Fantasy Football Week 3 Quarterback Start/Sit Decisions: Jared Goff, Jalen Hurts, and More
Comparing Jared Goff to three quarterbacks who he has been matched up with often on FantasySP's start/sit tool.
Jared Goff has been showing up often on our FantasySP start/sit tool. Different players pop up every week on the tool based on matchups, injuries, and much more; it's not the same guys each time. That leaves a new bevy of questions and comparisons to make and shows why fantasy football is so hard to master with so many constantly moving parts.
Let's look at Goff and three quarterbacks who he has been compared to most on the start/sit tool: Justin Herbert, Jalen Hurts, and Bo Nix.
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Jared Goff, Detroit Lions @ Baltimore Ravens
Goff had a rough Week 1 against the Packers: 225 yards on just 5.8 per attempt with a touchdown, an interception, and four sacks. His team lost 27-13. Green Bay has since stifled Washington, and they will probably handle the Cleveland offense this week, and we'll be wondering if the Packers have the best defense in football.
Against a vulnerable Bears defense last week, Goff had 334 yards on 11.9 per attempt, throwing five touchdowns with no interceptions and no sacks. Detroit won 52-21. It seemed like a statement game from the Lions to show that they are still here after getting handled by the Packers.
Goff's fantasy performance depends on the matchup at times as evidenced by the first two weeks. This one against Baltimore might not be as daunting as it seems at first glance. The Ravens are right around the middle in yards per pass attempt allowed; they were in the same spot last season.
It's hard to get a read because the Ravens were torn up by Josh Allen and the Bills (394 passing yards on 8.6 per attempt) then dominated the Browns (218 yards, 4.6 per attempt). A lot of teams will struggle against Buffalo but find success against Cleveland. Baltimore probably has a pass defense close to average, something that allows opposing QBs to do well at times but not find consistent success the way they do against the Panthers, for instance.
Goff is a middle-of-the-road fantasy player this week. He has his good and bad, and the defense is in the middle, so things could turn either direction. The Ravens will probably score a lot of points, forcing Goff to throw more, which would increase his odds of a good fantasy day.
Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers vs. Denver Broncos
Herbert has been fantastic through two weeks: 72.1% completion, 560 passing yards on 9.2 yards per attempt, five touchdowns, no interceptions, and 63 rushing yards. That's enough to make him fantasy QB5 after two weeks.
Those games came against one matchup that seemed tougher on paper (Kansas City Chiefs) and one that was middling (Las Vegas Raiders), so he hasn't just been beating up on bad teams. Herbert and the Chargers look like they're for real. The matchup this week will be a telling test.
The Broncos dominated defensively last season and continued that in Week 1, holding first overall pick Cameron Ward to 112 passing yards on 4.0 per attempt, a brutal outing. Things went haywire last week, as Daniel Jones and the Colts continued their scorching open, gaining 316 passing yards on 9.3 per attempt.
Last year, just two teams threw for more than 300 yards on the Broncos: Cincinnati with Joe Burrow and Cleveland with Jameis Winston. I'm betting that Denver's defense is ready to bounce back as soon as this week and make things hard on Herbert. For what it's worth, Herbert had one middling game against the Broncos last season and one very good game, showing a mixed bag.
It's tough to bench someone who started as hot as Herbert, but there's evidence that this could be a slower offensive game, making it worth considering your options.
Advice: Start Jared Goff over Justin Herbert, but it's close to a 50/50 proposition
Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles vs. Los Angeles Rams
Hurts is a weekly starter. His running production is enough to get him on the fantasy radar alone without even considering his passing, and when he has it all going, he's an easy top-five fantasy QB. The question is whether there's anything here to make Goff more appealing.
The matchup is the best place to look in that case. LA is third in least yards per pass attempt allowed; they were eighth worst last season, so it's fair to wonder if it's real or just an early-season mirage. Their two games have come against Houston and Tennessee, two subpar passing attacks based on last year and early returns in 2025.
C.J. Stroud had 188 passing yards on 7.0 yards per attempt, a “meh” outing. Ward struggled through his second rough game, gaining just 5.3 yards per pass attempt on the way to 175 yards. The Rams took care of business in relatively easy matchups.
Philadelphia is a different animal. The offense overall is great, though the running game often does most of the heavy lifting (both from Hurts and Saquon Barkley). Hurts has been below average throwing the ball, first gaining 152 yards on 6.6 per attempt versus Dallas then just 101 yards on 4.6 per attempt against the Chiefs.
His running makes up the difference: 77 yards and three touchdowns in those two games. That has him at QB14 after two weeks, only about six points from the top 10 and 10 points from Goff in sixth place. I can't recommend benching Hurts, even in what might be a tougher matchup.
Advice: Start Jalen Hurts over Jared Goff
Bo Nix, Denver Broncos @ Los Angeles Chargers
Add Nix to the list of players with unappealing matchups this week. He has been OK so far, first struggling against Tennessee (a tougher defense on paper) with 176 yards on 4.4 per attempt then looking a little better against the Colts last week with 206 yards on 6.9 per attempt. His running has also been just OK, with 38 total yards.
Nix is outside the top 20 fantasy QBs after finishing as QB7 last year. He will improve that performance over a longer time span, but Nix is still a guy I'm not comfortable starting in every matchup even though his draft status put him on that fringe.
This is just a matchup I don't want to deal with against the Chargers. They did well against Patrick Mahomes in Week 1 (258 yards but just 6.6 per attempt) then completely befuddled Geno Smith last week, holding him to 180 passing yards on 4.2 per attempt with no touchdowns and three interceptions.
One thing in Nix's favor might be available rushing production: Mahomes went crazy (by his standards) in the first game with 57 yards and a touchdown on the ground, and Smith added 20 rushing yards of his own, a number he only reached four times in 2024.
If Nix can run the ball, that opens a path to a good fantasy day. With the Chargers as good as they are, though, I'm not banking on that to save my week.
Advice: Start Jared Goff over Bo Nix
