Fantasy Football Roundtable: Here are our bold predictions for Week 3

Each week, there are players who surprise us and define our matchups in fantasy football. The Yahoo Fantasy staff is here to share their bold predictions for Week 3 in fantasy. Find hot takes from Justin Boone, Joel Smyth, Chris Allen, Matt Harmon, Scott Pianowski and Ray Garvin.

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Michael Pittman Jr. will be a top-10 wide receiver

Let’s look at the last three WRs to face the Titans’ secondary. Courtland Sutton started things off with a 6-61-1 statline on 24.3% of the looks from Bo Nix. Then, the Rams’ WRs followed Sutton with 17.1 and 22.6 PPR points between Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. But the case for Michael Pittman Jr. isn’t solely based on volume. It’s how head coach Shane Steichen deploys him. Daniel Jones has targeted Pittman across the middle of the field on 53.8% his targets. At a 7.0 aDOT, he gets the high-percentage looks with the ability to work through traffic after the catch. Tennessee has used zone-coverage concepts on 72.0% and, consequently, the fifth-most yards after the catch per reception to WRs. With Pittman re-establishing himself as the top option for Indianapolis, his usage and route tree put him on track to be a top-10 receiver on Sunday. — Chris Allen

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Christian McCaffrey scores 30+ fantasy points

Christian McCaffrey is back to doing Christian McCaffrey things to start the season. In terms of volume based on expected fantasy points, McCaffrey leads all running backs, with the second-best RB being 15% lower. He has not had that classic ceiling performance yet, but he has an insurmountable history versus Jonathan Gannon’s Cardinals. In his last two games versus Gannon’s defense, he has averaged 45 PPG, with 40+ points in each contest. With only six other 40+ point RB performances since 2023 in total, I’ll predict a modest 30+ for CMC in Week 3 as we see his volume pay off in full. — Joel Smyth

Caleb Williams will be a top-five quarterback

For all the criticism Williams has received, he’s far from a bust. We witnessed a handful of strong statistical performances during his rookie campaign, including top-12 fantasy numbers in five different weeks — with three of those landing him inside the top-five. We knew it would take time for the Bears offense to come together under Ben Johnson, but Williams began the season as the QB9 in the opener and has scored at least 18 fantasy points in both games. Now, he gets a Cowboys defense that’s been the third-easiest matchup for fantasy passers so far, allowing Jalen Hurts to deliver as the QB8 (24.2 points) in Week 1 and Russell Wilson as the QB2 (31.3 fantasy points) in Week 2. Defense will be an afterthought in this contest, which is tied for the second-highest projected point total of the week at 50.5. — Justin Boone

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Consensus Half-PPR Rankings

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Consensus PPR Rankings

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Tetairoa McMillan will be a top-10 wide receiver

I’ve been extremely impressed with how the rookie has played through two weeks. He’s handling man and press coverage so far and hasn’t displayed any big weaknesses. With 19 targets through two weeks, he’s clearly the lead man in that passing attack. The Panthers lead the NFL in dropbacks so far this season. While that’s not how they’d ideally like to play, given their injuries on the interior offensive line — guard Robert Hunt being on IR is a crucial loss to the run game — and the state of their defense, they might not have much of a choice. The Falcons will be without their best veteran corner in A.J. Terrell, which should clear the runway for McMillan to give us his first true monster outing as a pro, including his inaugural trip to the end zone. He may even get there twice if this game gets high scoring. — Matt Harmon

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Top receivers in Bears-Cowboys pop off

The Chicago Bears just gave up 50 to the Lions. The Dallas Cowboys let Russell Wilson, Malik Nabers and Wan’Dale Robinson look like they were running 7-on-7. These defenses are bad. And when you put two struggling units on the same field, it sets up the type of high-scoring game that can tilt fantasy matchups.

That’s why my bold prediction this week is Rome Odunze and CeeDee Lamb both finishing as top-five wideouts. DJ Moore might be losing steam with this new staff, and Odunze has been the one ascending all summer. Caleb Williams trusts him, and the volume is starting to funnel his way. On the other side, Dak Prescott has zero hesitation peppering Lamb, who remains one of the NFL’s most bankable target hogs.

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Last week, I called Javonte Williams being a top-10 back, and he finished top five. This week, it’s Odunze and Lamb. Book it. — Ray Garvin

Javonte Williams keeps it up as a top-five fantasy back again

Perhaps it just took some time for Williams to regain his full health — remember, he had a catastrophic knee injury back in 2022. He’s become a full bell cow for Dallas, working early downs, passing downs and at the goal line. And the Chicago defense has been a full-on valet through two weeks; Detroit in particular did anything it wanted in Week 2. Williams might have been the biggest fantasy draft steal outside the top-100 picks this summer. — Scott Pianowski