Sneaky Starts: Week 3

Sep 21, 2012
Sneaky Starts: Week 3

As injuries pile up, all but the luckiest fantasy owners will at some point need to find the proverbial diamond in the rough: a waiver wire or bench player who is capable of putting up some points in a pinch. This weekly feature is dedicated to that part of fantasy football. It's not pretty, but it's part of the game.

Week 2's Sneaky Starts included Alex Smith, Andrew Luck, Brandon LaFell, Danny Amendola, Brandon Gibson, Donnie Avery, Andrew Hawkins and Kyle Rudolph.
Unfortunately, three of my favorite sneaky starts for Week 3 played on Thursday night (Andre Brown, Ramses Barden and Martellus "The Black Unicorn" Bennett), but here's a look at the sneakiest of starts for Week 3:
Note: These recommendations do not trump our weekly rankings, which are updated throughout the week and weekend.
49ers QB Alex Smith (@ MIN)
It's early, but through two games, Smith has scored the 8th-most points amongst QBs after finishing as 2011's QB14. This week, Smith continues his journey through the secondaries of the NFL North and probably has his best match up to date. The Vikings have been decent against the pass yardage-wise (218 ypg), but have yielded 2.0 pass TDs per game. This is shaping up as another 200-yard, multiple-TD game for Smith.
Chiefs QB Matt Cassel (@ NO)
The Saints are 26th in the league against the pass, giving up an average of 275 yards and 1.5 pass TDs to Robert Griffin III and Cam Newton. Matt Cassel threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns in garbage time against Bills. He could very well post a similar line on Sunday.
Jets QB Mark Sanchez (@ MIA)
Sanchez is off to a pretty good start, torching the Bills to the tune of 266 yards and three touchdowns in Week 1 before struggling against the good Steelers defense in Week 2. This week, he faces the Dolphins, who have yielded an average of 314 pass yards through two games.
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