Week 3 Fantasy Picks: Start 'Em, Sit 'Em for Bengals vs Jets

Week 3 of the NFL season features an AFC clash between the Cincinnati Bengals and New York Jets. FanDuel Sportsbook's NFL odds peg the Bengals as 6-point road favorites in a game expected to feature plenty of scoring.

If you need some help with your fantasy lineups, here's our start 'em, sit 'em advice for this Week 3 showdown.

Joe Burrow Fantasy

Start Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati Bengals: Joe Burrow isn't off to a fast start in fantasy football this year, especially after throwing 4 interceptions against the Steelers in Week 1. He still holds a respectable QB11 ranking, however, and that number should skyrocket in Week 3. The Jets' secondary is a mess, ranking dead-last in Football Outsiders' pass-defense DVOA metric. Honestly, both their pass and rush defense leave a lot to be desired, but the front seven rates just slightly better. New York has given up a combined 432 passing yards and 4 TDs in two weeks and fallen to early deficits. Those numbers would be even higher if the opposing teams weren't just milking the clock. I expect Burrow to rack up multiple touchdowns and inch towards the 300-yard mark before this one gets out of hand. He'll be starting in most lineups, but we're here to tell you he has a great opportunity to finish near the top-5 of his position on Sunday.

Garrett Wilson Fantasy

Start Garrett Wilson, WR, New York Jets: Garrett Wilson is one of the buzziest fantasy names heading into Week 3, and for good reason. Fresh off an outstanding 8-catch, 102-yard and 2-TD performance, Wilson finished as WR5 in Week 2. The Bengals' secondary rates as average (14th in DVOA) and just gave up 235 passing yards to Cooper Rush. Fantasy football is an opportunity game, and that's exactly why we like Wilson in Week 3. He's easily turned into Joe Flacco's favorite target based on his team-leading 22 targets and 12 receptions. He also owns an insane 44% of New York's red zone target share. One of the only viable fantasy options on New York's roster, give Wilson at least a FLEX start in Week 3.

Hayden Hurst Fantasy

Sit Hayden Hurst, TE, Cincinnati Bengals: As mentioned above, there's not much to fear when looking at the Jets' defense. That makes picking a Bengals sit candidate difficult, but we'll ride with the injured playmaker on the roster as Hayden Hurst is dealing with a slight groin injury. All signs point to him playing on Sunday, but it could be in a limited capacity. Don't worry, Burrow has plenty of other options with the likes of Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Joe Mixon. In fact, Chase, Higgins and Mixon all rank at least top-16 in their respective position groups in The Duel's Week 3 PPR Rankings. Somebody will have to take a back seat, and considering New York allows only the 14th-most PPR points to opposing TEs, we'll trust the wideouts more in this matchup.

Michael Carter Fantasy

Sit Michael Carter, RB, New York Jets: It's been difficult to get a read on New York's running back usage thus far, and for that reason, we're sitting Michael Carter. Carter still operates as more of the 1A back, out-touching rookie Breece Hall by nine, including 4 additional rushing attempts and 5 more targets. Even so, Hall has been more efficient with his opportunities with 5.6 rushing yards per attempt and 6.9 receiving yards per catch, which should eventually earn him more touches. It also must be said that run defense is Cincinnati's strength, as the unit ranks 10th in Football Outsiders' rush-defense DVOA metric. With a tough matchup and a limited workload, Carter should be left on your bench this week.

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Adam Taylor McKillop is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Adam Taylor also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username atmckillop. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.