Fantasy Football Week 3: Start’em / Sit’em
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Last week: 20-13-3, Season: 38-23-8 (62%)
Week 2 Picks Recap:
Another solid week, but missed on a few more picks than in week 1. As long as I can stay above 60%, I’ll keep patting myself on the back all season.
My start’em picks were better this week (12-6-1) with week 1 duds like Ryan Tannehill (+9), Steve Smith (+11), and Donte Moncrief (+15) all having bounce back games. Even the best fantasy assets have off weeks and sometimes you just need to be patient and keep throwing players in the lineup, you drafted these guys for a reason. I did miss pretty badly on Sam Bradford (-7) and Rashad Jennings (-8), but overall most of my recommendations panned out.
Allen Robinson (+16) was my biggest miss of the sit’em picks (8-7-2), but in my defense I wanted to see Blake Bortles look like an NFL QB before I started A-Rob. I also missed on Cam Newton (+9), Sammy Watkins (+6) and for the first time in years Colin Kaepernick exceeded his projected value (+8). My two riskiest sit’em picks, Frank Gore (-8) and Jeremy Maclin (-7), both were on the mark.
Week 3 Picks:
Note: Only players started in less than 75% of Yahoo leagues will be eligible for the start’em category. The purpose of this column is advice on players that might not be every week starters. I’ll usually list at least one “Deep Sleeper” pick for players started in less than 10% of Yahoo leagues who I think are under-projected.
If you have questions about specific players, hit me up on Twitter or in the comment section and I will get back to you before this weekends games. Good luck in your fantasy match-ups this week and go Bears!
* I apologize for posting this a day late, airport WiFi is the worst.
Start’em
Quarterback
Cam Newton, NO (48%, 19) – The lack of weapons around Newton and a bad O-line are forcing him to run more this year. Cam looks healthy and more explosive this season and the Saints D looks vulnerable.
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Carson Palmer, SF (43%, 18) – Has played well so far (7 TDs / 1 INT) and the Niners secondary hasn’t. Palmer has put up over 20 fantasy points in each of the last two games and could have another solid outing against a Niners D that isn’t as fierce as it’s been the last few seasons.
Marcus Mariota, IND (22%, 17) – He had a let down game after his stunning debut, but I was impressed with the way Mariota played in the 2nd half despite being down big. He shook off a monster hit and ended up with a respectable 257 yards / 2 TD game. Mariota has yet to throw an INT this year and looks like a five-year vet out there. The Colts D has struggled to stop anyone and I think Mariota will put up a decent fantasy line in a losing effort for the Titans.