PFF's fantasy football cheat sheet is your go-to guide for fantasy football advice ahead of NFL Week 3.
Here, you'll find start/sit advice, PFF's Week 3 expert consensus fantasy rankings, matchups to target and avoid and more!
Fantasy Football Rankings
PFF's fantasy football rankings are meticulously crafted by analyzing players' performance data, matchups, trends, preseason utilization and other relevant factors. Our rankings tool is filterable by position and gives you all the player data you need to be confident in your starting lineup.
NFL Week 3 fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em
Deciding who to start or sit in fantasy football can be as easy as looking at the PFF rankings and going with the higher-ranked player. This start’em, sit’em column digs a step deeper, looking into why someone you might typically start might not have a good week, or why someone overlooked might have a good week. In many cases, it’s the usual starters who should star, but we want to explore the borderline players, too.
• Sit Geno Smith: While Smith went back to being an excellent player in Week 2, his matchup this week is unlikely to add up to significant passing yards.
• Start Raheem Mostert: The Miami Dolphins running back looks as good as ever and has minimal competition for touches at least for one more week.
• Start George Pickens: Pickens is the top wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers with Diontae Johnson out, and he is in a favorable matchup.
Click here to read the full NFL Week 3 fantasy football start ’em, sit ’em
Week 3 Fantasy Football WR/CB Matchup Chart
PFF’s WR/CB Matchup Chart is a fantasy football tool you can use to help you set the best lineups. You can toggle between showing the matchup advantage column against all projected coverage or the individual defenders.
Fantasy football rushing report: Touches, schemes, matchups, more ahead of Week 3
Week 2 was a brutal one for the running back position, seeing several injuries to highly drafted fantasy assets, including a season-ending knee injury to Cleveland Browns RB Nick Chubb. There’s also an ankle injury to Saquon Barkley that will likely keep him out for several weeks, meaning it’s as important now as ever to understand the usage of running backs to keep your fantasy football teams in tip-top shape.
Here are eight running back takeaways from Week 2’s targets and touches report that could bear a significant impact on running back outlooks in Week 3 and beyond.
• Indianapolis Colts RB Zack Moss earns a workhorse role: As long as Jonathan Taylor is out, the Colts have made it clear that Moss is the guy.
• Jerome Ford is a must-add in all formats: Cleveland Browns RB Nick Chubb has suffered a season-ending knee injury, and Ford is the next man up.
• Tony Jones Jr. saw significant usage following a hamstring injury to Jamaal Williams: With New Orleans Saints RB Alvin Kamara out for another week while serving a suspension, backup Tony Jones Jr. could be in for a significant workload in Week 3.
Fantasy Football WR Report: Coverage Performance ahead of NFL Week 3
This fantasy football WR report is an extension of PFF's wide receiver grades, which also detail how each receiver performs against man and zone coverages.
The additional fantasy-related detail — including opponent coverage tendencies — gives you just one more edge to help you dominate your fantasy leagues this season.
• Brandon Aiyuk’s dominance against man coverage: Aiyuk has been among the NFL's best against man coverage and faces one of the league's most man-heavy defenses in Week 3.
• The Eagles present another positive matchup for Mike Evans: Evans has generated a lot of fantasy success against zone coverages this season and draws a strong matchup this week.
• The Browns’ man-heavy scheme poses a difficult matchup for the Titans’ wide receivers: DeAndre Hopkins and company could be in for their toughest matchup of the year so far against an impressive man-coverage unit.
Fantasy Football: QB matchups, streamer of the week, Week 3 rankings and more
NFL Week 3 action is here. For fantasy football managers who passed on the elite quarterback tier, start-and-sit decisions must now be made. Below are two quarterbacks with advantageous matchups to target, two quarterbacks with difficult matchups to avoid and one streaming option possessing a top-12 finish in his range of outcomes.
• QB Kirk Cousins (76.4 PFF passing grade), Minnesota Vikings vs. Los Angeles Chargers: He will push for a top-five positional finish.
• QB Justin Fields (56.3 PFF offense grade), Chicago Bears @ Kansas City Chiefs: He will wilt under Kansas City interior defender Chris Jones’ (91.6 PFF pass-rush grade) pressure.
Fantasy Football Week 3: Three WR/CB matchups to target and avoid
Knowing when an NFL wide receiver has an advantageous or disadvantageous cornerback matchup is critical for fantasy football start/sit decisions. This article details six players who should either be started with confidence or avoided at all costs, thanks in part to their primary defensive counterpart for Week 3.
• WR Jordan Addison, Minnesota Vikings vs. CB Michael Davis, Los Angeles Chargers: His explosive-pass-play abilities will be on full display.
• WR Tyler Boyd, Cincinnati Bengals vs. CB Cobie Durant, Los Angeles Rams: He has a tough matchup against an ascending, young slot cornerback.
Fantasy Football: Week 3 OL/DL Matchups to target and avoid
Whether you’re looking for some important tie-breakers in fantasy start/sit decisions or an advantage in DFS, knowing which players have the most and least beneficial matchups each week can help.
Understanding which teams have the advantage in the trenches can be a key to weekly fantasy football results. These are some of the more crucial matchups to be aware of as fantasy managers head into Week 3.
Click here to see this week’s entire offensive line/defensive line matchup tool on PFF.com.
• Banking on back-to-back strong games from Jared Goff: The Detroit Lions’ quarterback was a top-five fantasy asset in Week 2 and finds himself in another advantageous matchup to get back in that range for Week 3.
• A potential week to avoid Rhamondre Stevenson: The New York Jets defensive line has been among the best in the league while the New England Patriots offensive line ranks 31st in run-blocking grade.
© 2023 PFF - all rights reserved.