Wide Receiver Analysis: NFL Week 3

Elite Plays

Antonio Brown (WR), Pittsburgh Steelers

Brown continues to prove week-in and week-out that he's the top reciever in the NFL. He offers the highest floor of any wideout in the league, while also having as high of a cieling as any of them as well. He's facing off with a St. Louis team that, despite being improved, is simply not equipped to shut him down. Brown should be helped by the return of Le'Veon Bell as a rushing and receiving threat, which should make his life even easier going forward. Brown is an elite target in all game types, but is starting to feel like a near-must in cash games.

Ownership Estimates:

FanDuel

Cash: 25-35%

GPP: 20-30%

DraftKings

Cash: 30-40%

GPP: 25-35%

DeAndre Hopkins (WR), Houston Texans

After exploding in Week 1 without Arian Foster in the lineup, the Panthers really locked in on him as the Texans top threat, holding him to just 5 catches on 11 targets from Ryan Mallett, who wasn't particularly accurate either. Hopkins should find more room to work against a Buccaneers secondary that was middle-of-the-pack at best last season and has been very hit or miss this season as well. They allowed 37 FPPG last season to wide receivers and it's relatively easy at times to find soft spots in their zone coverage. Look for Hopkins to rack up more than the 5 catches he posted last week with ease. He is dealing with some concussion symptoms this week, so keep an eye on his playing status.

Ownership Estimates:

FanDuel

Cash: 10-20%

GPP: 15-25%

DraftKings

Cash: 5-15%

GPP: 10-20%

Value Plays

Terrance Williams (WR), Dallas Cowboys

Williams is in a much better situation than last week and his price has barely risen once again. He came through for the Cowboys after Tony Romo went down, catching a 41-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Weeden in the second half. With Jason Witten and Romo now both banged up also, he's going to become the lead playmaker for the Cowboys in the passing game whether they like it or not. He should see another decent boost in targets as most of the other receivers on the roster are very unproven and Williams has shown he can make plays both deep and in the red zone, in conjunction with facing the 31st ranked defense against the pass over the last 16 games in the Falcons, in a game that has a solid 45 over/under.

Ownership Estimates:

FanDuel

Cash: 20-30%

GPP: 15-25%

DraftKings

Cash: 30-40%

GPP: 25-35%

Doug Baldwin (WR), Seattle Seahawks

Baldwin has racked up 7 catches in back-to-back games now and heads into his best matchup of the season against the awful Chicago Bears defense, which ranks 32nd against the pass in the last 16 games. The Seahawks have a week-high 29.25 team total to kick off the week and should be out for vengence after dropping each of the season's first two games since winning the Super Bowl last season. It's quite obvious so far that Baldwin is Russell Wilson's safety value and most trusted target. He should continue to reciever 8-10 targets per game for the foreseeable future and he's simply price too low in a great matchup.

Ownership Estimates:

FanDuel

Cash: 0-10%

GPP: 5-15%

DraftKings

Cash: 10-20%

GPP: 10-20%

GPP Plays

John Brown (WR), Arizona Cardinals

Brown makes this part of the list for now the third time this season. He's been adequate at best in each of the first two weeks, being overshadowed by the resurgence of Larry Fitzgerald as the number one option. However, despite some modest catch and yardage totals, he's been a huge factor in the Cardinals hot start, leading the NFL in pass interference yardage, that has set up a lot of scoring chances that the Cardinals have taken advantage of. You don't draw all that penalty yardage without being able to get open and create those looks, so it's only a matter of time before his big game comes.

Ownership Estimates:

FanDuel

GPP: 10-20%

DraftKings

GPP: 15-25%

Jordan Matthews (WR), Philadelphia Eagles

Matthews has been great from a fantasy perspective this season, but was really having a rough game last week, like the rest of the Eagles, before bailing himself out with four catches and a touchdown on the teams' final drive of Week 2. Matthews remains underpriced for his production thus far and upside, however he falls into the GPP range because of the Jets suffocating pass defense and Darrell Revis likely taking a decent amount of turns on him. Matthews lines up in the slot, which should help him avoid 100% of Revis' attention, so there's a lot to like here, but don't expect the Jets to leave Revis on the outside if Matthews starts burning them from the slot.

Ownership Estimates:

FanDuel

GPP: 15-25%

DraftKings

GPP: 10-20%

Donte Moncrief (WR), Indianapolis Colts

Moncrief has been great in each of the first two weeks of the season, grabbing a touchdown in each game and racking up 19 targets over the two games to easily lead the Colts. He's looked fantastic overall, but the Colts in general have looked awful as an offense. He could easily go the way of the rest of the offense if they don't get things together as a unit and he could also easily lose some of his targets as Andrew Luck gets more comfortable with Andre Johnson and TY Hilton gets healthy from his Week 1 injury. In any case, he's still underpriced for the time being and makes a great upside GPP play against a Tennessee team that's far from an elite defensive unit against the pass, ranked 29th over the past 16 games.

Ownership Estimates:

FanDuel

GPP: 10-20%

DraftKings

GPP: 5-15%

Keenan Allen (WR), San Diego Chargers

Allen went from talk of the town Week 1, to huge disappointment in Week 2. He was targeted 17 times in Week 1, racking up 16 catches for 166 yards and looking like the player we saw flashes of his rookie season. However, Week 2 was a totally different story as we saw more of his play from last season, catching 2 of 4 targets for just 16 yards. A lot of this has to do with Philip Rivers inconsistent play, but Allen is a rare high-variance PPR play, who has a wide range of outcomes despite not being much of a touchdown scorer.

Ownership Estimates:

FanDuel

GPP: 10-20%

DraftKings

GPP: 5-15%