While the second week of the fantasy football season was a rather high-scoring one, there were still plenty of underperforming players that shattered fantasy owners' chances of ending the week with a "W." Between Josh Jacobs' -2 rushing yard output, Trevor Lawrence's uncharacteristically poor effort, and Calvin Ridley's dud, it's evident that even established players can have off-days. Our Week 3 fantasy busts list will help you stay clear of potential dud performers like D'Andre Swift, Jordan Love, and Christian Kirk.
Of course, even "must-starts" can have off-days (wasn't your brightest day, Breece Hall), but you won't see those types of players among our bust picks unless we legitimately advise benching them. We're targeting players on the start-sit bubble -- not obvious starters and not players owned in just a small handful of leagues. You might not have enough depth to bench the players below -- or you might just completely disagree with our picks -- but either way, it's your team, so make the decisions that work best for you.
We predicted underwhelming performances from Deshaun Watson, Justice Hill, Khalil Herbert, Joshua Kelley, Hayden Hurst, Kyle Pitts, Tyler Higbee, New England's D/ST, and Baltimore's D/ST, but still have higher expectations for ourselves moving forward. Our goal this week is to predict our best crop of potential busts yet.
Beware of these prime bust candidates for Week 3.
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Week 3 Fantasy Busts: Running backs
Brian Robinson, Commanders vs. Bills (Sloan Piva). Robinson balled out in Week 2, finishing with 129 yards from scrimmage and two TDs on just 20 touches. But the Bills have been pretty good against the run, surrendering just 93 rushing yards per game despite playing the likes of Breece Hall, Dalvin Cook, and Josh Jacobs so far this season. Buffalo has also allowed zero RB touchdowns. If we have good rushing depth, we're fading BRob this week.
James Cook, Bills @ Commanders (Vinnie Iyer). The Commanders are strong against the run inside, and they also have contained backs in the passing game. This looks like an absolute Josh Allen arm-and-athleticism road show against a secondary that can give up big plays all over the field.
D'Andre Swift, Eagles @ Buccaneers (Matt Lutovsky). Swift was one of Week 2's biggest breakouts, but it's tough to count on him for consistent touches, especially if Kenneth Gainwell (ribs) is back. Tampa is tied with San Francisco for the top run defense through two weeks (41 yards per game), so Swift is a major risk this week.
WEEK 2 STANDARD RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers
Week 3 Fantasy Busts: Quarterbacks
Daniel Jones, QB, Giants @ 49ers (Piva). Jones made history last week against the Cardinals, with the best fantasy performance in a second half of a regular-season game in recent memory. But, let's remind everyone that the Giants scored zero points in their first six quarters of this season — and this was the Cardinals. Now the G-Men must travel to San Francisco to face Fred Warner and the 49ers, probably the best defense in the NFL. Danny Dimes goes back to being a penny-stock this weekend.
Geno Smith, Seahawks vs. Panthers (Iyer). Smith is likely looking at a low-volume game at home as Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet run all over Carolina. It won’t be Week 1 bad, but you're looking at an underwhelming 250 yards and a TD.
Jordan Love, Packers vs. Saints (Lutovsky). Love has earned his way into the QB1 conversation with two solid weeks, but even with the expected return of Christian Watson (hamstring), we see him slowing down against New Orleans’ stout pass defense. Don’t take the bait and start him for the first time this week.
WEEK 2 PPR RANKINGS:
QBs | RBs | WRs | TEs | D/STs | Kickers
Week 3 Fantasy Football Busts: Wide receivers
Jerry Jeudy, Broncos @ Dolphins (Piva). Jeudy's back from his hamstring injury, but he looks far from 100 percent. Despite Denver putting up 33 points on 399 total yards, Jeudy caught just 3-of-5 targets for 25 yards. Veteran wideout Courtland Sutton saw the most volume (5-of-7 for 66), while young Broncos Brandon Johnson and Marvin Mims did the most damage (combining for 4-179-3). Now Russell Wilson and his boys must travel to South Beach to face a tough Xavien Howard-led secondary. Pass!
Christian Kirk, Jaguars vs. Texans (Iyer). Week 1 was a Calvin Ridley and Zay Jones game for the Jaguars. Week 2 was a Kirk game. Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars scored a lot more points in the former scenario. This matchup is set up more for a correction game for Ridley with Jones ailing. Expect Evan Engram to also cut into Kirk’s work.
Marquise Brown, Cardinals vs. Cowboys (Lutovsky). Brown could easily rack up a bunch of catches in garbage time and finish with a WR3-worthy day, but considering he posted just three catches for 28 yards in Arizona’s opener before last week’s breakout, it’s clear consistency will be an issue. Against a good defense, we don’t want to take the risk.
WEEK 3 FANTASY: Sleepers | Start 'em, sit 'em
Week 3 Fantasy Football Busts: Tight ends
David Njoku, Browns vs. Titans (Piva). It might be time for us to accept that the Browns' offense — and Njoku, by proxy — are just not all that good. Through two games, the tight end has just six catches for 72 yards. He also has no TDs, which at this point should surprise nobody considering he's never finished a season with more than four scores. Tennessee has allowed just eight completions to tight ends this season, none of which have resulted in touchdowns. We're saying nope on Njoku.
Dalton Kincaid, Bills @ Commanders (Iyer). Kincaid has been OK as a rookie so far and had five catches for 43 yards on the Raiders in Week 2, but there’s been nothing special yet and Dawson Knox got the TD. The Bills will find their big games elsewhere, led by DC area-native Stefon Diggs.
Hunter Henry, Patriots @ Jets (Lutovsky). Henry has been one of fantasy’s most bankable TEs so far this season, so it’s unlikely that his owners are willing to bench him, especially after the Jets allowed a TE touchdown last week. All good things come to an end, though, and we expect the Pats’ offense to have a tough time in general against New Year’s fierce defense.
WEEK 3 DFS:
DK lineup | FD lineup | Best values | Best stacks
Week 3 Fantasy Busts: Defenses
Denver Broncos @ Dolphins (Piva). Sean Payton can't fix this dumpster fire. The box score to Denver's 35-33 loss to Washington might give you a false sense of confidence in the Broncos' offense (don't buy in!) — but it should also give you an idea of how pathetic this defense has been. After surrendering 266 passing yards and 35 points to Sam Howell and the Commanders at home, imagine how bad Denver will look against Tua Tagovailoa and the high-flying Dolphins at Hard Rock.
New Orleans Saints @ Packers (Iyer). The Packers have been clean with the ball and given Jordan Love good protection so far against albeit weak pass-rushing teams. Love will be fine and cut down on mistakes again in Lambeau, however, and the Saints aren’t the most inspiring road play.
Green Bay Packers vs. Saints (Lutovsky). The Packers regressed in what should have been a semi-favorable matchup in Week 2, and while the Saints aren’t exactly an intimidating opponent (especially in Green Bay), we’re not overly excited about a mediocre D/ST in a middling matchup. You can do better.
