Week 3 Sleepers | Fantasy Football
The Yards Per Fantasy team has looked at the matchups for the Week 2 slate of football action and determined the top sleepers to play in your lineups.
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Javonte Williams, RB, Broncos
I’m a big eye test guy and he passed it this past week. I’m a die hard jags fan so I watched the whole game and this kid is good. He showed ability to create yards for himself though elusiveness and power. Eye test alone I was impressed with him vs what is actually a decent run defense for the jags but the numbers back it up too. Same number of carries as Gordon in week 2 and doubled his yards. Also per Joe O’Leary @thehqnerd on Twitter, Williams has 6 evaded tackles per game, 40% juke rate, and is 2nd in the NFL in forced missed tackles per carry.
Williams is currently receiving close to a 50% snap share but I think the talent takes over soon and this week vs the jets is a great place to start. Not only is this run defense vulnerable they’re just a bad team. Game scripts will often lead to heavy rushing numbers as teams grind clock away with a lead. I think Williams is worth a start this week and an easy DFS play at only $4,900.
Quintez Cephus, WR, Lions
Matchup: vs BAL
The Lions were projected to be one of the worst teams in the NFL this year and many faded their players for fantasy because of that. TJ Hockenson and D’Andre Swift were the only players being drafted in the Top-100 and we had mainly given up on any of the wide receivers. There was a lot of hype surrounding Amon-Ra St. Brown (Sun God) but he has not lived up to those expectations. He’s still doing moderately well for a rookie, and especially a Day 3 rookie but 9 targets for 5 catches and 41 yards in two weeks isn’t startable.
Cephus is leading the wide receiver room with 13 targets, he caught 7 of those for 75 yards and 2 touchdowns. Week 1 he only played 35% of the snaps but Week 2 we saw a big jump to 89% which was likely due to Tyrell Williams being out. Luckily for us, and unlucky for Williams, he is out again; So we can fire up Cephus and expect 7-8 targets, 4-5 catches for 60-80 yards and hopefully he brings in a touchdown.
Joe Burrow, QB, Bengals
Matchup: vs PIT
Donovan Peoples-Jones, WR, Browns
Matchup: vs Bears
Football is often a reflection of life. In a physically demanded game adversity is as important as speed or power. Teams lose players from game to game and need to adjust. Fantasy football is much the same way. In week 2 Jarvis Landry injured his MCL. The Browns and your fantasy team will need to adjust. Enter Donovan People’s Jones (DPJ).
Many have been clamoring for DPJ to get more snaps in preparation for the eventual departure of OBJ and possible Jarvis Landry next year. DPJ is a fast, strong receiver that has seen limited reps so far through his first two years in the league. Facing a Bears defense that has been killed by slot receivers so far in 2021, DPJ should get run in the slot and be able to eat this week.
He is a deep sleeper this week but with OBJ being nursed back slowly after his torn ACL last year. Last year in the four games DPJ saw more than 50% snap share he didn’t have less than fifty yards receiving. He also scored two touchdowns in those games. I like his matchup vs the Bears and if you were waiting for the next shiny object to appear DPJ should produce this week for your fantasy team.
Darnell Mooney, WR, Bears
Matchup: vs CLE
Currently ranked as the WR49, Mooney has seen at least 7 targets in both games and saw a 34.8% target share last week. He is currently tied with Allen Robinson for the team lead in targets at 15. Mooney also leads the team in air yards and aDOT. He now gets Justin Fields as his starting QB, who gets his first career start for Chicago. Fields completed the longest pass play of the season for Chicago last week to Mooney, which was only 21 yards, but I expect that to change this week. Cleveland has allowed the 11th most yards and 12th most receptions to WRs so far this year based on stats from lineups.com while giving up 9 plays of 20+ yards to WRs through 2 weeks. If Fields can stay upright against the Browns defense, Mooney could be a prime benefactor this week.
Marvin Jones, WR, JAX
Matchup: vs ARI
This week the Jacksonville Jaguars face off against the Arizona Cardinals, this will mandate the Jaguars to throw the ball a ton. With this game script I expect Marvin Jones to have a big game. Jones has emerged as the top target in Jacksonville, he has seen 20 targets in two games this season and produced over 36 PPR points. Along with this he has scored in each game this season. I expect all of this to continue this week as the Jaguars will be throwing a lot to keep up with Arizona. A WR2 finish in definitely in the books for Jones this week. Plug him in and don’t think twice about it.
