Fantasy football stats: The sleepers of Week 3

Austin Davis, STL (327 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, -1 rushing yard, 21 fantasy points)

Davis showed a lot Sunday, throwing all over the field and taking the Rams to a 21-0 lead that they eventually relinquished. After 14 combined fantasy points in the season's first two weeks, that had to be fun for Davis, and nice for Rams fans to see. Still, it came against a really bad Dallas defense. We'll need to see Davis do something like this against even a moderately decent defense before we can believe in it.

Blake Bortles, JAC (223 passing yards, 2 passing touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 30 rushing yards, 15 fantasy points)

Bortles took over for Chad Henne midway through the team's game against the Indianapolis Colts Sunday and looked competent in his first NFL work. It was in garbage time, but Bortles did connect on touchdown passes to wide receivers Allen Hurns and Cecil Shorts III. Bortles has more to prove -- points when a game is close, points against a decent defense -- but he'll get the chance, as the Jaguars have already announced that Bortles will get the start in Week 4 against San Diego.

Lorenzo Taliaferro, BAL (91 rushing yards, 1 touchdown, 15 fantasy points)

I explained in The Ticker last week why I was high on Taliaferro going forward, but the summary of that is simple: He's the best running back on the Ravens, and that would be true even if Bernard Pierce had been healthy for Sunday's game. Taliaferro looked good in the Ravens' 23-21 win over the Browns, and showed enough to get at least another shot at carrying a big chunk of the load. He's intriguing.

Donald Brown, SD (62 rushing yards, 27 receiving yards, 8 fantasy points)

Brown wasn't exactly a well-kept secret, as he was one of the top waiver adds entering the week, but with Ryan Mathews injured, and Danny Woodhead getting hurt in Sunday's game, Brown is the last man standing for San Diego. He managed to do well in the same situation in Indianapolis a year ago, so expect Brown to continue to be a decent-sized part of the San Diego offense.

John Brown, ARI (52 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns, 17 fantasy points)

Brown was the preseason darling, and as far as touchdowns go, it's bled over into the regular season, as he now has three scores in three games. He's not accumulating super amounts of yardage, and he still has both Michael Floyd and Larry Fitzgerald to contend with in Arizona, but he's definitely on the fantasy radar now.

Jordan Matthews, PHI (59 receiving yards, 2 touchdowns, 17 fantasy points)

Matthews was one of my favorite sleepers in the preseason, and it was simply because I wasn't sure there were any good receivers in front of him. Jeremy Maclin has proven he's back to healthy, so there is one there, but still, there are enough balls to go around in Philadelphia, and Riley Cooper just isn't very good. Matthews won't be scoring two touchdowns a week, but he's definitely someone to pay attention to.

Jacob Tamme, DEN (22 receiving yards, 1 touchdown, 8 fantasy points)

Tamme's value is entirely touchdown-dependent. In three games this season, he's had two that mattered at all, and they were both when he scored a touchdown. Still, he's the one piece Peyton Manning made sure to bring with him from Indianapolis, and Tamme is still there, just off in the shadows. You'll never be using him week-to-week unless Julius Thomas gets hurt (if even then), but in a desperate situation, Tamme's as likely to score a touchdown as any lesser-used tight end.