Week three of the NFL season is upon us. Fantasy football players know exactly what that means: Time for another round of lineup decisions. If you own Mike Wallace, wide receiver of the Baltimore Ravens, on your fantasy team, we are here today to discuss whether you should roll with him once more in week three, or sit him on your bench. Let’s get down to business, shall we.
Week 3 sees the 2-0 Baltimore Ravens take to the road to take on the win-less Jacksonville Jaguars. Now let’s take a closer look at what that entails. In the first two weeks of the season, Wallace has the following two stat lines. In week one, he caught three passes for 91 yards and a touchdown. In week two, he caught four for 41 yards and two touchdowns. In PPR leagues, that gives Wallace 18.1 points for week one, and 20.1 in week two. Two very solid numbers that fantasy owners will take any week.
Those two performances came against the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns. Now neither of those two teams are exactly known for their defense or secondary play, which helped Wallace out in the first two weeks. Week three sees the team on the road against the Jaguars, who have given up a handful of points in their opening two contests (27 to Green Bay and 38 to San Diego). But in both games, the Jaguars secondary was able to limit two very talented quarterbacks to 220 or fewer yards per game. Aaron Rodgers only threw for 199 yards, while Philip Rivers hit the 220 mark.
Now let’s factor in the boom or bust portfolio that fits Wallace like a glove. Entering the season, not many fantasy owners had Wallace high on their lists. He reportedly showed up to camp in bad shape and was considered a potential cut by the Ravens for a time. After doing enough to secure a role, he burst on to the scene this season with three touchdowns in two games. But those touchdowns are what have been carrying him to this point.
In week one against the Bills, his touchdown was a 66 yarder. Take that one catch away and owners would have been looking at a two catches for 23 yards type of day. Week two saw only 41 yards, with his long being a 17-yard touchdown. Sure he caught two touchdowns, but the overall volume was not there. He is living off the touchdowns, and that is a dangerous game to play with a fringe receiver like Wallace.
On his team, Wallace is third in terms of targets. Tight end Dennis Pitta leads the team with 16, followed by Steve Smith’s 14. Wallace then sits in third with 12, ranking tied for 67th in the entire league. So the question becomes, do you think Wallace is capable of hauling in another touchdown against the Jaguars? Sure it is possible, but sooner or later that streak is going to end.
Given the Jaguars secondary has not been as bad as game scores may indicate, I am willing to guess Wallace fails to haul in a touchdown this week. Every week Wallace is going to be boom or bust, and this week look for it to be a bust. I am expecting about two receptions for 36 yards. If he were on my team, I would be sitting him this week on the road following a big divisional win for the Ravens.