Check out Marc Caviglia’s fantasy football rankings and hot takes on the Week 3 wide receiver matchups:
- It’s been an excellent start to the season for Corey Davis. The former top-10 draft pick has 10 receptions for 137 yards and a score through 2 games. His 12.4 fantasy points per game in .5 PPR leagues ranks Davis as a WR2 in 12-team leagues and I fully expect him to continue to produce in Week 3 against the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings have allowed opposing wideouts to haul in 33 receptions for 405 yards and 5 touchdowns through two games and you better believe Ryan Tannehill is going to be targeting his downfield threat on Sunday.
- One guy (of many) that I can’t get a read on early in the season is A.J. Green of the Cincinnati Bengals. He paced the Bengals wideouts with 5 receptions for 51 yards on 9 targets in Week 1 but was overshadowed by fellow wideout Tyler Boyd in Week 2 and had just 3 receptions for 29 yards. That said, quarterback Joe Burrow did target Green 13 times, however was inaccurate in getting the veteran the football. In Week 3, the Bengals have a tough matchup against an Philadelphia Eagles secondary that has played well against opposing wideouts. The Eagles rank 8th in the NFL at defending the wide receiver position in .5 PPR leagues and are in a must-win position sitting at 0-3 on the season. I rank Green as a low-end WR3 in 12-team leagues and Boyd just six spots ahead of him. It seems like it’s going to be a headache weekly to figure out which Bengals WR is the better fantasy option, but this week I will take my chances on Boyd outproducing Green.
- A wideout I was really high on to start the season was Diontae Johnson. In fact, I drafted him in 6-of-7 money leagues I played in and so far, so good. Johnson has quickly developed into Big Ben’s most targeted pass catcher and I don’t see anything changing throughout the season. Johnson has 14 receptions for 149 yards and a TD on 23 targets through two weeks. We all know how good Roethlisberger makes his wideouts look and if the both the QB and WR can stay healthy, 100-plus receptions isn’t out of question. Start Johnson as a WR2 in all scoring formats this week against the Houston Texans.
- Marvin Jones Jr. has been a disappointment this year and I don’t see that changing in Week 3 against the Arizona Cardinals. While Jones did score a TD last week, he finished with just 4 receptions for 23 yards and for the second straight game failed to separate himself from defensive backs. I talked about it in my Week 1 Hot Take Hit & Miss recap, but it looks like Jones is better suited as the WR2 on a team so that he doesn’t get opponents best cornerbacks. No team is better in the NFL at defending the wide receiver position than the Cardinals, and I know they haven’t played any legitimate passing offense, but I don’t consider the Lions a good offense either. Stay away.
Rankings are based on the following scoring:
6 points per touchdown
1 point per 10 rushing & receiving yards
-2 points per turnover
.5 point & 1 point per reception (toggle to find scoring format)
