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Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield is on track to start in Week 3 against the New York Jets. Mayfield appeared shaken up during Monday night's win over the Houston Texans but avoided any structural damage and did not require further testing. While he may scale back practice reps on the short week, there are no concerns about his availability for Sunday. With elite weapons at his disposal and improved consistency as a passer, Mayfield remains firmly in the QB1 mix for fantasy managers.

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Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jayden Reed underwent successful surgeries on both his shoulder and foot on Tuesday. Reed broke his clavicle in Week 2 while also playing through a Jones fracture, and with surgery already needed for his shoulder, he opted to address both issues at once. The second-year wideout is expected to return before the end of the season, but his fantasy outlook is murky. Matthew Golden might begin to emerge, Christian Watson is nearing a full return, and Green Bay could explore a trade before the deadline. For now, Reed is best stashed on injured reserve in fantasy leagues, with no guarantee he regains a significant role down the stretch.

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Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Jalen McMillan (neck) is currently on the Injured Reserve and eligible to return on October 5, as the Buccaneers will travel to take on the Seattle Seahawks. McMillan left Tampa Bay's exhibition in Pittsburgh on August 16 with what eventually was termed a strained neck. This injury has opened the door for rookie wide receiver Emeka Egbuka to be involved early on in the season, and he has not disappointed, hauling in three touchdowns in his first two career NFL games. McMillan had a nice rookie campaign in 2024, hauling in 37 of his 58 targets for 461 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. Before the draft, McMillan was lined up to be in the WR2 spot on the Bucs offense with Chris Godwin (foot) recovering from his injury. At this time, McMillan remains a dynasty stash and can be picked up off the waivers in leagues with deeper benches once he returns.

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Buffalo Bills running back Ray Davis could see an increased role on Thursday night against the Miami Dolphins. Through the first two weeks, Davis has logged just 10 carries for 26 yards, while starter James Cook has dominated the backfield touches. However, with a quick turnaround on a short week, the Bills may look to lighten Cook's workload. Historically, Cook hasn't handled a heavy rushing volume in Thursday games, recording just 42 carries across five career appearances. While Cook remains a locked-in fantasy starter and Davis isn't on the fantasy radar yet, he could make a sneaky impact for Buffalo in this divisional matchup.

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Kansas City Chiefs running back Brashard Smith logged his first NFL carry on Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles and turned that into two yards. He also saw a target in the pass game, although he didn't come down with it. Smith is currently listed as the No. 3 running back on the depth chart; however, with Isiah Pacheco (3.13 YPC) and Kareem Hunt (3.62 YPC) both struggling to break out, it stands to reason that the Chiefs may give the rookie out of SMU a chance for some more carries in the coming weeks. At this time, Smith remains a decent dynasty stash and someone to keep an eye on in leagues with deeper bench spots. Until then, Smith will likely serve primarily as a returner on special teams and try to make his impact that way.

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The Los Angeles Rams' second-round rookie tight end, Terrance Ferguson, played a few snaps on Sunday and was not targeted against the Tennessee Titans after not seeing the field in Week 1 against the Houston Texans. Ferguson is listed second on the depth chart behind Tyler Higbee, with Colby Parkinson (shoulder) dealing with an injury. At this time, it's unclear what Ferguson's role will be in the offense, as he has not gotten many opportunities in the offense to this point. In his career with the Oregon Ducks, he had 134 receptions, 16 receiving touchdowns, and 1,537 career receiving yards. In his senior year in 2024, he recorded 43 catches for 591 yards and three touchdowns. He set school records for tight ends in career receptions and receiving touchdowns.

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Mike DeFabo of The Athletic reported on Wednesday that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback spoke highly of Jaylen Warren, saying that "We might have to keep giving (Warren) him more opportunities in the pass game, because every time he touches it, something good happens." Warren has always been a solid fantasy asset in the passing game in his career, with 133 receptions in four NFL seasons; however, last Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks, he was very productive through the air, hauling in all four of his targets for 86 yards, for a total of 134 all-purpose yards on 18 touches (14 on the ground and four through the air), This is an excellent sign for Warren fantasy owners, as rookie third round pick, Kaleb Johnson, does not appear to be getting any opportunities of the backfield. His only other competition for opportunities is Kenneth Gainwell, who went from a 54% snap share in Week 1 to a 42% snap share in Week 2. Warren should be considered a solid RB2 heading into Week 3 against the New England Patriots.

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Washington Commanders rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt is listed as the team's starting running back, according to Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic. Throughout the first two weeks of the season, Croskey-Merritt has had a sizeable role in the offense, but he has typically been deployed as the No. 2 option, behind Austin Ekeler. However, with Ekeler suffering a torn Achilles during their Week 2 loss to the Green Bay Packers, it appears the rookie will see an uptick in workload. In Week 1, the first-round rookie made an immediate impact, totaling 82 yards and a score on 10 attempts. However, in the second week, he took a step back, earning just four attempts for 17 yards. However, fantasy managers should expect the Arizona product to see double-digit attempts weekly, given his new placement on the depth chart. Croskey-Merritt carries low-end RB2 value heading into a Week 3 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders.

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Washington Commanders tight end Ben Sinnott looks primed for more playing time in Week 3 against the Raiders with John Bates (groin) unlikely to play, according to head coach Dan Quinn. Bates is Washington's primary blocking tight end and is pivotal to what they do in the run game. Sinnott played only three snaps in the Thursday night loss against Green Bay, but did catch one ball for seven yards. Sinnott has played some in three tight end sets as a move blocker and isn't quite a direct replacement for Bates. Bates is an incredibly stout point of attack blocker for a tight end and is roughly 15 pounds heavier than Sinnott. The 2024 second-round pick is an elite athlete with some intriguing upside as a receiver, but has mostly been used as a move blocker with Washington. We will learn a good bit about how the coaching staff views Sinnott after this week's game.

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Washington Commanders running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt could be set for plenty of work in Week 3 after Austin Ekeler's unfortunate injury. Croskey-Merritt received only four carries and one target in Week 2's loss at Green Bay after a really strong NFL debut. He was effective on his limited touches, gaining over four yards per carry. With how often the Packers' pass rush was winning up front and hitting Jayden Daniels, it would have benefited them to run the ball more. Head coach Dan Quinn touched on this in his press conference on Monday, saying that he wanted more of a balance in terms of play calling. Washington dropped back to pass 52 times compared to 12 running back carries against the Packers. The rookie seventh-rounder should see an uptick in snaps with Ekeler out for the season, and the expectation is that he will be the starter. His role on passing downs is to be determined, as Jeremy McNichols is highly trusted in pass protection, and Chris Rodriguez Jr. will be back in the mix for touches. But he should get the opportunity to handle a career high in carries against the Raiders.

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Washington Commanders wide receiver Jaylin Lane is likely set for an increased number of routes in Week 3 against the Raiders with Noah Brown (groin) injured. Brown got banged up in Thursday night's 27-18 loss at Green Bay, where Lane caught just one of four targets for two yards. The fourth-round rookie ran the fourth most routes on the team behind Terry McLaurin, Deebo Samuel Sr., and Zach Ertz in that game. The team is thin at wide receiver, and Lane will have a chance to emerge in Brown's absence. He is likely best suited in the slot, which is also Samuel's best position. How offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury sorts that out, along with potentially managing the offense without quarterback Jayden Daniels, will be huge. There's a chance we see Kingsbury get Lane involved with some designed touches or use his speed to take a deep shot in an offense that needs more explosive plays. Lane is a name to watch on the waiver wire for the upcoming weeks.

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Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts Sr. reeled in four of his five targets in Sunday's 22-6 victory over the Vikings. Those catches producedjust 37 yards, however, his involvement is encouraging thus far after underwhelming from 2022 through 2024. The former fourth-overall draft pick owns a 20.6 percent target share through the team's first two contests, a stark contrast to his 13.7 percent share from 2024. There was some thought that his seven-catch performance in Week 1 shouldbe at least partly attributed to the absence of Darnell Mooney, but with Mooney back on the field in Week 2, the 24-year-old garnered 23.8 percent target share, which was more than Mooney andeven more than No. 1 receiver Drake London. We've seen this movie before, though, where the 6-foot-6 tight end looks good for a couple of weeks and then fades into obscurity for a few weeks, so we'll see if it lasts. Week 3 brings a favorable matchup with Carolina, who just allowed eight catches for 123 yards to the Arizona TEs, so it should be a good test to see if Pitts' uptick in target share is for real or not.

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Denver Broncos rookie wide receiver Pat Bryant played just four offensive snaps in Week 1, but he logged two catches for 18 yards on three targets in Week 2. 10 different Broncos players recorded a reception in Week 2, so this could be a difficult group of pass-catchers for fantasy managers to evaluate outside of clear WR1 Courtland Sutton. A third-round pick out of Illinois, Bryant earned some preseason buzz for his performance in training camp. The 22-year-old looks like the WR4 in Denver behind Sutton, Troy Franklin, and Marvin Mims Jr. for now, and likely isn't worth rostering in redraft leagues in the immediate. However, Bryant is a name to monitor and could be worth stashing in the very deepest of league formats.

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Tennessee Titans running back Tyjae Spears (ankle) suffered a high ankle sprain in preseason action and was placed on Injured Reserve before the start of the regular season. Given the nature of Spears' injury, he may be able to return as soon as he is eligible in Week 5 against the Arizona Cardinals. The Titans have been a one-man show at running back so far this season, with Tony Pollard having logged 38 of the team's 40 rush attempts by running backs through the team's first two games. However, this was not the case down the stretch of 2024, when Spears logged double-digit touches in each of the final three games he played. Spears finished the 2024 season with 536 yards from scrimmage and five touchdowns across 12 games and should have a consistent role in the Titans' offense once healthy in 2025. In fantasy leagues where he is available, Spears is a worthy stash in an IR spot ahead of his impending return.

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Heading into Week 2, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Marquise Brown was a popular waiver-wire target following his 16-target, 10-catch performance in Week 1. Even with top Chiefs wideouts Xavier Worthy (shoulder) and Rashee Rice (suspension) sidelined in Week 2, Brown was not nearly as prolific against the Philadelphia Eagles, finishing with five receptions for 30 yards. Early indications are that Worthy could return for Kansas City's Week 3 matchup against the New York Giants, which could limit Brown's target volume even further. Still, the 28-year-old looks like the Chiefs' clear WR2 until Rice is eligible to return in Week 7. Brown profiles as a WR4/low-end flex option in Week 3, although his outlook would improve if Worthy misses another game.

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San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle (hamstring) suffered a hamstring injury and was placed on Injured Reserve prior to Week 2. As a result, the 31-year-old will not play until at least Week 6, when San Francisco is set to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the 49ers' first game without Kittle in Week 2, tight ends Luke Farrell and Jake Tonges combined for six catches, 45 receiving yards, and a touchdown. Kittle's return timeline could coincide with returns for 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (toe) and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (knee). That could mean that San Francisco's offense could be firing on all cylinders when it welcomes Kittle back to the lineup. For fantasy managers with an open IR spot, this could be an interesting time to try and buy low on Kittle.

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Houston Texans wide receiver Tank Dell (knee) suffered a gruesome knee injury in December 2024, dislocating his knee and tearing his ACL, MCL, and LCL. The 25-year-old wideout was placed on the reserve/physically unable to perform list in August, meaning he is not eligible to return until Week 5. The most likely scenario remains that Dell will be out far longer than that. Given the timing of his 2024 injury, it would not be surprising if Dell does see any game action in 2025. Dell is worth stashing for future production in dynasty leagues, but he should not be on the radar of redraft fantasy managers unless there is a significant change in his return status.

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Seattle Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III acknowledged that Zach Charbonnet is expected to continue splitting the backfield with him. Through two games, Charbonnet has outsnapped Walker (56% to 38%) and handled more carries (27 to 23). Head coach Mike MacDonald reinforced that approach, saying, "We're playing the long game. We want both backs to play the whole year." Walker also stated that he's buying into the committee approach to preserve his health. "I believe we have two great backs." Walker's history of injuries is expanding, as he missed six games in 2024 and multiple others earlier in his career. For fantasy purposes, Walker's upside is capped, and he should be valued as a high-end RB3 rather than his typical high-end RB2 profile.

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Carolina Panthers wide receiver Jalen Coker (quad) is expected to play a significant role in the team's passing attack once he returns from injury. The second-year receiver suffered a notable quad strain prior to the season and was placed on injured reserve. In his absence, Hunter Renfrow has stepped into a larger role, playing 79% of the snaps through two weeks and catching seven passes on nine targets for 48 yards and two touchdowns in Week 2. While Renfrow has been serviceable, the Panthers view Coker as a core piece moving forward. Fantasy managers should consider stashing him ahead of his potential Week 6 return.

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Miami Dolphins CB Storm Duck (ankle) and S Ifeatu Melifonwu (calf) did not practice on Tuesday, Sept. 16. CB Ethan Bonner (hamstring), C Aaron Brewer (hip), DT Benito Jones (oblique), LB Chop Robinson (knee), WR Jaylen Waddle (shoulder), TE Darren Waller (hip), WR Malik Washington (thumb) and RB Jaylen Wright (knee) were limited.

From TheHuddle