The onslaught of quarterback injuries is shaking up the fantasy landscape.
How much does the injury to Joe Burrow hurt Ja’Marr Chase? Does the JJ McCarthy injury even matter for Vikings pass catchers?
Fear and panic create opportunity for savvy fantasy players.
Hopefully you all bought Jonathan Taylor after he underperformed in week one. The fantasy explosion gave shrewd fantasy players a nice reward.
How else can you improve your fantasy rosters after another wild week of fantasy football?
Through a combination of opportunity-based expected fantasy points (xFP), usage, and market analysis, we hope to guide when and why players should be bought and sold to maximize value while helping with roster construction.
Let’s go!
Week 3 Buy-Low Players
Mike Evans
Mr. 1,000 yards is off to a slow start in 2025. At age 32, with his pedigree, he’s earned the benefit of the doubt. The behind-the-scenes data suggests Evans could be in line for a big game sooner than later.
As Baker Mayfield continues to encroach upon elite QB territory, pass catchers like Emeka Egbuka and Evans should continue to taste the sweet nectar of fantasy success.
Through two weeks, Evans has averaged a lackluster 10.4 PPR points per game despite pacing the Bucs with 19 targets.
Evans’ usage suggests he should be scoring an expected 17.4 fppg (-7.0 fantasy points over expectation). With three red zone targets for the year already, Evans is in line to see the TD scoring that has defined his career return.
He’s a target hog in a pass-heavy offense that has seen 260 total air yards and has a decent matchup in week three against the Jets.
Tony Pollard
With Tyjae Spears still out, Pollard has averaged a healthy 19 carries over the first two weeks. Despite the volume, the Titans sputtering offense has limited Pollard from reaching double-digit fantasy points in an outing.
While one reception so far leaves much to be desired, better days are expected to be ahead. Pollard saw 57 targets in his first season with the Titans and has not had fewer than 55 targets in a season since 2021.
After posting a solid success rate running the football and forcing missed tackles at a high clip, Pollard is rounding into form heading into an exciting week 3 matchup against the Colts.
That kind of volume, while averaging below 10 fantasy points per game, makes Pollard a screaming buy.
Chase Brown
Burrow out. Jake Browning in. The next two weeks could be rough. He faces Minnesota and Denver, two stout defenses that project to cause problems for the Bengals suddenly vulnerable offense.
Brown’s deployment the first two weeks is good for 18.5 xFP, which is an alarming 7.7 points higher than his 10.8 ppg average. He averages 23 opportunities per game, with a healthy 39% of those coming inside the red zone.
While a competent quarterback in his own right, Browning lacks the aerial prowess Burrow possesses. Defenses will likely be locking in on Chase and daring Browning to try them downfield. He will likely have to lean more on Brown moving forward.
Week 3 Sell-High Players
Tee Higgins
As I alluded to above, the aerial attack of the Bengals is projected to take the biggest hit. The offensive line is already a nightmare, and opposing defenses are likely going to focus on stopping Chase from beating them while blitzing the quarterback relentlessly.
This suggests Higgins’ downfield excellence will be limited.
In 2023, while Burrow was out for 7 games, Higgins saw two fewer targets and receptions per game.
While Higgins paced for two more TDs in 2023 without Burrow, it was clear Higgins managers were relying on big plays rather than consistent volume and TD equity.
If managers are looking to sell Higgins for something akin to Quentin Johnston or George Pickens, I say do it.
Tucker Kraft
Maybe this is wishful thinking. Selling a potential star at tight end could be considered irresponsible fantasy advice. So let me preface by saying that I’m not suggesting Kraft is about to fall off a cliff.
Scoring in back-to-back weeks makes some of those 0-2 or 2-0 managers eyes twinkle. With the loss of Jayden Reed to a broken collarbone, that opens the door for Matthew Golden to step forward.
What I’m saying is, perhaps this is a time to sell Kraft for a slight downgrade at the position and add another roster piece.
Use the Reed injury as leverage to elevate Kraft’s tight end status to “the next Travis Kelce” and nab Juwan Johnson + and be potentially better off.
Wan’Dale Robinson
Did the Giants offense click? Did this have more to do with the Cowboys secondary being subpar and vulnerable? The answer is yes to the latter and potentially yes to the former.
Despite looking like a quarterback that should be stuffed in the mascot costume and not even allowed to toss peanuts to fans in the stands, Russell Wilson threw the ball all over the Cowboys.
Malik Nabers torched the Cowboys secondary again and again. Then he poured kerosene on top of them for good measure. But Robinson looked like more than just a line of scrimmage PPR plodder that struggles to do more than fall down.
He saw three downfield targets in week one and followed that up with a 10.4 aDot the next week. At Kentucky, he and Levis made sweet music in college when utilizing Robinson’s ability to wiggle past defenders deep.
These skills do not appear to have translated as well at the next level as he is still struggling to separate against NFL corners.
Still, he’s the WR9 in fantasy right now and will not be anywhere close to that by week 8, barring something unforeseeable happening. Sell him and try to nab a WR that will return WR2 production.
