Every site has a fantasy football rankings column. None of them will be as charted up on a Thursday afternoon up as this one. I'll go position-by-position with the charts, matchup notes, film, and injury nuggets that I view as worth your time.
Dolphins CB1 Xavien Howard (Questionable, DNP-limited, limited) is banged up, and CB2 Byron Jones (IR) is out.
Check out our video on how Jalen Hurts has evolved as a passer. Great matchup, as discussed here.
Great matchup, as discussed here.
Great matchup, as discussed here. In short, the Bengals' Cover 2 problems won't be a problem against the Jets' single-high defense. Bounce back.
The Rams are missing: CB2 Troy Hill (out), CB3 David Long (out), CB4 Decobie Durant (out), and potentially S Jordan Fuller (full-limited-DNP).
The Vikings are projected for the most points of Week 3.
Great matchup, as discussed here.
Great matchup, as discussed here. Titans are missing: EDGE Harold Landry (IR), EDGE Bud Dupree (out), SCB Elijah Molden (IR), and S/CB Ugo Amadi (out). This is a great matchup for Carr and Davante Adams. Hunter Renfrow (concussion) is out.
LT Donovan Smith is probably back, but Chris Godwin (out), Julio Jones (game-time decision), and Russell Gage (DNP Friday) are all hurt. Expect them to lean onto the run here.
Justin Herbert (ribs) is pushing for a pain-injection to play through his injury (yes, the Tyrod Taylor one), but ESPN's Adam Schefter reports "there was growing skepticism about his status going into the weekend; the decision to play has bounced back and forth throughout the week." The betting markets made a huge move towards the Jaguars on Friday, so this continues to trend in the wrong direction. Daniel very well could start in the afternoon window. Keenan Allen (hamstring) is questionable, with Schefter reporting the slot receiver "would like to try and play, but it's not certain he will." I could see the Chargers taking the long view here, after star CB J.C. Jackson re-injured his ankle in his return last week.
#StartPickett.
Read the player notes above. Rankings are half PPR.
Jonathan Taylor
Christian McCaffrey
Saquon Barkley
Joe Mixon
Dalvin Cook - Great matchup, as discussed here.
Nick Chubb
Javonte Williams
Austin Ekeler - This reflects Herbert's iffy status, but Chase Daniel could easily turn into a check-down king for Ekeler.
Derrick Henry - Losing LT Taylor Lewan really stinks, but volume is there.
D'Andre Swift - Great matchup, as discussed here.
Leonard Fournette (Questionable) - Great matchup, as discussed here.
Alvin Kamara (Questionable) - It sounds like he'll play through his injury, but Mark Ingram would be the RB29 if Kamara is surprisingly out. Ingram handled most early-down snaps despite playing through an ankle injury, while Tony Jones Jr. played passing downs.
James Conner (Questionable) - He will work out before the game to make sure he is ready after going DNP-limited-limited in practice this week, but ESPN's Adam Schefter reports Conner "is on track to play". Expect Darrel Williams (early downs) and Eno Benjamin (passing downs) to split work if Conner is surprisingly out. Neither would be top-25 RB options in my rankings.
Antonio Gibson
Najee Harris
Aaron Jones
A.J. Dillon
David Montgomery
Jeff Wilson
Clyde Edwards-Helaire
Cordarrelle Patterson
Miles Sanders
James Robinson - Great matchup, as discussed here.
Kareem Hunt
Damien Harris
Michael Carter
Dameon Pierce
Josh Jacobs (Questionable) - He traveled a day late due to illness and remains questionable. He's been running well and the matchup is reasonable, but it's unclear how severe this illness is. If ruled out, Zamir White and Brandon Bolden would split early-down work while Ameer Abdullah hung out on passing downs. None would be top-35 RB options.
Jamaal Williams
Breece Hall
Ezekiel Elliott
Darrell Henderson - We talked about him here, with all-22 tape.
Cam Akers
Tony Pollard
Melvin Gordon
Rhamondre Stevenson
Travis Etienne
Devin Singletary
Chase Edmonds
Raheem Mostert
Khalil Herbert
Jerick McKinnon
J.D. McKissic
Nyheim Hines
Rashaad Penny
J.K. Dobbins (Questionable) - He's on track to play, but all the Twitter doctors remain concerned. This is a wait-and-see player, especially with the Ravens dead last in RB fantasy usage through two weeks.
Kenneth Gainwell
Rachaad White
Rex Burkhead
Ken Walker
Read the player notes above. Rankings are half PPR.
Cooper Kupp
Justin Jefferson
Davante Adams - Great matchup, as discussed here.
Stefon Diggs - Great matchup, as discussed here.
Ja'Marr Chase - We talked about him here, with all-22 tape. Great matchup, as discussed here.
Tyreek Hill
Amon-Ra St. Brown
A.J. Brown
Michael Pittman - Great matchup, as discussed here.
Jaylen Waddle
Deebo Samuel
Courtland Sutton - We talked about him here, with all-22 tape.
Tee Higgins - Great matchup, as discussed here.
Mike Williams - This assumes both Justin Herbert and Keenan Allen are out. Either one could play, so Williams is a volatile WR1/2.
Christian Kirk - We talked about him here, with all-22 tape.
Marquise Brown - The Rams secondary is banged up: CB2 Troy Hill (out), CB3 David Long (out), CB4 Decobie Durant (out), and S Jordan Fuller (full-limited-DNP).
Brandin Cooks
Michael Thomas
Rashod Bateman - We talked about him here, with all-22 tape.
Drake London
Amari Cooper
CeeDee Lamb
Diontae Johnson
Allen Robinson - Great matchup, as discussed here.
JuJu Smith-Schuster
Curtis Samuel - We talked about him here, with all-22 tape. He also has a great matchup, as discussed here.
Terry McLaurin
D.J. Moore
Allen Lazard (Questionable) - He's expected to play and will have less target competition this week. Sammy Watkins (IR) and Christian Watson (highly questionable) are injured, leaving Lazard with Romeo Doubs and Randall Cobb at receiver.
Adam Thielen
Tyler Lockett
DK Metcalf
Brandon Aiyuk
Elijah Moore
Garrett Wilson - We talked about him here, with all-22 tape.
DeVonta Smith
Chris Olave - We talked about him here, with all-22 tape.
Darnell Mooney
Marquez Valdes-Scantling - Great matchup, as discussed here.
Gabriel Davis (Questionable) - This assumes he's not at full health.
Jerry Jeudy (Questionable) - This assumes Jeudy plays through his shoulder/ribs injury and is somewhat limited by it.
Jahan Dotson
Jarvis Landry
Sterling Shepard
D.J. Chark
Tyler Boyd
Robbie Anderson
Greg Dortch
Zay Jones
Chase Claypool
Corey Davis
Treylon Burks - We talked about him here, with all-22 tape. This week, Kyle Phillips (Doubtful) is banged up, so Burks should play more snaps in general.
DeVante Parker - This is with Meyers in.
Nelson Agholor - This is with Meyers in.
Joshua Palmer - This assumes Justin Herbert and Keenan Allen are out.
Nico Collins
Mecole Hardman
Mack Hollins
Julio Jones (Questionable) - ESPN's Adam Schefter reports Julio "will be tested in pregame warm-ups to determine whether he can play", while Russell Gage and Breshad Perriman are expected to play. This will likely be somewhat of a rotation with Scotty Miller and potentially Cole Beasley also involved, so this should be messing. If Julio is out, I'll have Gage inside the top-40 WRs and Breshad Perriman in this WR5/6 range.
Russell Gage (Questionable) - See WR57 Julio Jones.
Romeo Doubs - See WR29 Allen Lazard.
K.J. Osborn
Donovan Peoples-Jones
Isaiah McKenzie - This is with Davis in.
Robert Woods
Marvin Jones
Michael Gallup (Questionable) - He'll make his debut but won't have a full workload. Noah Brown would be ranked around here if Gallup is surprisingly out.
George Pickens
Breshad Perriman (Questionable) - See WR57 Julio Jones.
A.J. Green
Read the player notes above. Rankings are half PPR.
Mark Andrews
Travis Kelce
Darren Waller
Kyle Pitts - We talked about him here, with all-22 tape.
Zach Ertz
George Kittle - He was left off the final practice report.
Tyler Higbee
Dallas Goedert
T.J. Hockenson
Dawson Knox (Questionable)
Gerald Everett - This assumes Justin Herbert and Keenan Allen are out.
Pat Freiermuth
Logan Thomas
David Njoku
Irv Smith
Evan Engram
Robert Tonyan
Hayden Hurst
Tyler Conklin
Juwan Johnson
Albert Okwuegbunam
Hunter Henry
Mike Gesicki
Isaiah Likely
Cole Kmet
Taysom Hill
Austin Hooper
Noah Fant
Cameron Brate
Jonnu Smith
The defenses of the week are the Saints, Bengals, Bears, Eagles, Texans, Steelers, Panthers, and 49ers.
To me, this is the most beatable DFS game out there, as drafters too often go off the default rankings. Simply add one or two players who are commonly undrafted to get a unique DFS team. And of course, stack. I truly believe my readers/followers would enjoy the game theory (and the edge) of this contest.
My Week 3 column on it is here.