With two weeks of football now in the books, we have a little more reason to believe in/doubt some of the players we spent all offseason investing precious draft capital into. While Adonai Mitchell’s 12-target performance in last week’s game against the Packers has landed him firmly on the streaming radar for Week 3, another receiver has struggled to find targets, and Bears tight end Colston Loveland has also struggled for opportunities out of the gate.
Let’s dive into some recent player usage and see who we should consider buying/fading heading into a big Week 3.
Running Backs
🟢 Jaylen Warren (PIT) vs. Patriots
Rico Dowdle left last week’s game against the Patriots with a foot injury, then returned only to be pulled again. Dowdle is currently sporting a walking boot and has yet to practice this week, which is a good sign for Jaylen Warren‘s Week 3 outlook against the Bengals.
Warren has handled 48 percent of the Steelers’ backfield rushing attempts this season and 26 percent of the team’s total opportunities, but that’s still with Dowdle averaging 11.0 opportunities/gm. Warren’s 10 targets this year are the 10th most among all RBs, and no QB has more targets to RBs (130) since 2025 than Aaron Rodgers. While we should still expect Travis Homer to spell Warren on occasional downs, Warren could have some mid-to-high-end RB2 upside after finishing as the RB23 and RB26 in PPR leagues over the first two weeks.
🔴 Travis Etienne (NO) vs. Ravens
In his first week sharing a backfield with Alvin Kamara, Travis Etienne found himself in a brutal split with the 31-year-old back. In the first half of Week 2’s game against the Ravens, Etienne was out-touched by Kamara 10 to 2 and finished with 10 touches to Kamara’s 14.
The above numbers are concerning on their own, but add to them the fact that Etienne has totaled just 109 scoreless yards from scrimmage on 26 touches, and things get even more worrisome. In addition, the Saints have opened the year as one of the league’s worst run-blocking teams. As a team, New Orleans currently ranks 30th in rush success rate (38.5 percent), 19th in yards before contact per attempt (1.44), and has the second-highest stuff rate (52.9 percent) of any team in the league.
Etienne’s lack of work in the passing game, coupled with the highly inefficient play we’ve seen from the Saints’ rushing attack through two weeks, makes him a tough player to trust against a Raiders team that’s allowed the seventh-lowest rushing success rate (42.0 percent) through the first two weeks.
Wide Receivers
🟢 Adonai Mitchell (NYJ) vs. Packers
Is there anybody who wasn’t intrigued by what Adonai Mitchell did in Week 2 against the Packers? Aside, of course, from the guy in my league I tried to trade Mitchell to earlier this week. Mitchell popped for 12 targets in last week’s loss to the Packers and converted them into six receptions for 63 yards. Mitchell was a favorite late-round dart throw of mine in drafts this year after he totaled six or more targets in seven of the eight games he played with the Jets after his trade from the Colts. The third-year speedster has been targeted on 23.9 percent of his routes as a Jet. For some comparison, among 32 receivers with at least 200 targets since 2024, Mitchell’s 23.9 percent TPRR would rank 18th highest behind his teammate Garrett Wilson (24.2 percent TPRR). Mitchell has seen a nice mix of targets as well. While he still sees plenty of looks in the short and intermediate parts of the field, he has been targeted on passes of 20-plus yards 18 times dating back to last season.
Mitchell and the Jets draw a generous Week 3 matchup against a Lions defense that has allowed 30-plus points in each of its first two games and the second-most passing yards of any team in the league. If you need any more reasons to consider Mitchell as a dart throw, consider that this game is being played indoors and against an offense that’s as explosive as its defense is porous. Vegas likes this game to turn into an offensive shootout, as the 47.5-point total is currently tied for the third-highest total on the week.
It feels like everybody at Rotoworld is in on Mitchell this week. I know my buddies Denny Carter and Rivers McCown are, and RotoPat currently has him ranked as his WR28 this week.
Please join us on the AD Mitchell hype train.
🔴 Marvin Harrison Jr. (ARI) vs. Seahawks
Was there any doubt about where things were going here? Marvin Harrison Jr. has arguably been the worst receiver in football through the first two weeks of the season. I’m being a bit hyperbolic, but he certainly can’t be played in fantasy until things change. Among 59 receivers with at least 50 routes run this season, Harrison’s 6.2 percent TPPR and four targets rank dead last. Harrison has just one catch for 33 scoreless yards on the season. Among players on his own team, his four targets tie with running back Tyler Allgeier for the fifth-most.
On one hand, it’s truly impossible for things to get worse for Harrison, who doesn’t appear any closer to shedding the bust label two games into his third season. Barring the team making him a healthy scratch, we can only assume that he’ll see more targets at some point. At least, I think. On the other hand, fantasy managers can’t afford to keep starting him while hoping the next game will be the one where he actually looks the part of a first-round NFL draft pick.
Tight Ends
🟢 Dalton Schultz (HOU) vs. Bengals
Dalton Schultz has gotten off to a nice start for the Texans. He currently leads all tight ends in the league in routes run (79) and his 27.8 percent TPRR is fourth-highest among tight ends with at least 10 targets this season. Schultz saw a very nice eight targets in the Texans’ Week 1 loss to the Bills, but popped up for a career-high 14 targets in last week’s loss to the Bengals, due in part to the fact that Nico Collins (hamstring) was not available. Despite not finding the end zone, Schultz’s 12-140-0 line was good for 26.0 PPR points and the overall TE1 finish for Week 2.
Collins hasn’t practiced this week for the Texans and is trending toward missing a second-straight game. Meanwhile, Schultz draws a Week 3 matchup against a Colts defense that has already allowed 20 targets to opposing tight ends this season, which have been converted into 15 catches for 167 yards and one touchdown. Schultz is very much on the fantasy radar as a solid TE1 who could be in line for another double-digit target performance this week.
🔴 Colston Loveland (CHI) vs. Vikings
I chose not to put Colston Loveland in this spot after he somehow went without a catch on a two-target day in the Bears’ Week 1 win over the Vikings. One week later, and I have no choice but to put Loveland on high alert after he managed just one catch for three yards on three targets in the Bears’ Week 2 loss to the Vikings in a muddy 9-3 defeat. The loss of Caleb Williams (hamstring) also doesn’t help Loveland’s stock.
The good news for Loveland’s fantasy managers is that he has been on the field. His 121 snaps currently lead all tight ends, while his 63 routes run rank sixth-most at the position. The bad news is Loveland can’t seem to buy a target, and hoping that changes in Week 3 against the Eagles, with Case Keenum expected to be under center, hardly seems like a good idea.
NOTE: Stats and information courtesy of PFF.com, RotoViz.com, ProFootballReference.com, NextGenStats.NFL.com, 4For4.com, FantasyPoints.com and RBSDM.com. All scoring is based on full-PPR leagues.
