Welcome to Week 3 of the fantasy football fades and busts of the week! I am your host, Matt Okada, and will be bringing you half a dozen players to avoid each and every Thursday, throughout the fantasy season. If you tuned in last week, we had quite a bit of success … and learned a lot about Tucker Kraft. Still seeking the perfect 6-for-6 — let’s make it happen.
As a note, just because a player earns a “fade” or “bust” designation doesn’t automatically mean they should be benched — it depends on the rest of your roster or the options on your waiver wire. But you can expect them to fall short of expectations (when I get them right).
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Without further ado, here is my list for Week 3 of the 2025 season.
Bo Nix, QB, Denver Broncos
So far this season, Bo Nix has not been what fantasy managers drafted him in the sixth round to be. He has averaged just 5.5 yards per pass attempt, thrown three interceptions and clocked in at 13.54 fantasy points per game. Now, he draws a matchup with the Chargers’ pass defense, which has looked like one of the best in the NFL through two weeks. They’ve allowed the lowest completion rate and success rate in the league, and the second-lowest yards per attempt (behind Green Bay). They looked absolutely ferocious against Geno Smith and the Raiders on Monday night in Week 2 — even after losing Khalil Mack — with an absurd 15 passes defensed and three interceptions.
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Nix is better than Smith, and might have slightly better weapons, but Los Angeles also allowed just 14.32 fantasy points to Patrick Mahomes as a passer (he scored several more as a rusher). There’s little reason to believe Nix will have a significantly better output than either of the previous QBs to face the Bolts — which makes him a questionable play at the fringe of QB1 territory.
What to do ❓ If you don’t want to carry a second QB or drop Nix to stream somebody else, playing him isn’t the end of the world — he should still be a top-16-or-so quarterback. However, if you can do either of those things, perhaps with a guy like Drake Maye, Caleb Williams (in a better matchup), Jordan Love or Daniel Jones, give it a shot.
Omarion Hampton, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
Last week, we went with the other rookie running back taken in the first round of the NFL draft, and Ashton Jeanty scored just 5.9 fantasy points. So, as unfortunate as it may be for those who drafted him in the third round, we’re carrying the fade forward to Omarion Hampton in Week 3. After playing 80.6% of the snaps in Week 1 (and still only scoring 7.1 points), Hampton nosedived down to 61.8% of snaps in Week 2, with Najee Harris picking up the balance. But more importantly, Hampton dropped from 17 opportunities to just 10 on Monday night, and is averaging just 0.37 fantasy points per opportunity. That ranks 50th among 56 running backs with 10+ opportunities so far, shortly behind Kenneth Gainwell and Rico Dowdle. According to Next Gen Stats, Hampton has also averaged -1.3 rush yards over expected, which is fourth-worst among qualified running backs. And to make matters worse, despite what Jonathan Taylor accomplished in Week 2, the Broncos defense ranks sixth in rush DVOA, third in rush EPA and first in success rate against the rush. Hampton’s usage trend, his efficiency (or lack thereof) and the matchup are all red flags heading into this game.
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What to do ❓ If at all possible, bench Hampton in Week 3. He’s a (very) fringe RB2, but if you can turn to someone like D’Andre Swift, Tony Pollard or even Jaylen Warren instead, do it. We need to see encouraging usage and encouraging results before confidently starting Hampton in the future.
Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB, Washington Commanders
All the passengers on Jacory Croskey-Merritt’s hype train are looking at me with incredulity. After all, with Austin Ekeler’s season over (Achilles), “Bill” is the presumptive favorite to take the starting job in Washington. But “presumptive” is an important term here. The Commanders will very likely activate Chris Rodriguez Jr. for Week 3, which means Croskey-Merritt still might not see a workhorse carry count, and Jeremy McNichols figures to see relevant passing-down snaps as well. It’s possible JCM is a bell-cow, but it’s also possible he has four touches and completely busts … like he did last week.
Amid all this uncertainty, he faces a Raiders defense that’s been a pass funnel through two games — they’ve allowed the seventh-most yards and eighth-most attempts passing, but the fourth-fewest yards and eighth-fewest attempts rushing. Not only that, they’ve held opposing rushers to -0.33 EPA/carry, the lowest mark in the entire league. Croskey-Merritt has a decent ceiling, but his floor is somewhere in the sewers beneath Northwest Stadium.
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What to do ❓ Croskey-Merritt is a high-risk, medium-reward RB3 in Week 3. If you’re choosing between JCM and a guy like TreVeyon Henderson or Nick Chubb, you might have to go with JCM. But if you can, play a half-decent RB2 ahead of him and take a week to evaluate the new Commanders backfield before trusting it in your starting lineup.
Brian Thomas Jr., WR, Jacksonville Jaguars
I know. You can’t bench Brian Thomas Jr. I get that, and I respect it. But we need to be frank with ourselves. As I noted in , Thomas has caught a horrendous five of 19 targets for just 60 total receiving yards through two weeks. He and Trevor Lawrence have been on completely different pages, Thomas has dropped a couple easy catches and the vibes are troubling in Duval. BTJ will rebound at some point this season — he’s too talented and too heavily utilized not too — but this might not be the week.
Thomas is likely to draw shadow duty from Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., who just held Mike Evans to 5.1 fantasy points on nine targets across 33 snaps. Not to mention, Lawrence and Thomas’s struggles have come against defenses with subpar pass rushes (the Panthers and Bengals), whereas Houston should be able to get to the quarterback far more effectively, adding yet another red flag to this situation.
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What to do ❓ Like I said, you can’t really bench Thomas — even with all this context, he’s a startable WR2. However, lower your expectations, try not to completely crash out if he struggles again and avoid him in DFS. And if by some miracle you have Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and don’t need BTJ in your FLEX … maybe you can bench him.
Courtland Sutton, WR, Denver Broncos
Can I interest you in an anti-stack? You read all about my Bo Nix concerns above, and several of them transfer over to his “WR1,” Courtland Sutton. And yes, those quotation marks are intentional. Last week, in Troy Franklin’s breakout, Sutton ran five fewer routes, saw five fewer targets, caught seven fewer passes and totaled 83 fewer yards than the second-year receiver out of Oregon (where he was Nix’s WR1). Franklin was targeted on 33.3% of his routes in Week 2, while Sutton was down at 18.2%. That disparity won’t hold to that degree, but prior to last year, Sutton had never been a 130-target guy. It’s completely plausible that Franklin leapfrogs Sutton in the pecking order, but at the very least he is now providing legitimate competition. With the added context of the matchup, Sutton falls outside WR2 range for Week 3.
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What to do ❓ Sutton might score a touchdown, in which case he’d likely end up being a decent Flex play, but do your best to avoid him and play more reliable options where you can. Rookies Tetairoa McMillan and Emeka Egbuka are easy choices, as are second-year WR1s Rome Odunze and Marvin Harrison Jr. and even Tee Higgins with Jake Browning at QB.
Mark Andrews, TE, Baltimore Ravens
If you drafted Mark Andrews as a top-eight tight end, I have bad news for you. He’s completely unplayable. The former All-Pro has averaged just 19 routes, two targets, one catch and 3.5 yards per game so far this season. Yes, the numbers on your screen are accurate. And this is all with Isaiah Likely inactive, but reportedly returning “very soon.” It’s tough to identify exactly what’s gone wrong in Baltimore; after all, Andrews scored 11 touchdowns last season, including one in six straight games to close the regular season. But in the sample size we have, it’s gone very wrong. And when Likely returns, it’s very unlikely to get better. You can leave Andrews on your bench for now (as opposed to dropping him), but you simply cannot start him.
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What to do ❓ See above. If you haven’t already, add and stream someone like Juwan Johnson, Zach Ertz, Kyle Pitts, Hunter Henry, Brenton Strange, etc. Hold Andrews on your bench for a couple more weeks, but if he doesn’t see a huge uptick in usage, it will eventually be time to move on.
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