There were injuries galore in week 2 of the NFL. RG3 will miss at LEAST a month, Jamaal Charles may miss the same, Ryan Mathews had his usual annual, injury, AJ Green will probably miss this week going into his week 4 bye, and Moreno will be lost for almost 2 months. To add to that Desean Jackson, Eric Decker, and Vernon Davis may all miss their games this week. With all of these injuries, it just means it’s time to get to working on that waiver wire. As I said last week, no one wins purely off their draft, so these are the pickups that keep you alive and get you in the playoffs. Let’s get right into the NFL Week 3 Pickups.
QBs
Kirk Cousins – I’ve been saying all preseason that Cousins is a better fit for this offense and now he has a chance to prove me right, if he hasn’t already with last week’s performance. RG3 will be out anywhere from 4 weeks to the entire year, so pick him up and run with it. He can be a top 12 QB.
Blake Bortles – This is more of a pickup for leagues with 2 QBs. With every Jacksonville loss, Bortles gets closer and closer to starting. There is already a lot of rumbling in the Jaguars clubhouse that they want him to start now. I can see him taking over the reins by week 5 or 6, if not earlier.
Teddy Bridgewater – Pretty much everything said for Bortles can be repeated for Bridgewater except for the internal clubhouse grumblings. I expect him to take over by week 5 or 6 and if Cassel has another 4 INT game like last week, we may even see a Teddy sighting as soon as this week.
RBs
Knile Davis – Charles is probably going to miss around a month, which opens the door for Davis. He may not be as explosive, but Andy Reid said the gameplan will not change. No matter who the RB is for Andy Reid, they normally are heavily used and put up good fantasy numbers, so don’t underestimate him.
Donald Brown – The sky is blue, grass is green, and Ryan Mathews is hurt. There are just some things you can always count on. Now the Chargers look smart for signing Brown after it seemed to be a bit questionable when they did it. Danny Woodhead should also now come alive a bit more.
Khiry Robinson – Speaking of opportunity, Robinson showed flashes last year and you could tell the Saints liked him, but he was 4th on the depth chart last year behind Sproles, Thomas, and Ingram. With Sproles in Philly and Ingram out a month, Robinson gets a full chance in the best offense in the league.
Bobby Rainey – I still thing Doug Martin is the starting running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for now. However, after getting 144 yards on 22 carries last week, Martin is going to have to come back and be impressive to hold him off. His 9 carry, 9 yard performance from week 1 will not help his cause.
WRs
James Jones – I will be honest, if you pickup James Jones, I don’t suggest starting him. He’s too erratic, within an erratic offense, with a rookie QB. Not to mention that I can’t recommend someone who catches a bomb, fumbles, picks it back up, then proceeds to fumble again. Only in Oakland you see that.
Mohammad Sanu – With normal #2 WR Marvin Jones out, and now #1 WR AJ Green likely out, Mohammad Sanu will be the Bengals #1 WR this week against the Titans. Don’t get me wrong the Titans have a good secondary, but if you’re looking for a sleeper WR this week, he may be your guy.
TEs
Travis Kelce – One of the biggest hypes around the Chiefs’ preseason was regarding Kelce. He is now showing what the Chiefs knew they had when they drafted him last year. The athletic Kelce has been their best receiver despite not playing a full amount of snaps. He won’t be available much longer.
Delanie Walker – Just like Kelce, Walker was being hyped in the Titans preseason and he has also been their most dependable, consistent receiver. Walker also showed some extra speed most didn’t realized he has by running from a couple Cowboy DBs for a long TD last week.
Owen Daniels – Last week the Ravens unveiled pretty much the equivalent of the Patriots 2 TE attack. It worked to perfection against the Steelers with both Pitta and Daniels giving them fits and Daniels ending up with 2 TDs. He may not be THIS good every week, but this may work out.
Niles Paul – After RG3 went downs and Kirk Cousins came in Paul clearly became his favorite target. Now was this just because Cousins like throwing to the TE? Was it because they are used to working with each other and have a connection? It’s probably a low risk bet to pick him up and wait to find out.
Defenses
Chicago Bears – The Bears will be facing the Jets who may be without Decker. The Jets already had a lack of weapons, but if they are without Decker that either Geno is going to grow up really fast or the Bears’ defense is going to have a field day.
New Orleans Saints – In the preseason I had the Saints ranked as a top 10 defense. They obviously have not played like one as of yet. However, this week they play a reeling Vikings team that could be with or without Adrian Peterson and no matter what, they have a sputtering QB in Matt Cassel going right now.
Those are your pickups for week 3 in the NFL, enjoy the games.
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