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Week 3 Free Agent Focus

Josh Allen, QB, Bills

Blind-bid recommendation: 8-12%

He entered Week 2 having finished as a top 13 fantasy QB in 6 of his last 7 games dating back to last season. It should be 7 out of 8 after Allen tallied 253 yards and a score passing — plus 21 yards and another TD on the ground — in the Week 2 win over the Giants.

He’ll be a QB1 for Week 3’s matchup with the Bengals — and for plenty more games the rest of the way.

Matthew Stafford, QB, Lions

Blind-bid recommendation: 2-5%

Stafford has posted 385-3-0 and 245-2-2 passing lines to open the season. A Week 3 matchup against a burnable Eagles secondary will have Stafford on the spot-start radar. Philly allowed 320 yards and 3 TDs to Matt Ryan on Sunday night, a week after yielding 380 and 3 to Case Keenum.

Carlos Hyde, RB, Texans

Blind-bid recommendation: 30-40%

After ripping off 83 yards on 10 carries in the opener, Hyde dominated Houston’s backfield work in Week 2. He out-carried Duke Johnson 20 to 6 and out-gained him 90 to 31.

Hyde wasn’t targeted and won’t offer much in the passing game going forward. But he looks like the clear lead ball carrier.

Jaylen Samuels, RB, Steelers

Blind-bid recommendation: 30-35%

James Conner left Sunday's game with an apparent left knee injury. If he misses further time, Samuels would take over as Pittsburgh's lead back.

He has already proved capable of doing so. In 3 games in that role last season, Samuels compiled 223 rushing yards, 12 catches, 105 receiving yards and 1 TD.

This time around, of course, he might have to do so without Ben Roethlisberger piloting the offense. We'll update the blind-bid recommendation on Samuels as we learn more about Conner's status.

Raheem Mostert, RB, 49ers

Blind-bid recommendation: 15-20%

Mostert led a 3-man backfield with 16 touches in the big win over the Bengals. Mostert took 13 carries for 83 yards and caught 3 of 4 targets for 68 yards and a score.

Tevin Coleman figures to miss at least a few more weeks, and the 49ers don’t want to overwork Matt Breida. So Mostert will be at least a RB3 or flex option. There's also frustration potential in a backfield that saw Jeff Wilson claim both of its TDs Sunday.

Frank Gore, RB, Bills

Blind-bid recommendation: 10-15%

Gore handled 19 carries in the win over the Giants, churning out 68 yards and a score. He also caught both of his targets for 15 yards. The veteran will continue to be busy if Devin Singletary’s hamstring injury costs the rookie further time.

Chris Thompson, RB, Redskins

Blind-bid recommendation: 10-15%

After a 7-catch opener, Thompson tied for the team lead with 5 grabs and tallied 48 receiving yards in today’s loss to the Cowboys. He’ll continue to be a big part of this passing game going forward — and find himself on the field plenty with Washington likely to be trailing often.

Terry McLaurin, WR, Redskins

Blind-bid recommendation: 25-35%

ESPN shows him rostered in just 38% of leagues — despite a huge Week 1 — so we’ll mention him again.

McLaurin’s Week 2 wasn’t as big as his debut, but he led Washington with 8 targets and posted a 5-62-1 line. He’s looking like a weekly WR3 moving forward.

Demarcus Robinson, WR, Chiefs

Blind-bid recommendation: 20-25%

Wasn’t Mecole Hardman supposed to be the Tyreek Hill fill-in? Robinson snagged all 6 of his targets in Sunday’s win over the Raiders for 172 yards and 2 TDs. Robinson scored from 44 and 39 yards out and looked excellent doing it. He’ll be hard to keep out of Week 3 lineups.

Mecole Hardman, WR, Chiefs

Blind-bid recommendation: 15-20%

OK, Hardman’s Hill impression wasn’t bad either. He matched Robinson at 6 targets, catching 4 for 61 yards and a TD. Hardman’s score came from 42 yards out, and he lost another 72-yard TD reception to a holding penalty by LeSean McCoy. If you catch passes from Patrick Mahomes, you’re at least a solid play in fantasy lineups.

Next comes a Baltimore defense with banged-up corners that just allowed 349 passing yards to the Cardinals.

Deebo Samuel, WR, 49ers

Blind-bid recommendation: 10-15%

He had a quiet opener on the stat sheet but led Niners WRs in snaps. In Week 2 against the Bengals, Samuel led the team with 7 targets, 5 catches and 87 receiving yards. He scored from 2 yards out and even carried twice for 7 yards.

Samuel is looking like the WR to own in San Francisco and could quickly emerge as a weekly fantasy starter.

Nelson Agholor, WR, Eagles

Blind-bid recommendation: 10-15%

Eagles WRs DeSean Jackson (groin) and Alshon Jeffery (calf) each missed most of Sunday night's loss at the Falcons. HC Doug Pederson said afterward that he didn't know whether those would be long-term injuries.

We should gain some clarity on those situations before waiver runs Tuesday and beyond, but it sure seems like Agholor will likely see an elevated role for at least Philly's Week 3 home date with the Lions. He caught 8 of 11 targets for 107 yards and a TD in Atlanta and could have gone for even more if he hadn't dropped an easy long ball from Carson Wentz.

Deep-League Options:

Jacoby Brissett, QB, Colts

Blind-bid recommendation: 3-5%

He completed 17 of 28 passes for just 146 yards in the win over the Titans. But 3 of those completions went for scores. Brissett added 25 yards on 7 carries. He’s playing solid football for the Colts and will be a deep-league spot-start option for Week 3’s home opener against the Falcons. Then comes another plus matchup at home against the Raiders.

Gardner Minshew, QB, Jaguars

Blind-bid recommendation: 2-3%

Minshew followed his impressive fill-in performance against the Chiefs with another quality outing at Houston in Week 2. The rookie completed 69.7% of his throws for 213 yards and a TD in a game his team lost at the wire. It doesn't hurt that 2nd-year WR D.J. Chark appears to be emerging as a threat.

Minshew looks like at least a potential 2-QB league starter at home for the Titans in Week 3. Upcoming trips to Carolina and Cincinnati plus a Week 6 home date with the Saints look like upside spots as well.

Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Saints

Blind-bid recommendation: 1-2%

He didn’t play well in Los Angeles, completing 17 of 30 passes for 165 scoreless yards. But Bridgewater was coming in cold against a good Rams pass defense. If Brees misses more time with his thumb injury, Bridgewater figures to hold some spot-start value in HC Sean Payton’s offense and with WR Michael Thomas and RB Alvin Kamara at his disposal.

Mason Rudolph, QB, Steelers

Blind-bid recommendation: 1-2%

We’ll see if Ben Roethlisberger will miss time with his elbow injury, but Rudolph certainly looked capable in relief against Seattle. He completed 12 of 19 passes for 112 yards and 2 scores. His INT came off (another) ugly drop from Donte Moncrief. Rudolph looked good this preseason, too, posting a 65% completion rate, 8.6 yards per attempt and 4 TDs vs. 1 INT.

Darwin Thompson, RB, Chiefs

Blind-bid recommendation: 10-20%

He was dumped in plenty of leagues after a 1-touch debut. (And just 1 more touch in Week 2 won’t draw much attention.) But if Damien Williams misses time with his knee injury, Thompson figures to take on a bigger role alongside LeSean McCoy. And McCoy is a 31-year-old who missed time in 3 of the previous 4 seasons.

Gerald Everett, TE, Rams

Blind-bid recommendation: 5-8%

We were just talking on the Week 2 preview podcast about how Everett + Tyler Higbee would be a viable fantasy TE. Well, we might get something close to that if Higbee misses time with his chest injury. The next 2 weeks bring plus matchups against the Browns and Bucs.

Jason Witten, TE, Cowboys

Blind-bid recommendation: 4-5%

He’s opened his comeback tour with TDs in both of his first 2 games. Witten will be a decent TD bet in Week 3 against the lifeless Dolphins.

Will Dissly, TE, Seahawks

Blind-bid recommendation: 4-5%

Dissly caught all 5 of his targets for 50 yards and 2 TDs in Sunday’s win at Pittsburgh.

This isn’t the 1st time Dissly has popped. He posted 3-105-1 and 3-42-1 lines in his first 2 games last year before going down with a season-ending knee injury.

Dissly figures to be tough to project in Seattle’s low-volume passing attack — but he’s at least worth owning in deeper and TE-premium leagues.

Alex Korff, Product Manager

Alex is an engineer by trade and focuses a lot on the game theory and the “value” of players. He spends most of his time in spreadsheets and building new fantasy football tools.