ChiCitySports Fantasy Review: Week 3 Fantasy Football Rankings

Every year we can expect injuries to hit the NFL, but at the pace they are coming in 2017, it’s hard not to be sent into a panic trying to figure out how to manage your team after only two weeks. Nevertheless, here we are at Week 3 with more names hitting the IR and some early-season waiver wire dandies starting to take control of the opportunities in front of them.

We are quickly approaching the real bye weeks (we see you Tampa and Miami), and aside from where all these rankings fall, make sure you pay attention to the bottom half of your charts. Good things come in threes, and with two solid weeks of waiver wire pickups already in the books, make the most of what’s to come in what should be a third straight week of decent options to fill out the end of your bench.

Quarterback

 

Aaron Rodgers is going to benefit from a porous Cincinnati offense making mistakes, giving Green Bay a short field. He is a no brainer #1 overall at the position this week. Past that, there’s some intrigue with Cam Newton facing the ever forgiving New Orleans secondary which should provide him with as good of an opportunity as he’ll receive to bounce back from last week’s rough outing versus Buffalo.

Through the QB2 tier, Alex Smith and Trevor Siemian are still in that “prove it” category for me. They are bound to come back to Earth at some point and Week 3 could be the wall for both of them.

Rank	Name	Team	Opp
1	Aaron Rodgers	GB	vs. CIN
2	Matt Ryan	ATL	at DET
3	Tom Brady	NE	vs. HOU
4	Derek Carr	OAK	at WAS
5	Cam Newton	CAR	vs. NO
6	Drew Brees	NO	at CAR
7	Matthew Stafford	DET	vs. ATL
8	Kirk Cousins	WAS	vs. OAK
9	Ben Roethlisberger	PIT	at CHI
10	Jameis Winston	TB	at MIN
11	Russell Wilson	SEA	at TEN
12	Philip Rivers	LAC	vs. KC
13	Carson Wentz	PHI	vs. NYG
14	Dak Prescott	DAL	at ARI
15	Marcus Mariota	TEN	vs. SEA
16	Alex Smith	KC	at LAC
17	Trevor Siemian	DEN	at BUF
18	Jay Cutler	MIA	at NYJ
19	Carson Palmer	ARI	vs. DAL
20	Sam Bradford	MIN	vs. TB
21	Andy Dalton	CIN	at GB
22	Jared Goff	LAR	at SF
23	Eli Manning	NYG	at PHI
24	Tyrod Taylor	BUF	vs. DEN
25	DeShone Kizer	CLE	at IND

 

Running Back

 

Do you think Le’Veon Bell is panicking over not signing a long-term deal with the Steelers? He might start to if he can’t get going against Chicago this week. Thankfully for Pittsburgh, Soldier Field is as terribly kept as Heinz so he should feel right at home. As for the RB2 on this list, yes, that’s Kareem Hunt. On pace to hit the 2,000 yards from scrimmage mark this season, all aboard the bandwagon!

C.J. Anderson has been a workhorse through two weeks and it will be interesting to see if he holds up. He’s a solid play this week at Buffalo in DFL. Meanwhile coming in at RB24 is the reason why you pay attention to preseason football: Chris Carson. The writing was on the wall that he had the most to offer in the Seattle backfield and after 20 carries last week, he could easily find himself a top 15 option past this week if all goes well.

Lastly, keep an eye on Orleans Darkwa. This could be the week he overtakes Paul Perkins as the feature back.

Rank	Name	Team	Opp
1	Le’Veon Bell	PIT	at CHI
2	Kareem Hunt	KC	at LAC
3	Jay Ajayi	MIA	at NYJ
4	Ezekiel Elliott	DAL	at ARI
5	Devonta Freeman	ATL	at DET
6	Todd Gurley	LAR	at SF
7	Melvin Gordon	LAC	vs. KC
8	Ty Montgomery	GB	vs. CIN
9	LeSean McCoy	BUF	vs. DEN
10	Marshawn Lynch	OAK	at WAS
11	C.J. Anderson	DEN	at BUF
12	Carlos Hyde	SF	vs. LAR
13	Leonard Fournette	JAC	vs. BAL
14	Christian McCaffrey	CAR	vs. NO
15	Dalvin Cook	MIN	vs. TB
16	Isaiah Crowell	CLE	at IND
17	Mike Gillislee	NE	vs. HOU
18	Tarik Cohen	CHI	vs. PIT
19	Lamar Miller	HOU	at NE
20	Ameer Abdullah	DET	vs. ATL
21	Javorius Allen	BAL	at JAC
22	Jonathan Stewart	CAR	vs. NO
23	Jacquizz Rodgers	TB	at MIN
24	Chris Carson	SEA	at TEN
25	Theo Riddick	DET	vs. ATL
26	Jordan Howard	CHI	vs. PIT
27	Terrance West	BAL	at JAC
28	James White	NE	vs. HOU
29	Mark Ingram	NO	at CAR
30	Tevin Coleman	ATL	at DET
31	Chris Thompson	WAS	vs. OAK
32	Derrick Henry	TEN	vs. SEA
33	Frank Gore	IND	vs. CLE
34	Duke Johnson	CLE	at IND
35	DeMarco Murray	TEN	vs. SEA
36	Joe Mixon	CIN	at GB
37	Chris Johnson	ARI	vs. DAL
38	Darren Sproles	PHI	vs. NYG
39	Matt Forte	NYJ	vs. MIA
40	Orleans Darkwa	NYG	at PHI
41	Samaje Perine	WAS	vs. OAK
42	Alvin Kamara	NO	at CAR
43	D’Onta Foreman	HOU	at NE
44	Bilal Powell	NYJ	vs. MIA
45	Giovani Bernard	CIN	at GB
46	Paul Perkins	NYG	at PHI
47	Rex Burkhead	NE	vs. HOU
48	Kerwynn Williams	ARI	vs. DAL
49	Robert Kelley	WAS	vs. OAK
50	Shane Vereen	NYG	at PHI

 

Wide Receiver

 

If it wasn’t for the Bengals’ terrible offense to this point, A.J. Green would be an obvious top 3 option this week but until something changes, he needed to be knocked down a peg or two. Now that the rust is off, plan on Odell Beckham, Jr. to have a stronger week than his debut on Monday night — keeping in mind all concerns about that Giants offensive line.

J.J. Nelson has been a pleasant surprise thus far for the Cardinals, who will probably have to look to the passing game going up against a Dallas team who should come out with a chip on their shoulder following last week’s stomping against Denver.

If you’re looking for deeper plays who should get plenty of opportunities, look to Jermaine Kearse and Rashard Higgins who should both be rostered in all PPR leagues moving forward.

Rank	Name	Team	Opp
1	Antonio Brown	PIT	at CHI
2	Julio Jones	ATL	at DET
3	Mike Evans	TB	at MIN
4	Odell Beckham Jr.	NYG	at PHI
5	Michael Thomas	NO	at CAR
6	A.J. Green	CIN	at GB
7	Michael Crabtree	OAK	at WAS
8	Keenan Allen	LAC	vs. KC
9	Amari Cooper	OAK	at WAS
10	DeAndre Hopkins	HOU	at NE
11	Brandin Cooks	NE	vs. HOU
12	Kelvin Benjamin	CAR	vs. NO
13	Tyreek Hill	KC	at LAC
14	Demaryius Thomas	DEN	at BUF
15	Doug Baldwin	SEA	at TEN
16	Dez Bryant	DAL	at ARI
17	Golden Tate	DET	vs. ATL
18	Davante Adams	GB	vs. CIN
19	Alshon Jeffery	PHI	vs. NYG
20	Larry Fitzgerald	ARI	vs. DAL
21	Jordy Nelson	GB	vs. CIN
22	Devante Parker	MIA	at NYJ
23	Stefon Diggs	MIN	vs. TB
24	Emmanuel Sanders	DEN	at BUF
25	Jarvis Landry	MIA	at NYJ
26	Martavis Bryant	PIT	at CHI
27	Terrelle Pryor	WAS	vs. OAK
28	T.Y. Hilton	IND	vs. CLE
29	J.J. Nelson	ARI	vs. DAL
30	Randall Cobb	GB	vs. CIN
31	Adam Thielen	MIN	vs. TB
32	Chris Hogan	NE	vs. HOU
33	Pierre Garcon	SF	vs. LAR
34	Jermaine Kearse	NYJ	vs. MIA
35	Sammy Watkins	LAR	at SF
36	Jamison Crowder	WAS	vs. OAK
37	Jeremy Maclin	BAL	at JAC
38	Rashard Higgins	CLE	at IND
39	DeSean Jackson	TB	at MIN
40	Tyrell Williams	LAC	vs. KC
41	Allen Hurns	JAC	vs. BAL
42	Cooper Kupp	LAR	at SF
43	Marqise Lee	JAC	vs. BAL
44	Marvin Jones	DET	vs. ATL
45	Ted Ginn	NO	at CAR
46	Mohamed Sanu	ATL	at DET
47	Kenny Golladay	DET	vs. ATL
48	Rishard Matthews	TEN	vs. SEA
49	Eric Decker	TEN	vs. SEA
50	Sterling Shepard	NYG	at PHI

 

Tight End

 

Gronk with his first injury scare in Week 2. This is going to be a fun year. Regardless, looks like he will play this week against Houston which keeps him atop the rankings, but don’t be surprised if New England reels in his snap count.

Jack Doyle is back on the radar thanks to the play of Jacoby Brissett and now that Antonio Gates holds the all-time touchdown record for a tight end, look for the Chargers to give Hunter Henry more opportunities.

Towards the lower end, Ben Watson and Ed Dickson provide sneaky DFL plays this week.

Rank	Name	Team	Opp
1	Rob Gronkowski	NE	vs. HOU
2	Travis Kelce	KC	at LAC
3	Zach Ertz	PHI	vs. NYG
4	Jordan Reed	WAS	vs. OAK
5	Kyle Rudolph	MIN	vs. TB
6	Delanie Walker	TEN	vs. SEA
7	Jason Witten	DAL	at ARI
8	Martellus Bennett	GB	vs. CIN
9	Eric Ebron	DET	vs. ATL
10	Jack Doyle	IND	vs. CLE
11	Hunter Henry	LAC	vs. KC
12	Coby Fleener	NO	at CAR
13	Evan Engram	NYG	at PHI
14	Jimmy Graham	SEA	at TEN
15	Jared Cook	OAK	at WAS
16	Charles Clay	BUF	vs. DEN
17	Tyler Eifert	CIN	at GB
18	Austin Hooper	ATL	at DET
19	Benjamin Watson	BAL	at JAC
20	Cameron Brate	TB	at MIN
21	Zach Miller	CHI	vs. PIT
22	Julius Thomas	MIA	at NYJ
23	David Njoku	CLE	at IND
24	Ed Dickson	CAR	vs. NO
25	Austin Seferian-Jenkins	NYJ	vs. MIA

 

Defense/Special Teams

Following a 6 point output last week, Buffalo now faces a dangerous Denver defense that should come up with multiple turnovers on the day. Past the Broncos, the rest of the top 5 options this week should be solid considering the performance of their opponents thus far during the 2017 season.

Tampa Bay intrigues me the most on this list, as they showed some promise to be a viable starting defense last week, but the question is how much of that was Mike Glennon? We’ll find out this week.

Rank	Name	Opp
1	Denver Broncos	at BUF
2	Baltimore Ravens	at JAC
3	Pittsburgh Steelers	at CHI
4	Los Angeles Rams	at SF
5	New England Patriots	vs. HOU
6	Miami Dolphins	at NYJ
7	Philadelphia Eagles	vs. NYG
8	Seattle Seahawks	at TEN
9	Jacksonville Jaguars	vs. BAL
10	Green Bay Packers	vs. CIN
11	Kansas City Chiefs	at LAC
12	Minnesota Vikings	vs. TB
13	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	at MIN
14	Tennessee Titans	vs. SEA
15	New York Giants	at PHI
16	Arizona Cardinals	vs. DAL
17	Cleveland Browns	at IND
18	Oakland Raiders	at WAS
19	Indianapolis Colts	vs. CLE
20	Carolina Panthers	vs. NO
21	Houston Texans	at NE
22	Dallas Cowboys	at ARI
23	Los Angeles Chargers	vs. KC
24	San Francisco 49ers	vs. LAR
25	Buffalo Bills	vs. DEN

(Rankings based off .5 PPR projections)

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