Matthew Golden, Terry McLaurin, and 6 Other Must-Start Fantasy Football Wide Receivers in Week 3
The wide receiver position is a volatile one in fantasy football. In Week 1, Ja'Marr Chase failed to score 3 fantasy points. Malik Nabers, Jameson Williams, and Drake London all reside outside the top 50. Meanwhile, Jalen Coker is WR5, Stefon Diggs is WR9, and Denzel Boston is WR12 in fantasy football. Who really knows? For Week 3, we will try to identify the following 8 startable pass-catchers.
Matthew Golden
Golden is one of the bigger risers, projected as my WR22 in Week 3. Entering the season, Golden had not cracked the top-50.
Christian Watson and Golden tie for the Packers' team lead in targets (18). Golden leads the team in routes run (69), with one more than Watson. Given that I projected Watson as a shoo-in WR2 in 2026, Golden is now in similar territory.
Jalen Coker
Highest deep (20+ yard) receiving grade this season
— PFF (@PFF) September 22, 2026
Jalen Coker 98.4
Ja'Marr Chase 98.1
Davante Adams 98.0
CeeDee Lamb 96.1
DeVonta Smith 96.0 pic.twitter.com/LG3ANSGpLx
Coker should already be a must-start given his start to the season. I am ensuring fantasy managers know this and don't view Coker as a fluke. The Panthers view Coker as good as Tetairoa McMillan. I have Coker as the Week 3 WR19, behind McMillan at WR9.
The Panthers are off to an explosive start, averaging 35.5 points per game. Coker leads the team in targets (18), receptions (16), and receiving touchdowns (2).
Deebo Samuel
Samuel edges all 49ers' wide receivers in targets with 11 through two games. He has 9 receptions, including a touchdown on 79 yards. Samuel has run the 2nd-most routes (39) on the 49ers, behind Mike Evans.
Shanahan's old friend is back in town and rumbling to big things with De'Zhaun Stribling out indefinitely. At his peak, Samuel was a WR1 in this offense. He is older, but the ceiling remains quite high on one of the NFL's best offenses.
Michael Wilson
In Week 3, Wilson rises to WR29 in my projections. It expects Wilson to have 7.2 targets, 4.7 receptions, 52.4 yards, and a 21.4% chance of a touchdown.
Usage is important here. Wilson is the team's WR1, ahead of Marvin Harrison Jr. and Kendrick Bourne. The debate between Harrison Jr. and Wilson is over in my eyes and most people's. He has 7 more targets than Harrison Jr., 6 more receptions, 41 more yards, and 5 more routes run. Let's now hope for a pass-heavy script for the Cardinals, who are expected to trail the 49ers this Sunday.
DeVaughn Vele
Over two weeks, factoring in 2025 data, I rank the Raiders as the 31st-best defense in the NFL. They will play the opposition to Vele's Saints team, which leads the NFL in passing, averaging 331 yards per game.
I have New Orleans scoring about 24 total points this weekend. Seeing their start to 2026, the Saints can easily overlook that number and go for 30+. They are a top upside team in the NFL.
Through two games, Vele is 2nd on the Saints in targets (15), receptions (12), and yards (133), and 1st in routes run (94).
Carnell Tate
The Titans hung in there quite well, narrowly losing 24-20 against the Eagles right at the end of the game. Tennessee will face a Giants team this weekend that will now be without Jaxson Dart for quite some time. I favor the Giants to win this game at home, but they are even on neutral ground. Things shall ease up for Tate and his offense.
My power rating has the Giants' defense as the NFL's 24th-best and 27th-best coverage. A top-10 NFL Draft pick, we know how good Tate is. I would label him a high-upside pick and, in fact, a buy-low in fantasy football.
Terry McLaurin
With Marcus Mariota in 2025, these were McLaurin's statistics:
- 64.5 Yards per Game
- 6.0 Targets per Game
- 3.7 Receptions per Game
- 17.6 Yards per Reception
- 0.50 Touchdowns per Game
A 50% touchdown rate is very good. It would put McLaurin in the top 5 in weekly touchdown probability. However, we can take that 50% with a grain of salt. It is based on a very low sample size of 6 qualified games.
Seattle offers a very bad matchup for McLaurin. However, that might not be so bad. The Commanders expect to lose this game comfortably. Even with Drew Lock, the Seahawks won 31-7 on Sunday. Thus, a pass-heavy script may result, favoring McLaurin's overall volume. My motto: Volume is King.
Rashod Bateman
Rarely have the Ravens supported two viable wide receivers. A run-heavy team is not their style. However, this week against the Dallas Cowboys, you can start Bateman.
Whether or not Zay Flowers is active, Bateman should have comfortable volume. The reason is that Dallas is quite possibly the worst coverage in the NFL. They were rated 31st in EPA/Pass Allowed in 2025 and have done no better thus far in 2026.
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Thomas Carelli is a sportswriter based on Northern New Jersey. He is a massive New York Jets and Mets fan, but that is not where is sports fandom stops. He loves to watch and play golf, all things football, baseball, and much more. If he can watch it, he will. Thomas graduated from William Paterson University in 2018 with a Bachelor's Degree in Sport Management. He spent 4 years working at a local golf course, volunteered past PGA events, and spent some part-time experience with the New York Jets events team. His passions for sport runs deep and his articles show for it.