There are quite a few elements to being successful at fantasy football, but arguably the biggest is striking the right balance of risk and reward.
Play it too safe, and the unexpected could sink you. Swing for the fences too hard, and you run the risk of hurting yourself with volatility.
The key is finding a couple of fantasy sleepers each week that you can plug into your lineup to provide you upside without compromising your floor too much. Let’s take a look at five potential sleeper options for Week 3.
Which Fantasy Options Could Be Sleepers in Week 3?
Carson Steele, RB, Kansas City Chiefs
When you are looking at sleeper options in fantasy football, touchdown upside is something to swing for, and Carson Steele appears likely to be the Kansas City Chiefs’ goal-line option at running back. The Chiefs have had six carries inside the 5-yard line this season. Steele has taken two of them, and Pacheco has taken three of them.
#Chiefs OC Matt Nagy says that there's a lot of confidence in RB Carson Steele.
He adds, 'He's probably as ready as he could possibly be for being a young rookie player in this position.' pic.twitter.com/XFBLk4V2UL
— Sports Radio 810 WHB (@SportsRadio810) September 19, 2024
Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said that Steele is “as ready as he could be for being a young rookie in this position for this team.”
Nagy told reporters “there is a lot of confidence with him” and that they have “a lot of trust in him.”
Steele’s potential upside is capped by his not being targeted once through the first two games, but that could change with Pacheco ruled out. Right now, he is a non-PPR sleeper for the most part, but there is a sneaky upside in PPR formats if he does see an uptick in his receiving role.
D’Andre Swift, RB, Chicago Bears
The very stoppable force meets the very movable object in Indy, as one of the least efficient backs in the sport matches up with a defense that has been offensive.
Let’s start with Swift — his 24 carries have gained 48 yards this season. As if that stat line isn’t depressing enough, how about the fact that 20 of those yards came on a single carry?
The Chicago Bears are tied with the Carolina Panthers for the fewest red-zone trips this season, something that essentially rules out Swift finding pay dirt and saving your bacon that way. Under normal circumstances, Chicago’s lead back would be a sure-fire bench, but facing the Colts’ run defense doesn’t qualify as “normal circumstances.”
This porous run unit has allowed opposing running backs to pile up 350 rushing yards. Not only does that lead the league, but it’s more than the Baltimore Ravens, Houston Texans, New England Patriots, and New Orleans Saints have allowed combined.
Swift has accounted for 77.4% of running back carries in Chicago, positioning him to be the primary beneficiary of this perfect matchup. With nothing in his 2024 statistical makeup suggesting optimism, I have Swift penciled in as a fringe RB2 based on the advantageous matchup.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba, WR, Seattle Seahawks
Usually a season breakout requires a few breadcrumbs. We are teased with potential and whiff a few times before, eventually, seeing our loyalty be rewarded.
Not here. The pride of Ohio State put himself on the weekly starter radar with on single game and did it against a strong defense that shut down the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1.
- Week 2: 172 air yards
- First four career games in September: 38 air yards
Smith-Njigba was clearly worked into the script in a significant way (three of the first four targets and seven of the first 12) and his versatility was on full display, something the Seattle Seahawks had been hesitant to showcase before.
JSN was drafted as the WR2 in this offense and not only is that clearly the case, I have him considerably closer to WR1 than WR3.
KEEP READING: PFN’s Consensus Fantasy Football Rankings
Miami ranks below the league average on short passes in terms of completion and touchdown percentage; these are the types of matchups where Smith-Njigba owns a nice floor.
If the vertical routes we saw last week are here to stay, a top-15 upside is in his profile.
Ty Chandler, RB, Minnesota Vikings
The Texans have proven to be a tough run defense thus far, allowing a league-low 1.9 yards per carry after contact to running backs, and that is why I can’t yet justify moving Chandler onto the Flex radar (assuming Jones’ health, of course).
He did pick up 82 yards on his 10 attempts last week — not bad for a player with “sleeper” written all over him at his cost this summer.
A season ago, 49 running backs had at least 100 carries, and Chandler ranked seventh among them in the percentage of carries that gained yardage.
For reference, here’s what the back end of that metric’s top 10 looked like:
7. Ty Chandler: 86.3%
8. Christian McCaffrey: 84.9%
9. De’Von Achane: 84.5%
10. Derrick Henry: 84.3%
Chandler isn’t going away. He might work his way into stand-alone value, but at the very least, he’s more than capable of cratering Jones’ value.
Justin Fields, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers
There are four players with a passer rating north of 90 in each of their past four games: Derek Carr, Kyler Murray, C.J. Stroud, and Fields. He’s simply doing everything that this coaching staff is asking of him; while that may not mean gaudy fantasy numbers, it keeps him on the field as the leader of yet another overachieving Mike Tomlin team.
He’s not a fantasy starter right now, but if you have a spot for a luxury stash, he’s on the short list. We know the skill set is fantasy-friendly, and if deployed correctly, he could give value to a fantasy team that is lacking a rock-solid option under center.
He faces the New York Giants in Week 8, the Washington Commanders in Week 10, and the Bengals in Week 13)
Stats in this article are from TruMedia unless otherwise stated.