Sporting News Rolls Out Week 3 Fantasy Start and Sit Advice

Vinnie Iyer's rankings flag Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes as must-start quarterbacks for Week 3, with DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel players.

The Sporting News published its Week 3 fantasy football start 'em, sit 'em guide on Monday, again built around the rankings and matchup breakdowns of analyst Vinnie Iyer. The column sorts players into tiers, treating reliably productive options as must-starts, borderline players with friendly matchups as stronger starts, and riskier options as weaker starts.

The advice is calibrated for 12-team, half-point PPR leagues, a format Iyer uses to bridge standard and full-PPR scoring. The piece also adds daily fantasy recommendations for cash games on DraftKings and FanDuel.

At quarterback, the must-start group includes Josh Allen against the Chargers, Lamar Jackson against Dallas, Jalen Hurts at Chicago, Patrick Mahomes at Miami, Brock Purdy against Arizona and Dak Prescott against Baltimore. Joe Burrow, Jordan Love, Jared Goff, Trevor Lawrence, Drake Maye, Bryce Young, Bo Nix and Tyler Shough land in the stronger-start tier. Iyer's DFS pick at the position is Mahomes, priced at $6,200 on DraftKings and $8,100 on FanDuel for the game in Miami.

The weaker quarterback plays for the week include Matthew Stafford at Denver, Geno Smith at Detroit, C.J. Stroud at Indianapolis, Justin Herbert at Buffalo, Baker Mayfield against Minnesota, Kirk Cousins at New Orleans, Jacoby Brissett at San Francisco and Kyler Murray at Tampa Bay.

The running back must-start list is led by Kenneth Walker III, Christian McCaffrey, Jahmyr Gibbs, Derrick Henry and James Cook, with Saquon Barkley included if he is active. Stronger starts at the position include Cam Skattebo against Tennessee, Bucky Irving against Minnesota, Bhayshul Tuten against New England, Quinshon Judkins against Carolina and Jonah Coleman against the Rams.