Looking for some lineup advice? You've come to the right place. First things first: go through every game on the schedule right here to find out who Dave is starting and sitting for all 32 teams on the schedule for Week 2.
Carolina (1-2) at Houston (2-1)
1 p.m. ET (Fox)
Point spread: Texans -5
Flex Starter
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With seven targets from Kyle Allen last week and another good matchup on the table, Samuel should be part of your lineup mix. Houston's secondary is the weakness of its defense, allowing a 68.5% catch rate to receivers (11th highest in NFL) with 12.7 yards per catch. Perhaps more alarming is the high success rate of passes with 15-plus Air Yards (10 of 13 for 255 yards, per Sports Info Solutions). Expect the Panthers to attempt more of those this week, particularly since Allen is throwing a better long ball than Cam Newton did. Samuel has caught three of nine passes with 15-plus Air Yards on the year, but that includes five uncatchable balls from Newton. Samuel has provided at least 14 PPR points in his past two games and at least 11 PPR points in six of his past eight.
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Cleveland (1-2) at Baltimore (2-1)
1 p.m. ET (CBS)
Point spread: Ravens -7
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No doubt, Lamar Jackson was off last week. Of the nine targets sent Brown's way, only three were catchable, including just two of six deep shots. The Browns happen to have a decent front seven, complete with a pass rush that ranks in the top-10 in quarterback pressures according to Sports Info Solutions. But their secondary is already banged up and capable of allowing big numbers, just as it did last Sunday against the Rams. If the Ravens can keep protecting Jackson as they have been (he's been sacked six times on 115 dropbacks), he should continue to take downfield shots at Brown. Perhaps this week, the Ravens will try using Brown on shorter routes as well.
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Washington (0-3) at N.Y. Giants (1-2)
1 p.m. ET (Fox)
Point spread: Giants -3
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With a 67% catch rate, a 16.1-yard receiving average and a touchdown in every game, there's a lot to love about McLaurin. Hopefully his hamstring cooperates after he missed practice on Friday. Assuming he plays, he'll see a Giants defense that has the second-worst pass coverage grade on Pro Football Focus. Their top outside cornerbacks, Janoris Jenkins and DeAndre Baker, have each allowed multiple touchdowns through three games. Expect McLaurin to come through with a fourth straight strong effort, but keep tabs on his status headed into Sunday morning.
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Sneaky Sleeper
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If you're into skydiving, bungee jumping and eating ice cream pints without the protective seal on them, starting Keenum is for you. The journeyman quarterback has a dreamboat matchup against a Giants defense that's given up 24-plus points per week to opposing passers. What particularly works in his favor is New York's lack of pass rush (24th in quarterback pressures per Sports Info Solutions). Even with a bad O-line, Keenum's only been sacked six times all season (four last week versus Chicago) and should have time to make throws. Priced as the 16th most expensive quarterback on FanDuel and 23rd on DraftKings, he's a delicious DFS tournament play as well as an excellent streamer for Week 4, assuming the foot injury that kept him out of the team's walkthrough Wednesday isn't serious enough to sideline him.
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Not only is Jones the best streaming option for Week 4 (even better than Keenum), but he's also got a chance to be a good starting option for the rest of the season. He was outstanding in his debut, on-target with 80% of his throws per Sports Info Solutions, putting the ball where his receivers regularly made plays after the catch. Keep that in mind this week -- the Redskins have allowed 28 missed tackles and their top five defensive backs have given up 168 yards after catch through three weeks. That's a lot. Ultimately, the Redskins have allowed three passing touchdowns in each game this season and it doesn't seem likely for that trend to flip anytime soon. Tack on Jones' willingness to run when a play breaks down (28 yards and two rushing scores last week), and he qualifies as a top 12 Fantasy quarterback. He's not priced as such on FanDuel (14th) or DraftKings (17th), so take advantage.
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L.A. Chargers (1-2) at Miami (0-3)
1 p.m. ET (CBS)
Point spread: Chargers -16.5
Sneaky PPR Sleeper
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Drake's been the Dolphins' best running back by far and capable of catching a bunch of passes (eight in the last two weeks). Figuring the Dolphins will play in either a competitive game or from behind, he should continue seeing a bunch of snaps. Last week he played two-thirds of the time and should see a continued rise so long as Kalen Ballage makes mistakes. It's gross to start a Dolphins player, but the Chargers are banged up on both sides of the ball and flying cross-country for this early 1 p.m. kickoff.
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Oakland (1-2) at Indianapolis (2-1)
1 p.m. ET (CBS)
Point spread: Colts -7
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Williams is one of six receivers to have a touchdown in every game this season. The Colts lost top safety Malik Hooker to a knee injury and have given up big games to stud No. 1 receivers in two of three weeks. Williams has assumed the top receiving role for the Raiders and will line up against Colts outside corners Pierre Desir and rookie Rock Ya-Sin. Each of those guys have allowed a catch rate over 70% (Desir's is nearly 90%), which should turn into positive numbers for Williams. The wideout had seven targets in Weeks 1 and 2 before getting limited to three at Minnesota in Week 3. Expect a nice bounce-back game for Williams.
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Kansas City (3-0) at Detroit (2-0-1)
1 p.m. ET (Fox)
Point spread: Chiefs -6.5
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With top outside cornerback Darius Slay a question mark to play, I don't see how the Lions can contend with the Chiefs passing offense without using a lot of zone coverage. The larger issue is the lack of pass rush -- the Lions are ranked third-worst in quarterback pressures, according to Sports Info Solutions. This combination should lead to Patrick Mahomes having time to throw, which means lots of points. The fast track and suspect secondary would favor Hardman on those deep routes he's been thriving on. While he could deliver a monster stat line, there is the chance he bottoms out if he doesn't catch a long ball. Robinson is the safer option of the two as he's a more versatile receiver who has proven to be money in the red zone.
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Sneaky Sleeper
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By the time LeSean McCoy was out of last week's game against the Ravens, he had played one more snap than Williams. That means these two had essentially a 50-50 split in snaps, but not in touches. McCoy had 11 touches, Williams had eight, which still isn't bad. We could conceive that if McCoy plays four quarters, Williams would be in line for 10 touches against a weaker-than-expected Lions run defense that cannot possibly focus on the Chiefs' run game given their passing elements. It only helps Williams' cause that he's a solid pass-catcher (five grabs for 47 yards last week). He qualifies as a better-than-nothing running back starter in Week 4, especially in PPR formats.
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Sneaky Sleeper
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Last week was a good reminder of just how important Jones is to Matthew Stafford. Through three weeks, Jones has more catches, yards and Air Yards than Kenny Golladay. Furthermore, seven of Jones' 15 catches traveled at least 15 yards in the air, accounting for roughly 75% of his yards. Translation: He's a big-play receiver for the Lions, and in a game where they're expected to throw plenty to keep up on the scoreboard, Jones is worth taking a chance on. The Chiefs rank 19th against the pass but have been aided over the last two weeks by matchups against the Raiders and run-first Ravens (and 31 off-target throws between them).
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Risky Starter
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The Lions simply aren't using Hockenson as an every-down player yet. His playing time actually decreased in Week 3. If that doesn't make you grimace, just think about the THREE potential touchdowns he should have had last week. One pass bounced off his hands, another was caught but he was out of bounds and a third got ripped away from his grasp. Of course, the bright side of this is that he had three end-zone targets in one game, an improvement after getting one in his first two weeks. Stafford might need Hockenson as a receiving option just to keep the chains moving in what should be a moderately high-scoring game, but that's about the best argument you could make for starting him. His targets are not what anyone in Fantasy wants them to be. Kansas City's pass defense managed to keep Mark Andrews and Darren Waller in check the past two games.
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New England (3-0) at Buffalo (3-0)
1 p.m. ET (CBS)
Point spread: Patriots -7
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Michel's playing time dried up last week to a season-low 22% of snaps. After watching him play, it's easy to see why. He's not as explosive running to the edges and doesn't seem to read and react to his offensive line as well as Rex Burkhead did last week. Perhaps he can still fill a need in short-yardage situations, but the Patriots have all the reason in the world to try the more versatile Burkhead in tandem with Michel on early downs, giving way to James White in passing situations. The Bills' run defense hasn't been stout (4.3 yards per carry, one rush touchdown allowed) but Buffalo has been more vulnerable to running backs catching passes so far (7.7 yards per catch, two receiving touchdowns allowed). That's another strike against Michel.
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The Patriots pass defense was lights out in Week 1 against the Steelers before crushing a pair of high school offenses in Miami and the Jets. The Bills will provide a bigger challenge, but not a big enough one to suddenly sink them from their perch as the top pass defense in the league. Anticipate the Patriots covering Brown with some safety help to avoid giving up the big play. It could lead to a high-volume day for Cole Beasley and maybe even swanky new rookie tight end Dawson Knox, but it won't do Brown any good in the stat sheet.
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Tennessee (1-2) at Atlanta (1-2)
1 p.m. ET (CBS)
Point spread: Falcons -4
Sneaky PPR Sleeper
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To make up for the loss of safety Keanu Neal, Atlanta figures to shift nickelback Damontae Kazee to safety and put Kendall Sheffield in the nickel. The fourth-round rookie has played all of 11 snaps this season and will absolutely get tested by the Titans. The perfect guy to do it is Humphries, who had nine targets last week and turned them into 93 yards on six grabs. Of the 84 routes he's run for the Titans this season, only 11 came from outside receiver positions. At least Marcus Mariota can make good short-area throws, which helps Humphries' chances of making plays.
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Would you believe Hooper is second on the Falcons in targets this season? Part of the reason for this is because the Falcons run game has been a flop -- this is one of four teams yet to score a rushing touchdown this season. That's bad news coming into their matchup versus the Titans, who have allowed one rushing score but yielded a score to a tight end every week. Even if Hooper doesn't score, he should get enough catches and yards to help your team win.
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Tampa Bay (1-2) at L.A. Rams (3-0)
4:05 p.m. ET (Fox)
Point spread: Rams -9.5
Sit Him
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The Rams defense has been amazing through three weeks, allowing one touchdown through the air and racking up eight sacks on 31 quarterback pressures. True, it hasn't faced an elite quarterback yet, but it won't this week either. Winston was much improved in Week 3 but put up his numbers against a bad Giants defense. On the road for the first of five straight road games (not a typo), expect his offensive line to give way to Aaron Donald, Dante Fowler and a rejuvenated Clay Matthews, forcing Winston into mistakes and sacks.
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Risky Starter
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I took a deep dive on Howard to see why he wasn't performing to the standards we had hoped. The first problem is that he's running routes about half of the snaps he plays. Sometimes less. The second problem is that even when he gets open (and he can get open thanks to some unnatural quickness for a guy his size), Winston misses him. At least four times last week, including once in the end zone, Howard got himself open Winston was looking somewhere else. The third problem is that even when he's running a route and gets open AND Winston finds him, the ball placement is off. His first target could have been a touchdown if it wasn't thrown behind him and two other completions could have gone farther if Winston had been on the money. The final problem, at least for this week, is the matchup against the Rams, who have the resources to run with Howard and keep him under wraps. Athletic pass-catching tight ends spiked the Rams for big numbers last year, but Howard's just not being given enough opportunities to do it. It's a risk to start him, but benching him for equally unreliable tight ends (Eric Ebron, Jimmy Graham) seems rash.
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Seattle (2-1) at Arizona (0-2-1)
4:05 p.m. ET (Fox)
Point spread: Seahawks -4.5
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My favorite stat about Dissly's matchup comes from our podcast host Adam Aizer: The Cardinals have allowed 21 Fantasy points per game to opposing tight ends. That's more than what 18 teams allow in Fantasy points to quarterbacks! The Cardinals know about their tight end absurdities but there's not a whole lot they can do about it when the Seahawks present problems at receiver and running back. Dissly has five or more receptions in each of his past two games despite playing less than 60% of the snaps. With Nick Vannett traded to the Steelers, bank on that playing time rising.
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Kirk has 32 targets and 20 catches through three games. He's clearly a large part of the Cardinals offense, lining up in and running out of the slot and being a short-area target for Kyler Murray (78% of his targets had under 15 Air Yards). What he's not is a touchdown hog — he has one target inside the 10 on the year. Starting him should only be done in leagues where his catches and yardage are valued as he should continue to get fed a large dose of targets.
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Minnesota (2-1) at Chicago (2-1)
4:25 p.m. ET (Fox)
Point spread: Bears -3
Risky Starter
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Diggs has a 100% catch rate in two of three games, has landed 19% of the Vikings' total target share and owns a 16.8 yards per catch average on the season. Sounds amazing, right? Aren't stats fun? Here are some more: Diggs has 12 targets through three games as part of playing on the league's third-most run-heavy offense (103 carries, 63 pass attempts). His quarterback is completing just 58.7% of his passes with 6 of 11 passes of 15-plus Air Yards completed. Worse yet, the Vikings offensive line ranks 23rd in pass blocking efficiency by Pro Football Focus, with rookie center Garrett Bradbury considered the weakest link. The Bears defense showed off its amazing pass rush Monday night and figures to harass Kirk Cousins in this game. Here's the point: Diggs isn't doing anything wrong, save for one drop. He's just not getting the ball as much as we hoped when we drafted him. Diggs has a great track record against the Bears (a touchdown in six of seven career meetings), but it's come with massive target share. Without that target share, he's bound to be big-play dependent.
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Sit Him
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The Bears seem reactionary in their usage of Montgomery. After not giving him much work in Week 1, they overloaded him with bountiful touches in Week 2. How will they follow up his 16 touches in Week 3, with eight carries in the final two drives of a blowout? Bears coach Matt Nagy said on Monday that the run game and the offensive line needs to improve, but will Nagy stick with the run the same way the Packers did against the Vikings in Week 2? It's the only way Montgomery can find good yardage numbers, and we've seen his touches come inconsistently. Figure Montgomery to be touchdown-dependent, which he certainly might come through on (seven snaps inside the 10 compared to five for Mike Davis and Tarik Cohen combined). But it's not enough to feel good about starting him.
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Jacksonville (1-2) at Denver (0-3)
4:25 p.m. ET (CBS)
Point spread: Broncos -3
Sit Him
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There's a lot of worry about Chark getting shut down by Broncos stud cornerback Chris Harris. The only way Chark won't see Harris is if he lines up in the slot (Harris hasn't played there much this year), and Chark's rarely done that. However, Pro Football Focus credits Harris with allowing a catch on 7 of 9 targets this year. It sounds kind of silly to expect sixth-round rookie Gardner Minshew to connect with Chark on a bunch of passes with a great veteran Harris in coverage, but it's equally silly that the Broncos pass rush has been non-existent (20 pressures this year with zero sacks). Just a hunch, but the Broncos' pass rush gets going against what will be the easiest O-line they'll face so far this season. That makes things harder on the Jaguars as a whole.
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Dallas (3-0) at New Orleans (2-1)
8:20 p.m. ET (NBC)
Point spread: Cowboys -2.5
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Why is he still being started in 43% of leagues? Is it because people think he's still a good Fantasy tight end? News flash: He ranks 14th among tight ends in targets and 23rd in yards through three weeks (and tied for last in touchdowns with ... well, you know). Technically, the Cowboys have given up 192 yards and a touchdown to tight ends this season, but 116 yards and a touchdown were given to receiver-like tight end Evan Engram in Week 1. Cook has become a small part of a Saints passing game that isn't going to be as explosive with Teddy Bridgewater than it would be with Drew Brees.
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Cincinnati (0-3) at Pittsburgh (0-3)
Monday, 8:20 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Point spread: Steelers -4
Sit Him
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Not only was Ross stymied by a pesky zone coverage defense last week, but he also saw teammate Auden Tate begin to flash, losing target share to him. It's entirely possible both things happen again on Monday night. The Steelers don't always play that zone coverage but they might opt for it more often if only to keep Ross from beating them deep. And Tate has done nothing to lose his grip on the third receiver job for the Bengals (his rise has hurt C.J. Uzomah's playing time, not Ross'). Tack on Andy Dalton's track record against the Steelers, especially in Pittsburgh, and there's not much confidence for a big game for Ross.
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Philadelphia (1-2) at Green Bay (3-0)
Thursday, 8:20 p.m. ET (Fox, NFL Network, Amazon Prime)
Point spread: Packers -4.5
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Through three weeks, the Packers have allowed one 100-yard receiver (Allen Robinson, on 13 targets) and one receiving touchdown (Stefon Diggs, Week 2). Not only has outside cornerback Jaire Alexander played great, but both safeties Darnell Savage and Adrian Amos have been sharp. It helps that the Packers pass rush has become incredibly good (tops in quarterback pressures, per Sports Info Solutions). Jeffery doesn't seem to be close to 100%; lining up against the Packers cornerbacks won't be a fair fight. You could consider Agholor a flex option, including in PPR, but if he's not getting the 29% target share he had the past two weeks without Jeffery and DeSean Jackson, he won't be as good. It doesn't help that Agholor has four drops and a fumble over his past two games.
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Sneaky Sleeper
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Truth be told, Valdes-Scantling has made three good catches through three weeks. That's it. Starting him is betting on MVS making another big play, but there's a shot it happens. While the Eagles run defense has been strong through three weeks, their secondary has been shelled. Last week was the first time they didn't allow multiple passing touchdowns -- but they should have given up FOUR! T.J. Hockenson had one bounce off his hands, another get ripped from his hands and a third not count because he stepped out of bounds. Despite this good fortune, Philly ranks 29th against the pass with 302.7 yards and 11 pass plays of 20-plus yards allowed. Valdes-Scantling has as many targets as Davante Adams through three weeks.
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So who should you sit and start this week? And which surprising quarterback could lead you to victory? Visit SportsLine now to get Week 4 rankings for every position, plus see which QB is going to come out of nowhere to crack the top 10, all from the model that out-performed experts big time last season.
