Malik Nabers a risky Week 3 fantasy play due to injuries, QB struggles

Last week in this space, I told you not to panic. At the wide receiver position that is getting increasingly difficult to do. Nico Collins and Zay Flowers missed last week, A.J. Brown is out for another month, George Pickens and Drake London still haven't shown up, and now at least three more teams will be playing with their backup quarterback. If you didn't draft Parker Washington or Jalen Coker , then there is a good chance you are panicking about at least one of your wide receivers.

There may be some temptation to think that of all the receivers playing with a backup QB in Week 3, Malik nabers has it best. After all, in past years Jameis Winston has printed Fantasy points, both for his receivers and for the opposing defense. That is hard to believe after watching Monday night. Nabers is clearly not healthy after his shoulder injury, and he's still getting fully comfortable on his repaired ACL. Winston did not look like the guy who threw 30 touchdowns in a season once upon a time. And I think this coaching staff will be far less willing to just let him sling it. Because of the state of the position, I still have Nabers as a start in three receiver leagues, but if I could get away from him, I would.

That being said, not panicking about rest-of-season value does not mean blindly walking into Week 2. Drake London was a victim of the Falcons trying to build a functional attack around Cooper Rush . Rush averaged four air yards per attempt and threw half of his passes to Bijan Robinson . That is not an environment any wide receiver can produce in. If anyone other than Rush starts in Week 2, I will consider London a must-start wide receiver once again. If Rush starts, then London is more of a low-end WR2 at best. That's frustrating to hear about your Round 2 pick, but just know it is temporary. I fully expect London to meet Draft Day expectations once either of his top two QBs is healthy.

The two biggest risers from preseason rankings are the aforementioned Washington and Coker. Washington is a consensus top 12 receiver in Week 2, and Coker is in the top 24 for everyone. We are buying these breakouts and personally, I would start both over Nabers in Week 3.

Here is the rest of the Week 3 WR Preview:

Week 3 WR Preview

Numbers to Know Waiver Wire Targets DFS Plays Projections

WR Preview

Numbers to Know

- 13.64 -- Zay Flowers averaged an absurd 13.64 yards per route run before leaving with a hamstring injury. We are expecting him back against the Cowboys in Week 3. - 25.8% -- DK Metcalf has converted 25.8% of his air yards so far this season. That ranks dead last amongst the 45 receivers with at least 123 air yards this year. - 78.6% -- DeMario Douglas led the Patriots with a 78.6% route share. He may just be Drake Maye's best receiver until A.J. Brown returns. - 36.7% -- Parker Washington has a 36.7% target share through two games. Only JSN has a better share. - 53.6% -- Over half of Jordan Love's passes have gone to Christian Watson or Matthew Golden . Start them both. - 12.83 -- Marvin Harrison Jr . has the highest average route depth amongst starting receivers. He's a sit. - 5 -- Jalen Coker already has five red zone targets; only JSN and Amon-Ra St. Brown have more. - 26% -- Malik Washington already has a 26% target share and now Caleb Douglas is expected to miss Week 3. Washington could be a PPR WR3 if the Dolphins offense can stay on the field. - 25% -- Kalif Raymond leads the Bears with a 25% target share. That will crush Luther Burden and Rome Odunze , no matter who is playing quarterback. - 63.6% -- Only 63% of Quentin Johnston's targets have been catchable, the second-lowest mark amongst receivers with at least 10 targets.

WR Preview

Waiver Wire Targets

Week 3 Adds (WR Preview)

Denzel Boston

WR

CLE Cleveland

• #12

Age: 22 • Experience: Rookie

Weekly Breakdown

MATCHUP

vs CAR CAR -2.5 O/U 41.5

OPP VS WR

13th

WR RNK

33rd

ROSTERED

54%

YTD Stats

REC

7

TAR

11

REYDS

154

TD

2

FPTS/G

17.2

Boston is currently the number one rookie wide receiver, not just on his own team, but in the league. He's caught a pair of deep touchdowns from Deshaun Watson and has twelve targets in two games. I am not sure you want to start him as more than a boom or bust flex in Week 3, but he should be rostered in all leagues in case he's earned Deshaun Watson's trust and his target share increases.

Tre Tucker

WR

LV Las Vegas

• #1

Age: 25 • Experience: 4 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

MATCHUP

@ NO NO -3 O/U 44.5

OPP VS WR

20th

WR RNK

34th

ROSTERED

51%

YTD Stats

REC

7

TAR

11

REYDS

146

TD

1

FPTS/G

13.8

Tucker's roster rate shouldn't have gone down after one bad week. You should expect bad weeks like Week 1 and blowup weeks like Week 2. Brock Bowers is expected to return, which could cut into Tucker's targets, but could also free him up in coverage. You don't have to start Tucker this week, but any time you need to throw a dart to replace an injured receiver or player on a bye, Tucker's upside is exactly what you should be looking for.

Malik Washington

WR

MIA Miami

• #6

Age: 25 • Experience: 3 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

MATCHUP

vs KC KC -11.5 O/U 46.5

OPP VS WR

3rd

WR RNK

46th

ROSTERED

16%

YTD Stats

REC

7

TAR

13

REYDS

96

TD

0

FPTS/G

7.5

Washington was dominating targets already; now he'll get to play without Caleb Douglas. There probably isn't a huge amount of upside here, but he could easily see eight targets and score double-digit PPR Fantasy points. With the way the receiver position looks on some teams, that's valuable. Stashes (WR Preview)

Adonai Mitchell

WR

NYJ N.Y. Jets

• #15

Age: 23 • Experience: 3 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

MATCHUP

@ DET DET -6.5 O/U 48.5

OPP VS WR

31st

WR RNK

41st

ROSTERED

17%

YTD Stats

REC

9

TAR

15

REYDS

123

TD

0

FPTS/G

10.7

I don't believe we'll see Mitchell repeat his target volume from last week, but you can't just leave a guy with 12 targets in Week 2 on the waiver wire. He did have at least nine targets in three games last year and topped sixteen points in two of those games. Mitchell is outstanding at getting open and lacking at just about everything else. But like I said, it's hard to leave a guy with 12 targets on the waiver wire.

WR Preview

DFS Plays

Top DFS Play Projections powered by Sportsline

Chris Olave

WR

NO New Orleans

• #12

Age: 26 • Experience: 5 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

MATCHUP

vs LV NO -3 O/U 44.5

OPP VS WR

4th

PROJ PTS

16.5

WR RNK

5th

YTD Stats

REC

18

TAR

23

REYDS

268

TD

1

FPTS/G

25.4

Olave remains the best DFS value at the wide receiver position. He's an alpha WR1 in a fast-paced, pass-heavy offense. He should be priced closer to CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson than he is, and he will remain my top wide receiver play each week until that changes. He leads all receivers in air yards after Week 2 and has outscored all but two of the receivers who are priced higher than him this week. Contrarian DFS Play Projections powered by Sportsline

Ladd McConkey

WR

LAC L.A. Chargers

• #15

Age: 24 • Experience: 3 yrs.

Weekly Breakdown

MATCHUP

@ BUF BUF -7 O/U 50.5

OPP VS WR

30th

PROJ PTS

13.9

WR RNK

20th

YTD Stats

REC

8

TAR

10

REYDS

117

TD

1

FPTS/G

12.9

The Bills defense has been abysmal so far and McConkey has been about the only good thing going for the Chargers offense. He'll be another week recovered from his rib injury and hopefully, a full-time player. His roster rate should be low because of all the bad vibes in Los Angeles and his price is low because of his partial participation last week. It's a great contrarian blowup spot.

WR Preview

Heath's Projections

My full set of Week 3  Fantasy football projections for every position is now available here . Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 3. Projected stats for all starting wide receivers are updated throughout the week, so make sure you check back in later in the week for changes.

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/football/news/week-3-wr-preview-malik-nabers-tough-to-trust/)._