After Week 1, everyone tells you not to overreact. It’s only one week, but by the time Week 2 is finished, we’re 11% of the way through the fantasy season, and it’s time to start being reactionary and noticing what the league is telling us.

Each week, we look at the safest and riskiest starts to help you get ready for all the action. Here are all of our risky and safe picks for the week. And below we dive into a few start/sit decisions on notable players.

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Risky & Safe Fantasy Football Starts: Week 3

Marquise Brown (WR – ARI) vs Cowboys

The offseason narratives can sometimes get a little bit out of control on players who have little to no competition, and that certainly seems like it was the case for Marquise Brown. Despite clearly being the most talented pass-catcher on the Cardinals, he is 22nd in target share among wide receivers with 25.4%. Given the lack of options for the Cardinals, many had hoped that number would be over 30% through two games. Brown is producing at a rate of 2.6 PPR points per touch, higher than Justin Jefferson and CeeDee Lamb, but he faces a Cowboys defense that, through two games, has allowed only 10 wide receiver receptions on 25 pass attempts. Brown could get there on volume, but it’s a very risky proposition against one of the best defenses in the league.

Garrett Wilson (WR – NYJ) vs Patriots

Through two games, Garrett Wilson has scored 33.2% of the Jets PPR points to date, but without Aaron Rodgers, it’s likely going to continue to be a very boom-or-bust season for Wilson. After scoring on a coverage bust against the Cowboys, Garrett Wilson’s next six targets resulted in one catch for 15 yards and two interceptions. Wilson is absolutely ready to be an elite player in the NFL, but we cannot ignore the fact that Zach Wilson is easily one of the worst three quarterbacks in the league, and there is no hope for that to improve with the Jets facing the Patriots in Week 3.

DJ Moore (WR – CHI) vs Chiefs

It’s a close run contest between the Bears and the Falcons for the most uninspiring quarterback play, but Justin Fields edges it with a league-low average depth of target of 4.5 yards, all while holding onto the ball for 3.19 seconds, which ranks 28th among quarterbacks. Simply put, Fields is holding onto the ball for a long time, and it’s not because he’s waiting for plays to unfold downfield. DJ Moore managed to reach 104 total yards in Week 2, but there’s very little to rest your hat on that he might be able to consistently produce with Fields at quarterback, particularly when the Chiefs defensive line should be able to have their way with the Bears offensive line.

The moment when DJ Moore realized he’s basically still on the Panthers pic.twitter.com/B5CSqQAhBm

— Alex Johnson (@a_johnsonFF) September 10, 2023

Joe Burrow (QB – CIN) vs Rams

The Bengals were embarrassed on their own turf by a Ravens team missing their starting cornerback, safety, left tackle and center. Outside of quarterback, there aren’t many more important positions on a roster. Luckily for the Bengals, the major talking point instead was Joe Burrow’s calf injury that flared up again after causing Burrow issues during training camp.

The Bengals play the Rams on Monday Night Football, buying Burrow an extra day to be ready, but fantasy managers will have to consider whether they will have any get-out-of-jail-free cards to play if Burrow is suddenly inactive on Monday night. At that point, your choices would be either Matthew Stafford or Bengals backup quarterback Jake Browning. All of those points are to be considered even before we talk about the Bengals’ lackluster start to the 2023 campaign and Joe Burrow’s 18.6 points combined in two games.