Falcons fantasy stud and dud from Week 3 vs. Lions

Atlanta’s solid offense from the first two weeks of the season went up in smoke at Ford Field in Week 3 when they put up a measly six points, which is the lowest they have scored since a Week 11 shutout to New England in the 2021 season.

It was a dreadful performance from the offense, who just looked like they were running in the mud throughout the entire afternoon. Hindsight being 20/20, this was a great week to have the Lions defense playing in fantasy, as they racked up seven sacks.

You were likely disappointed no matter which Falcon you started in this one — it was that bad of a day for everyone on the offensive side of the ball.

There is a lot of great content available here at The Falcoholic, and I encourage you to check it out if you want some in-depth analysis. This article will look at things strictly from a fantasy football perspective (that means looking at nothing other than pure statistics). Here is Atlanta’s fantasy stud and fantasy dud from Week 3’s defeat against the Detroit Lions.

Fantasy Stud/Dud 2023 History:

Past Studs: Tyler Allgeier (1), Bijan Robinson (1)

Past Duds: Drake London (1), Kyle Pitts (1)

Fantasy Stud - Kyle Pitts

Stat Line: 5 catches, 41 receiving yards, 1 carry, -4 rushing yards: 3.7 standard league points; 8.7 PPR points

I’d like to preface this by saying that Kyle Pitts did not have a very good fantasy performance — he wasn’t even a TE1 this week — but this truly is just a case of someone falling into this section of the article by default.

Pitts accounted for the team lead in targets (9), receptions (5) and total receiving yardage (41) so this was a nice little bounce back game following a 15-yard dud in Week 2. He was particularly more efficient in PPR leagues on account of the receptions and was targeted more than any other TE as of the conclusion of Sunday’s games, save for TJ Hockenson and Sam LaPorta.

Atlanta’s pass catchers will put you on a roller coaster of inconsistency this season. Pitts’ numbers aren’t particularly bad for the TE position specifically, but backup tight end Jonnu Smith nearly matched his fantasy numbers exactly this week. Another solid performance against Jacksonville and there may be a window to potentially sell Pitts at some value if you want off the roller coaster.

Dud

Drake London: 2 catches, 31 receiving yards: 3.1 standard league points; 5.1 PPR points

Speaking of roller coasters, the Drake London experience has been way down, up and then down again to start the season. Following last week’s game high in targets, receptions, yardage plus a score on top of all that, London once again garnered a decent target count (6) but he only managed to turn it into 31 yards.

It looked like we were going to be in for a strong Drake London day when he climbed the ladder and made a tough 28-yard catch along the sideline on the second drive of the day, but then he snagged just one more reception after that. Ridder, under pressure for much of the afternoon, threw 18 of his 38 passes to the tight ends. The game script worked in the pass catchers’ favor as the Birds trailed for much of the afternoon but it just didn’t seem to matter.

While London will have his better games he, just like Pitts, is in that realm of inconsistency due to how weak Atlanta’s passing attack is as a whole. It makes him an uncomfortable start weekly, but a receiver of London’s pedigree is difficult to bench in any format. I would expect a bounce back performance in London against the Jags.