Michael Wilson Start or Sit Advice for Week 3
The Cardinals have started the season 1-1 with a win over the Chargers and a loss to the Seahawks. They’ll head to San Francisco this week for a second straight divisional game. While the offense looked good in Week 1, it struggled a bit in Week 2. Michael Wilson began the season a controversial draft pick for fantasy football, and he’s put up mixed results coming out of the gate. Should you trust him to start in Week 3 or look for other options at receiver? Let’s take a look at what to expect from Wilson in Week 3.
On the plus side, Wilson has clearly been the team’s top wide receiver, running more routes and getting more targets than any other receiver by a significant margin. He’s still only the second option on the team since tight end Trey McBride is getting so many targets, but he is working well ahead of the struggling Marvin Harrison Jr. and veteran Kendrick Bourne.
In Week 1, Wilson caught 5-of-7 targets for 56 yards and 10.6 FPTS, but in Week 2, he caught only 2-of-7 targets for 18 yards and 3.8 FPTS. The consistent targets are a good sign, but the fact that McBride has double-digit targets and a touchdown each week does limit Wilson’s ceiling.
Wilson will look to bounce back this week against the 49ers, and he has proven he can go off in this matchup, catching 15 passes for 185 yards when he faced San Francisco in November of last season. He has averaged 5.6 catches for 68.8 receiving yards in his five career contests against the Niners, with a pair of receiving touchdowns in those matchups.
Jacoby Brissett only managed 95 passing yards in Week 2 against the Seahawks’ elite secondary, and he should be able to bounce back against the 49ers, who have allowed an average of 182.5 passing yards per game in their first two weeks of the season. Last week, the Niners held the Dolphins in check after stymying the Rams in Australia in the season opener. The Cardinals will be their toughest test so far this season, so even though the matchup isn’t ideal, Brissett and Wilson are worth putting back on the radar.
Wilson’s target volume and role are enough to give him the upside to be a solid WR3 this week. Hopefully, the Cardinals passing game can get back on track this week, and last week’s outlier will just be a blip due to the elite matchup against Seattle’s secondary.
