Week 3 Monday Night Fantasy Football Rankings: Is Terry McLaurin the Top Wideout? Where does Brian Robinson Rank among RBs?

Week 3 of the NFL regular season has a pair of Monday night games.

We usually do a start/sit article comparing the options from the two teams playing, but with four teams involved tonight, I’m going to switch things up a bit with this story.

I’ll rank the top fantasy options among quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, kickers and D/STs and then offer up my reasoning behind the rankings. 

Looking for start/sit help? Be sure to check out the FantasySP Who Should I Start tool.

Quarterbacks

1. Josh Allen

2. Joe Burrow

3. Jayden Daniels

4. Trevor Lawrence

The matchup for Burrow against the Commanders is incredible, but I simply cannot take him over Allen and his dual-threat ability - plus, Allen’s matchup is pretty favorable too. I wouldn’t be shocked to see both guys finish inside the top five fantasy QBs for the week, and both have chances to be QB1.

The matchup for Lawrence is a bit more favorable than the clash for Daniels, but again, give me the dual-threat Daniels over the more pocket passing Lawrence. I see both guys as average fantasy quarterbacks at best for the week.

Running Backs

1. James Cook

2. Travis Etienne

3. Antonio Gibson

4. Zack Moss

5. Austin Ekeler

6. Chase Brown

7. Tank Bigsby

8. Ray Davis

More running backs should play tonight, but these are the eight that appear in the top 58 players on the week 3 running backs projections, so they are who we're going to talk about.

Cook has simply been the best fantasy RB between these four teams this season, and there’s no reason to believe anyone else can finish ahead of him. His matchup is slightly above average.

Etienne hasn’t really gotten going this season, but the matchup is good. The biggest thing working for him is that Bigsby is on the injury report, which should lead to less snaps for the backup. 

Gibson has a pretty average matchup and has pretty handily untouched Ekeler so far, so that’s why Gibson goes third for me. Expect Robinson to be featured on the ground, and for him to add in a couple receptions if the Bengals pull ahead.

I actually like Ekeler over Moss, but I think Cincinnati eventually pulls away, and it’ll lead to a good amount of second-half touches for Moss, which should catapult him to a higher fantasy score than Ekeler.

Ekeler could finish as high as third (maybe even second) as a fantasy back tonight if the Commanders get down by a bunch early. He’s definitely worth considering as a flex option in PPR leagues.

Brown is the last flex starting option for standard leagues, but on the wrong side of it for me. He just hasn’t been given many opportunities this season to have any confidence in. Brown is a better starting option in deeper leagues.

Bigsby and Davis are guys I’d try to avoid as starting options in any league type.

Wide Receivers

1. Ja'Marr Chase

2. Terry McLaurin

3. Tee Higgins

4. Brian Thomas

5. Christian Kirk

6. Khalil Shakir

7. Gabe Davis

8. Andrei Iosivas

9. Keon Coleman

10. Curtis Samuel

Ten wideouts from tonight’s games are in the top 74 players on the week 3 wide receiver projections, so that’s who we will discuss.

Chase is clearly the best receiver playing tonight. He hasn’t shown it yet, but he needs to be starting over any of these other wideouts. Maybe a matchup against a weak Commanders’ defense can get him rolling.

I like McLaurin next. He hasn’t done much yet, and the matchup is pretty tough, but I was a big believer in McLaurin before the season and think this is the game that gets him going. It’s risky, but I’m sticking with my gut on this one.

Higgins will be making his season debut, so he could be on a snap count. Regardless, he’s probably the second-best receiver playing tonight and should be in starting lineups. The super favorable matchup offsets the downsides of Higgins playing in his first game of the season.

Thomas has been pretty good across his first two career NFL games. He’s the Jacksonville receiver I trust most right now. I think he’s on the start/sit line, but I’d lean toward playing him depending on my other options.

Kirk is also on that start/sit line after a rough start to the season, but he falls on the sit side for me. I think he’ll get going in this game, but unless he scores, I don’t envision him with a big fantasy score.

Shakir is my top option in the Buffalo wideout room. He’s been the most consistent target through two weeks, and has one of the team’s two receiving scores among WRs and TEs. I’d start him in deeper leagues, but avoid him and everyone else in standard leagues.

Davis is a boom-or-bust fantasy player, and his offense simply isn’t good enough to trust Davis as a fantasy starter in standard leagues right now. If you need to make up some points in a deeper league, then I’d maybe bump Davis up over the couple guys I took before him, but there’s also a chance he busts and you lose by a bunch.

Iosivas was a popular waiver wire pickup this week after scoring twice last week. I warned fantasy owners not to fall into the trap, as Chase has started slow and Higgins has been out. I don’t see Iosivas doing much going forward, and would actually prefer to sit him in all formats until he proves he can deliver with Chase and Higgins out there too.

Coleman is a player I really liked coming into the season, but after a week 2 dud, I can’t trust him. The matchup for the Bills’ wideouts is favorable, but I’d still prefer to sit Coleman this week.

Samuel hasn’t done much in the first two weeks. This should be his last chance to produce, otherwise he can be dropped in nearly every league.

Tight Ends

1. Dalton Kincaid

2. Mike Gesicki

3. Zach Ertz

4. Brenton Strange

Again, other tight ends will factor in, and maybe outscore some of these guys, but they are part of the weekly projections top 24, so I’m talking about them only.

Kincaid was the only draftable guy in standard leagues among these guys, and even after a slow start, I’m not benching him for anyone else playing tonight. Hopefully Kincaid gets rolling tonight.

Gesicki is coming off a huge week 2 showing and is the only one who should have a chance at topping Kincaid tonight. I like Gesicki over a lot of other RBs and WRs playing tonight.

Ertz has been consistent in the first two weeks, so he gets the edge over Strange, who will start with the injured Evan Engram out again. Oddly enough, Strange has the best matchup tonight.

Kickers

1. Evan McPherson

2. Tyler Bass

3. Austin Seibert

4. Cam Little

Yes, I’m ranking kickers too. A couple extra points could be the difference in a fantasy win or loss.

I think the Bengals’ offense is going to move the ball all night, giving McPherson a ton of kicking chances and fantasy points by the end of things.

Bass might get a couple extra field goal tries as the Bills face a little better defense, so that’s why I’d take Bass second over Seibert or Little. 

I see the Bengals, Commanders game as a little more high scoring, so that’s how Seibert gets the edge over Little tonight.

Defense/Special Teams

1. Bills

2. Bengals

3. Jaguars

4. Commanders

Cincinnati is the highest projected D/ST playing tonight, but I like the Bills more. I could see the dual-threat Daniels putting up some points on the Bengals, and that potential is greater than the Jags’ offense, so that’s how I come up with the top couple spots.

I’m going to take the Commanders’ defense last until they prove to be a good fantasy option. I’d stay away from Jacksonville’s and Washington’s defense if I could.

Offensive Overall Rankings (OP or Flex spots)

1. Josh Allen

2. Joe Burrow

3. Ja’Marr Chase

4. James Cook

5. Jayden Daniels

6. Travis Etienne

7. Trevor Lawrence

8. Terry McLaurin

9. Tee Higgins

10. Dalton Kincaid

11. Antonio Gibson

12. Brian Thomas

13. Zack Moss

14. Christian Kirk

15. Austin Ekeler

16. Khalil Shakir

17. Mike Gesicki

18. Gabe Davis

19. Chase Brown

20. Zach Ertz

21. Brenton Strange

22. Andre Iosivas

23. Keon Coleman

24. Tank Bigsby

25. Curtis Samuel

26. Ray Davis