Week 3 Fantasy Overachievers

Here’s a look at some of the players who most outscore their projected fantasy points in week 3 of the 2026 season. The projections are from Fantasypros.com and all the scores are based on PPR scoring.

The Injury Effect

Tyler Higbee scoring 20.2 vs 2.6 projected (+17.6) and Konata Mumpfield scoring 19.3 vs 1.6 projected (+17.7) - Is it unfair to put every Rams receiver in the Injury Effect category while Puka Nacua is out? Perhaps… but also no it’s not unfair. Matthew Stafford, even dating back to his Detroit days, is a kingmaker. Meaning, he likes to focus on his main dudes and neither Higbee nor Mumpfield are one of his main dudes. In fact, Higbee is in this category doubly so because of Terrance Ferguson’s injury, and he made the most of his opportunities with 8 catches for 62 yards and a touchdown. As for Mumpfield, it was very gracious of him to take time off from making banjo laden overtly Christian themed folk-rock music to help the Rams out, catching four balls for 93 yards and a touchdown.

The Flash in the Pan

[Note: I have a vivid memory from high school of my PE teacher calling the Foo Fighters a flash in the pan. He was wrong, and I freely admit that I may be wrong here, but these are players that seem unlikely to continue to exceed expectations.]

Case Keenum scoring 24.5 vs 6.4 projected (+18.0) - Sitting in the number three spot of the Chicago Bears QB depth chart, the 14 year veteran Case Keenum’s role is more of a player-coach than a back-up (though he says he’s more a coach-player). And yet, he’s still a player and he played on Monday Night. Hoo boy did he play. I mean, this guy was undrafted in the 2012 draft: the same year as Andrew Luck, RG!!!, and Russell Wilson. In fact, the only other QB drafted that year who is still active is Kirk Cousins. Of course, Keenum is only keeping the seat warm for Caleb Williams, but after throwing 247 yards with 2 TDs and no picks against a (supposedly) formidable Eagles’ defense, that seat is nice and cozy.

Noah Fant scoring 19.3 vs 3.8 projected (+15.5) - I like the Saints this year. Sure, they’re 1-2, but they could easily be 3-0 if their offense could figure out how to perform for four whole quarters. But that offense is fun to watch with Shough at the helm. Juwan Johnson has been a good grab in fantasy but it turns out they have another tight end worth watching in Noah Fant who had four catches, 33 yards and two touchdowns in their loss against the Raiders. I’m labeling him a Flash in the Pan because he had half the targets as Johnson and doesn’t seem to be as embedded in the gameplan… but that could change going forward.

The Debutant’s Ball

These players are coming out to the world and oh aren’t they beautiful?

Kalif Raymond scoring 21.0 vs 6.5 projected (+14.5) and Michael Wilson scoring 25.9 vs 11.2 projected (+14.7) - I’m grouping these two guys together because while neither of them are new faces, they are both establishing themselves as feature players in their respective offenses. Both of them are second on their team in targets (Wilson is behind McBride and Raymond is behind Burden) and neither were drafted high in fantasy drafts, if at all. WIlson had a whopping 17 targets this week against the 49ers, catching 11 of them for 89 yards and a TD. Raymond had 6 catches for 90 yards and a TD against the Eagles. Both of these guys are worth rostering and it seems like they are both worth starting going forward… time will tell.

“No duh’ We should have seen this coming

**Sam Darnold scoring 27.7 vs 13.3 projected (+14.3) and Jaxon Smith-Njigba scoring 35.4 vs 21.3 projected (+14.0) **- Smith-Njigba is a beast, and he currently has the most fantasy points in the league (for PPR scoring) so his name on here is no surprise. Nor should his QB being on here be a surprise. Darnold had a nice return from injury, despite the loss. He threw for 379 yards and 4 touchdowns, though his 2 interceptions contributed to the Seahawks ultimately losing. 128 of those yards and half the touchdowns went to Smith-Njigba though. Yeah, Jaxon Smith-Njigba is good,

Brock Bowers scoring 27.6 vs 13.3 projected (+14.3) - The 3-0 Raiders managed okay without Bowers for the first two weeks beating two 0-3 teams, but I bet it feels good to have him back. In week 3 he had 10 catches for 116 yards and a touchdown, cementing himself as the #1 tight end on the week. He’s got some work to do to establish himself as the #1 tight end on the season, which is how he was drafted, but does anyone really doubt he can do it if he stays healthy?

Bijan Robinson scoring 35.3 vs 19.6 projected (+15.7) and Drake London scoring 28.4 vs 14.4 projected (+14.0) - It turns out that having a quarterback that the opposing defense has to respect is a good thing for a running back. It turns out having your starting QB back is a good thing for a wide receiver. With the return of Penix, Robinson went off against the Packers on Thursday Night rushing for 194 yards and 2 touchdowns as well as 2 catches for 19 yards. Drake London, meanwhile, also when off with 9 catches for 194 yards. Yeah, it turns out that going from your third string QB to your starter can matter.

Jahmyr Gibbs scoring 41.4 vs 24.4 projected (+17.0) - This man was drafted #1 in fantasy drafts for this reason, people. Winning fantasy matchups is rarely about having players that mean their projects, it’s about having players that can explode… and Gibbs exploded this week. With 20 rushes for 99 yards and two touchdowns combined with seven catches for 65 yards and another touchdown Gibbs scored more points than anyone else in week 3. No. Duh.