Fantasy Football Week 3: Sleepers Include Bills’ David Nelson

He's only owned in by 7.7 percent of fantasy owners and in his first two games he's thrown for 413 yards, three touchdowns and has a 105.7 passer rating. No he doesn't have the 400 yards a game that fellow rookie Cam Newton has but he also doesn't have the mistakes either. He hasn't turned the ball over once. On Sunday, the Bengals host the San Francisco 49ers who have the No. 25 ranked passing defense in the league. The Niners have the top ranked run defense and if they shut Cedric Benson down, the team could rely on Dalton to get things done. I'm not saying start him all season, but if you're between a rock and a hard place this week, he could get you some points.

I wouldn't usually suggest picking up or playing a member of the Seahawks' offense but if you're hurting for a running back right now, Marshawn Lynch could provide some points. The Seahawks are making their home debut and they're hosting the Arizona Cardinals, who have the No. 23 ranked rush defense in the league, giving up an average of 123 yards per game. If Lynch can break off one of those Madden '12 style runs like he did against the New Orleans Saints the last time he played in Seattle you will be happy you picked him up.

Now that Jamaal Charles is out for the season, McCluster and Thomas Jones are going to have to carry the load for the Chiefs. Jones may get a few more carries than McCluster but McCluster's speed will get him more passes out of the backfield. That's good news for McCluster and for fantasy football owners because the Chiefs have been playing from behind for most of the season and they likely will be again on Sunday when they play the Chargers in San Diego. That means that Matt Cassel will be throwing the ball more often than he's handing off and McCluster could benefit, especially in PPR leagues.

No, not because he caught the winning touchdown against the Oakland Raiders. I'm listing Nelson here because Ryan Fitzpatrick has looked impressive and Nelson has his trust enough to get 10 catches in a very close game. The Bills are hosting the New England Patriots this weekend which means that they'll be in another close game and possibly playing from behind the entire time. If they are playing from behind they're going to throw the ball more and Nelson could benefit. He's only owned in 22 percent of leagues so there's a decent chance he'll be available. You may want to grab him now because if he has another great game this week he won't be available for long.

Here's the situation: Andre Caldwell has a lot of speed and if the Bengals were healthy and not facing legal trouble, I would say there would be no point in picking him up. However, Jordan Shipley is out for the season with an ACL tear and No. 2 receiver Jerome Simpson may be out due to legal trouble. That means Caldwell is probably going to be the No. 2 receiver on Sunday. At the end of the 2010 season, he played opposite of Simpson as the Bengals No. 2 receiver for the final three games, catching 15 passes for 270 yards. He'll be facing the San Francisco 49ers, who have the No. 25 ranked pass defense, at home. He could have a big game.

He's caught 11 passes for 191 yards and a touchdown so far this season. Chris Cooley hasn't missed a regular season game but quarterback Rex Grossman obviously has a thing for Davis. The Cowboys will be a tough team for the Redskins to beat at home, especially on Monday night, but Dallas' secondary is a little banged up and Davis could benefit. There aren't a ton of really great fantasy tight ends and if you don't have one of the elite guys like Antonio Gates or Jason Witten, Davis could be your guy.

So this is about as deep of a sleeper as you can get. Tony Scheffler only has two catches on the season so far but both of those catches were for touchdowns. Brandon Pettigrew is the main tight end in Detroit but he has yet to score this season. The Lions are facing the Vikings who have given up 155 yards to tight ends so far this season. Furthermore, Pettigrew is currently questionable for the game so if he doesn't play, Scheffler will be the main guy. Like I said, Scheffler is a pretty deep sleeper so I wouldn't start him unless you're in a pretty deep league or if you're really desperate.

I wouldn't normally suggest you pick up the Panthers defense but they'll be going up against a rookie quarterback making his first start in Blaine Gabbert and they'll be playing at home. If they can stop Maurice Jones-Drew and force the ball into Gabbert's hands, they'll likely capitalize on a mistake or two and maybe give you some extra points.