There are some absolutely absurd fantasy numbers being put up at the wide receiver position thus far this season. Of the top-10 fantasy receivers heading into Week 3, three of them (Stefon Diggs, Willie Snead IV and Brandin Cooks) have posted a 70-plus catch rate. For his part, Snead is averaging a ridiculous 2.4 fantasy points per target.
What makes the Saints' receiver's early-season performance so ridiculous is the fact that he's putting up an average of 13.3 yards per target. Meanwhile, teammate Brandin Cooks is averaging 2.3 points and 11.7 yards per target.
On the other hand, Antonio Brown has not seen as much success. He currently boasts a 54.5 catch rate while putting up 1.6 points and 7.5 yards per target.
There are definitely outliers at wide receiver thus far. Brown's targets are always going to be among the highest in the NFL. And in reality, his success rate when targeted last season was among the best we have ever seen in the fantasy football world. One bad outing against the Cincinnati Bengals this past Sunday doesn't change that.
Though, there are indicators that some of the receivers that currently rank as WR1 or WR2 options are not going to be among the best moving forward here soon. Mike Wallace ranks sixth among receivers in fantasy points (yeah, we're shocked too). He's also only put up seven catches and has been targeted 12 times in two games. Those numbers are not indicative of long-term fantasy success.
What's happening with rookie quarterbacks in the NFC East is absolutely astounding. While neither Dak Prescott (Dallas Cowboys) or Carson Wentz (Philadelphia Eagles) have proven to be QB1 options, their overall success should be taken into account here.
Prescott has attempted 75 passes without being intercepted in two games. He's also averaging 6.9 yards per attempt and 11.0 yards per completion. Unfortunately, Prescott has yet to throw a touchdown pass. That's why he heads into Week 3 as the 26th-best fantasy quarterback.
On the other hand, Wentz finds himself ranked 20th among quarterbacks in fantasy points. Like Prescott, he has yet to throw an interception (71 attempts) on the young season.
We should probably wrap our heads around the idea that Blaine Gabbert enters Week 3 with more fantasy points than Marcus Mariota, Jameis Winston, Russell Wilson, Eli Manning and Kirk Cousins. The struggling quarterback has put up four touchdowns and is averaging 250 total yards per game.
This is just a representation of how quarterback-friendly Chip Kelly's system is in San Francisco. Though, no one here is willing to call Gabbert a fantasy relevant option in any format. He's the prime example of a bad football player putting up decent fantasy numbers (15th among quarterbacks in points heading into Week 3).
You want to know how bad the Oakland Raiders have been at this whole defense thing? Well, it's more offensive than anything else. The basic stats are eye-opening. Oakland is yielding an average of 34.5 points and has already given up 1,000 total yards in two games.
That's bad, right? Consider this: Receivers are catching 81.4 percent of the passes thrown their way against the Raiders. They're also averaging 16.1 yards per reception and 13.1 yards per target. So yeah, um, maybe consider starting receivers against this squad.
On the other hand, the Denver Broncos have been absolutely insane against receivers. They're yielding a 40 percent completion rate and 5.1 yards per target. That against the likes of Cam Newton and Andrew Luck this season.
Let's just go ahead and call Matt Forte and DeAngelo Williams the top two fantasy running backs right now. Not only have both produced great numbers this season, they are being relied on heavily in their team's offenses.
Williams leads all NFL running backs with a 47.9 touch distribution with Forte coming in second at 43.1. Lamar Miller of the Houston Texans is the only running back coming in with a 40-plus percent touch distribution.
This means all three are touching the ball on more than 40 percent of their team's snaps. That's an absurd figure considering Adrian Peterson led all running backs in that category at under 37 percent last season.