The New York Giants walloped the Washington Redskins to kick off Week 3, and I hope you all started Eli Manning, especially those of you who have Drew Brees sitting on your bench now (by the way, he’s injured, so, you know, don’t play him).
In the spirit of benching players, here’s a few more guys to avoid playing in your league or on Draft Kings:
Matthew Stafford: Stafford isn’t coming into this game at 100 percent with various alignments, but that didn’t stop him from a solid Week 2 performance against the Minnesota Vikings by relying on Calvin Johnson. Hoping that he’ll pull it out in Week 3 isn’t the best option, however.
The Denver Broncos defense has been a menace for QBs so far, allowing only 308 passing yards, four interceptions, and no touchdowns to Joe Flacco and Alex Smith combined over the first two weeks. The Broncos have been absolutely fantastic under Wade Philips so far, getting to the quarterback, disrupting the run, and shutting down receivers.
Stafford is still a good fantasy QB for the future, but this just isn’t his week.
Brandin Cooks: This extends to basically all New Orleans Saints players. Drew Brees is out, Cooks is banged up, and the team as a whole looks lost on the field. As if that weren’t bad enough, Cooks will have to lineup across from Josh Norman who has been playing at the top of his game this season. In fact, Norman limited Jacksonville Jaguars’ Allen Robinson and Houston Texans’ DeAndre Hopkins to seven combined fantasy points—Robinson put up over 40 alone in ESPN leagues this past week.
Cooks only has 111 yards so far this season despite a lot of hype coming in, and until we know either how well Luke McCown will play or how Brees looks upon return, it’s probably better to keep him out the game.