Bold Predictions For Week 3 Fantasy Football: Xavier Worthy & Adonai Mitchell Primed To Pop

You know, I’ve really been enjoying writing this bold predictions article each week.

Not only is it fun to think outside the box a little bit, but it also gives readers some viable deep league or under the radar FLEX plays, which will only be more important once bye weeks start.

Let’s highlight a few players ahead of Week 3.

Fantasy Football Bold Predictions For Week 3

Adonai Mitchell Posts Top-24 Production vs Lions

Relying on a Jets pass-catcher not named Garrett Wilson is certainly a choice, but I do think there is potential with Mitchell this week. He’s coming off a team-high 12 targets in Week 2, converting half of them for 63 yards. During Jet training camp there was some buzz surrounding the connection between Mitchell and Geno Smith, and the first two weeks of the year have certainly backed that up.

Mitchell is quietly sporting an identical target share to Wilson (25%), while drawing a target on a team-high 23% of his routes. He continues to see plenty of looks deep down the field from Geno, as his 178 air yards were the third-most in football this week, now ranking 12th in the league so far this season. The Mitchell/Geno pairing works, as Mitchell has always been a very good separator, especially on deeper routes, while Smith loves to take shots down the field. Mitchell has run go routes 24.6% of the time this season, while accounting for a whopping 54% of the Jets air yards, the third-highest rate in the NFL.

Those explosive plays could very well be there against a banged up Detroit secondary that deploys single-high coverage 65.7% of the time, one of the highest rates in football. The Lions are also coughing up 8.6 air yards per pass attempt through the first two weeks, the 10th-worst mark in football. And dating back to Week 7 of last year (once the Lions began playing without safeties Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph, no team is allowing more air yards per target (10.1).

Xavier Worthy Joins Mitchell As a Top-24 WR

Through two weeks of play it’s Worthy, not Rashee Rice, who leads the Chiefs wide receivers in route share (90%), target share (21%) and targets per game (6.5). The key difference is Rice, who has been an extension of the run game for Kansas City, is running routes deeper down the field than usual, while Worthy is getting a lot more of the designed looks. In fact, Worthy currently leads the league in both WR screen targets (4) and RPO targets (5). It hasn't translated to monster fantasy production, but the involvement is encouraging. This is likely how Andy Reid envisioned utilizing Worthy before injuring his shoulder last year.

A matchup with the lowly Miami Dolphins is an ideal spot for Worthy to keep it going. The Dolphins are allowing a league-leading 3.26 points per drive thus far, while coughing up touchdowns on 42.1% of drives, the second-highest rate in football. They blitz a lot, yet don’t generate pressure, while rarely mixing up their coverages or personnel. Feels like a game where Patrick Mahomes will be able to dice this secondary up.

Jaylen Warren Sees 10 Targets vs Bengals

I know, I know. 10 targets is an absurd amount for a running back.

But these are bold predictions, after all.

Keep an eye on his status, as Warren got the day off on Wednesday. But as long as he’s good to go, he’ll be very busy come Sunday. For starters, Rico Dowdle was seen in a walking boot, clouding his availability for Week 3. With Dowdle in and out of the game last week, Warren ended up logging 72% of the snaps, the highest rate of his career. We also saw his route rate climb from 31% in Week 1 to nearly 60% on Sunday.

If Dowdle doesn’t play in Week 3, Warren will likely handle 17-20 touches, while Travis Homer mixes in on some snaps. And if Michael Pittman (foot) remains sidelined, Warren should be featured in this passing game. Aaron Rodgers continues to check the ball down, as 32.9% of his pass attempts have been at or behind the line of scrimmage, the third-highest rate in football. The Bengals run defense is much, much improved, but they are allowing the most targets per game to opposing backfields (8.0). DK Metcalf has another tough cornerback matchup with DJ Turner, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see Rodgers rely on Warren out of the backfield. And for what it’s worth, we did see Dowdle and Warren combine for 11 targets back in Week 1.

So, hey, it could happen.

Mark Andrews Finishes As a Top-5 TE vs Cowboys

I’d feel even better about this call if Zay Flowers (hamstring) doesn’t return. But regardless, I think Andrews gets it done.

For starters, this matchup between the Ravens and Cowboys projects for plenty of points, and Andrews’ role is much better this season. He’s run 75% of the routes to go along with a 25% target share. Of course, he’s seen a boost with Flowers missing the last six quarters of play. With Flowers off the field so far this season, Andrews has been targeted on a healthy 28% of routes. This is a good matchup for Andrews, as the Cowboys’ linebackers are a weak point of an already vulnerable defense. Tight ends see a +4.4 fantasy boost against Dallas this season, as well as a receiving yards boost of +11.3.