2023 NFL Preseason Week 3 Fantasy Recap

A number of teams did not give a fantasy-relevant player a single snap in the final week of the preseason. Others did but show anything new to work with for fantasy purposes. For these teams, I’ll simply put N/A under their section within the article.

Pittsburgh Steelers at Atlanta Falcons

Steelers

Jaylen Warren and Najee Harris operated in a full-blown committee once again. Harris projects for more touches than the second-year UDFA, but there may not be nearly enough distance between the two to justify their respective ADPs.

Calvin Austin stole a few reps from Allen Robinson and Robinson was also the receiver who came off the field for 12-personell looks. Even as a late (very late) dart in Best Ball drafts, there are better options.

Falcons

N/A

Indianapolis Colts at Philadelphia Eagles

Colts

The Colts were trending toward Josh Downs being their WR3 in the second preseason game and solidified that over the past week. Downs earned the gig in their final preseason performance and the team then cut down to three receivers on the entire roster.

Don’t expect any predictability from this tight end room.

A similar story could unfold in the backfield, but we do want to be taking shots here because the winner could be a weekly FLEX option with Jonathan Taylor on the PUP list. Evan Hull and Deon Jackson split the starting reps evenly versus Philly. With Zack Moss coming back from a broken arm soon, Hull’s outstanding skill set as a pass-catcher could make him the most valuable option of the trio. He caught 50 passes for 546 yards and a pair of scores in his final season at Northwestern.

Eagles

N/A

Detroit Lions at Carolina Panthers

Lions 

N/A (See my Preseason Week 2 article for some hype on Detroit’s rookies)

Panthers

There’s not much to report here. Jonathan Mingo and Adam Thielen are still poised for every-down roles.

Hayden Hurst went from playing every snap with the starters to ceding reps to Ian Thomas and Tommy Tremble in this game. He still logged a 75 percent route rate and had a strong preseason in terms of usage, but it looks like he will leave the field on occasion this year.

New England Patriots at Tennessee Titans

Patriots

N/A

Titans

Tyjae Spears was the primary back with the starters, which included Ryan Tannehill for a brief moment in this game. He is the obvious backup to Derek Henry.

Los Angeles Chargers at San Francisco 49ers

Chargers

The Backups played for LA in this game and Josh Kelley again got the start.

He broke this monster run, secured his spot as the team’s RB2, and called it a night. Kelley should mix in for some early-down work to relieve Austin Ekeler and has extreme contingent value should anything happen to 2022’s RB1 overall.

Quentin Johnston got a surprising number of reps with the backups. He has consistently flashed big-play potential in training camp but entered the league as a raw prospect. Now his team is playing him alongside Easton Stick in the preseason. It’s possible Johnston starts the year as a part-time player, making him exclusively a late-season play in fantasy drafts.

49ers

Jordan Mason played nearly every snap with Brock Purdy on the field and got nine carries. Tyrion Davis-Price didn’t see much action until Purdy was out of the game. Elijah Mitchell is still the team’s RB2 and Davis has a clear edge for the RB3 job.

Buffalo Bills at Chicago Bears

Bills

Deonte Harty and Dawson Knox each ran a route on 5-of-7 Josh Allen dropbacks. Harty looks like the team’s starting slot receiver, though the Bills are in line to lead the league in 12-personnel usage after drafting Dalton Kincaid in the first round. Still, going undrafted in some Best Ball drafts, Harty is a worthwhile final pick.

Even if the Bills do pace the league in two-TE sets, it may not be enough for Kincaid to pay off his lofty, TE11 ADP. Denver led the league in 12-personnel rate last year and they only did it on 31 percent of their snaps. Buffalo would need to crush that number to make Kincaid a relevant player. The easier path for Kincaid to be a hit is for him to flip Dawson Knox by midseason. A year after Knox signed a $50 million extension, that doesn’t seem awfully likely, though it’s not impossible.

Bears

Khalil Herbert had dominated snaps with the starters up until this week, but Matt Eberflus gave all three of his backs a shot with Justin Fields on the pitch this time around. Herbert’s meteoric rise up draft boards may have been a bit premature. The rookie, Roschon Johnson, finally got reps with the starters. He could quickly assert himself as the best receiver and pass-blocker of the trio, leaving D’Onta Foreman as the odd man out for fantasy purposes.

Tyler Scott ran with the starters versus Buffalo. Chase Claypool was sidelined but Scott has at least made the WR3 job a completion throughout training camp and the preseason.

Seattle Seahawks at Green Bay Packers

Seahawks

N/A

Packers

Nothing new happened in this contest but Jordan Love continued to impress. He finished the preseason with three touchdowns, no interceptions, and no sacks.

Jayden Reed remains locked in as the Packers’ starting slot receiver.

Luke Musgrave was unchallenged for the starting tight end role. Both players are solid bets for usable fantasy weeks throughout the season and being able to find a Green Bay stack late in drafts is an added bonus.

Kansas City Chiefs at Cleveland Browns

Chiefs

Marquez Valdes-Scantling sat with the veterans so Skyy Moore got to pace the starters in routes. Justyn Ross made a brief appearance with the starters but a clear trio of Justin Watson, MVS, and Moore emerged during the preseason. Kadarius Toney will likely take Watson’s place in the lineup once healthy.

Ross did enough in camp and the preseason to secure a roster spot. Given how little MVS and Watson offer as deep threats, I don’t hate throwing darts on Ross late in drafts. James has a game-day roster spot with his name on it because of his kick and punt return abilities, though I don’t think he’ll do much more than sit behind Moore on offense.

All three backs played two snaps with the starters. Clyde Edwards-Helaire was the only back outside of Isiah Pacheco and Jerick McKinnon to make the Chiefs' roster. There are worse options in the final rounds of Best Ball drafts.

Browns

We got an extended look at Cleveland’s first-team offense in this game. Donovan Peoples-Jones, Amari Cooper, and David Njoku ran every or nearly every route with the starters. Elijah Moore came off the field when Kevin Stefanski moved the team out of a three-wide look. Stefanski hasn’t shied away from 12-personnel during his time in Cleveland. Since he joined the franchise, Cleveland ranks 12th in 12-personnel rate and just 27th in 11-personnel rate. That will be a problem for Moore.

The Browns acquired Pierre Strong from the Patriots after this game. He figures to be the team’s RB3 and could even eat into Jerome Ford’s backup gig.

Arizona Cardinals at Minnesota Vikings

Cardinals

Greg Dortch played in this game while the starters all rested. He does not appear to be a threat to Rondale Moore’s slot role.

Vikings

DeWayne McBride played with the reserves. He was waived the following week. The Vikings added Myles Gaskin after the Dolphins cut him, but Ty Chandler still has a stranglehold on the RB2 job.

New York Jets at New York Giants

Jets

The Jets split their tight end reps evenly between Tyler Conklin and C.J. Uzomah. Conklin has the edge in routes for the entire preseason, but I wouldn’t bet on him to be a full-time player.

Randall Cobb got the start following Corey Davis’s sudden retirement. He and Mecole Hardman will split the WR3 role. The Jets will use some two-TE sets and a fullback this year, so the WR3 role will need to be won by a single player to be notable for fantasy purposes.

Giants

Matt Breida rested and rookie Eric Gray didn’t even see the field with the starters. Not only is Breida the clear handcuff to Saquon Barkey, but there doesn’t seem to be a challenger in the midst either.

Jalin Hyatt played while Darius Slayton, Isaiah Hodgins, and Parris Campbell rested. Hyatt could come on down the stretch, but it will be hard to justify holding him throughout the season.

Cincinnati Bengals at Washington Commanders

Bengals

Chris Evans got the night off while rookie Chase Brown ran with the starters. Evans looks to have locked up the RB2 role and could even moonlight as this year’s Samaje Perine.

Commanders

N/A

Baltimore Ravens at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Ravens

Gus Edwards sat with the veterans while Justice Hill started with the rest of the backups. Hill had played ahead of Edwards in the Ravens’ previous pair of preseason outings, but that experiment seems to be over.

Bucs

Rachaad White took every snap with Baker Mayfield on the pitch. He is set up for an elite role in his second season.

Mike Evans rested while nursing a groin injury which put extra snaps up for grabs. Deven Thompkins and Trey Palmer were vying for the WR2 role behind Chris Godwin in this game. Palmer has had a strong preseason, but the most likely outcome is that Godwin and Evans dominate the targets in Tampa Bay, leaving few opportunities for any other receiver to capture.

Miami Dolphins at Jacksonville Jaguars

Dolphins

Miami cleared up their WR3 situation on Tuesday when they cut Chosen Anderson. He had been dueling with Braxton Berrios for the gig during training camp, but Berrios, who is also an All-Pro returner, clearly won the gig. He is a viable stacking option at the end of deep drafts.

Durham Smythe got the start and should see plenty of snaps this year. He is primarily a blocker but could stumble into a few scores if Miami’s offense picks up where it left off when Tua Tagovailoa went down last season.

Jaguars

The Jags have used Christian Kirk as their third receiver all preseason and that didn’t change here. Kirk is the receiver Doug Pederson is taking off the field when the Jaguars move out of 11-personnel. That will be a notable hit to his fantasy value and I’m currently not interested in drafting him at ADP.

Tank Bigsby played some with Trevor Lawrence on the field. As PFF’s Nathan Jahnke points out, Travis Etienne was on the field for the team’s only two short-yardage situations and all of the team’s third and fourth downs. Etienne crushed NFL Next Gen Stats’ success rate metric last year and was a strong receiving back in college. Bigsby could steal more work from Etienne than the average backup, but Etienne still has a clear path to seeing the vast majority of the high-value touches in Jacksonville.

Las Vegas Raiders at Dallas Cowboys

Raiders

Josh McDaniels rested his starters, so it was concerning to see rookie tight end Michael Mayer on the field to open the game. Austin Hooper got the night off and is clearly ahead of him on the depth chart.

Cowboys

Malik Davis started this game alongside the other deep reserves and was cut on Tuesday. Rico Dowdle will open the year as the Cowboys' RB2.

Los Angeles Rams at Denver Broncos

Rams 

N/A

Broncos

Any questions we had about Marvin Mims’ playing time were settled when Denver cut down to four receivers on their roster at the deadline. Mims is locked into the WR3 gig and will see even more work early in the season if Jerry Jeudy isn’t ready for Week 1.

Houston Texans at New Orleans Saints

Texans

The Texans have used multiple tight ends with the starting unit throughout the preseason and things reached a new low for Dalton Schultz in his final exhibition appearance.

He played fewer snaps with the starters than Dalton Keene Teagan Quitoriano. The Texans cut Keene, but Quitoriano or Brevin Jordan could play far more snaps than expected if Bobby Slowik sticks with his TE-by-committee approach.

Nico Collins and Robert Woods played every snap with the starters. Noah Brown operated as the third receiver but came off when Houston moved out of 11-personnel. Tank Dell and John Metchie are fun flyers late in drafts, but they could be the first players sent to the waiver wire when you need to stream a quarterback in Week 5.

Per usual, Dameon Pierce played every snap with the starters.

Saints

After missing a bunch of reps because of various knee issues throughout the summer, Kendre Miller played with the backups while the starters got the night off versus Houston. Miller’s usage is likely a way to get him as many live snaps as possible before Week 1, though that inexperience should also cost him playing time early in the year. Be ready for the Jamaal Williams show while Alvin Kamara is suspended for the first three games.

A.T. Perry reeled in three balls for 12 yards, bringing him to a 12-104-1 line in the preseason. He ranked fourth in catches during the preseason. Perry may not play much as a rookie, but he was a strong prospect who made it through final cuts. I don’t hate stashing him in deep dynasty leagues.