We’re back with our second block of games for the Week 3 NFL slate, and we’re rounding out the early slate here with the remaining two games and two late games for Sunday in this block. We’ve compiled the groupings of games here to make it easier to find the games you want:
- Block 1: ATL/GB (TNF), LAC/BUF, CAR/CLE, HOU/IND
- Block 2: NYJ/DET, NE/JAC, KC/MIA, TEN/NYG
- Block 3: CIN/PIT, SEA/WAS, ARI/SF, MIN/TB
- Block 4: BAL/DAL, LV/NO, LAR/DEN (SNF), PHI/CHI (MNF)
“The Outlook” will give you details, stats, angles, recommendations and everything else you need to know to help you make your fantasy football decisions. Every fantasy-relevant player on each team playing will be profiled in this article. We want everybody reading this to bring home championships in your fantasy leagues!
I’m incredibly excited to bring this article to all of you this season and hope you all enjoy the ride. If you have any questions, feel free to find me on Bluesky
(@ktompkinsii.bsky.social) and tag me in a post to ask me any lineup questions you have and I’ll do my best to get them answered for you.
Let’s get into it!
(All game/implied point totals listed were compiled via DraftKings Sportsbook on Wednesday Evening for NYJ/DET, NE/JAC, KC/MIA and TEN/NYG)
New York Jets at Detroit Lions – 1:00 PM ET
- Favorite: Lions –6.5
- Game Total: 47.5
- Implied Point Total: Lions 27, Jets 20.5
Jets Fantasy Notes
Must-Start Players: None
QB Geno Smith
Look, Smith isn’t a bad quarterback. He’s not really a good one, either. Smith is very matchup-dependent when all is said and done. This game against the Lions in Week 3 is one that you can trot out Smith if you’re in trouble with your fantasy quarterbacks. I do say all that with the caveat that Smith has thrown just one touchdown pass this season. And he’s not a guy you can toss out there in single-quarterback leagues unless you’re painfully desperate or thin at quarterback and maybe just lost Jaxson Dart, Jayden Daniels or any other banged-up starter. The Lions are still missing both backend safeties and have given up a ton of passing yardage and production to Tyler Shough and Josh Allen in the season’s first two weeks. Smith is not in either quarterback’s class, for sure. But it’s a good matchup. I’m just saying.
Fantasy Advice: I would be pretty pleased to get Smith in my lineup for multi-quarterback leagues as a QB2. However, in single-quarterback leagues, I’d be very hesitant to rely on him even in this plus-matchup in Week 3.
RB Breece Hall
In the first two weeks of the season, Hall has ceded 15 carries to Braelon Allen, but Hall still has notched at least 56% of the team’s rush attempts in each game. In Week 1, Hall had 102 yards rushing plus a touchdown, but against the Packers in Week 2, his efficiency cratered to less than 2.0 yards per carry with 29 yards on 16 carries. Buoyed by passing game work, Hall caught all five targets and somehow still ended up as a top-12 fantasy RB on the week. We know what this backfield is going to be; Hall will most of the carries, while Allen will work in at times.
Fantasy Advice: The Lions have been slightly below average against fantasy running backs over these two games, but Hall is a solid mid-range RB2 with upside here. Allen remains one of the best contingency plays even if the overall offense isn’t great.
WR Garrett Wilson
Wilson has been a model of consistency when on the field, especially when it comes to earning targets. He has earned seven targets in both games this season and, in Week 2, put up a modest 5-57 line, including a green-zone 5-yard touchdown off of mesh concept. The Jets offense isn’t automatic by any means, but when they throw, Wilson is the top target almost every time.
Fantasy Advice: Keep Wilson locked in as your mid-range WR2 against the Lions in Week 3.
WR Adonai Mitchell
Leading the Jets in targets in Week 2, Mitchell has been awesome at creating separation, but the catch-point issues remain. Think of this as “Dontayvion Wicks Syndrome.” As a pretty inefficient player for most of his career when receiving a decent routes share, Mitchell caught 6-of-11 passes for 63 yards. What does being the Jets’ WR2 get you in fantasy, exactly? Well, Omar Cooper Jr. was supposed to change the thesis on that, but he’s injured. I just don’t think this role on this team is going to do much for you right now but give you headaches, and that’s compounded by how frustrating a player Mitchell has been for much of his career.
Fantasy Advice: Mitchell would only be a deep flex for me against the Lions, or a back-against-the-wall start if you’re really getting hammered by injuries at the wide receiver position. At least he’ll be on the field.
Jets TEs
Mason Taylor (thumb) being banged up and potentially unavailable for Week 3 should create some opportunity for rookie Kenyon Sadiq. Unfortunately, Sadiq is no sure thing to even see a sharp role increase, as the Jets have worked in both Jeremy Ruckert and Jelani Woods for about 25-40% of snaps each over these first two games. The Jets have been frequently using two or more tight ends (41% – eighth-highest percentage in the NFL) in their personnel packages this season. Sadiq’s routes have been around 45% of routes per dropback this season, so I don’t think Taylor possibly being unavailable automatically means increased opportunity for Sadiq.
Fantasy Advice: While Sadiq is a clear bench hold and should get more opportunity this season, I don’t think Taylor being out forces the Jets’ hand or makes the Jets deviate from their plan. I would not be starting Sadiq in seasonal leagues at this time.
Lions Fantasy Notes
Must-Start Players: RB Jahmyr Gibbs, WR Amon-Ra St. Brown
QB Jared Goff
After garbage time against the Bills was concluded and the game was over, Goff took a dud of a game and turned it into 327 yards and four touchdowns. That was good enough for QB2 on the week. When you have St. Brown and Gibbs at your disposal, it makes it very easy to feed those guys against softer coverages. Goff is a perfect “take advantage of a good matchup” quarterback for fantasy, and while the Jets weren’t really tested too much by Jordan Love, Goff could bring the momentum from the second half of Week 2 into Week 3 against the Jets.
Fantasy Advice: Goff is a solid low-end QB1 against the Jets in one of the better offenses in the NFL for fantasy production that doesn’t typically pack it in when the Lions get down.
WR Jameson Williams
As part of the ultra-concentrated group of Lions’ skill-position players, Williams has been left holding the short straw for the first two weeks of the season. Williams followed a four-catch, 45-yard line on nine targets in Week 1 with just three targets and 2-33 on those opportunities. He’s running routes on a massive 95% of dropbacks, so it’s probably more just bad luck than anything.
Fantasy Advice: At some point, Williams is going to put up a massive game, and you’ll want him in your lineup. He’s still a WR3 for me as one of the few receivers outside the top-24 with weekly overall WR1 upside.
TE Sam LaPorta
In the always-concentrated Lions’ offense, LaPorta was a key beneficiary of Goff and the Lions passing a ton in the second half to keep up with the Bills on Thursday night. LaPorta caught a late red-zone touchdown to cap off a six-reception, 52-yard line on seven targets, which was good enough for top-10 at the position in Week 2.
Fantasy Advice: LaPorta remains a solid TE1 option against the Jets, who held both Michael Mayer and Tucker Kraft in check in the season’s first two weeks.
New England Patriots at Jacksonville Jaguars – 1:00 PM ET
- Favorite: Jaguars –3
- Game Total: 45.5
- Implied Point Total: Jaguars 24.25, Patriots 21.25
Patriots Fantasy Notes
Must-Start Players: None
QB Drake Maye
While Maye last season started fast and kept his momentum going en route to finishing as the runner-up to MVP Matthew Stafford, Maye has been just painfully average to start this season. Averaging just 193 passing yards in his two games, plus one touchdown to four interceptions, Maye has finished as QB23 and QB25 against the Seahawks and Steelers. Maye is also sandwiched between Kirk Cousins and Jacoby Brissett in 20th place among 33 qualified quarterbacks in EPA per play so far. New England’s schedule doesn’t get easier in the next two weeks with road games at Jacksonville this week and at Buffalo next week. And this is all without A.J. Brown, too!
Fantasy Advice: The Super Bowl hangover seems very much real. If you chose Maye early on in fantasy drafts, you’re more or less having to start him unless you picked up another quarterback. Maye is straddling the QB1/QB2 line this week against the Jaguars.
Patriots RBs
I think there’s a decent chance that the Patriots’ backfield has been flipped on its head. With a Rhamondre Stevenson fumble in the Patriots’ first drive of the game, TreVeyon Henderson came on and took 60% of the snaps and equaled Stevenson’s 41% routes to a much better result, with 76 rushing yards and a first-quarter 39-yard touchdown that had us reaching for one of the most popular NFL reactions of last season. Henderson also doubled up Stevenson’s touches 16-8, so that’s also pretty interesting. Even after fumbles last season, the Patriots would always go right back to Stevenson, so that’s why there’s a bit of a pause in just screaming “HENDO!!!” from the rooftops, but their game in Jacksonville in Week 3 should give us a clue to what fork in the road this backfield takes.
Fantasy Advice: Both backs are RB2 options, but Henderson is clearly the higher-upside play. I don’t think under any scenario that Stevenson just goes away outside of injury, but we’ll get our answer in Week 3.
WR Romeo Doubs
After the dud of a game Doubs put up in Week 1, somebody had to step up in Week 2 after A.J. Brown was placed on injured reserve. While no Patriot earned more than four targets or caught more than three passes in Week 2, Doubs was at the top of the range, earning 96 yards on the strength of a 63-yard completion deep into the third quarter. Without Brown, targets are likely going to be spread out amongst players, as nine players earned a target in Week 2 for the Patriots. That said, Doubs has a good opportunity to put a little space between him and some of the other options to earn some targets while Brown is sidelined.
Fantasy Advice: While we got a bit of an improvement from Week 1 to Week 2 from Doubs, he’s still a middling flex play against the Jaguars in Week 2.
Jaguars Fantasy Notes
Must-Start Players: Parker Washington
QB Trevor Lawrence
Following Week 1, where Lawrence put up a QB5 week with four touchdown passes, Lawrence came back down to earth a bit with 189 yards and an interception against the Broncos in Denver. Split the difference between those two matchups, and that feels like what you can expect against New England at home in Week 3. With those weapons and the heater that Washington has been on, it feels criminal that Lawrence couldn’t be more productive last week.
Fantasy Advice: I’m willing to rank Lawrence as a low-end QB1 this week against the Patriots, who should test the Patriots in Week 3 after facing Drew Lock and Aaron Rodgers in the first two weeks of 2026.
Jaguars RBs
Despite splitting work in a committee with several backs, Bhayshul Tuten is at the forefront of this committee, and he finished as RB11 last week, separating himself from the competition with 50% of snaps and 39% of routes. Tuten put up 65 rushing yards on 13 carries, with a goal-line touchdown in the second quarter. Tuten also went from 47% of the team’s rushing attempts in Week 1 to 54% in Week 2, but while Chris Rodriguez Jr. saw a bunch of time on the field with 40% of snaps and 32% of routes, his time fell to 22% of snaps and 16% of routes while earning six carries in both games. Tuten has clearly been the best-looking back of the group here, but having not just Rodriguez but Ameer Abdullah and LeQuint Allen also involved in this backfield brings down Tuten’s upside little by little.
Fantasy Advice: Against the Patriots, who haven’t been tested all that much by opposing running backs, Tuten should be a decent litmus test. Consider him a mid-range RB2 with upside in Week 3.
WR Brian Thomas Jr.
Thomas has put up back-to-back three-catch, 40-yard efforts in the season’s first two games, but he’s also been dominating targets compared to Jakobi Meyers, who has earned three targets total in two games, despite scoring in Week 1. Thomas has a robust 27% TPRR, and while Meyers is on the field more with his snap and route percentages, Thomas is just lapping him in earning opportunity from Lawrence. One could say Thomas has been underperforming compared to his opportunity, but Washington has been unreal over the last two games. Things will balance out here for Thomas, but he’s also been on a tough stretch of cornerbacks too, going from Denzel Ward to Pat Surtain, and now, Christian Gonzalez in Week 3.
Fantasy Advice: While we have some pause for Thomas as a fantasy asset with these tough individual matchups, Thomas is ultimately a flex and an early buy-low option for fantasy managers.
Kansas City Chiefs at Miami Dolphins – 1:00 PM ET
- Favorite: Chiefs –10.5
- Game Total: 46.5
- Implied Point Total: Chiefs 28.5, Dolphins 18
Chiefs Fantasy Notes
Must-Start Players: RB Kenneth Walker III
QB Patrick Mahomes
Is Mahomes back? Well, it’s a little hard to say after just two games. That said, those two games were pretty good, as Mahomes finished as a top-10 fantasy quarterback. In Kansas City’s Week 2 overtime game against the Colts, Mahomes threw 47 times for 382 yards and three touchdowns. It was always going to take a little bit of time before Mahomes got his legs under him, but he looks good now. More important for the purposes of our silly little game within a game of fantasy football, we have renewed confidence in him to start him and let the good times roll.
Fantasy Advice: Mahomes isn’t a MUST-start option quite yet, but perhaps he will be in a matchup against the lowly Dolphins. He’s a QB1 option and pretty close to being a locked-in, every-week starter again. Hey, remember a few weeks ago when we were drafting him as QB17?
WR Rashee Rice
Almost from the time he was drafted, the Chiefs were pretty much forced to use Rice in a low-aDOT role. Mahomes would pepper him with a ton of targets to help make up some of the run game chunks. The kids were calling it a “PPR Scam.” Now, with Walker III fully entrenched in the offense, Rice isn’t needed as much for that specific purpose, but he’s still a solid fantasy WR2. That said, the Chiefs should try to get him a bit more involved. Rice scored a touchdown in Week 1 on just two targets. In Week 2, he earned just five targets but put up a solid 4-83 line. It’s just easier now for Rice to blend into the background of the other pieces in the offense as opposed to his specific role from the last few seasons.
Fantasy Advice: Rice is a solid low-end fantasy WR2 against the Dolphins in Week 3, but he needs to be featured a bit more if Mahomes is going to have 47 pass attempts.
TE Travis Kelce
We got a nice dose of vintage Kelce in Week 2, as he led the Chiefs in targets (11), receptions (nine) and receiving yards (101) while bringing in one of Mahomes’ three touchdown throws. I’d love to say these kinds of games may be fewer and far between with Kelce getting up there in years, but you know what? If Mahomes is going to sling the ball like this all season, I wouldn’t be shocked if Kelce has a bit of a resurgence to rise back up to being a top-three fantasy tight end this season.
Fantasy Advice: Continue to start Kelce as a volume-based TE1, who is still very much adept at earning targets with his 37th birthday coming up in a couple of weeks.
Dolphins Fantasy Notes
Must-Start Players: None
Malik Willis
The Dolphins are just as good as we thought they were … meaning they’re not. But if we’re going to be rostering Willis in fantasy leagues, he needs to rush for more than 18 feet in a game. That’s six yards, to be clear, against the 49ers in Week 2. He added 197 passing yards and a touchdown to that, but we need the rushing component as well as some passing-game floor. Willis is certainly a work in progress for Miami, but hopefully offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik can use Willis to his strengths in the weeks ahead.
Fantasy Advice: Willis is a tough sell as a managed-league starting quarterback. In two-quarterback leagues, however, he’s an upside QB2 where players with his rushing prowess just don’t typically exist.
RB De’Von Achane
To Miami’s credit, they did realize in Week 2 that Achane is their best player and that they should probably feed him a bunch of touches. Achane went from 15 touches and 66 total yards to 23 touches and 93 yards, while also getting a bump in percentage of team rushing attempts from 61% in Week 1 to 71% in Week 2, cutting out some of the riffraff with depth backs like Jaylen Wright and Ollie Gordon II.
Fantasy Advice: The workload for Achane is strong enough to start as a high-end RB2 with a high fantasy ceiling, but when defenses know you’re getting the ball, it makes it tough for a true, league-breaking ceiling that he’s had in previous seasons.
Tennessee Titans at New York Giants – 1:00 PM ET
- Favorite: Giants –2.5
- Game Total: 39.5
- Implied Point Total: Giants 21, Titans 18.5
Titans Fantasy Notes
Must-Start Players: None
Titans RBs
In a game where the Titans had the third-lowest single-game PROE (-11.4%) of any NFL team through two weeks, Tony Pollard was just fine. Despite splitting work with Tyjae Spears (7-41) and Nicholas Singleton (4-10), he finished with 64 yards on 14 carries. Ultimately, it’s a low-floor, low-ceiling running game on a bad team, despite staying right with the Eagles for the vast majority of the game. Oh, and Cam Ward had two rushing touchdowns, so if you had Pollard on your roster, you had to be hating that. (I mean, I hated it, and I don’t even HAVE any Pollard.)
Fantasy Advice: Pollard is a low-end flex play, while Spears is a deeper-league flex with some contingent value as the more athletic and skilled than the back he backs up.
Titans WRs
Ward only threw the ball 20 times in this one, but it’s very difficult to find anything to take from this passing game that we can use. Carnell Tate has been running routes (92% in Week 1, 83% in Week 2) but has just seven receptions for 65 yards to show for it. Wan’Dale Robinson is getting a four-year, $70 million contract to earn one target on 75% routes. It’s very dire. Can a Brian Daboll revenge game against the Giants in Week 3 do anything to make this offense a tad interesting?
Fantasy Advice: You’re holding Tate on your bench with the hope that this offense opens up with Ward, but the way it’s going, Ward might have Arch Manning in his quarterback room to begin 2027.
Giants Fantasy Notes
Giants Must-Start Players
None
RB Cam Skattebo
For some reason, the Giants decided not to get just Skattebo involved, but also Devin Singletary. And Najee Harris. And they even tried Tyrone Tracy for a snap, but there was a penalty, so it wasn’t even an official play. So that’s nice.
[derogatory]
Skattebo took 57% of the team’s rushing attempts, but only for 3.0 yards per carry. With Jameis Winston now the quarterback after Jaxson Dart’s season-ending injury, Skattebo gets a further downgrade as opponents don’t have to account for Dart’s playmaking ability now and can see more defenders in the box to defend the run.
Fantasy Advice: Skattebo is a low-end RB2 with a good matchup against the Titans in Week 3, but hopefully they can just let him cook instead of mixing in the rest of his position room. That would be nice, right? We are wishful thinkers around these parts.
WR Malik Nabers
After a solid 6-69 game in Week 1, Nabers suffered a shoulder injury during Week 2, but he came back into the game after reportedly popping his dislocated shoulder back into place. I hurt just thinking about that. Anyway, Nabers earned four targets and caught just one for one yard. We’ll see if Nabers is a go for Week 3 against the Titans, as he’s slated to get X-rays on his shoulder. It’s clear Nabers won’t be 100%, however, and having Winston instead of Dart reduces the upside just a little bit.
Fantasy Advice: Nabers is a mid-range WR1 when healthy and probably a must-start fantasy option, but there are so many things going against him right now. His new quarterback, his shoulder, his ACL recovery and getting used to that … It’s a lot! That said, Nabers is probably more of a mid-range WR2 right now in this current state of affairs with the Giants’ passing game.
TE Isaiah Likely
With Likely’s awesome game in Week 1, all eyes (well, the two that I have) were on Likely on Monday Night Football against the Rams to see what he could do and if he would be featured in the game plan. With Dart’s season-ending injury, Likely will have to find a rapport with Winston now, so he may have some volume on his side.
Week 2 saw a sizable bump in Likely’s routes from 68% to 85%, so that’s an excellent development. He also led the Giants in targets (nine), but he was slightly inefficient with a 5-33 stat line on that opportunity. The Giants will be very much a work in progress for the rest of the season, but with how shockingly concentrated the personnel was in Week 2, it should help to direct the volume going forward into Nabers, Darnell Mooney, rookie Malachi Fields and Likely if that holds.
Fantasy Advice: With a volume bump, as inefficient as it may be, Likely should remain in the low-end TE1/high-end TE2 conversation. It’s going to be tough to project the Giants as anything but a league-average offense at best.
This article originally appeared on The Huddle: The Outlook - Week 3 (NYJ-DET, NE-JAC, KC-MIA, TEN-NYG)
