Fantasy Football start/sit advice: Week 3 sneaky starts

With the NFL now officially in full swing, we are heading into the meat of the fantasy season. These middle weeks become quite crucial, as coming back from an 0-3 or 1-2 start is very difficult in competitive leagues. This last week proved to be a blood bath for injuries, which means we all need to consider deeper starter options. Let’s take a look at some waiver wire to starting lineup gems this week.

Christine Michael, RB, SEA

Thomas Rawls hasn’t practiced all week, was just announced as doubtful for Sunday, AND has been severely outplayed by Micheal this season so far. The Seahawks offense has had a rough start to the year, and Russell Wilson is nursing an ankle sprain. This all adds up to a big dose of Michael at home against the suspect Niner’s defense. I’m comfortable starting CMike over Spencer Ware, Frank Gore, and Ryan Mathews to name a few.

Charles Sims, RB, TB

Sims was drafted in most PPR leagues, but was still available on the waiver wire in some standard leagues this week. With Doug Martin set to miss a few weeks with a hamstring strain, Sims has a huge opportunity as a three-down work horse back. He doesn’t have a great matchup with the Rams coming to town, but any RB with 15-20 touch potential is an easy RB2 pick this week.

Phillip Dorsett, WR, IND

Donte Moncrief is out 4-6 weeks with a broken shoulder blade, which launches Dorsett into the starting WR spot alongside TY Hilton. Andrew Luck will throw the ball 40+ times every game, so Dorsett should have no problems averaging 7-10 targets/week while Moncrief is out. The Chargers secondary is much improved, but I think most of the attention will be on Hilton and Gore out of the backfield. Dorsett is an absolute burner who could easily pop a few big plays on the fast track in Indie. He’s a top WR3 upside start in Week 3 and beyond.

Terrelle Pryor, WR, CLE

This is the definition of risk/reward, but fantasy football is, at it’s core, a game of opportunity. The Browns have a magic formula for WR production -- their team is bad, they are on their third-string ROOKIE QB, and have no other receiver options. Yes, I’m worried about Cody Kessler, but I’m not worried about Pryor (one of the best athletes in the NFL) getting targets. The saving grace is that if Kessler is so bad or gets hurt, Pryor will come in as the emergency QB, and you get points anyway! Beautiful!