Steve and Zack's Week 3 Panic Attack

Week 3 in the NFL has officially concluded. Fall is here, pumpkin spice is in the air, we all quietly wait for GTA VI and Avengers: Doomsday, and Zack’s off doing his best “Justin Herbert with Madison Beer” impression this week. But don’t you worry, because just like 38-year-old Case Keenum getting the call on Monday night, ol’ Steve is here to step in and lead you across the finish line in glorious fashion.

And after the absolute nonsense Week 3 gave us, there’s plenty to panic about.

We’ve got highly drafted studs disappearing, quarterbacks making us question every decision we made in August, injuries piling up faster than I could pull my hair out (if I had any), and a few guys who are starting to make that “it’s only been three weeks” excuse a little harder to keep using.

So grab your pumpkin spice latte, crack open a beer (Madison or otherwise), and join me as we figure out who deserves a little patience, who has officially put us on notice, and who has us reaching for the big red PANIC button heading into Week 4.

A quick note before we start:

Injuries obviously create plenty of panic in fantasy football, but we’re going to keep the Panic Attack focused on performance, usage, role and offensive environment. If a player’s biggest concern coming out of the week is an injury, we’ll leave that to Injury Hayes, where you can find the latest injury news and fantasy fallout.

Falcons @ Packers

Kyle Pitts 🚨Panic Room 🚨

• 2 targets, 1 reception, 5 yards | 1.5 PPR points 

Well, the quarterback excuse is officially gone. Michael Penix Jr. returned, Atlanta put up 498 total yards and 35 points, and Kyle Pitts still managed one catch for five yards. Even worse, his usage continues to tell us this isn't just bad luck. Pitts played 42 of Atlanta's 71 offensive snaps (59%), while Charlie Woerner (who?) actually played one more snap than him. Last season, Pitts was on the field for 87.4% of Atlanta's offensive plays and ran a route on 86.1% of passing plays. Through the first two weeks of 2026, that route participation has fallen to 56.9%, and while it rebounded into the 70% range against Green Bay, he's still nowhere near the every-down role he had last season. Through three weeks, Pitts has 2 receptions for 20 yards. At some point, we have to stop starting the version of Kyle Pitts we want and remember, and start reacting to the one Atlanta is actually putting on the field.

-Panic Meter: 10/10. Welcome to the Panic Room. I'm not dropping Pitts, unless you’re in a shallower league, because tight end is a wasteland and the talent didn't disappear overnight, but there is absolutely no reason to trust him in a starting lineup until the snaps, routes, and targets tell us something has changed.

Packers RBs…Just All of Them

“’Member when the Packers had a great offensive line? ’Member Bakhtiari? Ooh, I ’member!”

• MarShawn Lloyd: 4 carries, 11 yards, 3 targets, 2 receptions, 7 yards | 3.8 PPR points
• Kaleb Johnson: 4 carries, 6 yards, 3 targets, 1 reception, 10 yard | 2.6 PPR points

Green Bay only ran the ball nine times while Jordan Love attempted 53 passes, so there is obviously some ugly game-script context here. Unfortunately, the snap distribution somehow makes things worse. Chris Brooks led the backfield with 26 snaps (41%), Kaleb Johnson played 22 (35%), and Lloyd played just 15 (24%). That officially put Lloyd third among Packers running backs in snaps for the first time this season. Johnson, meanwhile, has gone from not playing an offensive snap in Week 1 to roughly 27% in Week 2, and 35% in Week 3. Brooks leading the room in snaps while not receiving a single carry also tells us this backfield currently has multiple situational roles rather than one guy separating himself. Until that changes, we're guessing every week…and that’s not even including the Josh Jacobs debacle.

-Panic Meter: 8/10. I don't want to start any Packers running back right now. If I'm stashing one, Johnson's increasing role is interesting, but this is a full-blown three-man committee until somebody proves otherwise. Give me the ‘member berries!

Panthers @ Browns

Tetairoa McMillan

• 5 targets, 2 receptions, 17 yards | 3.7 PPR points

I pinky promise this isn’t a personal vendetta! This was ugly, but the underlying usage keeps me from getting too worked up. McMillan played 73 of Carolina’s 77 offensive snaps (95%) and ran 47 routes on 51 dropbacks, a 92% route participation rate. The issue was simply that the ball didn’t come his way: five targets on those 47 routes works out to just a 10.6% target-per-route rate. Cleveland also clearly prioritized shutting down McMillan and forced Bryce Young to throw to other options in the passing game. The Browns showed Carolina more two-high coverage than expected, and Denzel Ward matched up with McMillan 25 times. On those snaps, McMillan was targeted only twice, and caught one ball for 12 yards. Before this week, McMillan had commanded a 23% target share, a 27.3% first-read share, and was averaging 2.38 yards per route run through the first two games. While Week 3 was disappointing, nothing about his playing time suggests his role is disappearing.

-Panic Meter: 2/10. McMillan is still essentially an every-down receiver and had already shown us a strong target-earning profile through the first two games. If anything, defenses adjusting this aggressively towards the year two WR tells you how seriously they’re taking him. I’m still starting Tet. (I mean, not me personally but you get my point lol)

Cleveland…I got my eyes on you buddy! 

Titans @ Giants

The Giants Offense

This is a punch in the gut. We originally had Nabers by himself here, but honestly…the whole offense deserves the smoke. New York won 12-7, but the Giants produced zero offensive touchdowns and only 238 total yards, while Jameis Winston completed just 14 of 22 passes for 118 yards. Nabers still led the team in targets, catches and receiving yards, and his 27% target share is actually encouraging on the surface. The Giants also went extremely run-heavy, calling 33 runs to just 22 pass attempts in miserable weather. So yes, there are legitimate excuses here, but Nabers has now produced just 27 receiving yards over the last two games combined, and sits at 12 catches for 96 yards on 19 targets through three weeks. The target share says the offense still wants to feed him. The way those targets are being delivered, however…leaves things a little shaky.

-Panic Meter: 7/10. I’m not panicking about Nabers the player. I’m panicking about the environment around him. Nabers may have to survive on volume and yards after the catch rather than the explosive role fantasy managers drafted him for. +2 to the Panic Meter if JJM has to play.

Patriots @ Jaguars

The Patriots Offense

• Drake Maye: 14/25, 199 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT | 3.76 PPR points
• TreVeyon Henderson: 8 carries, 23 yards, 1 catch, 6 yards | 3.9 PPR points

Six points. That's it. New England finished with 317 yards but turned the ball over three times and got absolutely mollywhopped 35-6. Maye couldn't find the end zone, Henderson couldn't get anything going on the ground, and this offense never seriously threatened Jacksonville (That run defense is only allowing 3.6 YPA). The Patriots are now giving us enough evidence to at least question how many weekly fantasy starters this offense can support.

-Panic Meter: 7/10. There will be better weeks, but I don't want to blindly start Patriots just because I liked their preseason projection.

Brian Thomas Jr. 🚨PANIC ROOM🚨

• 1 reception, 8 yards | 1.8 PPR points

Week 2: 3 receptions, 40 yards

Week 1: 3 receptions, 40 yards

Alright. Enough. To quote the Bieb’s “I know I’m wrong and I let you down, but it’s too late to say sorry now”. I’ve had my heart broken enough times to know when enough is enough. BTJ was already a repeat offender after producing the exact same 3/40 line in Weeks 1 and 2. Week 3 somehow got worse: one catch for eight yards in a game Jacksonville won 35-6. He now has just seven receptions for 88 yards through three games. The box score isn't even the scariest part: The playing-time concerns are becoming impossible to ignore. This isn't simply Trevor Lawrence missing him on a couple of deep balls anymore. Jakobi Meyers is a legitimate part of this offense, Josh Cameron continues to impress, and rumblings of more Travis Hunter involvement are always surfacing.

-Panic Meter: 10/10. Welcome to the Panic Room. BTJ is too talented to write off forever, but fantasy managers cannot keep starting him based on what we thought this offense would look like in August.

Chargers @ Bills

We might need to reserve an entire floor of the Panic Room for Los Angeles.

The Chargers are 0-3, and despite forcing Buffalo into five turnovers Sunday, the offense still managed only 16 points. Justin Herbert threw for 226 yards with one touchdown and an interception as Los Angeles failed to capitalize on opportunity after opportunity. For the draft capital fantasy managers invested, this is not the ROI we expected. This team looks SAWFT!

Justin Herbert

• 20/34, 226 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT, 17 rushing yards | 12.74 PPR points

We all need to look at ourselves in the mirror and have a Justin Herbert conversation. Herbert allegedly has enough talent to put up numbers in almost any situation, but this offense currently looks like it's still trying to find its identity. The Chargers couldn't turn FIVE Buffalo turnovers into a win.

-Panic Meter: 6/10. I'm becoming increasingly worried about Herbert the fantasy quarterback inside this offense. 

Ladd McConkey

• 4 receptions, 66 yards | 10.6 PPR points

Week 2: 3 receptions, 35 yards

Week 1: 5 receptions, 82 yards, TD

If Ladd was drafted as your WR4, we'd probably skip right over him. He wasn't. That's why he's here.

The Week 3 line itself is fine. Four catches for 66 yards isn't something we'd normally sound alarms about, but fantasy managers paid a premium for McConkey, expecting consistent high-end involvement. After three games, we've gotten only one really useful fantasy performance.

Tre' Harris also continues to make himself relevant in this passing attack, which adds another mouth to feed.

-Panic Meter: 5/10. I'm not benching Ladd. However, I'm also not pretending his production has matched what fantasy managers paid for him. 

Quentin Johnston — 🚨PANIC ROOM 🚨

• 3 receptions, 40 yards | 7 PPR points

Week 2: 1 reception, 7 yards

Week 1: 2 receptions, 17 yards

Six catches. Sixty-four receiving yards. Three weeks.

That's the whole season so far.

QJ entered the year with enough opportunity to be genuinely useful, especially with questions surrounding the rest of the Chargers' pass catchers. Instead, he has now appeared in this article THREE TIMES.

We warned you.

-Panic Meter: 10/10. Welcome to the Panic Room. He should not be in starting lineups until he gives us a legitimate reason to put him back there.

Oronde Gadsden II — 🪿🥚

• 0 receptions, 0 yards

Week 2: 2 receptions, 18 yards, TD

Week 1: 2 receptions, 32 yards

Our goose has returned and I drank the Kool-aid y’all! 

Gadsden gave you absolutely nothing in Week 3 after surviving the previous week with a touchdown. Through three games, we're still waiting for the involvement to match the fantasy excitement surrounding him. 

-Panic Meter: 7/10. Tight end is gross enough that we're not rage-dropping everybody, but I'm not comfortable starting Gadsden right now.

Omarion Hampton

• 15 carries, 56 yards | 5.6 PPR points

This is one where I actually want everyone to calm down.

The production wasn't exciting, but Hampton still got 15 carries and Los Angeles had another back, Keaton Mitchell, run efficiently behind him. The workload gives Hampton a path back to useful fantasy production without requiring us to completely reinvent his role.

-Panic Meter: 4/10. Mild concern about the offense. Much less concern about Hampton himself.

Dalton Kincaid

• 2 receptions, 38 yards | 3.8 PPR points

Week 2: 7 receptions, 95 yards, TD

Week 1: 5 receptions, 130 yards

Don’t overthink this. Yes, two catches is annoying. Yes, he also lost a fumble. However, Kincaid entered Sunday with 12 receptions for 225 yards and a touchdown through two games. One bad Bills performance doesn't erase that. The game was ugly, and the weather was ugly. Let’s just wash our hands and start fresh next week.

-Panic Meter: 1/10. If the Kincaid owner in your league is worried, send the trade offer before they come to their senses.

Texans @ Colts

The Texans Offense

• C.J. Stroud: 16/27, 167 yards, 1 TD | 11.68 PPR points
• David Montgomery: 11 carries, 33 yards, 2 catches, 15 yards | 6.8 PPR points
• Houston: 223 total yards

Honestly, this makes me nervous for Nico when he gets back. Houston fell to 0-3, and even though they didn't turn the ball over against Indianapolis, they still generated only 223 yards of offense. Stroud couldn't crack 170 passing yards, and Montgomery averaged three yards per carry. Woody Marks finding the end zone saved somebody's fantasy day, but structurally, this offense gives us very little to get excited about.

-Panic Meter: 8/10. I don't know that every Texans player needs to be sold for pennies, but I absolutely want fewer pieces of this offense in my weekly starting lineup.

Jonathan Taylor

• 23 carries, 68 yard, 2 receptions, 4 yards | 9.2 PPR points

This is exactly why the Panic Meter can't simply be “who scored the fewest fantasy points?”

Taylor wasn't good Sunday. He averaged three yards per carry and didn't score.

He also touched the football 25 times.

After 121 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns in Week 1 and 132 scrimmage yards with two touchdowns in Week 2, I'm not throwing away one of the best workloads in fantasy because Week 3 didn't end with a touchdown.

-Panic Meter: 1/10. Volume is king. Move along.

Seahawks @ Commanders

Jadarian Price

• 5 carries, 15 yards | 1.2 PPR points

This is less about the 15 yards and more about everything surrounding them.

Price was already trying to establish himself in a crowded backfield, and another costly mistake makes that climb even harder. When you're relying on a young running back for fantasy, touches are everything. Anything that threatens those touches deserves our attention.

-Panic Meter: 8/10. Until we see the coaching staff go right back to him, I don't trust the weekly role.

Jacory Croskey-Merritt

• 19 carries, 36 yards, 1 catch, 7 yards | 5.3 PPR points

Washington continued feeding him despite the inefficiency. If you only look at the yardage, it was gross. If you look at the workload though, it is a completely different conversation. JCM received 19 rushing attempts, comfortably leading Washington's backfield. He averaged under two yards per carry, but fantasy managers should care far more about whether the touches disappeared, and they didn't.

-Panic Meter: 6/10. Panic about efficiency if you want. I'm encouraged by the volume. Austin Ekeler also recently resigned over the past weekend, and if he can cut into any of Big Bill's workload…it would not be good, especially considering Bill's seemingly non-existent receiving upside.

Stefon Diggs

• 4 receptions, 33 yards

This wasn't what fantasy managers wanted, but I'm not sounding every alarm yet.

Washington still won 33-31, and Diggs remains a part of an offense that should provide opportunities. One quiet week isn't enough to erase the first two. Reports say Jayden could possibly suit up for Week 4 if surgery isn’t required. Hopefully he will be back and have that offense humming. I’m just glad he didn’t snap his arm like a Josh Allen smelling salt.

-Panic Meter: 3/10. Annoyed? Sure. Panicked? Not yet.

Bengals @ Steelers

Chase Brown

• 13 carries, 61 yard, 2 receptions, 8 yards | 8.9 PPR points

Here's where I'm starting to get a little uncomfortable. Brown has now gone from 16 carries in Week 1, to 20 in Week 2, down to 13 in Week 3. More importantly for fantasy, the receiving production has been minimal: 22 yards, 2 yards and 8 yards through the first three games. 

He's still getting enough work to remain playable, but anyone who drafted him expecting a huge PPR floor hasn't gotten it.

-Panic Meter: 4/10. Not selling low, but not pretending everything is perfect either. We talk about embracing volatility all the time. Chase is still the premier back on a high-scoring offense with no competition…embrace the volatility.

Cardinals @ 49ers

Marvin Harrison Jr. 🚨PANIC ROOM 🚨

• 3 receptions, 40 yards | 7 PPR points

Week 2: 🪿🥚 

Week 1: 1 reception, 33 yards

Zack and I may need to start charging this man rent. Arizona threw 52 passes Sunday. Michael Wilson caught 11 balls for 89 yards and a touchdown. Trey McBride caught nine for 75. Marvin Harrison Jr.? Three catches for 40 yards. Three games into the season, MHJ has four receptions for 73 yards.

FOUR.

We had him at a 9/10 Panic Meter after Week 1 when he saw only three targets. Things have somehow gotten worse. 

-Panic Meter: ∞/10. PANIC ROOM. I'm not selling a dynasty asset like MHJ for garbage, but in redraft, I don't know how you confidently put him in a starting lineup right now. Drafting Marv the last 3 years has been like getting your junk caught in your zipper but you just keep pulling, and pulling, and pulling.

Raiders @ Saints

Ashton Jeanty

• 19 carries, 56 yards, 3 receptions, 37 yards | 12.3 PPR points

The rushing efficiency remains ugly. The fantasy role does not. Jeanty handled 22 touches and turned his receiving work into another 37 yards. He didn't score, but 93 scrimmage yards on that workload isn't some apocalyptic fantasy outcome. Las Vegas also improved to 3-0. What I'm watching is the rushing efficiency. What I'm NOT worried about is whether the Raiders want him touching the football.

-Panic Meter: 4/10. The ceiling hasn't matched what fantasy managers paid for yet, but the workload keeps me patient.

Damn do the Saints look good!

Vikings @ Buccaneers

Bucky Irving

• 15 carries, 46 yards, 4 targets, 2 receptions, 12 yards | 7.8 PPR points

This is one where the box score looks worse than the role. Irving handled 15 of Tampa Bay’s 18 running back carries and still saw four targets, so the volume is absolutely there. The problem Sunday was efficiency. Minnesota held him to just 3.1 yards per carry, his longest run went for only eight yards, and he finished with a season-low 58 scrimmage yards. He also had a run down to the Minnesota three wiped out by holding, and later had a 15-yard reception erased by penalty, so the final line could have looked noticeably better. Tampa Bay is now 0-3, and with Baker leaving late with a thumb injury, there’s at least some concern that defenses could start loading the box with Jalon Daniels forced into the lineup.

-Panic Meter: 4/10. I’m not panicking about Irving’s role. Seventeen touches and 15 of 18 RB carries is exactly what I want to see. I’m a little more concerned about what this offense looks like if Baker misses time.

Eagles @ Bears

Saquon Barkley

• 15 carries, 82 yards; 2 targets, 1 reception, -2 yards | 9.0 PPR points

If you only look at the rushing line, not the cowboy collar, this really wasn't a bad game. Barkley averaged 5.5 yards per carry and handled all 15 of Philadelphia's running-back carries. The problem is everything fantasy managers aren't getting. Barkley was stuffed near the goal line on consecutive opportunities, and later Jalen Hurts scored Philadelphia's only touchdown from the one. Barkley's rushing efficiency isn't the issue; the lack of receiving work gives him almost no safety net when the touchdowns don't come. Philadelphia also ran just 47 offensive plays in a game where they turned the ball over three times, so the entire environment was ugly.

-Panic Meter: 6/10. I'm not panicking about whether Saquon can still run the football; I’m worried about the fantasy profile. If we're getting one catch per week and Hurts remains the favorite at the goal line, Barkley has to live on rushing yards and long touchdowns. That creates a much thinner floor than fantasy managers paid for.

Colston Loveland

• 4 targets, 4 receptions, 31 yards | 7.1 PPR points

Technically, this was progress. Loveland entered Monday with one reception for three yards through two games, then caught every one of his four targets against Philadelphia. He also came inches from his first touchdown of the season. Even more encouraging, Cole Kmet drew only one target. Still, we're three weeks into the season and Loveland has 5 catches for 34 yards and zero touchdowns on nine targets. For a tight end that was being drafted as the consensus TE3, that's nowhere close to the return fantasy managers expected. 

-Panic Meter: 4/10. This performance actually keeps Loveland out of the Panic Room for me. Four catches on four targets and a near-touchdown are legitimate signs of life, especially with Case Keenum making the start. I'm still concerned about the lack of volume through three weeks, but Monday was the first time the usage started moving in the direction we expected. 

Final Thoughts

That’s it for Week 3. Some of these guys earned another week of patience, some have us staring at the waiver wire contemplating life decisions over add/drops between MHJ and Ted Hurst, and a few have officially moved into the Panic Room and started hanging pictures on the wall. And if you look to your right you will see the Kyle Pitts hall of the Panic Room….

Just remember: one bad box score doesn’t scare me nearly as much as bad usage. If the snaps are there, the targets are there, and the touches are there, I can live with an ugly Sunday. When the role starts disappearing too? Yeah, now we’ve got a problem.

See you next week. Hopefully with fewer names…but probably not.