6 best and worst fantasy football matchups for Week 3 - USA Today

While Week 1 brought us the fantasy points, Week 2 delivered pain in the form of bad weather games and injuries to Jayden Daniels, Caleb Williams and Jaxson Dart.

Each week, matchup analysis like mine will only become more accurate as we learn about team and player tendencies. Yes, we have double the sample size of data already compared to last week, though we are still less than 12% of the way through this NFL season.

Like the past couple weeks, I'll continue to identify and write up players that are not obviously starts or sits. Regardless of matchup, you're starting someone like Jonathan Taylor ever week, so I try to go a few layers deeper than your early round fantasy studs.

Note: Projections refer to player props in the betting and prediction markets, which are a valuable reference tool for anyone playing fantasy football.

The Saints signal caller currently leads the NFL with 662 passing yards, but many fantasy managers are worried because of the dreaded red ink that shows up when viewing Shough's fantasy matchup against the Raiders.

Zooming out, we have a dome game in New Orleans, and the Saints' offensive line should overwhelm a Raiders' defensive front that has yet to be tested. The Raiders have not allowed more than 14 points to either opponent this season, but they have also faced the hapless Dolphins and a Chargers team reeling from injuries and play-calling issues.

The Saints have already faced the Lions and Ravens, which on paper are much better overall defenses. Shough's pass yards expectation in betting and prediction markets is at 253.5 yards, fourth-highest of the week. Additionally, the Raiders have really struggled to defend the slot this year, and Shough has the most passing yards and the third-best efficiency (12.6 yards per attempt) when targeting his slot weapons.

The second-year quarterback has already topped 22 fantasy points in back-to-back weeks, and now he's set for the easiest overall matchup of the young season.

The Panthers find themselves as slight road favorites against the Browns, and backfield mate Jonathon Brooks just landed on IR. While Hubbard hasn't reached 90 total yards in either game, his total yards projection is all the way up at 90.5 this week. And after handling just 22 total carries through two games, Hubbard's rush attempts line is a hefty 17.5.

Last week, Cleveland won a nail biter in Tampa Bay that included a multi-hour weather delay, while Carolina easily stomped the Falcons, 34-3. Expect the Browns to come back to Earth after putting on a ceiling game in their Week 2 upset. The Panthers are also due for some touchdown regression, as only one of the team's eight touchdowns has come on the ground by a running back.

Think of Hubbard as a locked-in top-15 fantasy option in Week 3.

The Texans have faced the Bills and Bengals, which means we should think about them as the direct contrast to the Raiders.

The Texans' edge duo of Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter is the league's best, and Daniel Jones has demonstrated a much more limited ability to run coming back from an Achilles injury (14 rushing yards through two weeks). Slot receiver Josh Downs has operated fairly close to the line of scrimmage and just handled a team-high nine targets in a game where Alec Pierce re-aggravated his heel injury.

Like the Chiefs last week, the Texans' pass rush should force Jones into quick passes where Downs operates. He's a high-floor fantasy WR3 option this week.

The Rams looked like an entirely different defense with Aaron Donald back. Granted, this was not an Australia game, and Jaxson Dart went down early, but it takes a strong defense to put on a performance that smothering.

Nix has scored in the bottom-half of fantasy QBs both weeks so far, and this trend should continue for at least one more week. The Broncos passer is facing an absolute gauntlet of defensive fronts, from the Chiefs and Jaguars and now, to the Rams. Nix's surgically repaired ankle may be bothering him still, as he's totaled eight rushing yards on eight attempts (68 yard pace in 17 games) after putting up more than 350 rushing yards in each of his first two seasons.

The passing side of things isn't pretty either, as Nix is projected for just 210.5 yards in this matchup, nearly the same as Michael Penix in his season debut on 'Thursday Night Football.' For additional context, the aforementioned Daniel Jones is projected for a much-higher 221.5 yards against the Texans.

The Jaguars' heavy investments in their defensive line have paid dividends, as they allowed the fewest rushing yards to running backs last season and are now allowing the third-fewest yards through two weeks.

Overall, the Jaguars are allowing just 3.2 yards per carry, and the Patriots are three-point underdogs in this matchup. It's not the best game script for Patriots backs, and while Henderson had a promising debut with 16 carries for 76 yards last week, he's in for a far tougher matchup in Week 3.

Henderson's rushing yards line sits at a paltry 39.5 this week, reflecting that the markets continue to have great respect for the Jaguars run defense.

Egbuka's second-half struggles from last year have carried over into 2026, as the Year 2 receiver is currently on pace for just 68 receptions and 672 yards.

Chris Godwin and Cade Otton have operated within roughly five yards of the line of scrimmage on their targeted routes, while Egbuka has been much further downfield at 15 yards average target depth. Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores is predictable in that he's married to the (blitzing) game.

The Vikings have pressured quarterbacks at the league's No. 2 rate this year, and Egbuka is projected for only four receptions in a game with a low 42.5 point over-under. Many fantasy managers would be wise to treat Egbuka like a fringe fantasy WR3 type, and may very well have two better options to start this week.

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