RADIO
The third week of the preseason is usually the most important. For the most part, this is the one week where coaches keep their starters in for an extended period of time and we get a long look at the first team offense. That held true this past week.
By my count we saw 17 starting QBs get at least 15 pass attempts which gives us a good idea of how much time the most fantasy relevant players were seeing. As a result some players came out of the week looking really good and others...not so much.
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Stock Rising After Week 3
Quarterback Blake Bortles, Jaguars
Blake Bortles has looked like a much improved quarterback this entire preseason and it was most apparent this past week against the Detroit Lions. He played the majority of the game with his starting receivers (Though Marqise Lee and Julius Thomas were both absent) and really looked like a potential franchise QB. Bortles finished the night with a 69% completion rate and 8.4 yards per attempt. He didn’t throw an interception, he wasn’t sacked and flashed some mobility running for 38 yards.
The one downside was once again Bortles and Allen Robinson weren’t quite on the same page but Bortles was perfect to Allen Hurns and Rashad Greene who are likely to have prominent roles in the offense. The tight ends also got a lot of action and Julius Thomas should be a big upgrade over any of them. From what I’ve seen a lot of people are still writing off the Jaguars offense entirely but I think they can take a big step forward this year. That would make Bortles a good QB2 and a decent streaming quarterback against lesser defenses.
Wide Receiver Jeremy Maclin, Chiefs
Alex Smith made 18 throws against the Titans and completed 16 of them. 7 of those completions were to his new WR1, Jeremy Maclin. That led to a 7-65-1 line for Maclin in just 27 snaps. The only incompletion on a target to Maclin was an interception thrown by backup Aaron Murray. I think it’s clear that Maclin is going to be heavily targeted this season and has a great chance to outperform his ADP.
The Chiefs offense as a whole seems ready to shed some of the conservative reputation it has received for the past two years. Maclin (along with Travis Kelce) will be a big part of that. Maclin has two touchdowns so far in the preseason. If you’re one of those people expecting the WR woes in KC to continue, you’ll be missing out on a very solid WR2 in Maclin.
Bengals Offense
After a truly dreadful performance in Week 2 by just about everyone on the first team offense (Dalton, Green, Hill) we saw a much different outcome against the Bears. Dalton was a perfect 6 for 6 passing as the Bengals first team had no turnovers. Much like Bortles, Dalton also flashed some mobility, rushing for 16 yards finishing his lone drive with a QB sneak touchdown. Dalton did leave with a neck injury following the sneak but it appears to have been a precautionary measure only.
In addition to Dalton, Jeremy Hill looked strong rushing for 46 yards and a score. Marvin Jones also got some work with with the first team offense and scored with backup A.J. McCarron in. Overall this is much more in line with what I am expecting from the Bengals offense in the regular season. Dalton will have his ugly moment like last week but there is just too much talent on this team for that to prevail on a regular basis.
Eagles Offense
Sam Bradford’s first extensive work with the Eagles was an overwhelming success. He was a perfect 10/10 passing with three (!) touchdowns and 121 yards. It’s hard to do much better than that. Bradford threw multiple passes to Jordan Matthews, Darren Sproles and DeMarco Murray. With Bradford, the Eagles had just one third down at the Packers 1 yard line which Ryan Mathews failed to convert. Bradford promptly threw a touchdown pass to TE Trey Burton.
I thought DeMarco Murray also did a nice job and in three drives he had eight touches to Mathews’ two. (Mathews would get more touches with the second team offense). Mark Sanchez also came in and did some nice work throwing an additional two touchdowns. It’s worth noting that Nelson Agholor did not get any targets until Sanchez came into the game and also had a dropped pass. There has been a lot of buzz around Agholor but it’s important to remember that Jordan Matthews will be the main guy at WR. Still overall things are looking great for the Eagles and Sam Bradford.
Stock Down After Week 3
Running Backs T.J. Yeldon, Jaguars and Tevin Coleman, Falcons
Both of these rookies were making their preseason debut this week with high expectations. Neither looked too impressive. Coleman ran for just 2 yards on 4 attempts in just six snaps. I don’t think he was 100% but it was good to get out there regardless of how he performed. It helped him that Devonta Freeman is still out with his own hamstring injury so he couldn’t outdo Coleman.
Coleman did have one impressive run where he appeared to get knocked down behind the line but somehow managed to stay on his feet and turn it into a gain. Right now I still favor Coleman in the Falcons RB battle and I like that he was out there playing. On the other hand, I don’t think that offensive line is going to be very good and he needs to prove he can get solid yardage behind them. Look for more Coleman in Week 4.
Then we have T.J. Yeldon who had a similar performance. While Bortles shined, Yeldon was less than impressive in his debut. Yeldon’s bright spot was his lone reception where he made the first defender miss and turned it into a 12 yard gain. Yeldon also scored a touchdown from the 1 yard line, diving right into a defender and taking a hard hit. The touchdown itself was questionable though. It wasn’t clear whether the ball actually crossed the line but it was upheld.
Yeldon is a bigger guy at 6’1” 226 lbs and he showed he isn’t afraid to use his body to gain the extra yard. Much like Coleman though, his offensive line isn’t likely to be very good so he’s going to need to create extra yards himself and that did not happen in his preseason debut. Lucky for Yeldon no other running back did much on the ground either, so I think his job as the primary back is pretty safe.
Quarterback Carson Palmer, Cardinals
Palmer was another player getting his first extensive work of the year. It did not go well and that is putting it lightly. He finished with a completion percentage of 36% with two interceptions and three sacks. HC Bruce Arians put some of the blame on Carson Palmer holding onto the ball too long and some blame on the offensive line failing to hold back a great pass rush headed by Khalil Mack.
I think the Raiders defense could be much improved this year but this was a really awful performance. If there are any positive takeaways from this game it’s that Palmer did have two big completions of 20+ yards. One each to Larry Fitzgerald and John Brown. I think the Cardinals offense will be fine in the regular season as long as Palmer stays healthy but fantasy owners interested in the late round strategy weren’t exactly reassured.
Wide Receiver Corey ‘Philly’ Brown, Panthers
For a guy that was the early favorite for the WR2 job after Kelvin Benjamin’s injury, Brown has done a good job throwing away that opportunity in two preseason games. Brown had just one catch on seven targets with two drops. His lone catch came with Derek Anderson in at QB while Brown was 0 for 5 with Newton.
Newton was 4 for 4 passing to Jerricho Cotchery and 6 for 9 to Greg Olsen. He also completed three passes to Ted Ginn. Devin Funchess once again sat this game out. I can’t really imagine Corey Brown getting many looks from Newton when they have had absolutely no success together. Brown actually had the lowest PFF grade given to any WR for this past week’s games. In particular, Brown had an egregious drop on a deep ball after beating CB Malcolm Brown for what looked like a sure touchdown. At this point Corey Brown looks to be battling Jarrett Boykin for the WR4 role and is far far away from being a deep sleeper, a possibility I entertained just last week in this article.
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