Week 3 Fantasy Football Projections Standouts: Brock Purdy, Packers WRs & More

The action around the NFL last week was a bit more muted than in Week 1. The weather might have had something to do with it, but scoring was clearly down.

That said, there were still some noteworthy performances. Jaxon Smith-Njigba continued to stake his claim to the title of best receiver in football, racking up 155 yards and three touchdowns despite missing his starting quarterback. Josh Allen put together his second straight massive game, and he’s now accounted for nine touchdowns through the first two weeks. And Jonathan Taylor had his second straight game with at least 22.1 half-PPR points, putting him at RB3 for the season.

What does Week 3 have in store for us? Let’s take a look at a few players that stand out in our projections and how those compare to our expert rankers.

Fantasy Football Projections Standouts For Week 3

Brock Purdy, QB, SF

Projection: 20.0
Rank: QB2

The 49ers are officially back. Despite losing another WR on Sunday – Demarcus Robinson went down with a high-ankle sprain – the 49ers’ offense put together another huge showing. They racked up 35 points and 382 yards, albeit against the hapless Dolphins.

Still, this offense looks back to being a goldmine for fantasy purposes. They were a historically good unit three years ago, which was basically the last time they were fully healthy. They’re second in EPA per play through the first two weeks of this season, and as long as their key contributors are on the field, they should continue to produce plenty of points.

That’s phenomenal news for those who rolled the dice on Purdy. He was barely being drafted as a starting QB in most leagues (ADP of QB12), but he is currently QB4 in terms of fantasy points. He’s racked up 22.1 and 28.5 fantasy points in his first two outings, putting him behind only Allen, Bryce Young, and Patrick Mahomes.

Purdy is up to QB2 in our Week 3 fantasy football projections, and he should be looking at another quality performance vs. the Cardinals. They were just absolutely shredded by the Seahawks’ passing attack, and the 49ers are much more imposing. San Francisco has the third-highest implied team total this week (28.25), and as long as Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, Mike Evans, and George Kittle stay healthy, they all could be poised for big seasons.

Omarion Hampton, RB, LAC

Projection: 12.4
Rank: RB18

It’s safe to say that this was not what we envisioned for the Chargers’ offense. Adding Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator was supposed to turbocharge things in Los Angeles. Instead, they’ve taken a clear step back. They’re merely 29th in points per game and 22nd in yardage, and they’re 30th in EPA per play.

The scary part is that their first two games were supposed to be easy. They were big favorites against the Cardinals and Raiders, yet they’ve looked stuck in the mud for both. Now, they enter a gauntlet as tough as any stretch in recent memory:

The Chargers are now 0-2.

Their next 7 games are:

At Bills
At Seahawks
Vs Broncos
At Chiefs
At Rams
Vs Texans
At Ravens
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 20, 2026

How can you get excited about anyone on the roster against those opponents after what we’ve seen through the first two weeks?

The good news is that Hampton has at least operated as the team’s bell-cow back. That wasn’t a given headed into the season, with Keaton Mitchell and Kimani Vidal potential threats to his workload. Hampton has handled 74% of the rushing attempts through the first two weeks, and he also showed off his pass-catching ability in Week 2 (9% target share, 22% TPRR).

Unfortunately, the bad outweighs the good with Hampton. He’s down to RB18 in our Week 3 projections, which is well below where he was drafted this offseason. Our rankers aren’t quite as bearish (RB14 consensus), but unless the Chargers’ offense improves, it’s going to be tough for Hampton to live up to expectations.

Christian Watson & Matthew Golden, WRs, GB

Projections: 13.2 (Watson) & 11.3 (Golden)
Rank: WR7 & WR15

There was some optimism with the Packers’ pass catchers heading into this season. The team lost both Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks this offseason, so ample opportunities opened up for the remaining players. Watson was expected to be the team’s No. 1 option, while Golden and Jayden Reed were also popular sleepers.

Things should get even more condensed moving forward. Reed suffered a neck injury against the Jets in Week 2, and it’s possible that he misses the rest of the season. That’s a clear blow for their offense, but it’s a clear positive for Watson and Golden.

Those two guys were already seeing pretty elite usage. Each has an identical 27% target share and 33% air yards share through the first two weeks. Watson has been the beneficiary from a touchdown standpoint, scoring three times, but both guys are getting plenty of opportunities.

Watson has officially moved into WR1 territory, checking in as WR7 in our Week 3 projections, while Golden is close to “must-start” status. The Falcons defense has been solid through two weeks (ninth in EPA per play), but both guys look like potential league-winners.

Travis Kelce, TE, KC

Projection: 9.7
Rank: TE5

It looks like we may have overlooked the Chiefs’ offense this offseason. After two weeks, they have the QB3 (Mahomes), RB2 (Kenneth Walker), and TE3 (Kelce) for fantasy purposes.

Kelce feels like the biggest shocker of the bunch. He’s set to turn 37 years old in just a couple of days, and he was coming off the worst season of his career. He managed just 851 yards and five touchdowns, so it was fair to wonder how much gas he had left in the tank.

If Week 2 is any indication, he’s not running on fumes quite yet. He went off for 100+ yards and a score vs. the Colts, something he didn’t do a single time last year. He also has a 25% target share through two weeks, which is tied for the fourth-best mark at the position.

Kelce may not be the same player he was in his prime, but he’s still good enough to be a weekly factor at tight end. He checks in as TE5 in our Week 3 projections and our consensus rankings, so fire him up if you’ve got him.