Week 3 of the 2025 NFL season is here, and with that comes plenty of difficult fantasy football lineup decisions.
Week 2 saw six quarterbacks drafted outside the top 16 at the position finish inside the top 10:
Russell Wilson (QB2)
Drake Maye (QB3)
Daniel Jones (QB7)
Bryce Young (QB8)
Mac Jones (QB9)
Spencer Rattler (QB10)
We also had two running backs (Javonte Williams and Rhamondre Stevenson) drafted outside the top-40 finish as the RB4 and RB6, respectively. At wideout, three players drafted as the WR69 or later finished inside the top eight — Wan’Dale Robinson (WR5), Hunter Renfrow (WR7) and Troy Franklin (WR8). Finally, at tight end, only three with a positional ADP inside the top-12 finished as a TE1 — Tucker Kraft (TE1), Trey McBride (TE5) and Tyler Warren (TE7).
All that’s to say that fantasy football is hard, and our team is here to make your decisions easier:
Start/sit:Overall | Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | Kicker | D/ST
Trades:Trade value charts | Buy low, sell high
Waiver wire:15 players to add | 5 players to drop
Analysis:Week 2 winners and losers | 20 risers and sleepers
Given the volatility of this league and fantasy football in particular, these rankings will be updated up to a half hour before the Sunday afternoon games kick off. Let’s get to it.
Fantasy football quarterback rankings Week 3: Best matchups
Baker Mayfield vs New York Jets – From Week 6 and on last year, only four teams ceded more fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks than the Jets. New York surrendered more than 20 fantasy points seven times during that stretch. In Week 1, the shell of Aaron Rodgers dropped 244 yards and four tuddies on this defense.
Caleb Williams vs Dallas Cowboys – Only the Carolina Panthers were more generous to passers last year than the Cowboys, and that was with Micah Parsons terrorizing offensive lines. Dallas gave up at least 23+ fantasy points to quarterbacks in 10 of their 17 games, and they only limited them to fewer than 16 points on three occasions. This is also the defense that allowed Russell Wilson to finish as the QB2 last week.
Other plus matchups – Jared Goff at Ravens, C.J. Stroud at Jaguars, Carson Wentz vs Bengals, Jake Browning at Vikings.
Fantasy football running back rankings Week 3: Best matchups
Kenneth Walker vs New Orleans Saints – From Week 3 and on last year, only two teams fared worse against running backs than the Saints. A whopping 13 backs racked up at least 15 half-PPR points against them over their final 15 games.
Isiah Pacheco at New York Giants – In 2024, the Giants gave up the seventh-most fantasy points to opposing backfields. Seventeen backs totaled double-digit half-PPR points against them, including 10 with at least 15 points. Through two games this season, New York has given up the most fantasy points to runners.
Other plus matchups – Javonte Williams at Bears, Jordan Mason vs Bengals, Jaylen Warren at Patriots, Nick Chubb at Jaguars.
Fantasy football wide receiver rankings Week 3: Best matchups
Rome Odunze vs Dallas Cowboys – Odunze is the current WR4 in half-PPR formats, and he gets a mouth-watering matchup in Week 3. Dallas allowed the seventh-most fantasy points to receivers in 2024, but it got particularly ugly at the end of the campaign. Over their final seven games, no team was more generous to wideouts than Dallas. They’ll also be coming off a game in which they gave up 309 yards and three touchdowns to Malik Nabers and Wan’Dale Robinson.
Tet McMillan vs Atlanta Falcons – From Week 5 and on last year, no team ceded more fantasy points to wide receivers than the Falcons. Eight wideouts eclipsed 16 fantasy points during that stretch. While Atlanta did a good job limiting Minnesota’s receivers in Week 2, they did give up 76 yards and two scores to fellow rookie Emeka Egbuka in Week 1.
Other plus matchups – A.J. Brown vs Rams, Courtland Sutton at Chargers, Garrett Wilson at Buccaneers, George Pickens at Bears, Chris Olave at Seahawks.
Fantasy football tight end rankings Week 3: Best matchups
Zach Ertz vs Las Vegas Raiders – Over their final 10 games of the 2024 season, the Raiders yielded an average of 2.3 more half-PPR points per game to tight ends than any other team in the league. Ertz is the TE2 through two weeks and should get plenty of work regardless of who’s behind center for the Commanders.
T.J. Hockenson vs Cincinnati Bengals – On the season, the only team that surrendered more fantasy points to the position than Vegas was Cincinnati. Eleven tight ends garnered double-digit half-PPR points against the Bengals.
Other plus matchups – Jonnu Smith at Patriots, Kyle Pitts at Panthers, Jake Ferguson at Bears.