Fantasy Football: Avoid Hurns, Redskins If You Want To Win Week Three

Welcome to week three of fantasy football. This is the beginning of a three-week stretch that will help you figure out if you’re going to be selling your assets by the time your first progress report in school comes home, and your favorite football team starts looking at their next franchise quarterback. As always, we’re here to let you know which players you must bench if you want to actually come away with a win this week, and which players you should look into picking up.

Last time out, our suggestions of benching Russell Wilson and Carlos Hyde worked out perfectly, but the idea of not playing the Giants defense against the New Orleans Saints offense backfired. Let’s just hope this week’s defense prediction actually works out, unlike the first two weeks.

This week, we’re going to be doing things a bit differently because of Monday’s article where I outlined the five running backs you should pick up after injuries to both San Diego’s Danny Woodhead and Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson. Though I will be listing our normal two running backs that should not play, I’ll only be telling you one of the players from Monday’s article and their cost on DraftKings.

QB: Kirk Cousins, Washington Redskins [$6,400]: It’s only week three, and the Redskins Washington football team is already falling apart, and quarterback Kirk Cousins, the so-called future, is right at the center of things. For those who immediately cemented him as the best quarterback in the NFC East after a year in which the Redskins took the division because every other team was a disaster, then congratulations, you played yourself. Going up against a New York Giants defense that has been surprisingly stout and efficient in the first two weeks, Cousins should be an automatic benching.

When you’re looking for a replacement signal-caller for Cousins, you won’t have to look too far as a short drive down I-95 will bring you Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco (owned in just 25.4 percent of ESPN leagues). Healthy and fresh off a two-touchdown performance against the Baltimore Ravens, Flacco faces another struggling defense this week when he takes on the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Sunshine State. You probably aren’t going to see Flacco break any records or even top the 350 passing yards mark, but the former Super Bowl champion is due for a big game versus a defense that has yet to stop anything.

RB: Todd Gurley, St. Louis Rams [$7,100]: A sophomore slump or just a result of bad offensive line play? Whatever it is, Todd Gurley has yet to do anything and against a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that enters week three with a chip on their shoulder, sitting the former Georgia star may be a smart move. Watching clips of Gurley, I see a running back that is trying to do much because he knows the offense rides on him, but I can’t see his failure to break off big plays changing anytime soon. Isaiah Crowell, as we mentioned on Monday, makes sense as a play with the Browns on their third quarterback in three weeks and is only $4,700 on DraftKings (but he has skyrocketed to being available in 84.3 percent of ESPN leagues).

RB: Chris Ivory, Jacksonville Jaguars [$3,900]: Don’t do it to yourself. Even if you see that Chris Ivory is back in practice after his stay in the hospital, don’t play him against the Ravens. Even if you’re swayed by his cheap price at just $3,900 dollars, don’t even risk it. If you’re going to start a cheap running back, save two hundred dollars and put Dallas’ Alfred Morris (available in 71.1 of ESPN leagues) in the lineup.

WR: Sammy Watkins, Buffalo Bills [$6,100]: Watkins is a young player who has struggled to get anything going in 2016 and has even lost touches to the amazing duo of Marquise Goodwin and Greg Salas. By mentioning playing Watkins, you’d be asking me to suggest starting a player who couldn’t even tear up the Jets’ abysmal secondary against Patrick Peterson and a Cardinals defense that takes no prisoners. If you really want a player from a game that’s likely to be a blowout in Arizona’s favor, just start Larry Fitzgerald, who is somehow only $6,900 on DraftKings (but only free in two percent of fantasy leagues). He’s a bit pricey, but Fitzgerald is facing a Bills defense that nearly gave up 40 points to a Jets team still figuring their identity out.

WR: Allen Hurns, Jacksonville Jaguars [$5,200]: Again with a young player on a struggling team (this should have been the title), I’d bench Hurns against the Ravens but start wide receiver Allen Robinson, who is going to have to break out at some point. Yes, Hurns has had a nice start with 139 yards through two games, but a safer bet is the Giants’ Sterling Shepard ($5,400, but owned in 85.8 percent of ESPN leagues), who takes on the horrific Washington Redskins defense. With cornerback Josh Norman likely to fight with Giants star Odell Beckham Jr. all day, Shepard should be in line for a nice day in the air as Eli Manning and Big Blue look for their first 3-0 start since 2009.

WR: Doug Baldwin, Seattle Seahawks [$6,300]: Like last week, Baldwin should be a definite no-go, even if the Seahawks are back home against a team they haven’t lost to in nearly three years. Make the case all you want that Seattle is due for a huge offensive day, — trust me, I’m not going to argue against that — but Baldwin isn’t going to be the reason that the Seahawks finally break through on the scoreboard with a touchdown. Not yet, at least. Even in a road game in New England, I suggest starting Houston’s Will Fuller, ($4,800 and owned in 81.8% of leagues) who is already making a case for Offensive Rookie of the Year with nine receptions and 211 yards through two games for a 2-0 Texans team hoping to make a statement on national television.

TE: Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs [$4,700]: I’m aware that Kelce is facing a Jets team who couldn’t even stop Greg Salas, but Gang Green always manages to handle tight ends not named Rob Gronkowski, and the same should happen this week with Kelce. Alex Smith is exactly the type of quarterback the Jets love facing. He’s mobile, but he won’t beat you with deep passes and is likely going to keep it short, short enough that the linebackers can force the ball out. I’m sure I’ll mention starting him most weeks, but can you really go wrong with Dallas’ Jason Witten [$4,200 and now owned in 86.6 percent of ESPN leagues] against a Bears defense that just got roasted on Monday Night Football?

Defense: Washington Redskins [$2,400]: Starting the Redskins defense against a Giants offense that features one of the best wideouts in the NFL, who has a true hatred for Washington’s main corner is an awful, awful idea. I know I briefly mentioned it above, but the Tampa Bay defense [$3,100 and owned in just 7.7 percent of fantasy leagues] is a nice play versus a Rams offense that likely won’t get anything going until Jared Goff becomes quarterback or Jeff Fisher gets fired…. in a few years after his extension.

[Featured Image by Rob Carr/Getty Images]