Fantasy Football Duds: Rhamondre Stevenson, Najee Harris, CeeDee Lamb (Week 3)

Week 3 of the 2023 NFL season is mostly in the books, with two Monday Night Football games remaining, giving us plenty of players to react to from a fantasy football context. There were many stud performances, especially for the Miami Dolphins, who scored 70 points in a lopsided rout of the Denver Broncos. Meanwhile, there were plenty of dud performances to go around, ranging from Breece Hall (RB – Jets) and CeeDee Lamb (WR – Cowboys), to Justin Fields (QB – Bears) and Darren Waller (TE – Giants).

Matt MacKay gives us his latest analysis on some of the best and worst fantasy football performances that occurred in Week 3. Using half-PPR scoring, let’s dive further into the players who won and lost fantasy football league matchups during a highly entertaining weekend in the NFL.

Fantasy Football Duds

Najee Harris (RB – Steelers)
It’s been three weeks now and we’ve yet to see Najee Harris get going. Granted, Jaylen Warren (RB – Steelers) hasn’t fared well on running plays either, but at least the Steelers are feeding him targets. Harris has looked slow, inefficient, and is quickly getting phased out of Pittsburgh’s passing attack. Their ability to win two consecutive games without Harris doing much of anything is concerning for Harris’ fantasy managers, while Warren quietly awaits what feels like an inevitable changing of the guard. Harris is an RB3 with RB2 upside until further notice.

Rhamondre Stevenson (RB – Patriots)
Rhamondre Stevenson has averaged 3.3 YPC or worse in each of New England’s first three games played. His targets have bounced between three and six during this stretch, while his receiving yards have dropped dramatically. One touchdown against the Dolphins late in the Patriots’ Week 2 loss has been Stevenson’s saving grace, along with his usage as a receiver in Week 1 against the Eagles, catching all six targets for 64 receiving yards. Stevenson is still the RB1 despite Ezekiel Elliot’s (RB – Patriots) presence, but the inefficient Patriots offense is concerning. Stevenson is a mid-range RB2 with low-end RB1 upside heading into Week 4.

CeeDee Lamb (WR – Cowboys)
CeeDee Lamb fell out of the top 36 fantasy wide receiver finishes for the first time in Week 3 against a relentless Arizona Cardinals defense. Lamb’s four receptions on seven targets for 53 yards won’t happen every week, but in a run-centric Dallas offense, he’ll need to be hyper efficient when the volume isn’t there like it was in Week 2 against the New York Jets. Don’t panic yet, Lamb is still an unquestioned WR1, but he gets another tough matchup against New England in Week 4, so treat him as a low-end WR1/fringe WR2 until a Week 6 matchup against the Chargers.