The Week 3 matchup between the New Orleans Saints and the Carolina Panthers features an early-season divisional game that could have season-long implications. We’ve got the fantasy projections courtesy of numberFire.
Fantasy football projections, Week 3: Saints-Panthers featuring Drew Brees, Mark Ingram and Cam Newton
We break down the Week 3 matchup between the New Orleans Saints and the Carolina Panthers.
New Orleans Saints
One of the fantasy world’s typically more consistent quarterbacks is dealing with a shoulder injury. Following practice during the week, Drew Brees sounded pretty confident that he’ll play against the Panthers. The Saints need him to be in the lineup and so do fantasy owners. While he hasn’t exactly been helping his team win, Brees is still in a pass-happy offense that can yield lots of points. He struggled last week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a division matchup with the Panthers this week would be the perfect opportunity to bounce back.
There is no question Brees is going to need a helping hand in order to get the job done in Carolina. That helping hand will come from running back Mark Ingram. It’s worth noting that he’s only averaging 3.1 yards per carry so far this season and the Panthers have given up an average of 83 yards per game through the first two weeks. It’s a tough matchup on paper, but Ingram is a valuable piece to the Saints’ puzzle, so you can bet he’ll be used regularly on Sunday. Ingram is too good not to have a breakthrough game eventually.
Carolina Panthers
The Panthers find themselves sitting pretty with a perfect record after two weeks and quarterback Cam Newton is a big reason for that. Last week against the Houston Texans, he only managed to throw for 195 yards, but the fact that Newton was the team’s leading rusher with 78 yards on 10 carries made all the difference. Beating a division rival and creating more separation up at the top of the NFC South will undoubtedly serve as motivation for Newton to play well against New Orleans. He deserves an opportunity to start for fantasy owners despite the fact he can be shaky at times.
Through the air, tight end Greg Olsen is the best bet for any consistent production all year long. He caught six passes for 70 yards last week, but the more important number to note down is that Olsen was targeted 14 times in the game. With that kind of volume coming his way, Olsen could very well be a top-notch performer at the tight end position against New Orleans, especially considering that only little-known teammate Corey Brown is the only wide receiver doing anything noteworthy this season.
