Weekly Gold — Week 3: The Chiefs Are Still The Champs

Welcome back to Champions Round!

8 min readSep 29, 2020

Golden Nuggets 💰

1. After Monday night it looked like we got out of Week 3 without a slew of massive injuries, which is true. Some players went down: Chris Carson, Tarik Cohen, Michael Pittman and possibly Chris Godwin. But compared to Week 2 it was a good week.

However, on Tuesday AM news broke that 8 members of the Titans organization, including 3 players, tested positive for COVID-19. We’ll see what the ramifications are for the Week 4 schedule and beyond, but first and foremost we want to wish those 8 people a speedy recovery.

2. Week 3 Fantasy MVPs: Alvin Kamara, Russell Wilson, Tyler Lockett, Josh Allen, Rex Burkhead, James Robinson, Justin Jefferson

3. Week 3 Fantasy GOATs: David Montgomery, AJ Green, TY Hilton, Melvin Gordon, Darius Slayton, Evan Engram

4. NFL MVP through 3 weeks: 1. Russell Wilson 2. Aaron Rodgers 3. Patrick Mahomes 4. Josh Allen 5. Kyler Murray 6. Lamar Jackson

5. Week 3 Power Rankings: 1. Chiefs 2. Ravens 3. Packers 4. Seahawks 5. Bills

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Buy & Sell 🔄

Just like anything that has value, you gotta know when to buy and when to sell. Your fantasy team is full of potential, but do you want to get stuck with a guy who’s already reached his peak and is on the decline? No, you want to buy in on someone who’s value is going to skyrocket like Amazon stock.

Buy: Joe Mixon (RB — Bengals), Darius Slayton (WR — Giants), Cam Akers (RB — Rams), Mark Ingram (RB — Ravens)

Sell: Tyler Higbee (TE — Rams), James Robinson (RB — Jaguars), Todd Gurley (RB — Falcons), Rex Burkhead (RB — Patriots)

Moments of Payne 🤒

Having a lead in fantasy football is great. Sometimes it’s the best feeling in the world. However, there’s nothing more nerve wracking than having a lead in fantasy and facing an opponent who has a good player going on Monday Night Football.

A couple of years ago I developed this insane theory that you always want to have someone playing on Monday Night. If you had to decide between equal players for a final roster spot and someone was playing on Monday, it was an automatic decision for me. You play the guy on Monday Night.

I call it the Last Man Standing theory. Is there any real benefit to doing? Not really. Analytically speaking there is no advantage. However, I always FEEL better having the last man playing.

In one of my leagues this week I didn’t have the last guy going. I had a 17 point lead and was playing against Travis Kelce. You know, only the best tight end in football. And the sweat began. Pacing. Sweating. Pacing. Sweating. Constant updating of the app.

Eventually, yes, I pulled it out. But that is NOT a fun situation to be in. Just another moment of PAYNE.

Waiver Wire Targets 🎯

RB Myles Gaskin — Miami Dolphins

We’ve discussed Gaskin before in this section, but he’s getting a large bulk of the touches in Miami. Eventually it’s going to lead to some breakout games.

RB Carlos Hyde — Seattle Seahawks

Chris Carson is seemingly going to miss a couple of weeks with a knee injury. Hyde is worthy of picking up in all leagues.

RB Jeff Wilson Jr. — San Francisco 49ers

Without Tevin Coleman and Raheem Mostert, Wilson Jr. stepped in and had a huge game for the 49ers. You never know which back is going to lead the way in SF, but Wilson Jr. is worth rostering in all leagues next week.

WR Justin Jefferson — Minnesota Vikings

Jefferson had a monster breakout game against the Titans and it could be a sign of things to come. The Vikings are going to be playing from behind quite a bit. Jefferson could be something special.

WR Brandon Aiyuk — San Francisco 49ers

Another beneficiary of all of the 49ers’ injuries is the rookie from ASU. He got the ball in a variety of different ways and looks to be the 49ers top wide receiver right now.

FSGA Update 🏈

We finally had a close battle this week as we entered Monday Night Football up 2 points. Our Champions Round team had JK Dobbins and Travis Kelce and we were up against Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

At one point the matchup got within half a point, but we never surrendered the lead. By the end of Monday Night, we had clinched an 8 point victory and are now 3–0, sitting in first place.

Victory!

Final Thoughts 💭

Round 2 is right around the corner! Drafts will begin on Oct 20th and the round starts on Oct 22nd. Download the Champions Round app now!

Here are some news and notes for every game in Week 3. Good luck in Week 4!

Game Notes 📝

MIA — JAX

Two RBs who we didn’t think much of before the season may actually be real pieces: James Robinson and Myles Gaskin. Both had more than 15 touches on Thursday night and should be worthy of starting in standard leagues for the foreseeable future.
He only had 33 yards on 5 receptions, but Laviska Shenault is a real fantasy piece this season. If he’s available on the waiver wire, I would consider picking him up. Jacksonville is going to play from behind quite a bit this season.
The Jaguars are who we thought they were.
The Dolphins will continue to get better as the season progresses, I would venture to guess.

CHI — ATL

How is Dan Quinn still the coach of the Falcons at this point? At some point something has to give.
Atlanta’s offense is still a great hold in fantasy. They’re going to rack up points all year.
The Bears WR’s get a big upgrade with Nick Foles.
David Montgomery’s stock should be on the rise with Tarik Cohen’s injury. Someone potentially worth buying.

LAR — BUF

What a wild game. Buffalo up 28–3, Rams come all the way back to 32–28, only to lose at the end. Was there a penalty or not? Who knows.
Josh Allen is a fantasy football superstar and legitimately a MVP candidate through 3 weeks. We’ll see if that holds up, but Buffalo is putting him in a great position.
Rams are going to be a team to be reckoned with. Impressive comeback after back to back weeks flying to the east coast for morning games.
Darrell Henderson is the lead back in LA. Can you trust that long term?
Robert Woods is one of the most dynamic playmakers in the NFL that no one talks about.

WAS — CLE

Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt continue to excel in positive game scripts. It’ll be interesting to see their value once they get into a competitive game.
The Washington Pro Football team is worse than we thought after Week 1 and Dwayne Haskins has been subpar over the past two weeks. Not ideal for Terry McLaurin fans.
Give Antonio Gibson the rock in space!

TEN — MIN

Justin Jefferson is a revelation!
The Titans have won 3 games and haven’t yet covered a spread. That’s hard to do and impressive, but they may be a bit fraudulent.
Jonnu Smith continues to impress.
The fall out from the positive COVID tests for the Titans will be THE storyline in the NFL this week.

LV — NE

If you have Rex Burkhead in your lineup this week, good on you. The Patriots backfield is like a roulette wheel. You’re going to have to get lucky to get the right guy in your lineup.
Cam Newton had a bit of an up and down day, but should be fine in the long run.
Sony Michel busted a big run. Haven’t seen that since his days in Athens.
Hunter Renfrow may be Derek Carr’s most reliable receiver. If Henry Ruggs is out for awhile, go pick up Renfrow.

SF — NYG

The Giants have a LONG way to go. That has to be one of the most disappointing performances in recent memory.
The 49ers and Kyle Shanahan have a system. It doesn’t matter who is playing at RB or QB, they can get it done. All of their pre-snap motion confuses most defenses and leave the door open for big plays.
Jeff Wilson Jr. is worth rostering in all leagues.
Jordan Reed will be out about 6–8 weeks. Kittle should be back this week, though.

CIN — PHI

The Eagles may be the most disappointing team in football right now.
Ties should be outlawed.
Dallas Goedart is going to be sidelined for quite awhile. It’ll be interesting to see if the Eagles bring in another tight end. For now, Zach Ertz stock is up!
Joe Burrow continues to impress; however, the Bengals need to do a lot of work to get Joe Mixon some space.
Tee Higgins may be WR2 in Cincy. AJ Green looks slow.

HOU — PIT

It will be interesting to see if Houston gets it together after facing an absolute gauntlet to start the season. Don’t give up on DeShaun Watson.
Monitor the Dionte Johnson situation in Pittsburgh. If he’s out for a little bit James Washington and Chase Claypool are worth investing in.
The Juju Smith-Schuster situation is also worth monitoring. He’s been targeted at an extremely low percentage even though he’s been good fantasy wise.

NYJ — IND

DoNT RoSTEr JEtS PlAYErs
Mo Alie-Cox is turning into a real weapon for the Colts. Worth starting in all leagues at this point.
Keep feeding Jonathan Taylor!

CAR — LAC

Christian McCaffrey is great, don’t get me wrong, but the Panthers offense is built for RB’s to score fantasy points. If you picked up Mike Davis, congrats to you!
DJ Moore has been a disappointment this year and looks to be Teddy Bridgewater’s second option behind Robby Anderson.
Justin Herbert and Keenan Allen seem to have a nice connection. Allen’s fantasy value is way up with Herbert vs. Tyrod.
Welcome back to RB1 status, Austin Ekeler.

TB — DEN

The Denver offense is an absolute wreck. They’ll start Brett Rypien on Thursday night against the Jets. Maybe don’t watch that game. It’s going to be ugly.
Mike Evans had perhaps the weirdest fantasy game from a receiver in recent memory: 2 catches, 2 yards, 2 TDs.
If Chris Godwin is out for awhile, Scottie Miller will be a nice fantasy option.
The Fournette-RoJo situation is going to continue to infuriate fantasy owners.

DET — ARI

Welcome back Kenny Golladay! The Lions offense looked much improved with him in there. No surprise.
Always start your Tight Ends against the Arizona Cardinals.
DeAndre Hopkins is getting Michael Thomas-level volume. Could be WR1 this year.
I still believe in Kyler Murray! You should too.

DAL — SEA

The Cowboys defense is so bad, but Russell Wilson is also a monster.
Tyler Lockett is having quite the season. Pretty easy to rack up fantasy points when you’re faster than everyone and Russ throws the best deep ball in football.
Who is Cedrick Wilson? He was awesome for the Cowboys on Sunday.

GB — NO

Who needs Devante Adams? Aaron Rodgers looks like his old MVP self thus far this season.
The Saints defense has some issues. Don’t be afraid to start your flex guys against the Saints for now.
Aaron Jones and Alvin Kamara may be the two best fantasy backs in football right now.

KC — BAL

It’s very clear how to beat the Ravens at this point: Grab a lead early. It helps when you have Patrick Mahomes.
JK Dobbins is the best RB the Ravens have right now. It’ll be interesting to see if Baltimore lets him get more involved in the next couple of weeks.
Best team in the NFL: Kansas City. Not really that close.