PlayerProfiler is home to the award winning redraft rankings and tools. Our Player Rankings are second to none, and the World Famous Draft Kit contains detailed player write ups and cheat sheets to help You dominate fantasy drafts! Check it out. Below, Bradley Stalder breaks down premium flex plays for fantasy Week 3.
Can the fantasy gods find the “injury” setting and toggle it off, please? Isiah Pacheco, AJ Brown, Deebo Samuel, Christian McCaffrey, Cooper Kupp, and Puka Nacua are all early-round selections expected to miss significant time with injuries. As early as Week 3, fantasy managers will look to win the FLEX now that they must turn to players in later rounds to win.
This weekly flex plays article will identify three players outside the top 50 projected FLEX starters who will “win” the FLEX. How do we define “winning” the FLEX position? If a player earns at least 12.5 points in half-point PPR scoring, that’s a “win.”
Anything less than that will be a loss. One player outside the top 100 in projected points for the week is my long-shot, double-or-nothing score. Throughout the season, I’ll both offer the players I think will “win” the FLEX each week and update how I did last week as accountability.
Week 2 Record: 3-0
Running Records 4-2 , 67-percent
Rashid Shaheed | WR, New Orleans Saints
Rashid Shaheed is rostered on only 44-percent of teams, and projected to start on only 5-percent of teams. Shaheed is the No. 88 overall FLEX player by projection. Don’t let that fool you. Shaheed is the WR7 overall in half-PPR scoring entering Week 3. He has exceeded 14.8 fantasy points in both weeks, mostly due to breaking off big plays for touchdowns. Shaheed leads all wide receivers in TDs, Yards Per Target, and Yards Per Team Pass Attempt.
The Saints offense is red hot, leading all teams in scoring through two weeks. Now they face a shell-shocked Philadelphia Eagles team on a short week in New Orleans. The Saints are favored in a matchup with one of the highest projected game totals, and Shaheed is accordingly entering must-start FLEX territory.
Tony Pollard | RB, Tennessee Titans
Tony Pollard is rostered on 93-percent of teams, and projects to start on 45-percent. Pollard is the No. 64 overall FLEX player by projection. Fantasy analysts spent the offseason debating whether Pollard or Tyjae Spears would take over the Tennessee backfield. Titans coaches also offered comments that Pollard and Spears would be “interchangeable.” That was a lie. Pollard has averaged 16.5 rushes and 5 targets over the first two weeks, clearly out-pacing Spears. Spears is also dealing with a minor ankle injury entering Week 3, which may limit him even further.
Tennessee faces Green Bay at home in Week 3. The Packers just allowed 135 total yards on 14 touches to Jonathan Taylor in Week 2. Pollard projects to continue his massive role in the receiving game, as he ranks No. 4 among running backs in targets, No. 5 in Target Share, and No. 5 in receptions. He is a high-floor FLEX option moving forward, especially with Spears hampered with injury.
Jameson Williams | WR, Detroit Lions
Jameson Williams is rostered on 77-percent of teams and projects to start on only 13-percent of them. Williams might be the projected No. 60 overall FLEX player, but he is PlayerProfiler’s projected WR12 for Week 3. It’s Jamo SZN. Fantasy managers should have listened to Dan Campbell when he said Williams was Detroit’s most improved player this offseason. Or, we should have paid attention to the fact that the Lions ignored free agent wide receivers and chose not to draft one in the 2024 NFL Draft in April. Williams has exploded out of the gate. He ranks No. 2 among wide receivers in receiving yards, No. 3 in Air Yards Share, No. 6 in Yards Per Route Run, and No. 1 in Dominator Rating.
Williams and the Detroit Lions take on the Arizona Cardinals on the road, the game with the highest projected game total on the week. Williams has earned 24-percent of Jared Goff‘s targets this season, and the 6th-most Air Yards among wide receivers. Not only is Jamo earning WR2-level target rates, he’s earning them downfield. The Arizona Cardinals grade as the 2nd -orst coverage team per PFF (behind only Washington). Fire up Williams as a massive spike week candidate in a game that projects to have major fireworks.
Deep Cut: Bucky Irving | RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Bucky Irving is rostered on 25-percent of teams and projected to start on 1-percent. Irving is expected to receive an uptick in usage in Week 3 due to Rachaad White‘s injury.
Irving has averaged nine touches per game and 5.25 yards per carry through the first two weeks. He was one of the most dynamic pass-catching running backs coming out of college in the 2024 NFL draft, and he may be busy heading into Week 3.
View all Bradley Stalder’s Playerprofiler articles here.
