Fantasy Football: 4 Bold Predictions for Week 3

There's nothing quite like the NFL.

Football is one of the most intense, exciting sports on the planet. The source of the now-ubiquitous saying "Any Given Sunday," the NFL is a place where even struggling teams have a chance to topple the best in the league. Anything can happen when you play only 17 regular season games a year.

That uncertainty is a huge driver behind the excitement the NFL generates each and every season. What's more fun than watching something totally unexpected unfold before your eyes?

That's why, this year, we'll be bringing you some bold predictions to watch for in each week the 2024 NFL season.

All NFL odds come from FanDuel Sportsbook and may change after this article is published. All predictions of stats and rankings are for half-PPR formats.

NFL Bold Predictions for Week 3

Dak Prescott Outscores Lamar Jackson

Why not have a little fun in this pivotal showdown between the Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys in Arlington on Sunday? Though Lamar Jackson is the better fantasy quarterback than Dak Prescott in a vacuum, this matchup favors Dak to outscore his counterpart.

That's predicated based on the tendencies of these two defenses thus far. For the first time all season, Baltimore might get to lean on Derrick Henry against a Dallas team that has allowed the fourth-most Rushing Net Expected Points (NEP) per carry this season (0.24), including 115 yards and 3 scores on the ground to Alvin Kamara on Sunday. In turn, the 'Boys secondary has allowed the 11th-fewest Passing NEP per drop back (-0.05).

Without 2023 defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, the Ravens have been the opposite style of defense. They've closed running lanes to allow the fourth-fewest Rushing NEP per tote (-0.15) while surrendering the seventh-highest Passing NEP per drop back (0.24).

In a friendlier matchup for passing, Prescott could outshine Jackson in what feels like a must-win contest for both sides.

Javonte Williams Finishes as a Top-25 Running Back

This is -- by a mile -- the spiciest take on the board, but in a week where your survivor pool pick probably went up in flames, don't be surprised if the 0-2 Denver Broncos find a path to hang with the 2-0 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa.

Hidden by two positive scripts, the Buccaneers' run defense has not been nearly as strong to begin the year as it has been in previous seasons. They've allowed the second-most Rushing NEP per carry to this point (0.27) and could potentially be missing run-stuffer Tevita Vea in the middle since he's iffy with a knee injury.

Denver badly needs to find a running game given Bo Nix has mustered -0.41 expected points added per drop back (EPA/db) with zero passing TDs to four interceptions, per NFL's NextGenStats. This matchup appears to be a good one to lean into a ground attack.

That may mean more work for Javonte Williams out of the Ponies' backfield. Williams' rate of overall snaps (58.7%) and adjusted opportunities per game (16.5) haven't been stellar yet, but the Broncos trailing for a vast majority of the last two games won't help him compared to Jaleel McLaughlin.

As a surprisingly short 6.5-point underdog, I'd still start Williams in this matchup even if his 5.9 fantasy points per game thus far have been viciously underwhelming.

DJ Moore Tops 100 Scrimmage Yards

Things haven't been ideal for the Chicago Bears offense thus far, but we've got to give them the benefit of the doubt with the Indianapolis Colts' defense on the other side this week.

They would be my early submission for the worst defense in the NFL. In terms of numberFire's NEP per play allowed, the Colts' "strength" on that side would be a rushing defense that's allowed 237.0 yards per game overall. Against the pass, nF sees Indianapolis as the second-worst pass defense on a Passing NEP per drop back basis (0.46).

It'll also help the struggling Bears offensive line that the Colts have the eighth-lowest pressure rate (30%) as a defense through two weeks, according to Pro Football Focus (PFF).

Enter D.J. Moore. Moore is pretty indisputably atop the Bears' passing attack when top-10 pick Rome Odunze has battled a knee injury to produce just three catches in two games and Keenan Allen missed Week 2 entirely with a heel issue. Moore has a 25.7% target share (9.0 per game) and 33.7% air yards share for the team.

If a pass-catcher is primed to benefit from this matchup, it'll be DJM. Our fantasy football projections expect 69.1 receiving yards from him on Sunday, but I'll back a much larger day.

Kyle Pitts Posts 60+ Receiving Yards and a Score

Kirk Cousins and the Atlanta Falcons passing game enters Week 3 with plenty of momentum after a comeback win on Monday. Will that allow Kyle Pitts to keep a noteworthy trend against the Kansas City Chiefs going?

K.C. has been absolutely carved up by a pair of athletic tight ends, Isaiah Likely and Mike Gesicki, in consecutive weeks to open the season. Overall, the Chiefs are allowing 23.1 half-PPR points per game to tight ends so far, which is 7.4 clear of the next-closest team.

It's certainly a small sample, but Pitts is also a similar player to those two. His usage has been admittedly disappointing behind both Ray-Ray McCloud (12) and Darnell Mooney (10) in total targets (7) to this stage. His route rate (84.5%) is still quality, though, compared to last season.

Perhaps the Chiefs' issues guarding tight ends and Pitts' lack of usage can meet in the middle. This prognostication for him would be roughly half of what K.C. has surrendered so far, and backup Falcons tight ends have only run nine routes so far. If the trend continues, it'll be on the back of the former top-five pick.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.