I hate football.
Alright, I mostly love football … but I hate it today. Yes, I’m flustered and angered right now folks, because this was one of those weekends where almost nothing went by the book. Much to the contrary, things went totally sideways. It’s like Jerry Jones building a Super Bowl caliber team without Jimmy Johnson (never gonna happen), or Bryce Young emerging into an elite NFL player (after what we saw from Andy Dalton, Young’s play looks even worse).
With that said, and before I make like my Fantasy Dirt co-host Lindsay Rhodes and throw out an F-bomb, he’s my Fabs’ Five Storylines from Week 3 that stood out the most. For all of the latest news and fantasy advice, be sure to check out Fantasy Dirt five days a week!
The NFL is drunk … especially the quarterbacks
I’ve been doing this whole fantasy football thing for a very long time, and I can’t remember a week that was so strange. Teams didn’t score a lot of points (10 scored 15 or fewer), and the quarterback position was upside down. Among the top-12 point scorers at the position going into Sunday night included Malik Willis, Sam Darnold, Andy Dalton, Daniel Jones, Bo Nix, and Caleb Williams. Anybody start those guys? What’s more, some of the “hotter” quarterbacks, including Baker Mayfield, Derek Carr and C.J. Stroud, all finished with single digits. Heck, fantasy superstar Jalen Hurts was held to 10.9 points. I guess we can chalk this up to being one of those unpredictable weeks, but they’re coming more often lately.
Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle are in big trouble
If I had a genie in a bottle and could only make fantasy football related wishes, I’d wish that Tua Tagovailoa would come back and never suffer another concussion. Because without him, the entire Dolphins pass attack is a total dumpster fire. Skylar Thompson looked like a lost puppy under center, and his offensive line did him no favors. When he was knocked out of the game, journeyman backup Tim Boyle took over. With those two signal-callers under center, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle combined to score 13.6 points. I’m not sure what the Dolphins can do … maybe trade for Russell Wilson … but their quarterback situation is going to make it impossible to start any of their skill position players with confidence.
Malik Nabers is the real fantasy football deal
Boy, does LSU have a way of building superstar NFL wide receivers! Nabers is the next in line, and he showcased his talents to the tune of eight catches, 78 yards, two touchdowns and 28.2 points in a win over the Browns. Nabers has now seen 30 targets over his last two games, during which time he’s averaged 28.5 points. It hasn’t mattered that Daniel Jones is his quarterback, either … that was maybe the lone concern with drafting Nabers in fantasy leagues. I’m not sure if he’s elite yet, but Nabers is on the fast track to getting there.
Andy Dalton awakens the Panthers offense
Coming into this week, Carolina was dead last in points scored (6.5 per game) and total yards (176.0 per game). It had much to do with the poor play of Bryce Young, who was benched this week in favor of Dalton. That was the right move, as the Red Rifle led them to 36 points and over 400 yards of total offense in a win over the Raiders. Chuba Hubbard had 27.9 points, Dontae Johnson had 26.2, and Adam Thielen scored a touchdown. This is all great news for their fantasy values moving forward, but it also shows how badly Young has played. If he’s on your dynasty roster, the future is clearly not very bright.
The tight end position is an absolute mess
As if fantasy fans already didn’t already have it bad enough with T.J. Hockenson, George Kittle, David Njoku and Evan Engram out, tight end got even thinner this week. Sam LaPorta and Trey McBride, both top five tight ends in drafts, suffered injuries. Their status for next week is up in the air. It gets worse too, as the players who didn’t get hurt put up awful totals. Mark Andrews had one target and didn’t score a single point. Travis Kelce was held to seven points, Kyle Pitts scored just 7.9 points, Hunter Henry had 2.9 points on Thursday night, and Brock Bowers was held to just 7.1 points. A few other fantasy starters, including Pat Freiermuth, Colby Parkinson and Dalton Schultz, were all held under eight points. In all, only five tight ends have scored more than 9.7 points this week.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Fabs Five: Quarterbacks Oddities and Big Trouble For Miami Headline Week 3.
