Fantasy Football Week 3 Quarterback Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Drake Maye vs. Trevor Lawrence
In this story:
Fantasy Football Week 3 Quarterback Start 'Em, Sit 'Em: Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence vs. Patriots QB Drake Maye
Fantasy football narratives shift fast, and the opening two weeks proved that draft capital must quickly yield to early-season trends and matchups. Headed into a direct head-to-head showdown in Jacksonville, fantasy managers face a tough Week 3 decision: struggling MVP runner-up Drake Maye or an up-and-down Trevor Lawrence as both search for consistency in a matchup with a high projected point total.
Choosing between Maye's rushing floor and Lawrence's bounce-back appeal at home is one of this week's key lineup calls. Let's dive into this Week 3 Quarterback Start 'Em, Sit 'Em breakdown and see if we can come up with a final verdict for Drake Maye vs. Trevor Lawrence.
QB Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
Trevor Lawrence enters Week 3 following a tale of two games. After an explosive Week 1 performance featuring four touchdown passes against Cleveland, Lawrence took a step back in Week 2, completing 17 of 29 passes for 189 yards, zero touchdowns, and an interception against a stout Denver defense.
Lawrence's main appeal for Week 3 is returning to his home field with a healthy receiving corps, where his offense generated far more big-play rhythm in the season opener. His total pass attempts have been lower than expected early on, but Jacksonville's scheme features a higher passing ceiling with multiple capable weapons downfield.
The matchup against New England presents a tough test for efficiency, as the Patriots' defense has held opposing offenses to low passing output and stifled scoring through two weeks. But with a relatively high projected touchdown output, Lawrence carries superior scoring potential if Jacksonville sustains drives at home. He ranks slightly ahead of Maye in Week 3 QB Rankings.
QB Drake Maye, New England Patriots
Drake Maye heads into Week 3 coming off a mediocre fantasy performance in a 20-3 victory over Pittsburgh, throwing for 208 yards and an interception on 14-of-22 passing with 17 rushing yards on four carries. While the Patriots won the game, he didn't do much to help his fantasy managers win their matchups.
Through two games, Maye's passing numbers haven't jumped off the stat sheet (193 passing yards per game, 1:4 TD-to-INT ratio), but his dual-threat ability gives him an underlying fantasy floor. Maye ran 7 times for 47 yards in Week 1, and his scrambling potential offers extra upside in tight matchups.
The primary concerns for Maye in Week 3 are the opponent's game script and target availability. With A.J. Brown still out due to an ankle injury, the Patriots have relied heavily on their ground game and defense. Maye should have chances to attack intermediate passing lanes, as the Jaguars' secondary has allowed 236.5 passing yards per game. But he's still ranked toward the lower end of the top 12 in our Week 3 Quarterback Rankings.
The Final Verdict
We're going with Trevor Lawrence over Drake Maye across all formats for this Week 3 Quarterback Start 'Em, Sit 'Em decision.
While Maye offers a decent rushing floor, his passing volume and touchdown rate through two weeks remain capped in New England's run-first approach. Lawrence is playing with all of his weapons healthy and benefits from playing at home in a game where Jacksonville is expected to push the pace. Start Lawrence with confidence as a top option, and leave Maye as a high-end QB2 bench stash for now.
Add us as a preferred source on Google
Once a top-ranked fantasy gamer on ESPN, Nick Raducanu has been playing fantasy sports for over 25 years. His written fantasy coverage includes stops at Rotoworld, Rotowire, and The New York Times.