Week three of the NFL season is (mostly) in the books, and we have a lot of changing landscapes unfolding in front of our eyes. The Najee Harris and James Conner injuries will rewrite the fortunes of the players on their team, and the substitutes for Joe Burrow and J.J. McCarthy already put their stamp (for better or for worse) on their respective teams. Sunday gave us a lot to chew on, so let’s chew on it.
Is it TreVeyon Henderson’s time?
During the NFL draft season, we were huge fans of TreVeyon Henderson on the Football Absurdity Podcast. But when he went to the Patriots, we preached caution. After all, we were all still big Rhamondre Stevenson believers. We figured that the likely outcome would be that TreVeyon Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson would start in a timeshare, then Rhamondre would do something to lose snaps to Henderson, and then Henderson would take over.
Well, Rhamondre might have just fumbled away his starting role. He lost two crucial fumbles in this game, which were literally on the goal line, costing the Patriots seven points and possibly the game. That play occurred with 1:43 elapsed in the second half, and it was the last we saw of Rhamondre Stevenson. Antonio Gibson was the next man up, and two touches later, he fumbled the ball. And that was the last we saw of Antonio Gibson.
This was a foreseeable circumstance, as they are two of the most fumble-prone backs in the NFL:
Then, TreVeyon Henderson had twelve of his fourteen opportunities in the second half, all after both Gibson and Rhamondre fumbled away the ball. While Henderson didn’t wow (11 carries, 28 yards with three catches on three targets for 19 yards), he didn’t fumble the ball.
BUT (and this is a big butt, a Sexy Dexy-sized but) the intrepid New England reporters asked Mike Vrabel about Rhamondre’s usage going forward. Vrabel responded:
“We need his ability, but we also need to take care of the football. It’s a long answer to tell you that I’m not really sure 20 minutes after the game what we’re going to do, but we need him because he helped us win the game last week, and it was a different story today.”
I’m not a mind-reader, nor am I a body language expert, but it feels like Vrabel doesn’t want to bench Rhamondre Stevenson, and he wants to give him more bites at the apple to see if he fumbles. Unfortunately, a big part of that likely comes because Henderson didn’t take advantage of his opportunities; all he did was not screw them up.
Unfortunately, despite the benching, it appears as though we have to wait at least another week for Stevenson to screw up and give Henderson the starting role in New England.
Is it time to bench Marvin Harrison Jr?
Marvin Harrison Jr. turned in his second-straight dreadful performance this weekend, which was punctuated by a massive wide-open drop on what could have been a catch-and-run touchdown. He finished the game with three catches for 44 yards on six targets for Arizona, and failed to turn in a startable effort in his second-straight game. As of writing this, he is WR48, with just 7.4 PPR points to his name.
Heading into this game, there was a lot to not like about Marvin Harrison, other than his name. Before this game, he ranked 41st in yards per route run (1.7), which was the 41st best among qualified wide receivers. That number went down this week, as he turned in 44 yards on 39 routes, or a 1.1-yard per route run figure. This marked his second-straight game with a yard per route run under 1.2, with his game against the Saints (who yielded 44 points to the Seahawks on Sunday) boosting his overall number thanks to a small overall sample size and 2.2 yards per route run.
This is a continuation of a long-standing problem for Harrison, who “boasted” a 1.7 yards per route run last season, short of elite and definitely not a must-start player.
There’s another problem with Harrison’s performance for fantasy football: he is not garnering elite target shares. Entering this game, he had a 20.4% target share and earned only 17.6% of targets. These figures are both down from his 2024 rookie season numbers, which saw Harrison have 22.2% of the targets.
So, Marvin Harrison Jr. undoubtedly has not taken a step forward in 2025, and one could argue that he’s taken a slight step back. But should we bench Marvin Harrison Jr.? I don’t think so. While MHJ has tough matchups coming up (Seattle on Thursday, then Tennessee, Indianapolis, and Green Bay), the Cardinals just lost their starting running back, James Conner, for the season. So, the passing volume will likely increase, and hopefully, the Cardinals start getting Marvin Harrison Jr. more targets to justify starting him.
If things don’t change on Thursday, however, it’s all over for Harrison Jr, at least for now.
Did we get too excited about Harold Fannin?
After week one, folks were all-in on rookie tight end Harold Fannin Jr. They were unloading their FAAB cannons at him (and I, very demurely, very mindfully advocated for the less expensive Juwan Johnson) after he turned in a 7/9/63 line in week one, chipping in a carry for 3 yards. Quinshon Judkins’ return caused the rushing attempt(s?) to dry up, but everything has dried up, as well. 47% of Fannin’s targets, 47% of his catches, and 47% of Fannin’s yards all came in week one, leaving us with an average line of five targets, four catches, and 36.5 yards per game.
So, I would say that we did get a bit over our skis about the rookie tight end. Fellow Browns tight end David Njoku took a backseat to him in week one, posting 3 catches for 47 yards, but has 4.5 catches for 40 yards per game since then. They’re ultimately running alongside each other now, which makes me antsy. You do not want muddled tight end situations on your fantasy football rosters if you can help it. Look at Jonnu Smith; the moment the Dolphins traded him to Pittsburgh to contend with Pat Freiermuth, everyone dropped him.
Unfortunately, through three games, it appears as though we have a similar situation with the Browns’ tight ends. Neither separated themselves so far, with Fannin showing out in week one, and Njoku leading the team in targets, receptions, and yards in week three. Ultimately, we got far too excited about Harold Fannin Jr, but what’s done is done, and you still have a blob tight end. Just temper expectations for Fannin moving forward.
