Sneaky Starts: Week 3

Sep 19, 2018

All but the luckiest fantasy owners at some point need to find the proverbial diamond in the rough—a waiver wire or bench player capable of putting up some points in a pinch. This weekly feature is dedicated to that part of fantasy football. It's not pretty, but it's part of the game.

Last week, I discussed Blake Bortles, Matt Breida, Phillip Lindsay, Austin Ekeler, Nelson Agholor, Chris Godwin, Tyler Lockett, Keelan Cole, Dede Westbrook and Austin Seferian-Jenkins in this space. Let’s see if we can dig up a few more gems for Week 3.

Quarterbacks

Ryan Fitzpatrick (vs. PIT)
Fitzpatrick has a nice matchup with the Steelers, who just got torched at home by Patrick Mahomes. Keep riding Fitzmagic until he lets you down. Blake Bortles (vs. TEN) is also a good start at home against the Titans. Matt Ryan (vs. NO) has a good matchup at home against the Saints and Jimmy Garoppolo (@ KC) gets the Chiefs, who have yielded the most raw fantasy points to quarterbacks through two weeks.

Jared Goff, Rams (vs. LAC)
Don’t be scared off of Goff this week due to our adjusted fantasy points allowed (aFPA) ranking for the Chargers (No. 4 against quarterbacks). Those numbers are from last season and they’ll be updated for 2018 data starting with Week 4. (I can't wait.) The Chargers are missing Joey Bosa and have yielded 465 passing yards and five touchdowns to Kansas City and Buffalo through two weeks. Meanwhile, Goff has had a pair of solid fantasy outings, posting 233/2 against Oakland and 354/1 against the Cardinals.

Alex Smith, Redskins (vs. GB)
Smith carved up the Cardinals to the tune of 255/2 but wasn’t able to throw a touchdown against the Colts last week, though he did have 292 yards passing. In terms of raw fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks, the Packers have yielded the fifth most through two weeks, including 425/4 to Kirk Cousins in last week’s overtime tie.

Ryan Tannehill, Dolphins (vs. OAK)
Tannehill has tossed two touchdowns in each of his first two games and added 44 yards rushing against the Jets in Week 2. The Raiders have been middling against quarterbacks so far, but they have to travel cross country and play the Dolphins in the early round of games. Tannehill should be able to produce a solid fantasy line.

Andy Dalton, Bengals (@ CAR)
Dalton has now played 16 games since Bill Lazor took over as offensive coordinator, and he has thrown for 3,434 yards, 31 touchdowns and only nine interceptions in that span. Playing on the road in Carolina is not ideal, but the Panthers have given up an average of 18.7 raw fantasy points to quarterbacks through two weeks.