Fantasy football start/sit, Week 3: Quarterbacks

Week 3 of the fantasy football season is here, and we’re back with another crop of start/sit options. We’re starting to collect a small sample size of data about each team, and can start making somewhat more informed decisions on good plays and traps. With that in mind, we’ll pick quarterbacks who should exceed expectations in Week 3, along with three you should probably sit.

Last week, we saw what happens when a quarterback needing a pick-me-up faces the Saints. Sure, Tom Brady might be the GOAT, but Cam Newton is no slouch, either. Newton has certainly looked rusty in his first two weeks coming off shoulder surgery and throwing just two passes all preseason. But this week, he draws the always-generous Saints defense, so expect a couple hundred yards and some touchdowns, even without Greg Olsen.

Stafford is red-hot to start the season, with six touchdowns against one interception. The emergence of Kenny Golladay at wide receiver has created an elite group of passing weapons and Stafford is making the most of it. Had Monday’s game not turned into a rout early in the third, he easily would have added to his gaudy two-game stats. Now he draws the Falcons at home in a potential shootout. Fire him up again with confidence.

Fire him up with confidence? You heard that right. Cutler actually looked pretty decent last week against the Chargers, even leading Miami on a late, game-winning drive. He completed a respectable 24 of 33 passes for 230 yards against a decent Chargers secondary. The Jets have been carved up by the Bills and Raiders and while Jay Ajayi and DeVante Parker’s injury status minds watching, there’s little reason to think Cutler can’t improve on his opening effort against this passive defense.

Things looked pretty ugly last week in Denver and it doesn’t get any easier in the desert against the menacing Cardinals defense. One game hardly makes for a sophomore slump, but this is not the setting for a bounce-back week. If you have an alternative option, consider giving Dak another week to regroup.

It really can’t get much worse for Eli. His offensive line is a sieve, he has no time to throw, one of his only reliable targets, Evan Engram, is in concussion protocol, and his coach is throwing him in the lane reserved for buses. Add in a road game on a short week and it’s hard to see Manning improving much on his first two train-wrecks.

After watching what the Denver defense did to Dallas last week – a team with proven, high-caliber receivers – it’s hard to have much faith in Taylor getting much done with his group. I would expect a game similar to last week in Carolina, which means not much of anything.