Week 3 Fantasy Football Sunday recap: Christian McCaffrey is a workhorse

The Sunday action of Week 3 is in the books. Let’s take a spin around the league to look at every team from all the games that took place and see what we can learn from a fantasy football perspective.

Cincinnati Bengals (21) at Carolina Panthers (31)

Tyler Boyd is running hot right now as the clear No. 2 target to A.J. Green in the Bengals offense. Green suffered an injury in this game, which could push more volume to Boyd in coming weeks. He’s already led the team in air yards market share in each of the last two games. Boyd is a WR3 play until further notice and enjoying a breakout season.

Christian McCaffrey’s touches (16, 22, 30) have increased in each game this season. It’s clear this team views him as their workhorse runner and offensive engine. You should disregard your preconceived view on his ability and buy into their belief. McCaffrey earned his work in this game, looking fantastic as he sliced through the Cincinnati defense. He’s a RB1 in fantasy football and easily the Panthers best offensive player this side of Cam Newton. Carolina gets their bye in Week 4 and then return to face the Giants, Redskins and Eagles.

New Orleans Saints (43) at Atlanta Falcons (37)

Drew Brees ran for two scores and his three passing touchdowns went to Ted Ginn, Zach Line and Cameron Meredith (his lone target of the day). While Kamara and Thomas didn’t find the end zone, this remains one of the most concentrated passing offenses in the NFL. With the Saints defense looking closer to pre-2017 form, these two will push for double-digit targets every week. Keep an eye on Meredith building any momentum as he’s quite talented, but Thomas and Kamara are the lone locks.

Calvin Ridley is tremendous. The polished route-runner showed off his ability today, dusting the Saints secondary defenders along the way. Ridley was likely dropped after his zero-catch NFL debut. He’ll be a primary add this week on waivers. The Falcons offense is picking up steam and their defense is a liability after losing so many cornerstones. Ridley and the Atlanta offense will get the Bengals, Steelers, Buccaneers and Browns before their bye. All of those games could turn into shootouts.

San Francisco 49ers (27) at Kansas City Chiefs (38)

If Jimmy Garoppolo did indeed tear his ACL as coach Kyle Shanahan fears, we’ll have a firestorm on the 49ers offense. Just as Marquise Goodwin made his return and Matt Breida was starting to heat up, the unit wilts. C.J. Beathard is a depressing force to witness take the place of the promising Garoppolo. One discernable trend we saw from Beathard last season was his propensity to check the ball down to running backs. Carlos Hyde, who had little to no passing game resume, averaged 8.3 targets in the six games Beathard played in 2017.

With two scores today, Kareem Hunt reminded us of the dangers of fading a starting running back tethered to a high-flying offense. However, his lack of work in the passing game remains a concern. Patrick Mahomes continues to read down the field and Hunt has just three targets through three weeks. That makes his floor quite low. Kansas City’s upcoming schedule is a mixed bag for Hunt going to Denver, welcoming Jacksonville and then traveling to New England.

Oakland Raiders (20) at Miami Dolphins (28)

Miami’s defense let Jordy Nelson get loose early for three big plays early in the game and he remained open throughout the game. The Amari Cooper coaster continues to roll. After posting just one catch against the Rams in Week 1, he went for 10 catches on 10 targets against the Broncos only to get blotted out by emerging star cornerback Xavien Howard on Sunday. Cooper gained just 17 yards on two catches with the big press corner trailing him across the formation. You should have known Cooper would be volatile before you took him in August drafts, but this is quite extreme.

With Albert Wilson throwing a 52-yard touchdown to Jakeem Grant and taking a 74-yard scamper of his own for six, the Dolphins just didn’t get to possess the ball that often. Miami ran just 39 plays on offense. The unit has always been slow under Adam Gase and when big plays get mixed in, that’s going to scrape most of the volume razor-thin. No running back saw more than six carries, and Kenny Stills led the team with five targets.

Buffalo Bills (27) at Minnesota Vikings (6)

In the biggest surprise result of the young 2018 season, Josh Allen breathed some life into what looked like a dead Bills offense. Allen made plays when he had to, both on the ground and through the air. Multiple defensive breakdowns from what should be a proud Vikings stop unit also created openings for this team. Allen didn’t get much support from the running game, as Chris Ivory took his 20 carries for just 56 yards in his start for LeSean McCoy. There was no discernable funnel receiver, as Kelvin Benjamin led the team with just five targets.

Pass protection was a clear issue for the Vikings offense in this loss. It’s not as if the Bills defense is loaded with pass-rushers, but players like Trent Murphy and Jerry Hughes managed to put heat on Kirk Cousins. The Vikings prized passer was unable to work the ball downfield as a result. Cousins’ completions traveled an average of just three air yards. Minnesota doesn’t get a soft-landing spot to resolve this issue in Week 4, as they face Aaron Donald and the ferocious Rams defense.

Indianapolis Colts (16) at Philadelphia Eagles (20)

Obviously, Andrew Luck getting pulled for Jacoby Brissett in the Hail Mary situation will get attention. What makes it interesting is that it’s a continuation of a trend through three weeks surrounding Luck’s passing allocation. Luck’s completions traveled just 3.5 air yards, fourth-lowest among all Week 3 passers. This is not necessarily a negative. Frank Reich has designed an offense that gets the ball out of Luck’s hands with tempo, rather than expose him to punishment with deep drops and downfield throws. While it’s a smart plan, it does change the construction and expectations for this offense.

Carson Wentz wasn’t perfect, taking five sacks, losing a fumble and throwing a pick, but made some “wow” throws, as well. It’s clear that as he knocks off the rust, he will bring this offense a spark. Corey Clement was the lead back, despite Wendall Smallwood snagging the touchdown. If Jay Ajayi (back) misses next week, Clement will be worth a dice roll against the Titans.

Green Bay Packers (17) at Washington Redskins (31)

Jamaal Williams led the backfield with just 28 snaps played, while Aaron Jones went out for 16 and handled one in the passing game. Ty Montgomery (19 snaps) led the team in touches on the back of six catches. With Williams’ pass-blocking proficiency, Montgomery’s receiving pedigree and Jones’ great pure rushing ability, it’s unlikely this committee approach changes anytime soon.

Washington fell behind to the Colts in Week 3 but in the two games that Washington has controlled with a lead, Adrian Peterson has been a clear RB1 play. In Weeks 1 and 3, Peterson handled 45 carries for 216 yards and scored three times. You’ll need to attempt to spot game script whenever you consider playing Peterson, though that’s been precarious the last two weeks. Washington gets Carolina (away), New Orleans and Dallas the next three weeks.

Tennessee Titans (9) at Jacksonville Jaguars (6)

Until the Titans figure out their mess behind center, we need to completely stay away from this offense. No Titans receiver cleared 35 yards or five targets. Derrick Henry handled 18 carries and earned 57 yards. We should give the Titans all the respect in the world for resourcefully pulling off two-straight wins against the division-rival Texans and Jaguars, but that doesn’t mean we need to give their players a spot in our fantasy lineups.

Blake Bortles predictably crashed back to earth in this game. According to the Next Gen Stats player tracking data, Bortles was the most inefficient Week 3 passer, with a -16.1 percent differential between his expected and actual completion percentage. Keelan Cole remains the lone trustworthy Jaguars receiver, leading the team with nine targets.

Denver Broncos (14) at Baltimore Ravens (27)

Phillip Lindsay left the game following an ejection but game script still prevented Royce Freeman from establishing much momentum. Freeman saw 13 carries as the Broncos fell behind 20-14 after the first half. The Denver looked far less potent away from their home stadium.

Alex Collins finally got the game script any non-elite RB1 needs to thrive. With the Ravens controlling this home game throughout, Collins racked up 18 carries and popped in a touchdown. Javorius Allen remains a factor and that will not change. The trustworthy backup hit on yet another goal-line chance and scored again on one of his three catches. Allen is the type of reliable, “what you see is what you get” back that is total catnip for coaches.

New York Giants (27) at Houston Texans (22)

Despite J.J. Watt erupting for three sacks, Eli Manning turned in an excellent rebound performance after his Week 2 Sunday night disaster. Manning’s efficiency helped boost the stock of almost all of his playmakers, save for Evan Engram. The talented tight end left this game with a knee injury and was seen in a walking boot after the contest. His absence would tighten the volume distribution and open up room for Sterling Shepard, who caught six of seven targets and scored today.

The Texans just aren’t a good team. The Deshaun Watson-to-Will Fuller connection remains as hot as ever. Fuller has gone over 100 yards receiving in three of his six career games with Watson and scored nine touchdowns. Forget regression; chase the ceiling with Fuller every week.

Los Angeles Chargers (23) at Los Angeles Rams (35)

Mike Williams scored one touchdown over the gifted Marcus Peters and doubled-up after Peters left the game with an injury. There’s no more running from it — Williams is in the middle of a career breakthrough. He’s emerging into a steady contributor in this offense. His role as a deep threat (16.7 air yards per target today) and red zone weapon will make him volatile, but he has a ceiling worth chasing.

The Rams passing game has primarily flowed through their wide receiver trio but all along it was Robert Woods who owned the air yards volume. Woods took that to the production bank in Week 3, snagging 10 passes and scoring twice. He was a reminder of not just his own potential, but the reason we chase air yards for receivers.

Chicago Bears (16) at Arizona Cardinals (14)

Mitchell Trubisky has yet to finish north of 6.5 yards per attempt this season. It’s all too clear that this is not a good offense and it’s manned by a quarterback who is still quite limited. Taylor Gabriel led all receivers on Sunday with a 53.1 percent share of his team’s air yards. That turned into a whopping six catches for 34 yards. The Bears snuck out with this win by just letting Jordan Howard (24 carries, 2.5 yards per carry) grind out a win.

The Cardinals need to consider bouncing Mike McCoy for what would be his third-straight mid-season firing. His decision to hand the ball to Chase Edmunds over David Johnson on a crucial game-tilting third down was wild. It was almost as strange as Josh Rosen’s odd fourth quarter drop behind enemy lines-like appearance. This team is a mess.

Dallas Cowboys (13) at Seattle Seahawks (24)

It’s beyond time we consider if Dak Prescott, and not just a supporting cast bereft of proven talent, is to blame for this passing game’s utter inability to thrive. Prescott has a 61.1 passer rating over his last 11 games. He didn’t even attempt a throw beyond 15 yards today. Changes need to take place in Dallas, be it coaching or whatever. The Cowboys have little realistic options beyond Prescott on the roster but this just can’t last.

The Seahawks have been chasing leads for most of their 2018 plays thus far, so we haven’t seen much of their running to this point, but that changed today. Chris Carson was the clear lead back, leading the team with 32 carries. No other back saw more than three. The Seahawks clearly want to play this way, given all their curious offseason statements. Their next three games, at Arizona, vs. the Rams and at Oakland appear to offer some hope for positive game scripts ahead. It’s still hard to trust this team.

New England Patriots (10) at Detroit Lions (26)

It’s just not happening for Chris Hogan. The veteran receiver has target totals of five, five and four to start the season and merely put lipstick on the pig with two touchdowns last week. It’s impossible to watch this offense right now and not realize they need a spark. That was an embarrassing showing in Detroit against a defense that bled production in their first two games. Perhaps we see Josh Gordon active in Week 4 to give this team the spark it clearly needs through the air.

All three of the Lions wide receivers cleared 50 yards, two of them caught six balls and two scored touchdowns. You want to run all the members of this group out every week, with matchups making the final call as to the preferred option for DFS. Kerryon Johnson just needs the ball more. His 101 yards on the ground finally snapped the team’s streak of non-100-yard rushers. It literally elicited cheers in the crowd. Detroit must end its fascination for LeGarrette Blount (3.0 YPC).