The third week of the 2022 fantasy football season will go down as the week in which plenty of fantasy points were scored but few managers benefitted. It was a week of the lesser-knowns, the non-fantasy starters who came out of nowhere to put up big stat lines. Players like Khalil Herbert, Jamaal Williams, Mack Hollins, Zay Jones, Jelani Woods and Tyler Conklin. Even the Texans D/ST was a top-10 unit. We also saw the continued struggles of several big-name running backs, and a superstar receiver who put up a second stinker despite a great matchup.
Those are among what I believe are the top 10 fantasy football storylines from this weekend that will no doubt affect your starting lineup decisions moving forward.
Lamar Jackson continues to produce huge numbers. Jackson scored a bananas 42.6 fantasy points last week vs. the Dolphins, and his encore was pretty good, too. He threw for four touchdowns and rushed for a fifth in a win over the Patriots, which was good for 39.4 points. He has now scored a combined 102.2 points in his first three games, which puts him on pace to score 579.1 points over a 17-game slate. Patrick Mahomes (2018) holds the single-season record with 417.1 points.
Khalil Herbert roars in the absence of David Montgomery. Fantasy fans were all over Montgomery based on a great matchup against the Texans, but he saw just a trio of touches before going down with ankle and knee injuries. That left Herbert to be Chicago’s lead back, and he took full advantage. He rushed for 157 yards and two touchdowns on just 20 carries, and scored a career-high 30.9 fantasy points. Unfortunately, he was started in just 4% of Yahoo leagues so few folks benefitted. If Montgomery is forced to miss more time, Herbert will become a must-start runner.
Justin Jefferson is held to 4.4 points against the Lions. I don’t think there’s a fan or analyst who saw Jefferson being held down this week, as a high-scoring tilt against the Lions was next on the slate. And while the two teams combined to put up 52 points, it didn’t benefit the talented wideout. He was targeted just six times, caught three passes and had a meager 14 yards in the win. Jefferson now has two stinkers in a row, as he posted 48 scoreless yards in Week 2. Things will improve, but his lack of success has likely meant two losses for his fantasy fans.
Dalvin Cook posts a nice stat line, injures his shoulder. Cook was well on his way to putting up a huge stat line, rushing for 96 yards and a touchdown on 17 totes. Unfortunately, he left the game early with an injured shoulder and didn’t return. This is par for the course for Cook, who never seems to play a full year without suffering some sort of ailment. Alexander Mattison, who scored a touchdown after Cook went down, will become a RB1 if Cook misses time.
Top fantasy runners continue to post diminished totals. It’s been a mediocre start to the season for some of the best running backs in fantasy football, including the top two overall picks, Jonathan Taylor and Christian McCaffrey. Taylor scored just 12.1 points against the Chiefs, while CMC was held to 13.5 in a win over the Saints. That type of production simply isn’t going to cut it based on their high draft price. They’re not alone either, as D’Andre Swift (7.6), Alvin Kamara (7.3), Joe Mixon (6.8) and Aaron Jones (5.7) also posted forgettable stat lines this weekend.
Lesser-started wide receivers pop across the NFL. The top 10 wideouts heading into Sunday night’s game include the likes of DeVonta Smith, Mack Hollins, Russell Gage, Chris Olave, Isaiah McKenzie, DeVante Parker and Tyler Boyd. None of them are owned in more than 65% of Yahoo leagues, and only Smith was started in more than 12% of leagues. Others like K.J. Osborn, Zay Jones, Romeo Doubs, Laviska Shenault Jr. and Josh Reynolds were among the top 20 fantasy wideouts. One thing we know is the NFL is highly unpredictable, and this proves it.
Derrick Henry breaks out of his statistical slide. Two weeks into the NFL season, and fantasy managers were still waiting for Henry to look like, well Henry. He finally looked the part of a first-round pick against the Raiders, posting 85 rushing yards and a touchdown. What was surprising though, were his five catches for 58 yards that helped him compile 25.3 fantasy points. He didn’t have a single reception in his first two games. With two games against Indianapolis over the next three weeks, look for the Titans to continue to lean on their workhorse.
Justin Herbert plays with injured ribs, outplayed by Trevor Lawrence. One of the biggest questions heading into the week was Herbert’s status for Week 3. He was able to start, but the talented quarterback threw just one touchdown pass and scored a mere 12.6 points against the Jaguars. The real story of this game was the play of Lawrence, who hung three touchdowns and 25.2 fantasy points on what was supposed to be a pretty good Charges defense. He continues to look better with each start and should now be owned in most leagues moving forward.
Tom Brady might wish he hadn’t decided to un-retire. Brady averaged a very un-G.O.A.T.-like 9.9 fantasy points in his first two games of the season. The good news is that he was better in Week 3. The bad news is that he scored just 14.7 points, good for 17th among quarterbacks heading into Sunday night. Things should get better once he gets Mike Evans (suspension) and Chris Godwin (knee) back, but Brady simply can’t be trusted as a regular fantasy starter right now.
James Robinson continues to shine for the Jaguars. Whose Achilles’ tendon did the doctors use to replace Robinson’s damaged one? The Flash? He rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries, including a 50-yarder he took to the house, in a huge win over the Chargers. He finished with 20.6 fantasy points, and once again saw more touches than Travis Etienne. While Etienne did see 16 touches, he is still the clear No. 2 back, both in reality and fantasy, behind Robinson.
Notes
- Jalen Hurts’s name needs to be added to the list of the elite quarterbacks in fantasy football. He looked great against the Commanders, throwing for 340 yards and three touchdowns in a blowout win. His 27.5 fantasy points is good for another top-5 finish among quarterbacks, his third in three weeks. What makes this performance different from the previous two is that he did most of his statistical damage through the air, proving he’s a true dual threat player.
- J.K. Dobbins made his return to action this week, rushing seven times for 23 yards while adding two catches for an additional 17 yards. He split the work with Justice Hill (Kenyan Drake was inactive) and saw limited snaps in his first game, which was to be expected. He has RB2 potential in the Ravens’ run-based offense, but it might take another week or two to knock off the rust.
- D’Andre Swift was supposed to play more this weekend, but his injured ankle once again limited him to just 10 touches. He played second fiddle in the Lions backfield as a result, with Jamaal Williams posting 22 touches, two touchdowns and 24.7 fantasy points. If Detroit gives Swift a week or two to get back to 100%, Williams would be a viable No. 2 back for fantasy fans.
- Chris Olave is becoming a huge part of the Saints passing game. One week after seeing 13 targets against the Buccaneers, the rookie saw another 13 looks for nine catches and 147 yards in a loss to the Panthers. That kind of usage might not happen on a week-to-week basis, but it shows the team and QB Jameis Winston have faith in him. That’s big for his future fantasy value, especially if veteran wideout Michael Thomas (foot) is forced to miss time.
- Romeo Doubs will no doubt be one of the hottest names on the waiver wire this week. He looked to be the top option in the Packers offense for Aaron Rodgers, posting eight catches on eight targets for 73 yards and a score. With Sammy Watkins on injured reserve and Christian Watson banged up, Doubs could see plenty of targets moving forward. He’s a free agent in most leagues.
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Michael Fabiano is an award-winning fantasy football analyst on Sports Illustrated and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association (FSWA) Hall of Fame. Click here to read all his articles here on SI Fantasy. You can follow Michael on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram for your late-breaking fantasy news and the best analysis in the business!
