Buy and Sell: Week 3

Buy and Sell for Week 3 in Fantasy Football

Kyle McCarthy
Trade Talk 4 Hours Ago

Week 2 of the NFL season doubles our sample size of data points, and we start to see teams establish offensive identities. This year in particular was super exciting and explosive, with tons of points scored across the league. It was the highest-scoring week in the NFL since Week 18 in 2021 (817 points).

The Indianapolis Colts are one of the stories of the young season so far after their walk-off win at home against Denver to get to 2-0 for the first time since 2009, and quarterback Daniel Jones is steering the ship quite swimmingly with a strong offensive core around him. They became the first offense in the history of the NFL to score on each of their first 10 possessions of a season, in addition to not punting in either of their first two games. We’ve seen head coach Shane Steichen build a very fantasy-friendly offense in the past with the likes of Gardner Minshew, and Jones has served that role as an accurate short to intermediate passer, plus posing as a bigger threat as a runner.

We want pieces of these fantasy-friendly offenses, plus exposure to this rookie running back class that is already starting to emerge. We’ll touch on a couple in particular here, as well as other players to buy and sell as we head into Week 3.

 

BUY

Cam Skattebo (RB – NYG)

RB23: 11 Rushes, 45 Yards 1 TD | 2 Receptions 14 Yards

 

Cam Skattebo looks like he is already taking over as the lead back for the Giants in Week 2 of the season. He played 51% of the snaps compared to Tyrone Tracy’s 42%, handled both carries inside the 10-yard line, ran slightly more routes, and more than doubled Tracy’s carries (11 to 5). His 82.8 rushing grade by PFF was the second-highest among all running backs in Week 2. Skattebo clearly looks like the guy to own in this backfield, and with how electric the Giants’ offense looked in their Week 2 thrilling overtime loss against the Cowboys, it could be a fun offense to have a piece of.

The fourth-rounder out of Arizona State punishes defenders when he has the ball in his hands and is consistently able to earn yards after contact. He had an excellent receiving profile in college and should continue to play plenty of pass downs with his ability to help in pass protection. The goal line duties should be all his, and he is nearly unstoppable there when he gets a full head of steam and some decent blocking. The production wasn’t too gaudy as he eased into his workhorse-esque role with 13.8 PPR points, but all signals point to Skattebo being an impact rookie and worth buying if the opportunity presents itself. Upcoming schedule: vs. KC, vs. LAC, at NO, vs. PHI, at DEN

 

Jaxon Smith-Njigba (WR – SEA)

WR13: 10 Targets, 8 Receptions, 103 Yards

 

Jaxon Smith-Njigba looks fantastic to begin the 2025 season, continuing his ascent from the second half of last season. From Week 9 onward of last season, he was ninth among receivers in yards per route run (YPRR) at 2.42, per PFF (minimum 50 targets). Through two games this season, he’s second in receptions (17), receiving yards (227), and third in YPRR (4.20) behind Zay Flowers and Puka Nacua. The third-year wideout is doing that on massive volume at a 44.2% target share.

He operated mostly out of the slot in college and in his first few years in the NFL, but has completely shifted from an alignment perspective. In new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak’s offense, Smith-Njigba is lining up out wide 71.4% of the time, up significantly from 15.6% last season and 31% as a rookie, per PFF. He’s winning more down the field with a career high 11.5 aDOT, and just looks like he’s becoming a superstar, showing the ability to win at every level of the field. This is a clear buy high if the manager with him is willing to deal him away and/or isn’t aware of how good he looks right now. The Seattle offense will continue to be run-heavy, as they are 31st in neutral down pass rate (42.6%) and 30th in pass rate over expected (-7.7%). But the passing game has totally consolidated around JSN, and Sam Darnold has shown himself to be capable of supporting a stable fantasy ecosystem. His target share will continue to be near the top of the league, and he is an incredibly talented player. Upcoming schedule: vs. NO, at ARI, vs. TB, at JAX, vs. HOU

 

Bhayshul Tuten (RB – JAX)

RB17: 8 Rushes, 42 Yards | 2 Receptions, 32 Yards, 1 TD

 

Bhayshul Tuten immediately stepped in and made an impact following Tank Bigsby‘s departure in Week 2 versus the Bengals. While he played only 26% of the snaps overall, the rookie out of Virginia Tech looked hyper-explosive on his touches, including on an impressive play for his first career touchdown. He is a dynamic athlete with 4.32 speed and elite burst, plus he’s shown the ability to handle a workload and be productive on runs up the middle.

He and Travis Etienne can coexist in this backfield and both be impactful in fantasy. Head coach Liam Coen has shown to be an elevator of talent in his time as a play caller, notably with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin both setting career best YPRR marks later in their careers. More importantly for Tuten, he found creative ways to get the ball to Bucky Irving, another fourth-round rookie, as offensive coordinator with Tampa Bay last season. There were plenty of these sorts of screens and quick hitters for Irving last season, and while he is exceptionally elusive and great at making defenders miss, he lacks the long speed to finish these plays for long touchdowns. Tuten has plenty of speed to take some of these plays all the way to the house. He is another rookie running back who is worth buying in the early stage of the season, as his opportunities should only continue to increase as the season goes along. Upcoming schedule: vs. HOU, at SF, vs. KC, vs. SEA, vs. LAR

 

SELL

Ricky Pearsall (WR – SF)

WR51: 6 Targets, 4 Receptions, 56 Yards | 1 Rush, -4 Yards

 

Ricky Pearsall had a promising Week 1 game against Seattle, where he was explosive, with 108 yards on four receptions. Pearsall has earned more targets this season, but he’s taken a backseat again to Jauan Jennings as the 49ers deal with more injuries to their offense. He’s only led his team in targets once in 13 career games, in a late-season matchup against the Lions when he tied with Jennings for 10 targets.

Jennings has earned a 23% targets per route run (TPRR) compared to Pearsall at 17% through two weeks. So while the sample is still small, Pearsall has managed the close the gap a bit from last season to this season, where Jennings broke out at a 26% TPRR, and Pearsall struggled at 15%. But George Kittle and Brandon Aiyuk are set to return around Week 5 to Week 6 of the season, and both are more talented players who earn more volume. Not to mention, Christian McCaffrey looks to be back and healthy, and continues to make amazing plays on the football field. Pearsall looks like he may get buried behind these other mouths to feed. Considering he has yet to show a proficiency in drawing a lot of targets with multiple key pieces out from the offense, and that was an issue in his prospect profile, now could be a good time to sell before players return from injury. Upcoming schedule: vs. ARI, vs. JAX, at LAR, at TB, vs. ATL

 

D’Andre Swift (RB – CHI)

RB22: 12 Rushes, 63 Yards, 1 TD | 3 Receptions, 6 Yards

 

D’Andre Swift had a fine superficial stat line and thus fantasy day in Week 2 against his former team, but it’s been another rough start to the season. The Bears rank first in yards before contact per attempt (1.89). Yet Swift has the lowest success rate (24.1%) among 44 running backs with at least 12 carries so far this season, per FTN Fantasy. Even though the Bears did not seek other legitimate options at running back this offseason outside of seventh-round pick Kyle Monangai, he could potentially lose some carries in the future but maintain his pass-down duties.

I avoided Swift in my leagues mostly due to his ineptitude as a runner. The opportunity is there for him to take it and have a breakout year for what looks like a promising Chicago offense under Ben Johnson. But his poor vision and tentative running style set the offense back often. The Bears have the third-most third-and-long snaps so far this season (19). Eventually, Ben Johnson will likely want his David Montgomery or Jamaal Williams type player to be more involved and keep the offense on schedule with high success rate runs, likely turning to Monongai. It is always dependent on the offer you can get, but Swift feels like a player to fade the rest of the way. Upcoming schedule: vs. DAL, at LV, BYE, at WAS, vs. NO

 

Tee Higgins (WR – CIN)

WR28: 8 Targets, 3 Receptions, 56 Yards, 1 TD

 

The injury to quarterback Joe Burrow obviously changes things for fantasy moving forward. Backup Jake Browning came in and frequently peppered Ja’Marr Chase, but later found Tee Higgins after he dusted his man off the release for a 42-yard touchdown. Burrow’s absence won’t be that drastic for the Cincinnati offense, as Browning has shown himself to be capable of running Zac Taylor’s offense and effectively distributing to his weapons.

There isn’t a major drop-off in PPR points per game for Higgins with Browning. He averaged about 15.7 points per game since 2023 with Burrow, compared to 13.2 with Browning. Notably, however, he caught only three balls per game in five games with Browning. This isn’t a must-sell situation with Higgins, as he will still score a good amount of points, but he’ll be a bit more volatile. Chase earns a ton of easy designed touches to generate yards after the catch, which keeps his floor extremely high. Higgins is big-play dependent, and Browning isn’t the thrower that Burrow is. Managers with Higgins could look to capitalize on this week’s touchdown and consider their options. Upcoming schedule: at MIN, at DEN, vs. DET, at GB, vs. PIT

 

 

Photo by Randy Litzinger, Robin Alam | Adapted by Parker McDonald (@CarbonFoxGFX on Twitter/X)