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What's up RotoBallers. Week 2 is complete and we hope you managed to secure the win! To celebrate, today we are bringing you our Week 3 fantasy football rankings to help prepare you for your Week 3 matchups.
Below you will find both PPR rankings and standard league rankings for Week 3, brought to you by Zach Wilkens (@LopsidedTrades) and Edward Gorelik (@EdwardGorelik).
Lead fantasy football columnist Edward Gorelik also highlights some rankings analysis for Week 3, broken out by position, and draws some matchup conclusions. He tells you who he likes, who he doesn't, and most importantly who he thinks you should be starting in Week 3. You can also check out our 2015 fantasy football ranking dashboard, for more in depth rankings analysis on all positions including rookies and dynasty leagues.
Week 3 Fantasy Football Rankings - All Positions
powered by FantasyPros
Week 3 Quarterback (QB) Rankings Analysis
By Edward Gorelik (@Edward Gorelik)
I know it's not a surprising set of analysis, but I find it hard to expect anything less than a complete domination of the Jaguars on Sunday from the Patriots. That includes, most likely, a monster performance from Tom Brady against a team that is currently riding high off a surprising win against another AFC East team.
The chance of Brady not trying to show up an inner divisional rival and pull away from the rising Jets is low. Expect a crazy performance.
In the same vein, a national spectacle that saw Andrew Luck fall apart against the Jets defense has got to hurt. However, the Jets have a very strong defensive unit (as was on display all night long as they kept pressuring Luck into bad decisions) and when paired along with the Bills defense, Luck's been facing a murderers row.
Now he's going to get the chance to remind everyone why he's considered an up-and-coming elite QB against the Tennessee Titans defense, a team that he's found major success against for most of his career. Although this isn't the same Titan's he's faced in previous years, it's definitely a far cry from either of his last two opponents, and a bounce back should be in order.
Andy Dalton's been enjoying the high life the last two weeks as a QB1, but it's about to come down against his toughest challenge yet. Although I've been all aboard the Andy Dalton QB1 Revival World Tour, it's no joke that he plays his worst against his inner divisional opponents.
I posted this last week, and i'm posting it again - here's a look at Andy Dalton against common and uncommon opponents. Common means teams that he's faced before either in that season, or in the prior season (which is mostly divisional foes) - and uncommon is anything outside of that range.
Both of the Chargers and Raiders fit into the uncommon opponents, which is where Dalton has shined the last two weeks, while the Ravens are heading right back into the area where Dalton has struggled. Most likely, if you own Dalton you are the owner of another QB too, so this is a good week to start that other QB.
Week 3 Running Back (RB) Rankings Analysis
By Edward Gorelik (@Edward Gorelik)
It's hard for me to not want both Mark Ingram and C.J. Spiller this week. With Drew Brees looking like a potential absentee, Luke McCown comes in as the backup. Generally speaking, backup veteran QBs lead to two things: a reliance on the run game to set up easy passes, and plenty of checkdowns to the underneath receivers. Seeing as New Orleans forgot to replace Jimmy Graham over the offseason, those underneath checkdowns are going to be going to Spiller and Ingram all game long. Plus all the carries. Basically these two guys should be the entire game.
Dion Lewis has looked like the real deal. Even with LeGarrette Blount back, Lewis dominated the touches and snaps while Blount kept his seat warm on the bench. I might be in the minority to believe that had more to do with the opponent than the talent of Lewis. After all, the Patriots have a weakness in the interior of the O-line, while the Bills are an incredibly strong defensive front.
But that doesn't change that his usage is boding very, very well for his season long potential. Even if he is splitting carries, he's made an obvious impression in the passing game and is now commanding targets along with Edelman and Gronkowski. Against a team like Jacksonville, where the game script should lead to the Patriots being ahead, Lewis might see some more carries than usual. There's also the chance Blount games some real value too for the same reason, although he becomes more of a DFS punt than a real startable player (unless you're desperate).
Week 3 Wide Receiver (WR) Rankings Analysis
By Edward Gorelik (@Edward Gorelik)
With my assumption that Luck is going to ball out this weekend against Tennessee, in his attempt (and success) to re-establish his place amongst the top QBs this year, someone is going to have to catch the passes - right? Well that likely means the return of both T.Y. Hilton and Donte Moncrief to relevance.
Moncrief had a surprising breakout against the Jets for 122 yards and a touchdown, being one of the lone receivers on offense actually pulling his weight. But he still carries that "unknown" risk thanks to his still raw skills. At this point, if you're assuming that the Colts will bounce back it has to be off the relevance of more than just Hilton - and there's no one that looks more the part than Moncrief right now.
Speaking of being in the top, Allen Robinson showed up big against the Dolphins last week, where he decimated the Dolphins secondary over and over again. Between deep catches and athletic catches like these, Robinson was unstoppable.
Obviously, the Patriots secondary is not playing well, as they've averaged 71 yards and one touchdown to the #1 WR on the opposing team per week. And as I mentioned about the Patriots players, it should be expected that the Patriots are up in this game and sitting on a comfortable lead. On the opposite side of the field, it should be expected that the Jaguars are down and playing catch up. That means throwing. A lot.
Without Drew Brees around in New Orleans, it's tough to imagine Brandin Cooks doing well this week. McCown is not the type of player to bring someone to relevance. Outside of some very creative play-calling, it's about to be a very tough matchup for Cooks as the Carolina defense has only allowed 43 yards per game to the #1 WR in the last two weeks.
That comes mostly thanks to Josh Norman, who's currently playing out of his mind after shutting down Allen Robinson in Week 1 - only allowing two receptions to DeAndre Hopkins on the seven times he was targeted, while covering him. Another top corner in the making? It's looking like it. Regardless, that's not good for Cooks, against a great corner and with a backup QB. I'd consider my other options.
Week 3 Tight End (TE) Rankings Analysis
By Edward Gorelik (@Edward Gorelik)
Jimmy Graham has been very unhappy with his usage in the Seahawks offense. Despite it looking like he's not on the field, Graham has missed only 17 snaps in the last two games. What Graham's unhappy about is that the Seahawks are using him more as a decoy than as a legitimate weapon like he should be. That's not a smart decision and everyone recognizes that.
I've still got him ranked high because, according to a Seahawks insider, they're planning on expanding his role this upcoming week - hopefully now aware of their past errors. You'd think Seattle would have realized by now the value of not miscasting offensive weapons after they did nearly the same thing with Percy Harvin.
Lardarius Green, what a surprise. Last year, I argued against his hype vehemently - his preseason performances were so uninspiring, and nowhere near the level Gates was showing en route to his 2014 resurgence. But it looks like the Chargers weren't kidding us this time when they said they were planning to involve him in the offense more. In the last two games Green has seen 12 targets, amassing 121 yards and 1 touchdown. Respectable numbers. This week they're facing the Minnesota Vikings, a team currently averaging 75 yards per game allowed to tight ends. They only have one potential tight-end man coverage candidate graded positively on PF, and they've faced far worse than the 2015 version of Lardarius Green in their first two weeks. This bodes real well for the young tight end, looking to prove himself with only two games left before Gates returns from suspension.
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Check out all of RotoBaller's fantasy football rankings. Staff rankings are updated regularly for all positions and include standard formats, PPR scoring, tiered rankings and dynasty leagues.
