Quarterback
MVP: Matthew Stafford (Lions
Facing a massive 31-10 deficit at halftime, the Lions were forced to rely on a pass-heavy offense, and those early struggles ended up deeply rewarding Matthew Stafford's fantasy owners. Stafford's strong second half led to an excellent 385 YD/3 TD/1 INT statline as the Lions narrowly lost 34-27 to the Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday afternoon. Stafford has been one of the strongest fantasy options in 2016 thus far and his hot start has a great shot of continuing in Week 4 as the Lions take on the Bears weak, injury-riddled defense.
Honorable Mentions: Drew Brees (Saints), Jameis Winston (Buccaneers), Aaron Rodgers (Packers)
LVP: Ben Roethlisberger (Steelers)
Ryan Fitzpatrick's disastrous 6 INT performance against the Chiefs was clearly the worst quarterback performance of the week, but his ineptness didn't effect nearly as many as fantasy players as Ben Roethlisberger's did. The Eagles aggressive front applied constant pressure and forced Big Ben to have an uncharacteristically sloppy performance (257 YDS, 0 TD, 1 INT, lost fumble) in a game that was universally disastrous for the Black and Yellow. Ironically, Roethlisberger's Week 4 matchup comes against the Chiefs defense that forced the Jets to turn the ball over 8 times this week, which makes a bounceback performance far from probable.
Dishonorable Mentions: Ryan Fitzpatrick (Jets), Carson Palmer (Cardinals), Marcus Mariota (Titans)
Running Back
MVP: Devonta Freeman (Falcons)
After a relatively quiet start to the season, Devonta Freeman woke up in a big way this week. The Falcons running back torched the Saints lowly defense for 207 YDS (152 rushing, 55 receiving) and a TD on 19 touches. Freeman is currently locked in a timeshare with 2nd-year back Tevin Coleman and isn't likely to put up eye-popping numbers like this on a regular basis, but he's still worth starting every week in 2016's messy RB climate.
Honorable Mentions: Tevin Coleman (Falcons), Carlos Hyde (49ers), LeSean McCoy (Bills)
LVP: DeAngelo Williams (Steelers)
DeAngelo Williams has finally come back down to earth. A combination of the Steelers being forced to strictly pass after going down by multiple scores very early in the game and the Eagles honing in on him forced Williams to put up a lackluster 44 yards (21 rushing, 23 receiving) on just 12 touches. With Le'Veon Bell officially being reinstated from his suspension this week, Williams' fantasy value is bound to rapidly diminish.
Dishonorable Mentions: C.J. Anderson (Broncos), Matt Forte (Jets), Jerick McKinnon (Vikings)
Wide Receiver
MVP: Marvin Jones Jr. (Lions)
Marvin Jones Jr. made the most of his targets against the Packers on Sunday afternoon. On just 6 receptions, Jones Jr. racked up an absurd 205 yards and a touchdown. With Golden Tate struggling out of the gate, Jones Jr. has established him as the Lions go-to receiver and subsequently earned a spot as a high-end WR2 with a WR1 ceiling.
Honorable Mentions: Terrelle Pryor Sr. (Browns), Emmanuel Sanders (Broncos) T.Y. Hilton (Colts)
LVP: Julio Jones (Falcons)
Where the hell was Julio Jones last night? Despite getting targeted a team-high 7 times, Jones was almost completely left out of the Falcons torching of the Saints defense, finishing with just a single catch for 16 yards. While Jones is currently dealing with ankle and calf ailments, it's still shocking that he made so little noise against the league's worst defense.
Dishonorable Mentions: Kelvin Benjamin (Panthers), Brandin Cooks (Saints), Jeremy Maclin (Chiefs)
Tight End
MVP: Zach Miller (Bears)
Zach Miller was a popular fill-in option for owners of currently dinged-up TE1's Delanie Walker and Antonio Gates and he ended up nicely rewarding the people that inserted him into their lineups this week. Miller was Brian Hoyer's favorite target in the Bears ugly primetime loss against the Cowboys, picking up 78 yards and 2 TD on 8 receptions. Despite his success in Week 3, I still wouldn't recommend starting Miller outside of emergency situations.
Honorable Mentions: Coby Fleener (Saints), Travis Kelce (Chiefs), Jimmy Graham (Seahawks)
LVP: Rob Gronkowski (Patriots)
Rob Gronkowski's 2016 debut didn't exactly go as planned. The perennial top fantasy tight end was basically a ghost against the Texans, only seeing the field for 14 plays and failing to catch his only target of the game. Gronkowski was still visibly hobbled by the hamstring that held him out of the first 2 games of the season and despite all of the upside he brings to the table every time he steps on the field, he'll be a very risky play until he's at 100%.
Dishonorable Mentions: Julius Thomas (Jaguars), Jason Witten (Cowboys), Dwayne Allen (Colts)
Defense
MVP: Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs defense put up the type of performance in Week 3 that doesn't seem possible outside of a video game. The Chiefs defense/special teams put on a takeaway clinic against the Jets, picking up 6 INT's, 2 fumble recoveries and scoring a pair of TD's that catapulted them to an easy 24-3 victory. The Chiefs face a much tougher task against the Steelers in Week 4, but any owner has to feel good about their chances to be a top 3-5 fantasy defense this year after this unreal performance.
Honorable Mentions: Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots
LVP: Seattle Seahawks
The Seahawks defense put up a solid real-life performance in Week 3, but that success wasn't reflected in their fantasy numbers. The Seahawks allowed 18 points, failed to register a sack and only managed a single INT in their blowout win over the embattled 49ers. The Seahawks D get a more-than-ideal opportunity to redeem themselves against the turnover-happy Jets offense in Week 4.
Dishonorable Mentions: Carolina Panthers, Houston Texans, Pittsburgh Steelers
No comments:
Post a Comment