Trey McBride
18.10 pts
Eight catches on ten targets. The sixth-best tight end in football last week and the only starter who beat expectation.
No football since the Rams finished off the Giants on Monday night, so this one looks forward: waivers cleared at 3:09 this morning, you won Keon Coleman for $14, and you are 0-2 with two questionable wide receivers and a Thursday night kickoff coming in about 36 hours.
LordHaveMRSA (0-2)
0.00
Free Jacobs (1-1)
0.00
Week 3 has not started. First kickoff that matters to either roster is Atlanta at Green Bay, Thursday 8:15 PM ET. Week 2 finished 102.28 to 74.52 for chaseelson30.
D.J. Moore
-0.10 pts
Hurt his shoulder early, played 31% of the snaps, caught nothing. Questionable for Sunday.
Dontayvion Wicks
27.70 pts
Two-week total. Dropped by another manager at 3:09 this morning. Claim him.
1. Where the matchup stands
Nothing has been played. Week 3 opens Thursday night, September 24, with the Atlanta Falcons at the Green Bay Packers, 8:15 PM ET - the only Thursday game, and the only one with a player of yours in it (Brian Robinson Jr. of the Atlanta Falcons, currently on your bench). Everything else on your roster plays Sunday.
Your Week 3 opponent is Free Jacobs, 1-1, 205.96 points scored. He starts Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens) at quarterback, Jahmyr Gibbs (Detroit Lions) and Bucky Irving (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) at running back, George Pickens (Dallas Cowboys) and Brian Thomas Jr. (Jacksonville Jaguars) at receiver, Dalton Schultz (Houston Texans) at tight end, and Deebo Samuel (San Francisco 49ers) in the flex - the extra lineup spot that can hold a running back, receiver or tight end. That is a top-half lineup with no obvious soft spot. You will probably need 110 points, not 90.
Week 2 closed at 102.28 to 74.52 and dropped you to 0-2. Your 74.52 was eleventh of twelve teams that week against a league average of 98.17. Through two weeks you have scored 183.14, ninth in the league. This is not a scheduling problem yet - it is a scoring problem.
2. Week 2, closed out honestly
Trey McBride (Arizona Cardinals) - 18.10 points
Eight catches on ten targets for 41 yards and a touchdown, on 88% of Arizona's offensive snaps - snap share meaning the percentage of his team's plays he was on the field for. Sixth-best tight end in the league on the week, after finishing as the best in Week 1 with 24.5. He is the one part of this roster behaving like a first-round pick.
Kyren Williams (Los Angeles Rams) - 15.70 points
Twelve carries for 85 yards and two catches for 12 yards and a receiving touchdown. RB8 on the week. The blemish is a lost fumble, and the nagging concern is that he played only 55% of the snaps - the Rams are not feeding him the way a fantasy manager wants. Still, a good day.
Xavier Worthy (Kansas City Chiefs) - 13.50 points
Five catches on seven targets for 25 yards and a touchdown. Read that yardage again - twenty-five. He played 86% of the snaps and did essentially nothing with them except get open in the end zone once. This was a touchdown bailing out a bad game, not a good game.
Cam Skattebo (New York Giants) - 9.50 points
Twelve carries for 36 yards is three yards a carry, which is bad, plus four catches for 19 yards. Fifty-nine percent of the snaps. He was not helped by the Rams defense, but he did not do much on his own either. Fine, not good.
Drake Maye (New England Patriots) - 9.02 points
Fourteen of twenty-two for 208 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, plus four carries for 17 yards. Under ten points from a starting quarterback in a full-point-per-reception league with four points per passing touchdown is a bad week, full stop. He gave you 12.8 in Week 1. Two starts, 21.8 points. That is a bottom-five quarterback start.
Chris Godwin (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) - 8.80 points
Three catches on three targets for 46 yards. He is on the field - 86% of the snaps - but Tampa Bay is not throwing to him. Seven targets across two games is a backup's workload attached to a starter's snap count. He is producing a floor with no ceiling.
D.J. Moore (Buffalo Bills) - MINUS 0.10 points
One carry for negative one yard, no catches, and out of the game after 31% of the snaps with a sprained AC joint in his shoulder. A negative score from a starting wide receiver is about the worst single outcome in fantasy football. You could not have known - he had put up 21.0 points in Week 1 on eight targets - but it cost you the week on its own.
3. Bench versus starters
One clean case: Rashid Shaheed (Seattle Seahawks) scored 6.9 on your bench while D.J. Moore (Buffalo Bills) scored -0.1 in your lineup, a seven-point swing at the same position. That is not a lineup mistake - Moore was the correct start and got hurt in the first quarter. Nothing to learn from it.
The near-misses are more instructive. Brian Robinson Jr. (Atlanta Falcons) put up 8.7 on the bench and Braelon Allen (New York Jets) 8.5, against Cam Skattebo's 9.5 in your lineup. Your second running back slot is producing single digits no matter who fills it. That is the hole to fix, and it is not fixable from inside this roster.
Also worth noting: Keon Coleman (Buffalo Bills) scored 12.3 in Week 2 while sitting on waivers. You just paid $14 of FAAB - the $100 season-long budget used to bid on waiver pickups - to add him and dropped Najee Harris (New York Giants) to do it. That was the right claim, and the timing is good, because Coleman is the direct beneficiary if D.J. Moore misses Sunday.
4. Injuries and what to do about them
D.J. Moore (Buffalo Bills) - Questionable, sprained AC joint (shoulder)
Hurt in the Thursday win over Detroit. Reporting out of Buffalo this week has been cautiously optimistic without committing to anything; his status for Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers is genuinely in doubt. Buffalo plays at 1:00 PM ET, which is the early window, so you will get a final inactive list about 90 minutes before you need the answer. Do not start him unless he practices in full by Friday.
Puka Nacua (Los Angeles Rams) - Questionable, groin soreness
Missed Week 2 entirely and the Rams have been unwilling to commit to Week 3. The problem for you is scheduling: the Rams play at the Denver Broncos on Sunday night, 8:20 PM ET. If you slot him in and he is downgraded, you get a zero with no chance to replace him, because every other option will have already played. Treat him as unstartable this week unless there is a clear full-practice report by Friday, and even then the Denver secondary is a rough place for a first game back.
Everyone else - clean
No other injury designation on the roster, and no byes: all thirty-two teams play in Week 3, so nobody is forced out of your lineup by the schedule.
5. The waiver move - Dontayvion Wicks
| Player | Why | Bid |
|---|---|---|
| Dontayvion Wicks (Philadelphia Eagles) | 27.7 points in two games as Philadelphia's clear No. 2 receiver. Dropped this morning, clears Friday. | $14-18 |
| Darren Waller (Carolina Panthers) | 18.3 points in Week 2 on two touchdowns, but only 44% of the snaps - and you already have Trey McBride. Skip unless you are speculating. | $0-3 |
| Joshua Palmer (Buffalo Bills) | Two touchdowns in two games, but on five total targets and under 40% of the snaps. Touchdown-or-nothing. Only worth it as a D.J. Moore hedge, and Keon Coleman is the better version of that hedge. | $0-2 |
This is the one thing to act on today. Dontayvion Wicks (Philadelphia Eagles) was dropped at 3:09 this morning by honeybadgerr1, who needed the roster spot for Kyler Murray. With a two-day waiver clear, Wicks comes available Friday morning - so a claim placed today is the only way to get him before Sunday.
He has 27.7 points in two games, which is more than any receiver you own not named D.J. Moore: 15.3 in Week 1 on a 73-yard touchdown at a 91% snap share, then 12.4 in Week 2 on five catches from six targets for 74 yards. He moved over from Green Bay this offseason and has settled in as Philadelphia's clear second receiver opposite DeVonta Smith. That is a real, repeatable role, not a one-week fluke.
You have $80 of your $100 FAAB budget left, the third-most spent in the league but still a healthy war chest. Bid $14 to $18. Wicks was just dropped by a rebuilding manager, so the field may not be paying attention, but $9 to $11 claims have been clearing in this league and you cannot afford to be cute while 0-2.
Drop Michael Mayer (Las Vegas Raiders) to make room. He has 14.5 points in two games as a second tight end on a roster where Trey McBride (Arizona Cardinals) is never coming out of the lineup. He is a roster spot doing nothing.
6. Your Week 3 lineup as it stands
| Slot | Player | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Quarterback | Drake Maye (New England Patriots) | Start. At the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday 1:00 PM ET. No better option on the roster, but 21.8 points in two starts is a problem you cannot solve this week. |
| Running Back | Kyren Williams (Los Angeles Rams) | Start. At the Denver Broncos, Sunday 8:20 PM ET. Tough defense, but he is your best back by a wide margin. |
| Running Back | Cam Skattebo (New York Giants) | Start. Versus the Tennessee Titans, Sunday 1:00 PM ET. Best matchup on his schedule so far. |
| Wide Receiver | Xavier Worthy (Kansas City Chiefs) | Start. At the Miami Dolphins, Sunday 1:00 PM ET. Locked in regardless. |
| Wide Receiver | D.J. Moore (Buffalo Bills) | Questionable. Versus the Los Angeles Chargers, Sunday 1:00 PM ET. Replace with Keon Coleman (Buffalo Bills) if he does not practice fully by Friday. |
| Tight End | Trey McBride (Arizona Cardinals) | Start. At the San Francisco 49ers, Sunday 4:05 PM ET. Never a decision. |
| Flex | Chris Godwin (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) | Start by default. Versus the Minnesota Vikings, Sunday 4:05 PM ET. Bump him for Dontayvion Wicks (Philadelphia Eagles) if the Friday claim lands. |
| Bench | Brian Robinson Jr. (Atlanta Falcons) | Sit. At the Green Bay Packers, Thursday 8:15 PM ET - decide before kickoff. |
| Bench | Keon Coleman (Buffalo Bills) | On standby for D.J. Moore. |
| Bench | Puka Nacua (Los Angeles Rams) | Sit. Questionable, groin, and an 8:20 PM ET Sunday kickoff makes him an all-or-nothing gamble. |
| Bench | Rashid Shaheed (Seattle Seahawks) | Sit. 8.3 points in two games on nine targets. |
| Bench | Braelon Allen (New York Jets) | Sit. Under 40% of the snaps both weeks. |
| Bench | Wan'Dale Robinson (Tennessee Titans) | Sit. 1.9 points in Week 2. |
| Bench | Michael Mayer (Las Vegas Raiders) | Cut candidate for the Wicks claim. |
Two live decisions. First, Thursday: Brian Robinson Jr. (Atlanta Falcons) is on your bench and plays tomorrow night at Green Bay. Leave him there - Cam Skattebo (New York Giants) draws the Tennessee Titans at home on Sunday, a far softer matchup, and Robinson has cleared 50% of Atlanta's snaps exactly zero times this season. But you must decide by 8:15 PM ET Thursday; after kickoff he is locked either way.
Second, the second wide receiver slot. If D.J. Moore (Buffalo Bills) is ruled out or downgraded, Keon Coleman (Buffalo Bills) slides directly into that spot - same offense, same quarterback, and Coleman was already at a 74% snap share with six catches on six targets last week. If Moore plays, Coleman stays on the bench and Chris Godwin (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) holds the flex by default. If you land Dontayvion Wicks on Friday, he takes the flex from Godwin, who has seven targets in two games and is not earning it.