Week 3 Thursday Night Football Fantasy Picks: Start 'Em, Sit 'Em for Steelers vs Browns

Two fierce AFC North rivals square off in Week 3 as the Pittsburgh Steelers travel to face the Cleveland Browns on Thursday Night Football. FanDuel Sportsbook's NFL odds list the Browns as 4.5-point home favorites ahead of this primetime showdown.

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

Pat Freiermuth Fantasy

Start Pat Freiermuth, TE, Pittsburgh Steelers: Pat Freiermuth has provided consistency at a position that's usually unpredictable on a weekly basis. He's put up 12.5 and 12.2 PPR points over his first two games, good enough for TE6 so far and giving managers major value as a late-round or waiver-wire pickup. Freiermuth's importance in Pittsburgh's offense in undeniable, as he's racked up the second-most targets (17) on the team, providing a major safety valve for the vertically-challenged Mitchell Trubisky. Freiermuth's bankable usage should pay off against a Browns defense that ranks ninth-worst in Football Outsiders' pass-defense DVOA metric.

Amari Cooper Fantasy

Start Amari Cooper, WR, Cleveland Browns: Amari Cooper finally showed managers his true potential as the No. 1 option in Cleveland's offense. Cooper popped off for 9 receptions (on 10 targets), 101 yards and 1 touchdown in Week 2, making up for his disastrous Week 1. Cooper's productivity will likely swing depending on the matchup, but Thursday provides another great spot. The Steelers are giving up the fourth-most PPR points per game to WRs this season.

Chase Claypool Fantasy

Sit Chase Claypool, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers: Chase Claypool's situation is hard to get excited about. New QB Mitch Trubisky has failed to crack even 200 yards in either of his first two games, giving Claypool an uninspiring presence under center. The wideout also hasn't shown any signs of a real connection with Trubisky, given that he ranks third on the team in targets (12) behind Freiermuth (17) and fellow WR Dionta Johnson (22). Claypool being third in the pecking order on a bad passing offense should rule him out of lineups until things change.

David Njoku Fantasy

Sit David Njoku, TE, Cleveland Browns: David Njoku sounds like a great streaming tight end option in theory, but that notion may be falling apart already. His role has fluctuated over the first two games, seeing a concerning 1 target in Week 1 before ballooning to five this past Sunday. More worrying is the fact that fellow TE Harrison Bryant is proving to be a major threat to Njoku's workload. Bryant has more targets (8) than Njoku and has gained nearly twice as many receiving yards (63 vs 39) as well. Bryant's presence likely caps Njoku's upside moving forward, and managers should look elsewhere to solve their TE problems.

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Isaiah De Los Santos is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Isaiah De Los Santos also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username zayyy05328. 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.