Hello and welcome back, Nerds! The Dynasty Nerds writers are here to provide you with weekly starts and sits. I will be doing the wide receiver starts and sits for the 2022 season! As a group, we will make our recommendations based on weekly consensus PPR rankings from FantasyPros. Here is our squad and the position groups they will be covering to help you each week. Follow us, DM us, and tweet us; we look forward to hearing from you! 

QB: Jason Snyder (@Spydes78) – Changing the Call

RB: Jake Oliver (@DarthDbacks) – The Cutback

WR: Tristan Cook (@THEtristancook) – Slant Pattern

TE: Ethan Wyatt (@ethanAwyatt) – 12 Formation

FLEX: Evan Brown (@FFEVanlution) – Flex on ‘Em

IDP: Jon Glosser (@Glosser13) – IDP Start/Sit

One thing to keep in mind when making your start/sit decisions, it will ALWAYS depend on who your other options are. The players listed below are wide receivers that I expect to finish above/below their respective rankings. But, it doesn’t mean you need to take them out of (or put them into) your lineup unless your alternatives are worth it. 

NOTE: Rankings are based on a 12-team PPR league. So, saying WR2 means top 24, or TE1 means top 12, etc., and are pulled from Fantasy Pros consensus expert rankings.

RECAP

Week 2 was a bit of a mixed bag for me. I hit big on Christian Kirk as a ‘start’ with his WR7 finish. He has been criminally underrated each week to start this season and has performed well so far. He’s finally moved up the weekly rankings, so he won’t make the ‘start’ column, but I’m still rolling him out each week. My other big hit had Darnell Mooney as a ‘sit.’ He won’t be going anywhere near my starting lineup until The Bears have a better passing offense. My big miss was having Adam Thielen as a ‘start.’ Allen Robinson was my other miss who slightly outperformed his ranking. Unfortunately, two of my other calls for Week 2 got hurt. Anyway, let’s get to the calls for this week.

START

Tyler Lockett vs. ATL – WR 36

Week 2 Stats | WR 15 | FPts: 19.7 | Tgts: 11 | Rec: 9 | Yds: 106 | TDs: 0

My first ‘start’ for Week 3 is Lockett. The entire Seahawks offense was faded going into this season. And after a slow start in Week 1, Lockett blew up last week against the 49ers. He saw 11 targets and was able to haul in nine of them for 106 yards receiving. His 11 targets in a game where the Seahawks led are incredibly promising. This week he faces off against a porous Falcons secondary. I expect Lockett to finish well above his WR36 ranking.

Garrett Wilson vs. CIN – WR 35

Week 2 Stats | WR 6 | FPts: 30.0 | Tgts: 14 | Rec: 8 | Yds: 102 | TDs: 2

My other ‘start’ for this week is the rookie receiver, Wilson. He is coming off a game where he went off. He caught eight passes for 102 yards receiving and two touchdowns on 14 targets, including this work of art.

Is it possible that this ‘start’ is chasing production a little bit? Yea, it’s possible. But, I think it’s also likely that Wilson will continue to see a large target share, and that’s something I’m always looking for. I know it’s a bit scary to put your faith in the arm of Joe Flacco, but I think it’s worth it this week. I’m starting Wilson if I have him.

SIT

Allen Robinson @ ARI – WR 25

Week 2 Stats | WR 23 | FPts: 15.3 | Tgts: 5 | Rec: 4 | Yds: 53 | TDs: 1

Moving to the guys I’m less confident in; I have Robinson as my first ‘sit’ of the week. Last week, I had him as a ‘sit,’ and he narrowly outperformed his ranking. If you started him, you’re happy with his production, but I think the process was pretty solid. 

Robinson only saw five targets in a game where Matt Stafford threw the ball 36 times. That is only a 13.9% target share, up from his abysmal Week 1, but it’s still not great. He saved you if you started him because he scored, not because he’s a big part of this offense. Robinson’s always got a chance to have a solid fantasy day because of red zone work, but I don’t want to count on touchdowns. I’m staying away from A-Rob again this week.

Adam Thielen vs. DET – WR 30

Week 2 Stats | WR 51 | FPts: 9.2 | Tgts: 7 | Rec: 4 | Yds: 52 | TDs: 0

I was wrong when I had Thielen as a ‘start’ last week. His stat line actually looks better than it could have if not for some garbage-time receptions. I thought we could count on coverage being shaded over to Jefferson and the connection between Thielen and Kirk Cousins. However, Cousins barely looked Thielen’s way until the game was out of hand. I’m surprised by his WR30 ranking this week. For example, I’d start Lockett or Wilson over him if you have them as options. It may be time to close the book on Thielen, the reliable fantasy contributor. I’m looking elsewhere this week and beyond.

Rashod Bateman @ NE – WR 21

Week 2 Stats | WR 13 | FPts: 20.8 | Tgts: 7 | Rec: 4 | Yds: 108 | TDs: 1

Bateman is my final ‘sit’ for Week 3. There are mainly two reasons for my concern this week. First, Bateman is buoyed up by his big touchdown receptions in the first two weeks. He’s not garnering a big enough target share for me to feel confident in starting him without hesitation. Bateman is not quite as low as the aforementioned Robinson, but through two games, Bateman only has a 20.3% target share in this offense. He’s the second passing option on a run-first team.

The other big concern for Bateman this week is the matchup with New England. I know they aren’t quite the intimidating opponent that they have been in previous years, but they are still very tough. It’s only been two weeks, but New England hasn’t allowed a ton of passing success against them. Additionally, I expect both teams to run the ball early and often and chew up the clock. I think WR21 is an overreaction to Bateman’s start to the season; I’m looking at other options this week if I have them.  

That’s it for Week 3. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter (@THEtristancook) if you have any specific questions about who I would start. 

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