Fantasy Football – Week 3 Recap
Week 3 Recap
I’m going to avoid the obvious guys that produce every week (AP, Graham, McCoy) for the studs lists and focus on players who significantly outperformed their expected output. The duds will be the opposite, big name players that let fantasy owners down in week 3 and some advice on what to do with them.
Studs
Giovanni Bernard RB: 14 touches for Gio and 10 for BJGE. It’s just a matter of time till the Bengals realize how much better Gio is than the plodding BJGE. Gio turned his 14 touches into 99 total yards and a TD, while BJGE gained just 29 total yards with his 10 carries. I have little faith in coach Marvin Lewis being proactive enough to make the switch this week, but if Gio keeps producing it’s going to happen eventually. Do whatever it takes to get Gio on your roster.
Demarco Murray RB: After a disappointing first two weeks (3.4 YPC) Murray broke out with a huge game against the Rams. Murray finished with 26 carries for 175 yards and a TD and caught 3 passes for 28 yards. The only concern with Murray is his health and if you are worried enough you may want to sell high on Murray after this week’s cushy match-up again the Chargers and their 31st ranked defense.
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Jordan Cameron TE: I’ve been preaching about Cameron every week in my Start’em/Sit’em column, but pretty sure he will finally crack the 75% start barrier after his 3 TD performance in week 2. There was almost no change in his targets with the switch to Hoyer at QB. He’s averaging just over 10 a game and the addition of Josh Gordon should actually open things up for Cameron now that the Browns have two legitimate receiving threats. It’s probably too late to get Cameron for cheap in a trade, but you could try to sell his owner on the Browns uncertainty at QB to lower his asking price. I think he finishes the year as the #2 TE after Graham.
Josh Gordon WR: I was real close to recommending Gordon as a Sit’em in my column last week because I thought he might be rusty and I saw Hoyer play last year with the Cardinals. Glad I didn’t, but I also didn’t start him in any of my leagues so I am a little bitter. Gordon had a ridiculous 19 targets last week. He’s a must start going forward and a good trade-high candidate. After all Brian Hoyer is still Brian Hoyer.
Joique Bell RB: Reggie Bush owners should be a little worried. Bell has been productive every chance he’s been given and Bush hasn’t exactly been a workhorse back over the years. Bush was supposedly healthy enough to play Sunday and the fact that the Lions coaches held him out should tell you a little about how much they trust Bell. Bell didn’t disappoint, gaining 132 total yards and scoring a TD. Moving forward I think they both have about the same number of touches through the rest of the year, which hurts the value of both players. They should both be owned in every format, but Bush no longer looks like a top 10 RB. If you can get good value for him, I would pull the trigger.
Antonio Brown WR: I thought Brown might struggle to make big plays against the Bears “bend but don’t break” defense. I was wrong. It happens quite a bit when it comes to games involving the Bears. I’m a die-hard fan and tend to overrated my team. Just keep that in mind for future columns when I tell you Jay Cutler is going to throw 3 TD passes. Back to Brown, he lit up the Bears secondary for 9 catches and 198 yards. He was helped out by the Bears secondary falling for every one of Ben Roethlisberger’s pump fakes. I can’t imagine all defenses are that gullible, but it was good to see Brown have a big game after a very slow start to the season. I would hold on to Brown as he is clearly the Steeler’s #1 option in the passing game and they have no running game right now (31st in rushing yards).