Fantasy Football Week 3 WR Preview: Malik Nabers carries major risk with Jameis Winston

Last week in this space, I told you not to panic. At the wide receiver position that is getting increasingly difficult to do. Nico Collins and Zay Flowers missed last week, A.J. Brown is out for another month, George Pickens and Drake London still haven’t shown up, and now at least three more teams will be playing with their backup quarterback. If you didn’t draft Parker Washington or Jalen Coker, then there is a good chance you are panicking about at least one of your wide receivers.

There may be some temptation to think that of all the receivers playing with a backup QB in Week 3, Malik nabers has it best. After all, in past years Jameis Winston has printed Fantasy points, both for his receivers and for the opposing defense. That is hard to believe after watching Monday night. Nabers is clearly not healthy after his shoulder injury, and he’s still getting fully comfortable on his repaired ACL. Winston did not look like the guy who threw 30 touchdowns in a season once upon a time. And I think this coaching staff will be far less willing to just let him sling it. Because of the state of the position, I still have Nabers as a start in three receiver leagues, but if I could get away from him, I would.

That being said, not panicking about rest-of-season value does not mean blindly walking into Week 2. Drake London was a victim of the Falcons trying to build a functional attack around Cooper Rush. Rush averaged four air yards per attempt and threw half of his passes to Bijan Robinson. That is not an environment any wide receiver can produce in. If anyone other than Rush starts in Week 2, I will consider London a must-start wide receiver once again. If Rush starts, then London is more of a low-end WR2 at best. That’s frustrating to hear about your Round 2 pick, but just know it is temporary. I fully expect London to meet Draft Day expectations once either of his top two QBs is healthy.

The two biggest risers from preseason rankings are the aforementioned Washington and Coker. Washington is a consensus top 12 receiver in Week 2, and Coker is in the top 24 for everyone. We are buying these breakouts and personally, I would start both over Nabers in Week 3.

QB | RB | WR |TE

Here is the rest of the Week 3 WR Preview:

Week 3 WR Preview

• 13.64 — Zay Flowers averaged an absurd 13.64 yards per route run before leaving with a hamstring injury. We are expecting him back against the Cowboys in Week 3.
• 25.8% — DK Metcalf has converted 25.8% of his air yards so far this season. That ranks dead last amongst the 45 receivers with at least 123 air yards this year.
• 78.6% — DeMario Douglas led the Patriots with a 78.6% route share. He may just be Drake Maye’s best receiver until A.J. Brown returns.
• 36.7% — Parker Washington has a 36.7% target share through two games. Only JSN has a better share.
• 53.6% — Over half of Jordan Love’s passes have gone to Christian Watson or Matthew Golden. Start them both.
• 12.83 — Marvin Harrison Jr. has the highest average route depth amongst starting receivers. He’s a sit.
• 5 — Jalen Coker already has five red zone targets; only JSN and Amon-Ra St. Brown have more.
• 26% — Malik Washington already has a 26% target share and now Caleb Douglas is expected to miss Week 3. Washington could be a PPR WR3 if the Dolphins offense can stay on the field.
• 25% — Kalif Raymond leads the Bears with a 25% target share. That will crush Luther Burden and Rome Odunze, no matter who is playing quarterback.
• 63.6% — Only 63% of Quentin Johnston’s targets have been catchable, the second-lowest mark amongst receivers with at least 10 targets. 

My full set of Week 3 Fantasy football projections for every position is now available here. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don’t live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 3. Projected stats for all starting wide receivers are updated throughout the week, so make sure you check back in later in the week for changes.