Fantasy Football Live - Titans' Derrick Henry headlines players to worry about in week 3
Yahoo Sports' Matt Harmon and Dalton Del Don run through a few players fantasy managers should be concerned about this week.
Video Transcript
MATT HARMON: Now welcome into the show my fellow stat nerd from our podcast. It's Yahoo Fantasy's own, the legend himself, Dalton Del Don. Dalton, thanks so much for joining us here on Sunday morning.
We're going to talk about a few players that people out there are panicking on in their fantasy football rosters, starting off with Derrick Henry. the big dog has been running into some big trouble so far this year, Dalton.
DALTON DEL DON: My panic level is extremely high, unfortunately. He already showed some signs of decline before last year's injury, a lot of mileage on the big dog, 28 years old, playing with metal plates and screws in his foot. Just 2 broken tackles so far this season. 11 months removed from that surgery.
The bigger issue may even be that the Titans just simply look bad. Ryan Tannehill has struggled without AJ Brown, big splits throughout his career. And here's the thing. Since 2019, Derrick Henry has scored 10 fewer PPR points per game during Titans losses. And this team, obviously, is not going to even resemble the number one seed like they did last year.
Now left tackle Taylor Lewan is out for the season. Fantasy managers hope Henry has a nice bounceback game today, which he might. This Raiders matchup has sneaky shootout potential. And I'm not the only one to say this. But I'm calling for Treylon Burks' coming out party today.
MATT HARMON: Yeah, man, I'm nervous about Derrick Henry. Things are not looking good in Tennessee. If he has that big game, maybe you think about putting him on the trade block after this one.
Let's move onto another guy that I know people are literally peeing their pants over if they drafted this guy on their fantasy team. It's Kyle Pitts. What's the panic level on tight end Kyle Pitts, Dalton?
DALTON DEL DON: It has to be a medium here. I'm still a believer long-term. But fantasy expectations simply need to be changed. And it's not because he's blocking a little more, hasn't blown up in the first two games. Obviously a little concerning how quiet he's been in the box score. But it's Drake London, he's the concern. The rookie receiver somehow ranks top five in target share among all wide receivers, top 10 in yards per route run, despite tough competition. Led the league in first down target percentage last week.
So suddenly, Kyle Pitts has an alpha teammate competing for targets. I do believe again, he's going to be a top five fantasy tight end from here on out. But there's less of a chance that he's going to be that number one tight end that many, like myself, had hoped. And there's even a small concern there's going to be a rookie QB, Desmond Ridder, during the all important fantasy playoffs. So there's some mild concern here with Pitts, mainly because of Drake London looking so, so good.
MATT HARMON: Yeah, you're exactly right, Dalton. Everybody out there is like, hey, come on, Arthur Smith, you've got to get the ball to your best player. Arthur Smith is getting the ball to his best player. His name just happens to be Drake London not Kyle Pitts. Sorry for the haters out there.
All right, Dalton, last guy here. Let's go with the running back position again. It's Travis Etienne, man. It has not been looking good for the Travis Etienne bros out there, man.
DALTON DEL DON: Yeah, it's medium to high concern here, panic level. There are some positives. Jacksonville's looked far better than expected, but so has James Robinson. He's returned quicker and looked better from his Achilles injury than many running backs, basically any running back in NFL history. And even if the explosion doesn't return, he will be relied upon in pass protection.
Meanwhile, Etienne's snap share dropped to 37% last week. He'll be fine, especially in PPR formats. Etienne nearly scored a couple of touchdowns in week one. But man, he was getting drafted in the third, fourth round of fantasy leagues. And he needs to be considered and treated more as a flex option now moving forward than that stud back you were hoping for.
MATT HARMON: Yeah, that pick is not looking so great. Dalton, you're always looking great. It's always good to talk to you. Thanks so much for joining us. If you need more of Dalton-- and you do need more of Dalton-- make sure you subscribe to the "Yahoo Fantasy Football Forecast" to hear him on our Stat Nerd Thursday every single week.
