Dave Richard’s Week 3 Fantasy Football Rankings: Start, Sit, and Flex Decisions

Fantasy Football is all about the matchups. Even though you drafted your team with certain hopes and intentions, your weekly lineup decisions shouldn't be determined by the order you picked your players in. You need to check who your players play and make sure you've got the right guys in -- and the wrong guys on the bench.

It's too early to be absolutely sure which matchups will be easy and which will be tough, but we can make some educated guesses based on healthy personnel, defensive schemes, track records and key details of offenses. The things we know can help us minimize the impact of the things we don't know. This should lead to better decision-making.

Let's go through every game and highlight the players who aren't obvious starts and sits (because you don't need to be told to start Bijan Robinson ). You should feel more comfortable starting or sitting players based on the information given, and feeling comfortable with your Fantasy lineup before the games start is the best feeling in the world.

Dave Richard's Week 2 rankings: Top 150 | QB | RB | WR | TE | K | DST

Start 'em 10.0-7.00 6.99 - 5.01 5.00 - 0 Sit 'em

Atlanta Falcons

@ Green Bay Packers

Thu, Sep 24 at 8:15 pm ET • GB -4.5, O/U 43

The track record of Drake London (17-plus PPR in 7 of 12 games together) with Michael Penix Jr . is reason enough to start him. Kyle Pitts is a different story -- he's seen more than five targets from Penix just three times in 12 games, and has 12-plus PPR points in four of those 12. Maybe it's been because of the quarterback issues, but the Falcons have deployed Pitts further downfield than your average tight end and certainly farther than other tight ends in iterations of this specific style of offense, and it's also similar to how Pitts was used with the Falcons in 2024 when he had a not-so-great year. While the downfield routes might be more appealing to Penix, it just haven't worked out consistently in the past for Pitts. The zone-coverage-based Packers have generated good pressure thanks to a higher blitz rate through their first two games, notching seven sacks against solid offensive lines. That's problematic for Penix, who already has a tendency to throw short when facing zone coverage. That also works against Pitts, who is at best a borderline starter.

- MUST-STARTS: Bijan Robinson - STARTS: Jordan Love (low-end starter), Drake London, Christian Watson , Matthew Golden (low-end No. 2 WR), Tucker Kraft , Packers DST (low-end starter) - FLEX: MarShawn Lloyd (low-end flex) - SITS: Michael Penix Jr., Kyle Pitts (borderline starter), Kaleb Johnson , Chris Brooks , Brian Robinson, Falcons DST Start 'em 10.0-7.00 6.99 - 5.01 5.00 - 0 Sit 'em

Los Angeles Chargers

@ Buffalo Bills

Sun, Sep 27 at 1:00 pm ET • BUF -7, O/U 50.5

The Chargers have allowed a pass rush pressure on 45.5% of Justin Herbert's dropbacks, most in the league, and they're allowing pressure in 2.49 seconds on average. Not surprisingly, Herbert has completed just half of his throws when pressured with a 61.8 QB rating. He's arguably worse when pressured this year compared to last year -- similar completion rate, similar catchable throw rate, worse QB rating this year, worse yards per attempt this year (5.4 in two games, 6.8 in 2025). Herbert had some good moments -- his third quarter was really good -- but by the fourth quarter, what was mostly a one-score game felt like a three-score game because the Raiders pass rush was too much. Here's the twist: Last week Jared Goff played on a short week on the road against these Bills and despite getting pressured a bunch he still had a very good stat line after three quarters before spamming the box score with two fourth-quarter touchdowns. It's reasonable for Herbert to have a shot at doing something similar, particularly since the Bills offense should rack up points on the Chargers disappointing defense and force the Chargers into a pass-heavy plan. If my other options were Kyler Murray , Bo Nix , Baker Mayfield or Drake Maye , I'd stick with Herbert. Lastly, Quentin Johnston's target-per-route-run rate has been demonstrably higher against two-high safety coverage, as the Bills have leaned into this year, but the results have stunk (two catches on eight targets for 17 yards). The Chargers will eventually find other options beyond Ladd McConkey to attack the middle of the field -- Oronde Gadsden would make some sense.

- MUST-STARTS: Josh Allen , James Cook - STARTS: Omarion Hampton , Ladd McConkey, DJ Moore , Dalton Kincaid , Bills DST - SITS: Justin Herbert (borderline starter), Quentin Johnston, Keaton Mitchell , Oronde Gadsden II (stash), Chargers DST Start 'em 10.0-7.00 6.99 - 5.01 5.00 - 0 Sit 'em

Carolina Panthers

@ Cleveland Browns

Sun, Sep 27 at 1:00 pm ET • CLE +2.5, O/U 42.5

You'd know it just by looking at the box score, but Bryce Young truly is playing at another level so far. Against a better-than-expected Falcons pass rush last week, Young made a slew of reads and throws with anticipation and accuracy. He seems like he's far more confident in where to attack and has done so with mostly excellent accuracy. Hence why the Panthers are trusting him with the offense -- the Panthers are fifth in pass rate at 64% through two weeks with at least a 63% pass rate in each game. If there's a worry here it's that Young's metrics against pass rush pressure are pretty weak so far this season: 37.9% completion rate, a 55.2% catchable ball rate (that's really ugly) and 6.1 yards per attempt despite a similar average depth of target to what he does when not pressured. The Browns defense flipped the script from Week 1 to Week 2, going into heavy man-to-man coverage with single-high safeties and getting home with blitzes against a beleaguered Buccaneers offensive line. The Panthers' biggest weaknesses right now are their tackles in pass protection, which the Browns are sure to attack. Given how Young has played, I'd bet against the Browns front being the unit to totally disrupt him, but I do worry about him hitting 30-point upside. He's a top-10 quarterback who I'd start ahead of Trevor Lawrence , Justin Herbert and Drake Maye, but not Tyler Shough or Jared Goff.

- STARTS: Bryce Young, Chuba Hubbard , Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker (both No. 2 PPR WRs; Coker lower in half and non) - FLEX: Denzel Boston , Quinshon Judkins - SITS: Deshaun Watson , KC Concepcion (stash), Harold Fannin (desperation PPR TE), Darren Waller (desperation TD-needy TE), Panthers DST Start 'em 10.0-7.00 6.99 - 5.01 5.00 - 0 Sit 'em

New York Jets

@ Detroit Lions

Sun, Sep 27 at 1:00 pm ET • DET -6.5, O/U 47.5

Aaron Glenn gets a crack against Jared Goff and his old pals in Detroit. It's fair to say Glenn has practiced enough against Goff to know what he's sensitive to, the question is whether or not his defense can implement it. The Jets pass rush has three sacks and an impressive 2.3 second time-to-pressure rate in each of its first two games ( David Bailey's made a difference), but they'll face a healthier version of the Lions O-line this week with two starters returning. The secondary looked great against the Titans in Week 1, not as good against the Packers in Week 2. I'd bank on Goff leaning heavily into Amon-Ra St. Brown , Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta , especially on early downs and in the red zone, occasionally taking downfield shots to Jameson Williams when he draws a one-on-one. The Jets were penalized for defensive pass interference twice in the second half last week on deep targets but otherwise held Packers receivers to 38 yards on two catches over eight throws of 10-plus air yards. That suggests a not-so-rosy outlook for Williams.

- MUST-STARTS: Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Breece Hall , Garrett Wilson - STARTS: Jared Goff, Sam LaPorta - FLEX: Jameson Williams - SITS: Geno Smith , Adonai Mitchell (desperation PPR WR), Kenyon Sadiq (stash), Braelon Allen , Lions DST, Jets DST Start 'em 10.0-7.00 6.99 - 5.01 5.00 - 0 Sit 'em

Houston Texans

@ Indianapolis Colts

Sun, Sep 27 at 1:00 pm ET • IND +1.5, O/U 42.5

Colts defensive playcaller Lou Anarumo has faced two quarterbacks he's long been familiar with and gameplanned against them the same way he had previously, even if that meant different things for the Colts defense to do. If he follows suit this week and mimics how he's played against C.J. Stroud previously, it should mean weak numbers for the Houston passing game. Last year the Colts played more single-high coverage against the Texans , mixed man and zone on third downs, blitzed a bunch, held C.J. Stroud to mediocre numbers, and lost both games anyway. The single-high coverage is one of two Achilles heels for Dalton Schultz's target per route run rate numbers through two weeks (he's gotten more targets against two-high), but he found consistency against Anarumo's Colts last year, scoring between 11 and 12.5 PPR points in each game. Schultz specifically had eight targets in their Week 13 matchup with Nico Collins , four targets in Week 18 without Nico Collins. I don't think Collins' availability makes a big difference for this week's matchup, nor do I think Travis Kelce's monster Week 2 has a lot to do with how Schultz will fare. The Texans big tight end is an easy short-area target for Stroud whom the Colts won't try to take away unless near the goal line. Volume should carry him to another top-10 PPR finish.

Josh Downs had a good game last week and could have had an even better game had Daniel Jones thrown with better accuracy and timing. Downs' ability to speed away from defenders stood out, as did a higher rate of snaps lined up wide instead of in the slot like he was for 64% of the time in Week 1. With Texans-killer Alec Pierce out, there's no doubt who the Colts' top receiver is, and his chances to be fed short- and intermediate-level targets are high. Interestingly enough, the Texans have really struggled with outside receivers through two weeks, giving up a second-most 17.9 yards per catch (compared to 7.2 yards per catch against slot guys). So not only should Downs test the Texans in the middle of the field, but it's his speed that could help him win when going up against Houston's top cornerbacks, especially since Houston plays a lot of single-high coverage. He's an easy PPR flex who would be ranked even higher if Jones were throwing the ball better.

- MUST-STARTS: Jonathan Taylor - STARTS: David Montgomery (No. 2 RB), Tyler Warren , Dalton Schultz, Texans DST - FLEX: Josh Downs (high-end PPR flex) - SITS: C.J. Stroud, Daniel Jones, Woody Marks , Xavier Hutchinson , Keenan Allen , Kayshon Boutte , Colts DST Start 'em 10.0-7.00 6.99 - 5.01 5.00 - 0 Sit 'em

New England Patriots

@ Jacksonville Jaguars

Sun, Sep 27 at 1:00 pm ET • JAC -3, O/U 45.5

Rhamondre Stevenson fumbled on the fourth play of the game last week. After that, TreVeyon Henderson played 32 of 49 snaps and had 16 touches compared to Stevenson's 15 of 49 snaps and five touches. This was the fifth-most touches in a game for Henderson, but the third-most in a game Stevenson also played four quarters in. It's also noteworthy that Stevenson handled far more passing down snaps than Henderson includi

_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/football/news/fantasy-football-rankings-week-3-dave-richard-makes-tough-decisions-who-to-start-sit-and-flex/)._