5 Start, 5 Sit for Week 3 of the 2023 NFL Season
It’s getting easier to know who is worth playing now. Trends are a little more visible and guys we thought might be lightning in a bottle have turned out to be a fart in a jar. What I have for you this week is a list of players that I think are worthy of your starting rosters this week followed by guys that might need to start applying for day jobs.
Start:
Baker Mayfield – START vs. Philadelphia Eagles
There were very low expectations from the Buccaneers this season, so it’s shocking to see them 2-0. Baker too has been performing well above what I expected him to, so I’m making it up to him by giving him the nod this week. The Eagles have a good defense, but they have been giving up a lot of points to fantasy quarterbacks this year. So far Mac Jones and Kirk Cousins have both had monster games just trying to keep up with the Eagles. I think Baker will have a great game, so if you are playing in a 2QB league or you’re down your starter, give him a chance.
Travis Etienne – START vs. Houston Texans
Going into this season, many (including myself) were expecting Tank Bigsby to take up a decent percentage of touches, leaving Etienne as a middling fantasy option. That evidently is not the case. In both games, Etienne has taken more than 70% of the snaps and gotten more than 70% of the touches. If his volume stays consistent on the year, he is bound to be a top 10 fantasy back. This week he gets a very lax Texans defense that is bound to let him run all over the field. If you have to make a decision to play him over another player, go with Travis.
Puka Nacua – START vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Ok so I was wrong last week. This kid is always open. He has more targets through two games than the entire receiver room of 13 of the 31 other franchises. He’s leading the league in catches and is 2nd in yards behind only Justin Jefferson. I wanted to think it was a one-hit wonder situation, but I don’t think it is. I think you have to start him every week until Cooper Kupp comes back, and then even then you might have to! Sorry for the Bengals fans, but he’s probably putting up big numbers this week for a third straight game.
Hunter Henry – START vs. New York Jets
Henry is another guy who has shocked me with his production. Even after bringing in Mike Gesicki, Henry has been able to post two fantastic tight end performances. This is in part due to scoring two touchdowns, but he’s always been a ball magnet in the red zone so it is sort of reliable. When the Patriots play the Jets it tends to be pretty low scoring, so I’m guessing most of his points this week will be between the 20s on third down. Still, I expect a good game from him.
Brian Robinson – START vs. Buffalo Bills
This guy is AWESOME. Brian Robinson’s performance through two weeks has blown me away. He’s not the fastest or biggest guy, but he runs hard through contact and breaks tackles like crazy. He also is great catching the ball out of the backfield. He’s currently the RB2 in PPR leagues and has been playing pretty decent run defenses to earn that spot. Against the Bills this week I think he’ll keep up with the trend of 20+ touches and is very likely to make his way back into the end zone.
Sit:
Deshaun Watson – SIT vs. Tennessee Titans
We’ve seen two pretty underwhelming games from Deshaun this year and with the loss of Nick Chubb I don’t see that getting any better. If the Browns have to rely solely on the pass I think Watson might end up as a bottom 15 QB this year. The Titans play really tough defense, and I’m not sure that the Browns have a good enough offensive scheme to allow Deshaun to do much for them. I’d stay away this week.
Najee Harris – SIT vs. Las Vegas Raiders
Another disappointment this year has been Najee Harris. He has looked slow and has failed to get even 50 total scrimmage yards in a game. Jaylen Warren has appeared to be the better of the two backs, which does not bode well for Harris. He has a chance to turn things around against the Raiders this week, who don’t play well against the run. However, I’m going to be fading him until he proves he deserves a spot in my lineup.
JuJu Smith-Schuster – SIT vs. New York Jets
I was really hoping that JuJu could become a PPR monster on the Patriots, but he really kinda stinks. He’s third on his team in targets per game, catches per game, and yards per game behind studs like…DeVante Parker and Kendrick Bourne. It’s really not looking good for Smith-Schuster and to be honest if he has another game or two of bad performances, I might consider him a drop candidate in redraft leagues.
Juwan Johnson – SIT vs. Green Bay Packers
This pick is a little bit of a throwaway because I think most tight ends are pretty average. Juwan Johnson just has the unfortunate situation that is having Taysom Hill as a teammate. Hill saps touches away from every skill position player on the team, but none of those touches are more valuable than for Johnson. Tight ends already get shorted on targets, losing more opportunities doesn’t help. Johnson has shown boom potential in the past, but he’s way too inconsistent to rely on.
Miles Sanders – SIT vs. Seattle Seahawks
Miles Sanders was a back I expected to do pretty well this year simply because he has no real competition for touches. However, the Panthers as a whole are so dysfunctional that those touches mean almost nothing. The inefficiency of the offense as a whole is keeping me from playing any of the starters, but Sanders specifically was probably a first 5 round draft picks for you. Unfortunately, I’d say it’s worth keeping him benched for now.
If you want more offensive start/sit advice follow me on X @TFFGRobbie. If you need IDP start/sit advice, give @ThePPRShow a follow as well.
Make sure you check out our IDP Week 3 Start/Sit article as well.