Fantasy Football Buy Low: Wide Receiver Breakout Candidates for Week 3

Whether you're deciding who to start in season-long, who to roster in NFL DFS, or which NFL prop bets to consider on FanDuel Sportsbook, there are still plenty of ways to buy low on players poised to bounce back from disappointing outings.

While looking ahead at the games across the NFL, which wide receivers should we buy low on ahead of this week?

All fantasy football projections via our numbers at FanDuel Research, and NFL odds references are to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Wide Receivers to Buy Low in Fantasy Football

Chris Olave, Saints

Despite the New Orleans Saints touting the 11th-highest pass-play rate through two games, Chris Olave hasn't delivered on fantasy expectations, recording 8.9 and 8.4 fantasy points. Will he bounce back in Week 3?

After sustaining a chest injury following a hard hit, Olave had a 84.1% snap share in Week 1. With a clean bill of health in Week 2, Olave was back to leading the Saints' wideouts with a 100.0% snap rate. The second-highest mark was only 68.7% from Rashid Shaheed. Volume has not been a worry for Olave thus far, with him sporting a team-high 30.7% target share and 42.1% air yards share.

While Olave has enjoyed 11.5 targets per game to open the season, it's still not leading to big-time fantasy outings. However, this feels bound to change. Pro Football Focus has Olave with the second-worst plus/minus for expected fantasy points (-15.9) among all fantasy receivers. Part of this is likely due to a 20.0% red zone target share and 94.7% red zone snap rate, and Olave has yet to find the end zone.

New Orleans will likely deal with plenty of negative game scripts in 2025, boosting its 40.0 passing attempts per game (fourth-most). That could once again be the case against the Seattle Seahawks, who are 7.5-point favorites for Week 3's meeting.

In a small sample size, Olave has been utilized in the slot more this season with a 34.6% slot rate, compared to 21.7% in 2024, per PlayerProfiler. Seattle has injury concerns at nickel as Devon Witherspoon (knee) was out in Week 2. The Seahawks' perimeter corner play hasn't been great either as Tariq Woolen has a dreadful 38.0 PFF coverage grade thus far.

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Seattle has given up the 17th-highest pass success rate and 6th-highest completion percentage over expectation (CPOE) while ceding the 12th-most passing yards per game. With a favorable matchup paired with another negative game script likely ahead, Olave has a good shot of turning in a solid fantasy performance.

Drake London, Falcons

Drake London is still widely viewed as a quality fantasy piece, as our NFL DFS projections have London as WR15 for Week 3. It's difficult to ignore his 9.5 and 4.4 fantasy point totals to open the season, though.

Week 1's performance was especially deflating, with London recording eight catches on 15 targets while Michael Penix Jr. rolled to 298 passing yards and 0.27 expected points added per dropback (EPA/db). Yet, London still totaled only 55 receiving yards and 9.5 fantasy points -- even with Darnell Mooney out of the lineup.

Week 3's opponent is a stumbling Carolina Panthers squad. The defense has allowed the 13th-highest pass success rate, 11th-most EPA/db, and 13th-most yards per passing attempt. Carolina has struggled to pressure the quarterback with the third-lowest pressure rate, which should ease some of the Atlanta Falcons' pass protection concerns without right tackle Kaleb McGary.

The Panthers' D has been good against the run, giving up the sixth-lowest rush success rate, which should push Atlanta to air it out. We saw Penix shine with heavy volume in Week 1 as the Falcons logged 42 passing attempts compared to 28 rushing attempts.

PFF has London with the fourth-worst plus/minus for expected fantasy points (-10.2). He has a team-high 30.2% target share paired with a solid 26.8% air yards share and 22.2% red zone target share. His average depth of target (aDOT) is only 6.3 yards, though, but that should increase considering London's 10.3-yard aDOT from 2024. Plus, red zone work should eventually lead to scores -- especially when London totaled nine receiving touchdowns a season ago.

With -1.6 receiving yards over expectation (RecYOE), London's efficiency hasn't been that bad. In short, London's numbers should eventually take a step forward, and Week 3's matchup with the Panthers is a golden opportunity.

Josh Downs, Colts

The Indianapolis Colts' offense has flourished through two games, racking up 31.0 points per game (fourth-most) and 6.5 yards per play (second-most). Quarterback Daniel Jones has excelled by recording 294.0 passing yards per game, 9.3 yards per pass attempt, 2.5 total touchdowns per game, and 0.35 EPA/db. Even with an awesome start for the Colts, some pieces are still underperforming in fantasy football.

Josh Downs is perhaps the biggest "disappointment" so far with a -3.9 plus/minus for expected fantasy points. In Week 1, he had only three targets for two catches and 12 receiving yards. Despite a 33-point performance from the Colts, Downs still ended up on some drop lists for fantasy football. His volume made a big jump in Week 2 -- Downs totaled eight targets for six receptions and 51 receiving yards. His 8.1-fantasy point performance was far from Earth-shattering, but it was a step in the right direction.

Taking 66.2% of his snaps in the slot, Downs is mostly used in 11 personnel. With that said, don't expect high snap rates as his snap share was only 65.9% a season ago (54.7% so far in 2025). Week 2's workload provides a ton of hope as Downs touted a team-high 24.2% target share while logging a 72.2% red zone snap rate and 25.0% red zone target share.

Jones made our fantasy football quarterbacks to stream for Week 3 as the Tennessee Titans just allowed 290 passing yards and 9.0 yards per attempt last week. Tennessee is ceding the 13th-highest pass success rate, 10th-highest CPOE, and 13th-most yards per downfield target. Rounding out the matchup, the Titans carry the seventh-lowest pressure rate thus far. We have every reason to believe Jones will keep up his hot streak for at least one more week.

I'm trusting in Downs' boost of usage from Week 2, potentially leading to a breakout performance in Week 3.

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