NFL 2025 Week 3 Start 'Em Sit 'Em: Zay Flowers is the real deal

Week 3 is underway and there are multiple shootouts to choose from when setting your fantasy lineups. These are my favorite plays and biggest fades heading into the weekend.

QuarterbackStart: Caleb Williams, Bears

It pains me to say this as a Caleb doubter, but he's in a phenomenal spot for Week 3. The Cowboys currently rank 31st in EPA per dropback allowed. Only the Bears have given up more fantasy points to quarterbacks than Dallas. Fittingly, this game between two putrid defenses has a total of 50.5 points. Chicago's team total of 24.5 is the sixth-best mark of Week 3. If Williams is ever going to look like the No. 1 overall pick, it will be on Sunday versus the Cowboys.

Start: Baker Mayfield, Bucs

The Bucs are down two starting offensive linemen from Week 2 on top of left tackle Tristan Wirfs, who is not expected to play this week while recovering from an offseason knee injury. These losses have some fantasy managers panicking. Mayfield has five touchdown passes this year, and four of them have come from a clean pocket. He led the league in touchdown passes from a clean pocket last year. This probably will be an issue in the future, but the Jets are not the team to capitalize on the Bucs' offensive line losses. They rank 31st in pressure rate and 25th in pass rush win rate this year. Only three teams rank worse in EPA per play allowed. Mayfield should be fine for at least one more week.

Sit: Kyler Murray, Cardinals

Murray is struggling to push to even the QB1/2 border through two weeks, with fantasy outings of 18.3 and 14 points on his ledger. That is despite facing two defenses that rank outside of the top 20 in EPA per play. Murray hasn't thrown more than 29 passes in a game. He has also struggled to get much going downfield. He ranks 25th in completions 10+ yards downfield and 23rd in YPA (8.3) on these throws. The Cardinals have a check-down-heavy, run-first offense and they are facing a 49ers defense that has given up the third-lowest EPA per dropback. Vegas is also skeptical of the Cardinals, giving them a team total lower than the road-tripping Broncos and Steelers. Even Carson Wentz's Vikings are projected for more points.

Sit: C.J. Stroud, Texans

It" does not appear to be happening for Stroud this year. The second-year passer is averaging fewer than 200 yards per game and has just one passing touchdown. Pro Football Focus has him graded as their No. 32 passer. He sits at 22nd in EPA per play and 23rd in CPOE. Stroud has been pressured at the seventh-highest rate this season and PFF has him graded as a bottom-10 passer when defenses harass him. The Texans' defective offensive line and Stroud's struggles under pressure have created an untenable fantasy situation for the foreseeable future.

2025 Week 3 Fantasy Football Rankings: QBRanking and evaluating all of Week 3's top plays at quarterback.

• Patrick Daugherty,

Running BackStart: Jordan Mason, Vikings

It's wheels up for the former 49er this week with Aaron Jones on injured reserve. Mason already had a pronounced lead over Jones in carries, with a 24-13 advantage coming out of Week 2. Both backs also had exactly four targets. The Vikings have taken a different approach on offense this year, leaning on their ground game for the first time under Kevin O'Connell.

Their -2% pass rate over expected is the lowest in KOC's tenure as the head coach. Now they get a home matchup versus a Bengals squad also down to their backup quarterback. Expect plenty of Mason in his first game as a workhorse back.

Start: Jaylen Warren, Steelers

Arthur Smith gave up on his Kenneth Gainwell fan fiction in Week 2 and handed the Steelers backfield over to Warren. He accounted for 70 percent of the team's carries and upped his target share from seven to 13 percent. Warren, of course, looked electric through the air.

Jaylen Warren went crazy on this catch and run

SEAvsPIT on FOX/FOX Onehttps://t.co/HkKw7uXVntpic.twitter.com/fKSeR78pKg

- NFL (@NFL) September 14, 2025

Aaron Rodgers also mentioned giving Warren more work after the game. The longtime backup now leads all running backs with 4.3 yards per route run. The Steelers are favored over the Patriots this week and have a team total within a point of teams like the Lions and Eagles.

Sit: Kyren Williams, Rams

The Rams got nothing out of Blake Corum as a rookie but are giving him some run in his second season. That has caused a noticeable decline in Williams' role. Williams went from a 64 percent route rate in 2024 and 75 percent of the rush attempts inside the five to 48 percent of 50 percent this year. He is averaging fewer than two catches and 10 receiving yards per game for the first time since his rookie year. Williams won't be a sit for everyone this week, but managers who loaded up on running backs early can likely afford to bench him for a tough matchup versus the Eagles.

Sit: Quinshon Judkins, Browns

Judkins made his NFL debut in Week 2 and immediately saw nearly half of the team's rush attempts. He ran well on his limited opportunities, turning 10 attempts into 61 yards. The bad news for the rookie is that he and the Browns face an immovable object in the Packers' defense this week. Green Bay is allowing negative yards before contact this year, meaning they are hitting runners in the backfield, on average. They have allowed one carry of 10+ yards and are also inside the top 10 in limiting yards after contact. With the Browns likely to get blown out by Green Bay, Judkins is facing an uphill battle to be fantasy-relevant in his second game.

2025 Week 3 Fantasy Football Rankings: RBRanking and evaluating all of Week 3's top plays at running back.

• Patrick Daugherty,

Wide ReceiverStart: Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seahawks

This ultimately checks in as more of a DFS play. Unless you started your draft with five straight wide receivers, you're not thinking about benching JSN. Just take this paragraph as a reminder that you can count the number of receivers who are better than Smith-Njigba on your hands-maybe even on one hand. JSN leads the position in target share (44 percent), air yards share (59 percent), and targets per route run (.41). He is currently the WR9 in PPR points with room to the upside. No receiver has a more secure role than JSN and his team has a 24.5-point total, tying them for the sixth-highest on the week.

Start: Zay Flowers, Ravens

Flowers' peripherals are stunningly similar to JSN. He sits in the top five in:

• Target share - 42 percent
• Targets per route run - .37
• Yards per route run - 4.3

The Ravens have a Monday night showdown with the Lions at home this week. The game has a 52.5-point total-the highest of the year so far-and Baltimore's team total of 28.5 easily leads the slate (sans Buffalo). Flowers is on a superstar trajectory in what could end up being one of the best games of the year. He is a top-five fantasy wideout for Week 3.

Sit: Calvin Ridley, Titans

Ridley is losing his grip on the WR1 role in Tennessee, and it's only Week 3. After two games, Ridley has a 25 percent target share compared to 24 percent for Elic Ayomanor. The rookie is running circles around him in the air yards department and a touchdown in Week 2 has Ayomanor with the higher fantasy total through two weeks. Cam Ward has yet to throw for 200 yards in a game and is spreading the ball around more than fantasy managers expected. I'm revoking Ridley's WR2 status until something changes.

Sit: Travis Hunter, Jaguars

The Jags are still trying to figure out how to use their No. 2 overall pick. Fantasy managers should give them a few weeks to sort things out. Hunter played more on defense last week and, in turn, his route rate fell off a cliff. He went from running 82 percent of the routes in Week 1 to 60 percent in Week 2. The Jags also made him less involved on a per-route basis, with his targets per route plummeting from .29 to .15. Hunter has been woefully inefficient by all metrics so far with 1.02 YPRR and 3.9 yards per target. Both his role and his efficiency need to improve before fantasy managers can get him back in their lineups.

2025 Week 3 Fantasy Football Rankings: WRRanking and evaluating all of Week 3's top plays at receiver.

• Patrick Daugherty,

Tight EndStart: Juwan Johnson, Saints

It's Juwan's world. We're all just living in it. The veteran tight end leads the position in targets (20) and air yards (144). His 33 percent target share and 35 percent air yards share also top the charts if you remove Dallas Goedert, who has only played in one game. Spencer Rattler has been serviceable this year, ranking only slightly below average in most metrics. The Saints, in turn, are letting him sling it. They have attempted the fourth-most passes through Week 2. Johnson is a volume-dominator on a team with targets to spare. He's a TE1 until proven otherwise.

Start: Kyle Pitts, Falcons

Don't look now, but Pitts is operating as a functional NFL tight end. PFF has Pitts graded as their No. 9 tight end and he is averaging 1.55 yards per route run. That is his best mark since 2022. He is running nearly every available route with an 87 percent route rate and has a healthy targets per route run of .22. The Falcons don't have a particularly fun passing attack right now, but Pitts is seeing enough work to hang around the TE1/2 border.

Sit: Mark Andrews, Ravens

I'm already prepared to get dunked on when Andrews scores two touchdowns on three targets versus the Lions, but this is what the process looks like. Andrews has been a ghost on the field this year. He has been targeted on a dreadful 10 percent of his routes and has just two catches so far. Andrews is averaging a dysfunctional .17 yards per route run. Now 30 years old, Andrews simply might not have the juice" anymore.

Sit: David Njoku, Browns

Harold Fannin Jr. has become a problem for Njoku. The rookie isn't stealing many routes from his veteran counterpart. Njoku's route rate of 81 percent is the eighth-highest for a tight end. His .13 target per route, on the other hand, is abysmal. Njoku ranks 32nd in that metric. Fannin is vacuuming up underneath looks, leaving mostly seam-stretching duties for Njoku. Without a stranglehold on the tight end targets in Cleveland, Njoku is no longer a TE1.

2025 Week 3 Fantasy Football Rankings: TE, K, DEFRanking and evaluating all of Week 3's top plays at tight end, kicker, and defense.

• Patrick Daugherty,