Tricky Injury Decisions For Week 3

Plus last-minute DFS advice for every format

Author

Peter Overzet
September 21, 2025

We have lots of ground to cover this morning with a massive slate of games. Let’s get to it…

Can you trust Tucker Kraft? In a surprising twist, Kraft is expected to play today vs. Cleveland despite of a knee injury he suffered in practice on Thursday. He was apparently healthy enough to execute a “suck it crotch chop handshake” on Friday, so do with that what you will. Most of our rankings crew have him as a Top 5 option, although Matthew Freedman (10th overall) is more concerned.

Banged up Bucs. Tampa Bay will be without both Chris Godwin and Tristan Wirfs again today, but Emeka Egbuka (hip/groin) is expected to play with no limitations. I think this game vs. the Jets could be sneaky fun (Ian agrees).

JSN is sick? Jaxon Smith-Njigba popped up on the injury report as questionable yesterday with an illness. Obviously not ideal, but at least it isn’t an actual injury. I’m not benching him for the sniffles.

Niners still depleted. There was some hope that Brock Purdy could be active, but he won’t start. The bigger news here is that Jauan Jennings doesn’t seem likely to go after not practicing all week. It is now or never for Ricky Pearsall to prove that he can earn targets with literally zero competition. I’m skeptical…

The Steelers banish Kaleb Johnson to the shadow realm. Oof. Johnson is expected to be inactive today after the team elevated Trey Sermon for the practice squad. Jaylen Warren is set up for a big day today vs. the Pats.

Misc. injuries. D’Andre Swift (quad) is good to go vs. the Cowboys today (he’s a fringe RB2 for us)…Tyler Warren (toe) was removed from the injury report. Fire him up…Xavier Worthy was downgraded to out.

Now rev up your engines and read on for some DFS picks from our crew…

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Editors’ Picks

Catch up with everything you need prior to kickoff, including start/sits, expert rankings updates, and Xfinity Best Projections. Here are a few articles that will help you set your lineups at the last minute.

Is Rome Odunze going to follow the Giants’ blueprint when taking on the Cowbsoy? Chris Allen goes through some of the best matchups and fades for Week 3.

This may be the week to use all those starting QB injuries to your advantage. Pete Overzet identifies five strategies that could pay off big, including the backup QB stacks.

DFS

Week 3 FanDuel DFS Picks: Time for London Calling?

While some may be looking to target the Cowboys visiting Chicago in the late window because of its 50-point over/under and multitude of startable players, let’s not forget the fireworks that the Falcons and Panthers created in a 44-38 Carolina victory in Week 18 last season. That game filled the boxscore, and has DFS players salivating over the possibility for more, more, more.

Geoff Ulrich identifies a game stack for FanDuel DFS players in the first of two Falcons-Panthers meetings, highlighting a certain WR who might be a little underpriced after playing through an injury last week. Read on for more recommendations. ⬇️

DFS

Week 3 DraftKings DFS Picks: Target Collins-Stroud to be Contrarian

Have we forgotten that Nico Collins is pretty good at football? Actually, really good at football? He may be the WR46 after two weeks where his combined output is 6 catches for 77 yards and a score, but this is still the man who had a solid Utilization Score of 79 last year even with missing three games. We can’t avoid him much longer.

Neither can Geoff Ulrich in his weekly look at DraftKings DFS picks, where he examines the history that Collins and QB C.J. Stroud have with this week’s opponent, the Jaguars. This stack, and much more, will be on your radar after reading this article. 👇🏼

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Around the Watercooler

The latest fantasy nuggets, silliness, and NFL gossip from our merry band of football nerds.

🏈 Your Ian Rapoport Early Morning Sunday Tweet: The Browns plan to start Quinshon Judkins.

🧠…Schefter had a fun fact about Carson Wentz. No news is good news!

👀 It’s Sunday morning, make sure to join us at 10 a.m. ET for the weekly start/sit live show.

🥩 Tell us about your bad beats, and enter to win a beefy prize.

🤬 Sure, call your mom. But when you call your opponent, you know what to do.

💪 Can’t get enough DFS advice for the Sunday slate? Pete has you covered.

🏞️ If you’re streaming this week, you can check out our QB and DST recommendations.

👻 Cooterdoodle is there for you with Scared Money AND her advice on what to do with Ashton Jeanty.

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