Week 3 Fantasy Football Buy, Sell, Hold: Let's Go Get Ashton Jeanty!

These articles are written inside of a vacuum... but you're not living inside of one! That's why you need to take your personal league scoring and roster construction into account when making buy/sell/hold decisions.

If you've got a weak spot, it's time to start addressing it!

Before you blindly throw out some Awesome Buy Low Trade Offers™, you need to assess your situation. If your bench is loaded with WRs, send them away to upgrade at another position. If you had Joe Burrow, you need to find a QB replacement before you worry about making your “sleeper” bench stashes any deeper.

Do the work. Then, send the offers.

Now, let's get into some Buyin', Sellin', and Holdin'.

The Players I'm Buying in Fantasy Football

Jordan Mason, RB, MIN

Jordan Mason has been diagnosed with Next Man Up Syndrome. With Aaron Jones now on IR and the it-has-to-get-better-IT-HAS-TO upgrade in the Vikings’ passing attack under Carson Wentz, Mason is due for an upgrade of his own. He should see a major uptick in usage as MIN’s new RB1.

Ashton Jeanty, RB, Raiders

There's an elephant in the room — and it just told me that the Raiders offense looked bad on MNF. Really bad. This elephant also said that Geno Smith threw the ball 43 times and only came away with 23 completions for 180 yards and 3 interceptions(!). OOF.

As for Ashton Jeanty? His efficiency hasn't looked any better. Across the first two games, he's run the ball 30 times for just 81 yards.

But there is some good news!

1. The Raiders drafted Jeanty 6th overall for a reason, and they're going to use him like it. He'll be fed the ball time and time again.

2. Jeanty is breaking evading tackles like he said he would.

3. The Raiders still have more wins than the Chiefs. (I suppose this is only good news for non-KC fans.)

4. (Utilization Report Scores can all be found here)

More Buys

• RB Cam Skattebo
• RB Josh Jacobs

The Players I'm Selling in Fantasy Football

Chase Brown, RB, CIN

To be clear, this isn't a Chase Brown problem. It's a people-chasing-down-Chase-Brown problem. And Cincinnati's o-line isn't doing anything to stop it.

We saw what a bad offensive line did for the Bengals last week, and they've even inspired fans to train for the job to fix it. With Burrow now on IR and the potential for defenses stacking the box… It might be worth cutting Brown before opposing teams try to shut him down.

I mean, I can't imagine defenders will be as worried about Burrow's backup when they were already able to successfully stifle Joey B - The 2024 QB1 in completions(460), yards(4,918), and touchdowns(43).

Tee Higgins, WR, CIN

I wrote you a haiku. <3

Burrow on IR.

Oh no! This got out of hand.

Jake Browning? Sell! Quick.

The Players I'm Holding in Fantasy Football

Nico Collins, WR, HOU

Three catches Week 1. Three catches Week 2. Six total catches for 77 yards and a TD through two weeks??

But the box score is a big fat liar! Collins is seeing 29% of the Texans target share AND SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT of the team's end zone targets. Yes, 75%! CJ Stroud trusts this man when the game is on the line.

Sure, Stroud needs to get the ball into Collins' hands for these to translate into fantasy points, but you drafted him way too early to give up on him now. Especially when he's seeing prime targets and usage.

Oh! Something else the box score won't tell you: The only reason Nico Collins didn't score his second TD of the night was because of Therapy Gate.

Troy Franklin, WR, DEN

While it’s only been two weeks, we’re finally beginning to see the WR corps in Denver shake up and the cream is rising. Which leads me to Troy Franklin. He led the Broncos in route participation, utilization, and targets in Week 2. While 8-89-1 is a hot stat line for a guy who was recently acquired on waivers, there is a temptation to sell. And I get it.

• Sean Payton is oftentimes unpredictable.
• You just watched half of your league put unsuccessful waivers in for Franklin and now that you’ve won, you want to capitalize on the high demand.

But Franklin’s worth holding onto. Especially if you believe in Bo Nix, who finished with 30-206-3 in Week 2. He sure does look eerily similar to the guy that just threw for 3,700+ yards in his rookie season last year. Oh, and did I mention Nix threw 21 TDs in his last eight games last season? No biggie.

More holds

• RB TreVeyon Henderson
• WR Rome Odunze

Hold Off on Hitting the Panic Button

It happens every season. You check the league rankings and you’re not where you expected to be. But remember, we’re in this for the long haul and we’re wanting our best chances at success. That means we have to be careful that we aren’t:

• Chasing the thrill of a trade just for the sake of trading
• Looking at only box scores and fantasy points
• Chasing the highs (Dwain McFarland’s Utilization Report can help you to see the highs before they’ve fully emerged)
• Taking entire roster constructions into account while trading. It’s cool to have six high performing WRs, but you can only play half of them. You need points more than you need future backup plans.

Don’t panic yet. Be a shark on waivers. Stay updated on player injuries.

And just a silly little PSA from one degenerate fantasy player to another: Don’t forget to have fun.