Sit/Start Week 3: Reviewing All Fantasy Relevant Players In Every Single Game

Game Info

Kickoff: Sunday, September 24th, at 1:00PM EST

Location: Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, FL

Betting Odds: Miami -6.5   O/U 48 Total via PFF.com

Network: CBS

Writer: Matt Prendergast (@amazingmattyp on X/Twitter)

Denver Broncos

Quarterback

Russell Wilson (Start, QB1-ish)

Russell Wilson looks significantly better than his fall-from-grace version from last year, but I’m not convinced he’s all the way back. The positive side of this: Pretty Good Russ is better than a lot of other guys’ Bests. Would it shock you to know that Russ is third in the league in touchdown passes with five already this year, and is right outside the Top 12 in yards (485)  and completion percentage (68.2%)? It should, but the Broncos are still 0-2! Nevertheless, Sean Payton has rejuvenated this squad, so Russ and the boys are coming out firing, playing hard, and not giving up until failure swoops down from the sky and engulfs them whole at the last minute. That’s right, the New Broncos are chokers! Just wait until they play the Chargers; the game will be 14 hours long.

Sorry, I got distracted there – the point is, Russ is back enough to be putting points on the board, and not just through the air: he led the Broncos with 56 yards of Old Man Running last week. He still has the vision, just not the same top-end speed. Anyway, Denver will likely play from behind in this one, meaning Russ will be throwing. Now that Jerry Jeudy is back, he has decent, healthy receivers so far, so streaming him as a low-end QB1 is not a bad play. If he can continue this upswing in week-to-week performance, maybe Subway will bring back the Dangerwich.

Running Backs

Javonte Williams (Start, Flex), Samaje Perine (Sit) 

Two weeks in, and it’s clear Javonte Williams is the runner of choice for the revised Payton offense., seeing a total of 25 touches to Samaje Perine‘s nine (including only 1 carry last week). Javonte is showing decent burst and the dreaded potential in duty so far, but at this stage, his fantasy performance is firmly on the anemic side. His 3.8 YPC puts him outside the Top 40 RBs, and his total yards sitting right at the cut-off of 24th.  If you lost Chubb or Saquon, you may be pressed to push Javonte into your RB2 slot. Not a thrilling prospect: his one potential touchdown opportunity to this point was handed to Jaleel McLaughlin for his only carry of the season. I have a strong feeling that Javonte will become more successful as he gets more run, which is what’s happening now. As for Perine: down the road a bit, once injuries deplete your coffers, he may offer emergency relief in a PPR situation. He’s been targeted four times each week, failing to haul in only one of those. These aren’t highlight reel opportunities or conversions, however: 7 for 57 combined smells like check-downs and screens soup, and I’d expect that to remain Perine’s role for the season as they develop Javonte and begin to work in the speed of McLaughlin into the mix a bit more.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

Courtland Sutton (Start, WR3) Jerry Jeudy (Start, WR3), Marvin Mims (Start, WR3), Brandon Johnson (Sit) Adam Trautman (Sit)

I have all three of the Denver receivers chalked up as WR3s this week but for fundamentally different reasons. Courtland Sutton is leading this receiving crew with 12 targets on the year, and he’s brought in nine of them down. The downbeat on this: these have been safe throws, and Sutton’s longest has been 21 yards. For now, his ceiling is low-end WR2 since the injury, but the consistent usage allows him to be playable in fantasy with tempered expectations. As for Jeudy, he’s apparently fully healthy, but until he proves it on the field with something better than a 5-3-25-0 performance, I’m wary. I’m dropping him down the ladder until he offers some consistency and makes an impact. Jeudy is one of the more frustrating fantasy roster, especially after Marvin Mims‘s 113-yard performance (plus a 45-yard punt return) in Week 2 on very limited touches. Much like Week 1, Mims was only targeted twice – but instead of posting a paltry 9 yards, he exploded. One week does not a trend make, but the rookie looked like he belonged. For an offense in urgent need of excitement and momentum, I won’t be surprised to see more Mims targets this week in a game in which they will likely be throwing all day.

I can’t say Brandon Johnson should be rostered, much less find his way into your lineup, but the speed he showed on his slant touchdown combined with the decent 6’2″ 195 lb frame might create some mismatches warranting usage down the line. It doesn’t hurt his case that he showed great awareness on his heads-up Hail Mary score. The issue here is that there are only so many spots: Johnson has only been targeted twice in consecutive weeks; that’s not enough to put him in a lineup. Adam Trautman has little to offer fantasy-wise; he’s been pressed into a starting spot due to the Greg Dulcich injury and is a pretty solid blocker. If your league dishes out points for Tight End Blocking, give Trautman a look-see; otherwise, he’s a hard pass.

Miami Dolphins

Quarterbacks

Tua Tagovailoa (Start, QB1)

The Dolphins are putting out the possibly most explosive and exciting offense of this young 2023 season, and Tua Tagovailoa is helming that ship. It would be nuts to even contemplate sitting him. Currently in the top 5 league-wide in Touchdown Passes (4), Touchdown Rate (6.7%) and Yardage (an almost gross 715), with only 1 interception to try to besmirch those marks, Tua is hitting in all the key Fantasy QB Stud metrics. While his numbers did return to a more earthly range (249 and 1) in Week 2, he was up against a staunch Patriots defense. The Broncos, while greatly improved from last year’s bag of depression, are not a unit of the same caliber. Tua and his speedy pair of receivers will return to posting vulgar fantasy stats this week.

Running Backs

Raheem Mostert (Start, RB2), Salvon Ahmed/De’Von Archane (Sit)

I’m with every one of you, waiting with dread for the week in which Raheem Mostert‘s legs disintegrate and end yet another promising season. But that day is not here yet, and if history teaches us anything, Raheem will be fine up until the week right before Jeff Wilson Jr. comes back, and will then  take the keys, as is tradition. Brian Robinson had a great day against this Broncos team a week ago with a less dangerous passing attack to keep the defense honest. If we safely assume the Dolphins receivers will have even more success with Tua, Tyreek Hill, and JaylenWaddle than Sam Howell and company did (and they fared well), the transitive property of More Explosively Exciting Passing Game = Plenty of Quality Reps and Runs for running backs calculates to a terrific outing from Mostert this week. Just so they don’t feel like we’re excluding them, a healthy De’Von Achane and Salvon Ahmed combined to transform four carries into 18 yards (and four receptions into another 34 yards). The Dolphins don’t seem to stray from what works, so don’t bother fretting over usage of these other backfield components.

Wide Receivers/ Tight Ends

Tyreek Hill (Start, WR1), Jaylen Waddle (Start, WR2), Braxton Berrios/River Cracraft (Sit), Durham Smythe (Sit, TE2)

If you legitimately came here, or anywhere, looking for advice as to the proper use of Tyreek Hill, allow me to Talk for America right now: Huh? Hill is one of the few unquestionable certainties of this fantasy year. But what of the yin to Hill’s yang?  Jaylen Waddle has only put up 164 receiving yards in two weeks, good for 13th in the league. Tyreek has nearly doubled that! Braxton Berrios and River Cracraft are second-to-third tier options for Tua in this offense and shouldn’t even be on a roster, really: the points just won’t be there regularly or impressively.  Durham Smythe, with a name reminiscent of the rich kid with the Benz who treats his girlfriend like garbage in all the 90s teen movies ever filmed, is a surprisingly serviceable tight end option so far this year on the field, but doesn’t offer  much in terms of fantasy treats. Given the inconsistent-to-weak usage of the tight end position over the past two years by the Miami Dolphins, leave him be until significant red zone action starts presenting itself.