Week 3 Fantasy Busts: The hits are set to keep on coming for Joe Mixon, and Baker Mayfield should continue to underwhelm.
Welcome back everyone to Week 3 of the 2019 NFL Season! With two weeks’ worth of NFL action out of the way, the league is adjusting and molding itself into form.
We have nine undefeated teams heading into Week 3, some are the usual suspects (LA Rams, Cowboys, Chiefs, Patriots, Seahawks, Packers), but others are pleasant surprises (Bills, Niners, Ravens). Starting 2-0 is a historic measuring stick of success in the NFL, but does that success prevent a team from harboring bust candidates?
Let’s open up last week’s case files and see what we can learn from Week 2’s suspects:
WHERE WE HIT:
- Mitch Trubisky (5 fantasy points)
- Trubisky has yet to throw a touchdown on the season and has not eclipsed 250 yards through the air in either contest. Chicago won this game on some last-second heroics from their new kicker, but Trubisky has to have Bears fans sweating at this point. He’s a bench hold at best in deeper leagues.
- Trubisky has yet to throw a touchdown on the season and has not eclipsed 250 yards through the air in either contest. Chicago won this game on some last-second heroics from their new kicker, but Trubisky has to have Bears fans sweating at this point. He’s a bench hold at best in deeper leagues.
- Devonta Freeman (9 fantasy points)
- Freeman is one of the biggest busts of the first two weeks of the season. With a combined 41 yards on the ground and no TD’s through two weeks, the former fantasy stud RB has burned fantasy owners twice now. Even a seemingly enticing Week 3 game with the Colts is now marred in confusion due to his lack of production and near equal timeshare with Ito Smith in Atlanta’s backfield.
- Freeman is one of the biggest busts of the first two weeks of the season. With a combined 41 yards on the ground and no TD’s through two weeks, the former fantasy stud RB has burned fantasy owners twice now. Even a seemingly enticing Week 3 game with the Colts is now marred in confusion due to his lack of production and near equal timeshare with Ito Smith in Atlanta’s backfield.
- Kyle Rudolph (4 fantasy points)
- Rudolph was his usual self in Week 2 against Green Bay. In a game where Mike Zimmer allowed Kirk Cousins to pass the ball more often, Rudolph remained a ghost. His name value continues to trick fantasy owners year after year despite that fact he practically rents a room at our precinct. This man is a repeat, multi-year offender that cannot be trusted.
- Rudolph was his usual self in Week 2 against Green Bay. In a game where Mike Zimmer allowed Kirk Cousins to pass the ball more often, Rudolph remained a ghost. His name value continues to trick fantasy owners year after year despite that fact he practically rents a room at our precinct. This man is a repeat, multi-year offender that cannot be trusted.
- New Orleans D/ST (5 fantasy points)
- Losing Drew Brees wasn’t something we factored into this prediction when we made it going into Week 2. Nonetheless, the Saints’ defense showed a complete lack of ability to rally around their injured offense, and it sunk New Orleans’ hopes of victory on Sunday. With names like Cameron Jordan and Marshon Lattimore on the roster, there’s no excuse for this unit to be playing as poorly as they have so far. They could bounce back to become startable at some point this season, but we’ll have to see it to believe it at this point.
WHERE WE MISSED:
- Emmanuel Sanders (28 fantasy points)
- We sang the praises of Sanders as one of the league’s most overlooked and underappreciated wideouts, and he continued to be great despite a nightmare matchup. Our hats are off to Sanders for this one, he was the only part of the Broncos offense that worked on Sunday, and it was almost enough to single-handedly win Denver the game. Put some respect on this man’s name.
- We sang the praises of Sanders as one of the league’s most overlooked and underappreciated wideouts, and he continued to be great despite a nightmare matchup. Our hats are off to Sanders for this one, he was the only part of the Broncos offense that worked on Sunday, and it was almost enough to single-handedly win Denver the game. Put some respect on this man’s name.
- Larry Fitzgerald (13 fantasy points)
- Larry Fitzgerald’s performance on Sunday was less incredible than what Sanders did, but he still eclipsed the 100-yard mark in a difficult match-up against Baltimore. The sure-fire Hall of Famer has proven himself to be new QB Kyler Murray’s safety blanket through two weeks, catching 13 balls on a staggering 24 targets. As long as that volume continues, Fitz will stay off of our lists.
NOW, with that out of the way, let’s jump into the bust candidates for Week 3:
QUARTERBACK: JIMMY GAROPPOLO (San Francisco 49ers)
To call the 2-0 49ers a surprise would be an understatement. Sure, they haven’t faced particularly fearsome competition in the first two weeks, but nonetheless Kyle Shanahan’s squad has looked impressive.
The rushing attack by the bay has been dominant, but Jimmy Garoppolo has been a bit of a rollercoaster under center. He was able to rebound against Cincinnati in Week 2 but looked rusty against a mid-tier Tampa Bay defense in Week one.
This week he will face a talented and motivated Pittsburgh Steelers defense willing to kill to avoid starting the year 0-3. If San Francisco wants to win this one they’ll likely defer to their ground game and try to keep Garoppolo out of trouble as much as possible. That could lead to less drop back passing opportunities for the young QB, and that limits his fantasy ceiling for the week.
RUNNING BACK: JOE MIXON (Cincinnati Bengals)
It hasn’t been a great start to the year for the Bengals to begin with, but their backfield has been a complete afterthought.
Joe Mixon owners have to be experiencing intense buyer’s remorse through two weeks, as their early 2nd round selection has produced just SEVEN total fantasy points so far this year.
The hits are set to keep on coming for Mixon, as the Bengals will face off against a Top 5 Bills defense in Buffalo this week. You may not have an option to replace Mixon given where most owners drafted him, but if you can swap him out this week, we strongly suggest it.
WIDE RECEIVER: TERRY MCLAURIN (Washington Redskins)
The young man they call “Scary Terry” has done a great job of living up to his nickname over the first two weeks of the 2019 season.
The third-round pick out of THE Ohio State has become waiver wire gold in the minds of most fantasy owners, scoring two TD’s and accumulating almost 200 yards receiving so far. He managed to fight off Cowboys safety Byron Jones in Week 2, but he’ll be swimming in the deep end in Week 3 against Kyle Fuller and the Chicago Bears defense.
The threadbare nature of Washington’s offensive line should ensure quarterback Case Keenum is on his back for most of the afternoon. If Keenum can’t stay upright, he can’t toss long bomb TDs to Scary Terry. It may not be entirely his fault, but McLaurin will be a player you’ll be glad you benched coming out of Week 3.
TIGHT END: JIMMY GRAHAM (Green Bay Packers)
It shouldn’t be much of a surprise to anyone that Jimmy Graham’s Week 1 touchdown was a mirage, but name value is like a tractor beam, and it’s a difficult one to resist.
Fantasy owners know what to expect from Graham at this point in his career, but they still have Aaron Rodgers under center, and they remember how great Graham was in years past with the Saints.
Reflecting on the past is nice, we live in an age where nostalgia is favored and outright rewarded, but in the case of Graham, it’s a dangerous game to play. After being held without a catch against Minnesota in Week 2, we believe he will produce much of the same against the Broncos defense in Week 3.
DEFENSE: DENVER D/ST
We may not believe that Jimmy Graham will hurt the Broncos’ defense, but that doesn’t mean the Packers won’t do damage against them in other ways.
Despite still boasting superstars like Chris Harris Jr, Von Miller, and Bradley Chubb, the Denver defense has looked toothless through two weeks. They took the Chicago Bears to the very last second in Week 2, but they ultimately fell to 0-2 in games against Derek Carr and Mitch Trubisky.
This defense now has to go on the road to Lambeau Field and face Aaron Rodgers. Joe Flacco’s lack of efficiency when targeting anyone but Emmanuel Sanders will lead to plenty of three-and-out drives, and it will keep this Denver defense on the field way longer than they should be. A combination of exhaustion and the talented of the Packers offense will doom the soon to be 0-3 Denver Broncos. Sit them comfortably in Week 3.
PRIMARY SUSPECT: BAKER MAYFIELD (Cleveland Browns)
It seems like people are sleeping on just how mediocre Baker Mayfield has been to start the 2019 season.
For all of the hype that was thrown the Browns way in the off-season, they haven’t looked like a super team. They may be 1-1 after taking apart a comically depleted Jets team on Monday Night Football, but Cleveland has nothing to be particularly proud of so far.
They got their doors blown off by an average Titans team in Week 1, and Mayfield has thrown four interceptions to just two touchdowns over the first two contests. The trade of guard Kevin Zeitler to the Giants is looking like a more glaring error by the week, and Mayfield is absorbing a ton of punishment in the pocket because of his absence. The Browns QB has the 5th highest sack total in the league through two weeks (8 sacks) and will be forced to stare down Aaron Donald in Week 3.
Baker isn’t waking up feeling dangerous, so far this year he’s just waking up in danger. If you have a worthwhile replacement option at QB on your bench we would recommend playing them over Mayfield this week.
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