With three weeks complete, NFL trends are beginning to form and the injury dominoes continue to fall. Here are the moves to make in dynasty leagues:
Trade Market Recommendations
Buy
Eli Manning, Russell Wilson. Neither has posted a week higher than QB10. Manning has an enviable set of three receivers plus a lackluster run game missing Shane Vereen and Rashad Jennings on the mend. Wilson is hampered by lower body injuries but is likely to rebound as he heals.
Jordan Howard: He was rising in Week 2 and now a Jeremy Langford injury opens the flood gates for Howard as the lead back for at least a month, if not taking the job outright going forward. Langford was already a placeholder starter and now Howard gets a full shot three weeks into his rookie season.
Devontae Booker: The rookie is out of sight, out of mind with C.J. Anderson healthy and seeing most of the snaps as Denver's lead back. Booker has yet to log a top-40 week as the No.2 option, but a injury to Anderson would make Booker a top-18 weekly start, if not higher.
Tavon Austin: With a new contract, Austin is being used on more traditional receiver routes than 2015 and outside of Kenny Britt on deep routes, Austin is the short and intermediate option in the Rams passing game. Austin is the perfect WR4 or flex starter with upside for wide receiver-strong fantasy teams.
Kevin White: Many bang on White for a slow start, but he has played three career games in the NFL. View White as a rookie in 2016 after an injury redshirt and his WR32 finish in Week 3 is a positive trend as he looked quicker and faster than his opening two games of WR70 and WR56 performances. With Chicago playing plenty of catch-up this season, White's target load should not be an issue to be in the WR3 or better mix.
Hunter Henry: The rookie tight end was already seeing a hearty 40-60% of the snaps in Weeks 1-2 when Antonio Gates was in the lineup. In Week 3, Henry saw 100% of the San Diego snaps with Gates out of the lineup, posting the TE8 ranking of the week. Gates looks physically done and San Diego will lean on the NFL-ready rookie more and more in their search for dependable pass catchers as the season progresses.
Sell
Matt Ryan has a near 10% touchdown rate and has faced three of the worst pass defenses in the NFL to open the season (and two of the top-5 in Oakland and Tampa Bay). The schedule gets far more difficult with Carolina, Denver, and Seattle the next three weeks.
Latavius Murray still has the de facto starter label in Oakland, but snaps are beind squeezed by talented backs Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington behind him. Murray is hovering in the 40-50% range of snaps weekly with Washington rising to near 30% in Week 3.
Spencer Ware: After an RB2 showing in Week 1, Ware has been RB18 or lower in successive weeks and Jamaal Charles inches closer to returning for Kansas City.
Allen Hurns: Marqise Lee is healthy and garnering plenty of snaps and targets. Allen Robinson is the clear No.1 target for the Jaguars. Hurns had an outlier season in 2015 with his touchdown rate and is the weekly high-variance option of the passing game along with Julius Thomas.
Jordan Reed: Washington is loaded at wide receiver already and Josh Doctson is still working his way towards full strength and a steady dose of snaps. Reed also carries a long history of concussions and the next will plummet his market value. Finally, Reed is being squeezed within the top-10 tight ends this season with plenty of dirt-cheap options from the waiver wire and expensive buys like Dennis Pitta, Jacob Tamme, Zach Miller, and Kyle Rudolph.
Quarterback Notes
Matt Ryan is the only quarterback with three top-12 finishes this season.
Matt Ryan, Jameis Winston, Drew Brees, and Matthew Stafford are the only quarterbacks with multiple top-6 finishes.
Combining the quarterbacks starting against Atlanta or Detroit is the No.1 quarterback in fantasy. Cam Newton gets Atlanta in a 'get well' opportunity in Week 4. The Bears get Detroit with Brian Hoyer a sneaky start and Kevin White an opportunity to build on his career-best WR32 finish in Week 3.
Notable quarterbacks yet to log a top-12 week: Marcus Mariota, Andy Dalton, Russell Wilson, Joe Flacco.
Successful Streamers: Dak Prescott, Trevor Siemian, Alex Smith, Blaine Gabbert, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Brian Hoyer all have top-10 weeks to-date.
Running Back Notes
DeMarco Murray has been a top-6 back every week this season.
Running backs with three RB1 weeks: DeMarco Murray, David Johnson.
Teammates Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman were the No.1 and No.2 PPR scorers of Week 3.
Biggest dud of Week 3: C.J. Anderson, after back-to-back top-10 weeks, logged in at RB51.
Charles Sims in Week 3, without Doug Martin, had more PPR points than Weeks 1-2 combined.
LeGarrette Blount has been a top-24 option all three weeks and RB10 in PPR scoring overall.
Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill have combined for one week inside the top-10 (Bernard's high-catch Week 2).
Todd Gurley has yet to finish in the top-12 with two weeks outside the top-30 backs.
T.J. Yeldon without Chris Ivory active: two top-20 weeks. With Ivory active: RB54.
Fozzy Whittaker has been a similar performer every week to Matt Jones and 1.7 PPR points apart for the season.
A Dolphins running back has yet to finish in the top-20 for a week. Wendell Smallwood, Jordan Howard, and Jalen Richard do have top-20 weeks this season.
Wide Receiver Notes
Receivers to finish in the top-20 all three weeks this season: Mike Evans.
Biggest dud of Week 3: Kelvin Benjamin with ZERO points after two top-10 finishes to open season.
Rookie wide receivers have a combined NINE top-36 performances already this season, three from Sterling Shepard and two from Will Fuller.
Week 3 Breakout: After finishing outside the top-50 twice to open the season, Terrelle Pryor's dual role in Week 3 fueled a WR3 finish (32 PPR points).
Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree have yet to log a top-10 finish between them.
DeVante Parker and Dez Bryant have had nearly identical weekly finishes all three games to start the season.
Despite being on the field for nearly every offensive snaps, Tajae Sharpe has just one top-50 finish - less than Davante Adams, Cole Beasley, Pierre Garcon, Marqise Lee, and Chris Hogan.
One-Hit Wonders: Marquise Goodwin (WR13 in W2), Eli Rogers (WR16 in W1), Brian Quick (WR25 in W3), Mohamed Sanu (WR12 in W1), Danny Amendola (WR9 in W2).
Tight End Notes
Greg Olsen and Kyle Rudolph are the only tight ends to finish in the top-12 all three weeks.
Inexpensive tight ends are all the rage in 2016. Top-12 weeks include performances by Zach Miller, Jack Doyle (2), Dennis Pitta, Jacob Tamme (2), Cameron Brate, Vance McDonald, Jesse James, Jordan Cameron, Trey Burton, Ryan Griffin, Hunter Henry.
Despite nearly all the offensive snaps through three weeks, Martellus Bennett finished at TE30 in two of them.
Big names yet to log a top-6 finish: Jordan Reed, Gary Barnidge, Antonio Gates.
Through three weeks, two of the No.1 weekly performers have been Zach Miller and Zach Doyle.
Kicker and Defense Notes
Matt Bryant is the most consistent kicker through three weeks, posting at least 94% of his weekly average all three games.
Dustin Hopkins is the highest floor kicker with at least 11.5 points each week.
Kickers yet to post a 10-point game in typical scoring: Andrew Franks, Sebastian Janikowski, Dan Carpenter, Phil Dawson, Chris Boswell, Ryan Succop.
The Vikings and Eagles are the only defensive units to post at least 10 fantasy points in all three games.
The Chiefs scored 81% of their season total in Week 3 and their 35-point outburst against the Jets.
Notable defenses yet to hit 10 points in a game: Packers, Jets, Jaguars, Bengals, Steelers.
