Wide receiver non-PPR rankings for Week 3 fantasy football

The reign of Calvin Ridley has been fun, if you drafted him, and Julio Jones isn’t 100 percent healthy. Will see if he can keep up his torrid pace against the Bears this week. DeAndre Hopkins is set up for another strong outing against a weak Lions defense. D.K. Metcalf could keep up his great play against Dallas, who gave up a big game to the Falcons “No. 2” receiver Ridley. Kenny Golladay appears close to returning for his 2020 debut, which my fantasy teams are quite ready for!

Injury News

Injuries have been a problem for receivers this season, but not quite as devastating as they’ve been for running backs. We’ll take you through some of the more impactful inured receivers.

Michael Thomas has a high-ankle sprain and despite not being put on IR, is iffy to go in Week 3. Tre’Quan Smith and Alvin Kamara got the most work through the air with him out last week and looked the best of the group.

Courtland Sutton is out for the season while the Broncos quarterback, Drew Lock, is out for a few weeks. That leaves their new No. 1 receiver, Jerry Jeudy, with Jeff Driskel or possibly Blake Bortles at some point, throwing him the ball.

Davante Adams didn’t practice on Wednesday with a hamstring injury. It’s tough to tell where he is in his recovery, but it’s something to keep an eye on. If he can’t go Allen Lazard and Marquez Valdes-Scantlingbecome stronger plays against the Saints.

Kenny Golladay returned to practice on Wednesday and could be back this week against the Cardinals. If he plays, he should be worth a start.

Jalen Reagor is out until around Week 10 with a thumb injury. DeSean Jackson, JJ Arcega-Whiteside, Greg Ward, Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert all could see an increase in work, but Jackson is my favorite of the receivers against a weak Bengals defense.

Julio Jones was hampered by his hamstring in Week 2 and will likely miss most of this week’s practices. If he can get a full practice in on Friday, he’s worth a start against the Bears, but I’d like to see that practice first.

Parris Campbell, who got off to a good start and looked poised for a big year, is out indefinitely with PCL and MCL injuries. He’s a drop in all redraft leagues. T.Y. Hilton, Michael Pittman, Mo Alie-Cox, Nyheim Hines and Jonathan Taylor all are in play to see an uptick in targets.

Sterling Shepard is on I.R. with turf toe and will miss at least three weeks. Darius Slayton and Golden Tate should see an uptick in work against a diminished 49ers defense.

D.J. Chark is questionable for Thursday night, but did get in limited practices and will probably go. This is a great matchup for him, especially with Byron Jones out.

A.J. Brown didn’t practice Wednesday with a bone bruise. If he can’t go again, Jonnu Smith and Corey Davis get strong bumps in this offense.

Streaming WRs

CeeDee Lamb, Cowboys

Seattle has allowed a whopping 50 receptions to wide receivers in TWO games and a NFL high 412 yards to slot receivers. If you have Lamb, do not hesitate to start him as a WR2 this week.

DeSean Jackson, Eagles

Without Reagor and against the Bengals secondary, I expect Jackson to finally get things going. He has 18 targets on the season, but has only caught eight for 110 yards and no touchdowns. This looks like it could be a get-right game for Carson Wentz, who has been lackluster so far.

Corey Davis, Titans

Davis didn’t put up the yardage we would have liked last week with A.J. Brown out, but he did score a touchdown. If Brown is out again, Davis gets another good matchup, this time with the Vikings, who have allowed the most touchdowns and the second best catch rate to wide receivers this season.