the Giants back from a huge deficit in the process. But it wasn’t all champagne and roses for the G-Men, as stud running back Saquon Barkley hobbled off the field with what is initially being described as a high-ankle sprain.
From a strictly fantasy perspective, Barkley’s injury is the even bigger headline. The number one player taken in fantasy drafts is set to undergo an MRI and is likely looking at an extended absence that will be measured in weeks if not months. Fantasy owners have little choice but to get ready to fire up waiver wire bids for Wayne Gallman, who isn’t in the same stratosphere as Barkley but could be looking at a huge workload next week against Washington.
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Top 5 Surprises
Daniel Jones (QB – NYG)
Jones hinted at his upside as a passer in the preseason, but that’s the preseason. He simply has to be taken seriously now. Jones became the first rookie with at least 300 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, and two rushing touchdowns in a game since 1970, and those two rushing scores were more than Eli Manning produced in any of his 15 seasons as the Giants’ QB. Jones had a perfect 158.3 QB rating when under pressure, and led the Giants to their biggest come-from-behind victory in 49 years. Wow.
Kyle Allen (QB – CAR)
If it weren’t for Jones’ heroics, people would be talking more about Allen, who threw four touchdowns as the Panthers demolished the Cardinals in Arizona. As with Jones, the quality of the opponent (or lack thereof) needs to be taken into consideration, but Allen played with confidence and made quick and accurate throws that simply weren’t being made by Cam Newton. It’s obviously far too early to suggest any kind of QB controversy in Carolina, but DJ Moore, Curtis Samuel, and Greg Olsen owners can feel confident starting them next week regardless of who is under center.
Darrel Williams (RB – KC)
Darwin Thompson was talked up a lot as the main beneficiary of Damien Williams’ injury, but everything the Chiefs had shown on the field indicated that Andy Reid had faith in Darrel Williams as the next man up. Just prior to kickoff, there was some last-minute intrigue over whether Williams or a banged up LeSean McCoy would get the start, and while McCoy ended up being featured early, the two split carries and Williams ultimately took over when McCoy retweaked his ankle. Williams quietly finished with 109 yards from scrimmage, hinting at the upside of any back getting consistent snaps in this offense. With the health of both McCoy and Damien Williams up in the air, Darrel Williams could be an appealing fantasy option next week in Detroit and perhaps beyond.
Phillip Lindsay (RB – DEN)
Lindsay had been left for dead by many in the fantasy community after two lackluster performances to begin the season, but he roared back on Sunday and finished as the overall RB3 for Week 3. Lindsay is not going to be a bell-cow back — he again split snaps with Royce Freeman, who played through a shoulder injury. But the fact Lindsay was heavily utilized as both a goal-line back (two 1-yard rushing scores) and receiver (four catches for 49 yards) is good news for his fantasy outlook moving forward. He’s forced his way back in the RB2 conversation after it looked like he would be permanently stuck in RB3/flex purgatory.
Phillip Dorsett (WR – NE)
With what we can only hope is the final chapter of the Antonio Brown drama being written this past week, Dorsett flew under the radar as a primary beneficiary of Brown’s departure. Dorsett produced 95 yards and two scores the week before Brown arrived in New England, and he was back at it again on Sunday, hauling in six passes from Tom Brady for 53 yards and another TD. His streak of 26 straight catches has surely earned Brady’s trust. While Julian Edelman and Josh Gordon appear to have narrowly avoided major injuries against the Jets, Dorsett could still have fantasy viability as the Patriots’ number three receiver if the team continues to go pass-heavy, something that could be inevitable if Sony Michel continues to struggle running the ball.
Top 5 Disappointments
Duke Johnson (RB – HOU)
It’s time to give up the dream if you were counting on Johnson to be an RB2 this year. Johnson’s weekly touch totals have declined from 13 to 6 to 4 as Carlos Hyde has taken hold of the Texans’ backfield, and it speaks volumes that Johnson was a complete afterthought in a Week 3 game in which Deshaun Watson threw for over 350 yards. With 1.9 yards per carry, Hyde hardly had a banner day himself, but the team clearly views him as the only legitimate between-the-tackles option on the roster right now. Unless Watson starts to throw more check-down passes Duke’s way, he’s going to be impossible to trust as even an RB3/flex option.
Mason Rudolph (QB – PIT)
While Daniel Jones and Kyle Allen were having big days against soft defenses, Rudolph found the going much tougher against the 49ers’ attacking defense. Rudolph’s stat line was somewhat salvaged by a 76-yard catch-and-run touchdown by Juju Smith-Schuster, but this was not an encouraging performance for those who are heavily invested in Steelers in fantasy leagues. The good news is that Rudolph gets a much easier matchup with the Bengals next week. Juju and James Conner owners should at least wait to see how that game goes before they enter full-on panic mode.
Aaron Rodgers (QB – GB)
I made the case on Friday that Rodgers has become an overrated fantasy asset, and nothing we saw on Sunday has changed my mind. The Packers are 3-0, but Rodgers is averaging just 216 yards and 1.3 touchdowns per game. Sounds like game manager numbers, don’t they? Rodgers is certainly still capable of having a huge game when the game script dictates it, but it’s hard to believe Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur is going to mess with success. Rodgers has a terrific matchup with the Eagles’ leaky secondary up next — if he doesn’t light up the scoreboard in that one, it could be time to remove him from the QB1 discussion once and for all.
Baker Mayfield (QB – CLE)
The Browns kept it close with the Rams on Sunday night, but it was more due to the defense and running game than anything Mayfield accomplished. While he emerged as a fantasy factor under Freddie Kitchens last season, the pair have not been able to keep it up in the early going on 2019. The passing game looks out of sync and Mayfield has yet to throw more than a single touchdown in any of the Browns’ first three games. This offense still has a ton of potential, but until we see Kitchens and Co. make some adjustments, we need to downgrade our expectations for Mayfield, Odell Beckham Jr., and Jarvis Landry, especially with a tough trip to Baltimore next on the schedule.
Sammy Watkins (WR – KC)
For the second straight week, Watkins led Chiefs wideouts in targets but had little to show for it in the box score. Any player averaging double-digit targets in a Patrick Mahomes-led offense is an obvious must-start fantasy option, but the window is quickly closing for Watkins to provide game-changing fantasy numbers. Demarcus Robinson and rookie Mecole Hardman are simply making more big plays than Watkins is right now, and with Tyreek Hill seemingly making a quicker-than-anticipated recovery from his collarbone injury, Watkins’ fantasy owners may never get the elite statistical production they were hoping for.
Key Stats
Cooper Kupp (WR – LAR) is the number one wide receiver in fantasy over his last six full games. Kupp isn’t traditionally thought of as a WR1, but he’s sure producing like one. Even over his last 16 games, Kupp is the overall WR7. In an offense awash with high-end fantasy options at QB, RB, and WR, it may be time to seriously entertain the idea that Kupp is the most valuable of them all for 2019.
Keenan Allen (WR – LAC) leads all WRs in targets, receptions, and yards. Tyrell Williams is in Oakland, Hunter Henry is hurt, and Mike Williams is being reserved for big-play opportunities. The result: Allen is an absolute target monster. He’s currently averaging 135 yards and 1.0 TDs per game. Allen has been a WR1 for awhile now, but the stars seem to be aligning for a career year. It’s hard to think of another wide receiver I’d rather own right now.
Kerryon Johnson (RB – DET) had 20 carries for the first time in his career. Kerryon sadly only produced 36 yards on those 20 carries, but at least he found the end zone. More importantly, this game seems to have confirmed my hunch that Johnson’s role would significantly expand after the Lions released C.J. Anderson. His Week 3 matchup with the Eagles was a particularly tough one, but Johnson is capable of RB1 numbers with that kind of workload. I’d buy-low if possible.
Aaron Jones (RB – GB) played a season-low 21 snaps. If you casually look at the fantasy stats it’s easy to be pleased with Jones’ Week 3 performance. He scored two TDs! Yes, he did, but he also ran for just 1.9 yards per carry and had fewer snaps and touches than Jamaal Williams. LaFleur promised that he wanted to “even up” touches between Jones and Williams and that’s exactly what happened this week. Fantasy owners can’t count on two touchdowns every week, so Jones could struggle to produce high-end RB2 value if this usage pattern continues.
Russell Wilson (QB – SEA) had never attempted 40 passes under Brian Schottenheimer before throwing 50 on Sunday. It’s no secret that the Seahawks are a run-heavy offense under Schottenheimer’s direction, but that went out the window in Week 3 as Seattle attempted to come back from a 20-point deficit against New Orleans. Of course, the Seahawks lost the game, so Wilson owners shouldn’t get too used to these kinds of numbers or expect Schottenheimer to have a sudden change of offensive philosophy. The good news is that Wilson is so good that he’s looking capable of threading the needle and providing QB1 production on very limited volume.
Kyler Murray (QB – ARI) averaged just 4.0 yards per attempt. It’s hard to fathom that Murray threw for only 173 yards while dropping back to pass 43 times. Clearly this wasn’t one of his better games, as he made some poor decisions while running for his life most of the afternoon. Thankfully, play volume is still a massive plus for Murray’s rest-of-season outlook, as is the fact that he produced impactful rushing stats (69 yards) for the first time this year. Murray is sure to have more growing pains as the season progresses, but he still has the look of a cheat code for fantasy purposes.
Darren Waller’s (TE – OAK) 42.2 percent target share was nearly double Travis Kelce’s. While Kelce has seen between 20 and 24 percent of Mahomes’ passes, Waller has topped a 30 percent target share twice in the first three weeks. Tight ends are rarely as integral to an offense as Waller has been, so he absolutely needs to be viewed as a high-end TE1 going forward.
Patrick Mahomes (QB – KC) is averaging nearly 300 yards and 3 TDs… in the first half. One of these days Mahomes is going to need to throw as much in the second half as he does in the first, and the numbers he produces are going to be just plain silly.
Top Takeaways
The Giants found their franchise QB and lost their franchise RB. It was only one game, and it wasn’t against the greatest defense in the world, but “Danny Dimes” certainly looked like the real deal. It remains to be seen how this offense functions if Saquon Barkley is staring at an extended absence, but Jones’ emergence is nonetheless great news for the team’s pass-catchers. Evan Engram is locked in as a top-four tight end, Sterling Shepard has legit WR2 viability, and Golden Tate needs to be owned in any leagues where he is floating around on the waiver wire. As for Jones himself, it isn’t a stretch to think he could put himself in the QB1 conversation, but he’s best viewed as a stash/streamer while we wait to see more.
The Bucs are going to produce some big fantasy numbers. I’d be remiss if I focused on the Giants and ignored the other side of that game. After two uninspiring performances, Jameis Winston got back on track in a big way against New York, throwing for 380 yards and three touchdowns. The big beneficiary was Mike Evans, who hauled in all three of the passing scores and finished with 190 yards. Evans has been an elite fantasy performer since he first entered the league in 2014, so if you were surprised by this performance, you haven’t been paying attention. Oh, and for the second time in three weeks, Ronald Jones looked like easily Tampa’s best running back.
Dalvin Cook (RB – MIN) is a potential league winner. Coming into the season there was a consensus top-four at the running back position: Saquon Barkley, Christian McCaffrey, Alvin Kamara, and Ezekiel Elliott. It should have been a top-five. With at least 100 rushing yards and a touchdown in all three games, Cook is the top-producing fantasy back so far and no one should doubt that he can keep it up in Minnesota’s run-first (second, and third) offense.
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Andrew Seifter is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Andrew, check out his archive and follow him @andrew_seifter.
