Starts & Sits Week 3: Josh Downs Time  (featured)
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Starts & Sits Week 3: Josh Downs Time

Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
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Quarterback Starts

Drake Maye @ Jacksonville Jaguars 

Maye nearly won the MVP award last season, but he’s been fantasy’s QB29 over the first two weeks of 2026. A tougher schedule and A.J. Brown’s injury haven’t helped, but Maye has also struggled with accuracy. Still, he owns a healthy 12% scramble rate and will benefit from facing a pass-funnel Jacksonville defense; running backs have averaged just 55.0 rushing yards (third lowest) versus the Jaguars this season but quarterbacks own the second-highest YPA (9.3). Maye has quickly become a fringe fantasy start ranked as the QB11 among consensus this week, but he should remain in lineups. 

Tyler Shough vs. Las Vegas Raiders 

Shough has been fantasy’s QB5 despite two road matchups and no Jordyn Tyson. He’s the QB1 in expected fantasy points by a wide margin. Overtime in Week 1 helped, but New Orleans will continue to rack up volume in Kellen Moore’s fast-paced system. Shough ranks behind only Josh Allen in designed rush rate (15%) this season, and the Raiders are yielding a healthy 7.6 YPA. The Saints have the same implied team total (23.5 points) as the Rams and Bengals this week, when Shough belongs in starting lineups. 

Geno Smith @ Detroit Lions

Smith has looked far better this season removed from Las Vegas’ dysfunctional system last year. It hasn’t resulted in many fantasy points, but Smith is a sneaky start in a matchup in Detroit this week. The Lions have allowed by far the most fantasy points to QBs this season after yielding the ninth most last year. Detroit’s opponents have the most pass attempts (87) over the first two games, and Smith already has 11 rush attempts. Smith will rack up volume in a game New York should be passing more than usual. 

Remember, Smith was remarkably dominant indoors throughout his career before dealing with coaching malpractice last year, recording a 30:5 TD:INT ratio over 14 games. 

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