Week 3 Fantasy Picks: Start 'Em, Sit 'Em for Ravens vs Patriots

A pair of 1-1 teams will do battle in Foxborough in Week 3 as the New England Patriots host the Baltimore Ravens in their home opener. FanDuel Sportsbook's NFL odds have the Patriots as 2.5-point home underdogs against the Ravens' high-flying offense in this showdown between AFC contenders.

If you need some help with your fantasy lineups, here's our start 'em, sit 'em advice for this Week 3 matchup.

Lamar Jackson Fantasy

Start Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens: Lamar Jackson is dealing with a right elbow injury, but that shouldn't prevent you from starting him in Week 3. While the injury might limit his passing a bit, it doesn't appear too serious based on what we've heard from John Harbaugh about it. Even if it does, Jackson should still do enough with his legs to finish with another strong fantasy performance. Jackson ran wild against the Dolphins last week, racking up 119 yards and a touchdown on the ground on just 9 attempts. Now he gets another crack at a Patriots defense that has struggled to contain him. In two career games against New England, Jackson has averaged 206 passing yards and 58 rushing yards while scoring 5 total touchdowns, including 2 rushing TDs. Bill Belichick hasn't been able to solve Jackson yet, probably because his scrambling ability makes him impossible to defend. With Jackson expected to play on Sunday, bank on another quality fantasy outing from the former MVP.

Mac Jones Fantasy

Start Mac Jones, QB, New England Patriots: It hasn't been pretty for Mac Jones so far, who comes into this game as the QB26 in fantasy after managing 465 passing yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions in Weeks 1 and 2 combined. That said, Sunday's matchup against Baltimore's generous secondary is a prime opportunity for him to break out. The Ravens have allowed a league-high 758 passing yards along with the second-most passing touchdowns (7) in the NFL thus far, which isn't a fluke based on their poor performance last year as well. Tua Tagovailoa just shredded them for 469 passing yards and 6 touchdowns after Joe Flacco surpassed 300 passing yards against them in Week 1. With Jones trying to keep up with Jackson, he should be able to approach 300 passing yards with multiple touchdowns here, making him a solid QB streaming option.

Rashod Bateman Fantasy

Sit Rashod Bateman, WR, Baltimore Ravens: Bateman erupted for 108 receiving yards and a touchdown on just 4 catches against the Dolphins last week, but expect a quieter performance from him this week. The Patriots' secondary has been stingy thus far, yielding the ninth-fewest receiving yards and fifth-fewest receiving touchdowns in the NFL despite playing both of their games at home. New England has also done a good job keying in on opponents' top receivers, limiting Tyreek Hill to 94 receiving yards and no touchdowns in Week 1 before holding Diontae Johnson to 6 catches for 57 yards and no touchdowns in Week 2. Bateman has never faced the Patriots' "bend-don't-break" defense before, so he'll have a hard time getting open for big plays and finding the end zone for a third straight game.

Hunter Henry Fantasy

Sit Hunter Henry, TE, New England Patriots: Has anyone seen Hunter Henry lately? He's been completely MIA in New England's offense thus far. After managing just 2 catches on 3 targets for 20 yards in Week 1, Henry did absolutely nothing in Week 2, failing to secure his only target. Even more discouraging, he played in just 50% of the Patriots' offensive snaps, down from 77% in Week 1. After emerging as Mac Jones' favorite red zone weapon last year with 9 touchdown catches, Henry has yet to see a target in the red zone this year. That's because all 4 of New England's red zone targets have gone to running backs, which goes to show just how much the team's new offensive scheme is limiting Henry. With his lack of volume thus far, Henry is a TD-or-bust fantasy option, and his touchdown chances aren't looking too great right now.

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