Fantasy Football: Week 3 Sunday Superlatives

Dishing out our weekly fantasy football awards based on what went right and what went wrong on the Sunday of Week 3.

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The third Sunday of the NFL season was the day of the underdog, as the Lions, Giants and Saints pulled off road upsets the experts out in Vegas didn't expect. We witnessed a day that was highlighted by a record-setting performance by a rookie quarterback making his first career start and several backup QBs having strong performances many pundits didn't think were attainable. Unfortunately, as we have become accustomed to learning, injuries are the most significant detriment to any fantasy team. Week 3 once again sent several star players to the sidelines, leaving many owners disappointed and frustrated. Let's take a look back at the week that was.

Biggest Touchdown Vulture

Jordan Akins, TE, Texans

"Houston has the ball. First-and-10. Deshaun Watson drops back to pass, and he finds DeAndre Hopkins. No, wait, it's Will Fuller. Oh no, it's tight end Jordan Akins. Wait, who?" The Jordan Akins who was started in 0% of leagues? Seriously? Watson threw for 351 yards and three touchdowns in the Texans upset of the Chargers on Sunday. Akins didn't vulture scores from Hopkins and Fuller owners just once; he did it twice! Hopkins and Fuller both failed to find the end zone in Week 3, as all three of Watson's touchdown passes went to the fantasy irrelevant tight ends and helped absolutely no one in fantasy football. Them's the breaks.

Surprise of the Week

Rex Burkhead, RB, Patriots

With James Whites a late scratch Saturday night, many fantasy owners expected a notable effort from starting RB Sony Michel. In a game where the Patriots were 21-point home favorites against the short-handed Jets, game script and volume projections led to Michel owners coming away feeling dejected. The star of the Patriots backfield on Sunday was Rex Burkhead who finished with 69 total yards, one TD and 18.9 PPR fantasy points.

Biggest Bust

Kenny Golladay, WR Lions

Golladay came into Week 3 as a high WR2 in a plus matchup with the Eagles after putting up 27.7 PPR points in Week 2 against the Chargers. Golladay only brought in two of his eight targets for 17 yards (3.7 PPR pts) disappointing many fantasy owners as he was started in nearly 90% of leagues. Ouch.

Chris Carson, RB Seahawks

With Rashaad Penny being inactive, the projections for RB Chris Carson to have a big game were immense. Carson came away with just a paltry 5.3 PPR points and its fair to say his starting job could be in jeopardy after fumbling for the fourth time in three games. His fumble on Sunday was a game-changer, and it's easy to surmise that Seattle could be losing confidence in their starting back with two consecutive subpar performances.

Top Quarterback

Russell Wilson, QB, Seahawks

Wilson, on the other hand, had a monster game in Sunday’s home loss to the Saints, passing for 406 yards and two touchdowns. Plus he added another 51 yards on the ground with two additional scores. Wilson finished as the top QB on Sunday with 45.4 fantasy points in the Sports Illustrated Fantasy Football World Championships. Wilson owners could be on the verge of seeing another monster performance in Week 4, as the Seahawks face off with a bad Arizona secondary that has been torched by opposing QBs to start the season playing without star CB Patrick Peterson on the back end.

Top Running Back

Mark Ingram, RB, Ravens

Ravens RB Mark Ingram was unable to lead his team to an upset of the Chiefs, but he led a lot of his owners to a fantasy win in Week 3. Ingram went over the century mark for the second time in three games and scored three touchdowns en route to 37.5 PPR points. Through three weeks, the veteran back has rewarded fantasy players who invested mid-round draft equity this summer.

Top Wide Receivers

Mike Evans, WR, Buccaneers

Evans was on the receiving end of all three Jameis Winston touchdown passes. He hauled in eight grabs, off a whopping 15 targets, for 190 yards. Evans, who through two weeks had highly disappointed fantasy owners who invested a first-round draft pick, busted out in a big way in Week 3 against the Giants. His 45 PPR points on Sunday was a welcome relief for owners yearning for him to finally break out. SI Fantasy was high on the Bucs getting back on track this week, and he delivered.

Keenan Allen, WR, Chargers

Allen has had a great start to the 2019 season, and Week 3 versus Houston was his best game thus far. As QB Phillip Rivers’s favorite target with a 40% target share, Allen rewarded fantasy owners with 13 receptions for 183 yards and two touchdowns. And his 43.3 PPR points in Week 3 could even be surpassed in Week 4 with a juicy matchup against the woeful Miami Dolphins.

The New Sheriff In Town

Daniel Jones, QB, Giants

New York Giants rookie QB Daniel Jones was outstanding in his first career start taking over for Eli Manning. Jones led the Giants to 32-31 road upset of Tampa Bay, throwing for 336 yards and two touchdowns. In addition, Jones showed off his running skills rushing for 28 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Completing 64% of his passes, Jones was able to post 41.6 fantasy points in Week 3 and will be a popular waiver streaming option this week with a plus matchup at home against the Redskins.

Burned By Injury

Saquon Barkley, RB, Giants

By far the biggest news in Week 3 was the ankle injury suffered by star RB Saqoun Barkley in the first half against Tampa Bay. Barkley was forced from the game after only posting a disappointing 7.7 PPR points. Many fantasy owners who won their draft lottery and will now be holding their breath awaiting the results of Monday’s scheduled MRI.

Stop and Take Notice

Darren Waller, TE, Raiders

Waller has been a star through the first three weeks, and he has progressively improved each week. In Week 3, he was targeted 14 times and pulled in 13 of them for 134 yards en route to 29.1 PPR fantasy points. Waller is easily a TE1 going forward and needs to be in every starting lineup weekly regardless of the matchup.

Nelson Agholor, WR, Eagles

Agholor was one of the hottest waiver wire adds this past week, and he did not disappoint those owners who were awarded his services. Agholor has become Carson Wentz's favorite target the past two weeks since starting WRs Alshon Jeffery, and DeSean Jackson went down in Week 2 with injuries. In back-to-back weeks Agholor has grabbed eight passes and in Week 3 they included two touchdowns. He did have a costly drop in Week 2 and a fumble yesterday—leaving some Eagles fans upset—but he will look to post his third straight 20-point plus PPR performance in Week 4 at Green Bay.

Phillip Lindsay, RB, Broncos

After two average games to start the season, Lindsay was outstanding in Week 3 against the Packers, scoring two touchdowns and posting 29 PPR fantasy points. They were his first two scores of the season, and it appears that he might have just wrestled the job from Royce Freeman going forward. Week 4 will present a much more difficult challenge when the Broncos play host to a tough Jacksonville run defense that has put the clamps down on Houston and Tennessee in recent weeks.

Call The Doctor

RB Saquon Barkley, Giants: Ankle. There is an MRI scheduled Monday, but the injury is believed to be a high ankle sprain.

WR Julian Edelman, Patriots: Chest/Ribs. The injury doesn't look to be serious; Edelman is day-to-day.

WR T.Y. Hilton, WR, Colts: Quad. Hilton is expected to miss Week 4, and could miss multiple weeks.

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