Top Fantasy Pickups For Week 3

By: Josh Clark

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DALLAS (The Fan) - It was Black Monday around the NFL for quarterbacks, and a few teams in your league will surely be affected.

Tony Romo went down with a broken left clavicle against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday night, and will be sidelined until week 11 after being placed on IR/Designated-to-Return. Drew Brees avoided a torn rotator cuff, but his status for this weekend is unknown. Matt Stafford had x-rays on his ribs and his chest after taking brutal hits the first two weeks, but the Lions haven't released any details of an actual injury. Stafford was on the field for the Lions Monday walkthrough. Jay Cutler is expected to be out at least the next two weeks after suffering a hamstring injury, so that means Jimmy Clausen will get a couple more starts.

Eddie Lacy leads the list of running backs that went down with an injury. Lacy left Sunday night's game against the Seahawks, but he reportedly avoided a serious ankle injury. His status for week 3 is up in the air. Lamar Miller (ankle), Carlos Hyde (concussion/thigh) and Tevin Coleman (ribs) could all miss time as well. Miller downplayed his injury after the game, so he should be good to go in week 3 against a tough Bills run defense. Hyde's status should be monitored all week, while Tevin Coleman fractured a rib. Coleman appears to be out for at least a couple of weeks.

Eric Decker is the only wide receiver to keep an eye on. He left Monday night's game with a knee injury.

Here are my pickups for week 3:

1. Matt Jones (WAS/RB) - Rookie Matt Jones out-touched Alfred Morris 22-20 on Sunday. Jones had 19 carries for 123 yards and two touchdowns. He also had 3 receptions for 23 yards. Morris had 18 carries for 59 yards and 2 catches for 13 yards. Morris is still the starting running back, but this is looking more and more like it could be a 50/50 split backfield.

2. James Starks (GB/RB) - There's some risk involved with using a waiver on Starks this week. Starks showed well after taking over for Lacy (20 carries, 95 yards) on Sunday night. Lacy avoided a serious injury to his ankle, but this should scare his owners enough to handcuff him if they didn't before. Lacy may play Monday night, but grabbing Starks isn't a bad idea for streaming purposes.

3. Dion Lewis (NE/RB) - As I mentioned last week, someone was going to provide the Shane Vareen role, and it appears to be Dion Lewis. What we didn't know, was that Lewis would out-carry LaGarrette Blount (7-2) when he returned from his suspension in week 2. Lewis played 70 snaps compared to Blount's 7. Lewis also added 6 catches for 98 yards. This is a tough situation to predict going forward with Bill Belichick at the helm, but you should scoop Lewis up in case he's still available.

4. Donte Moncrief (IND/WR) - Donte Moncrief's value has gone up tremendously in my opinion. While T.Y. Hilton did play on Monday night, it was obvious that he was still banged up. What was interesting of note, Moncrief appears to have more value than Andre Johnson right now. Moncrief had 7 catches for 122 yards and a td, while Johnson had another dud. (3 catches, 27 yards)

5. David Johnson (ARZ/RB's) - According to Cardinals Coach Bruce Arians, David Johnson's role will grow "each week." I'm not sure what to make of the Cardinals running back situation. What I do know is that Andre Ellington is expected to be out at least two more games, and Chris Johnson was called the 'lead dog' by Arians last week. David Johnson may be forcing Arians' hand as he had 5 rushes for 42 yards and a td, while also adding a kickoff return for a touchdown.

6. Stevie Johnson (SD/WR) - Johnson worked as the number two behind Keenan Allen again on Sunday. Antonio Gates is still two weeks away from returning and Johnson should continue to benefit from it. Johnson had 5 catches for 45 yards and a touchdown in week 2 vs the Bengals.

7. Andy Dalton (QB/CIN) - Dalton may not be available in your league, but if you have one of the injured quarterbacks above, you should probably pick him up if he on the free agent wire. Dalton has thrown for 483 yards and 5 td's through 2 games.

8. Alex Smith (QB/KC) - The other top free agent quarterback option this week is Alex Smith. Smith didn't have a great game last week against Denver (191 yards, 2 int), but he gets a plus match-up against the Green Bay Packers on Monday night.

9. Jordan Reed (WAS/TE) -Reed gave us a scare again last week, but was able to play. If you started him, he came through for you. Reed had 6 catches to go along with 82 yards. Reed will continue to have a bigger role as long as DeSean Jackson is out.

10. Crocket Gilmore (BAL/TE) - With Breshad Perriman still out for another game or two, Crockett Gillmore will continue to get looks from Joe Flacco. Besides Steve Smith Sr., Flacco needed someone else to throw the ball to. Gillmore appears to be the guy that Flacco can count on, as he had 5 catches for 88 yards and two td's on Sunday.

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