Week 3 Fantasy Football Start ‘Em & Sit ‘Em: Jaylen Waddle vs. Khalil Shakir
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Week three’s Thursday matchup features a struggling Miami Dolphins team and a thriving Buffalo Bills team. Within that game, there are some players who are on the bubble of being a start or being a sit in fantasy football. Two of those players include Miami Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle and Buffalo Bills wide receiver Khalil Shakir. Here is who to play out of the two players in fantasy football in week three.
Jaylen Waddle
The Miami passing game as a whole has looked questionable, but in week two, it did improve. The Dolphins' WR1, Tyreek Hill, had some flashes of the past, recording six catches for 109 yards. And WR2 Jaylen Waddle had his best performance of 2025 with five catches for 68 yards and a touchdown. And while this is promising stuff from the Dolphins' top two WRs, there are some major concerns about them falling back into a slump against the Bills on Thursday night.
Buffalo, in their week two performance against the New York Jets, held NY to just 83 passing yards in the game. Through two games, the Bills have allowed the fewest amount of passing yards per game, giving up only 124 yards a contest. With that being said, the outlook for Waddle producing an impactful fantasy performance feels slim.
Miami QB Tua Tagovailoa is, however, coming off an insanely efficient performance, going 26/32 passing for 315 yards, with two TD passes and one interception. This looks and feels good, but the team they played, the New England Patriots, just might not be good. Geno Smith, in week one, threw for 362 yards against them. So, too much stock should not be put into Tagovailoa’s week two performance.
Khalil Shakir
Unlike Waddle, Buffalo Bills WR1 is coming off a down week. Against the New York Jets, he logged just one reception for 12 yards. And while this is not a fun fantasy performance for any owner to have in a starting lineup, it should not be an overthought performance.
The Bills' pass game as a whole against the Jets was underutilized. They took control of this game early in the first half, and because of this, they were not aggressive in throwing the ball. Josh Allen only threw for 148 yards, and the leading receiver for the Bills was Joshua Palmer, who had 47 yards. Shakir may not end up being the WR1 on the Bills when it is all said and done, with the rise of second-year player Keon Coleman, but a fantasy game like this should be rare for Shakir in 2025.
Final Verdict
The major thing that should be taken into consideration on who to start between Waddle and Shakir on Thursday night is the opposing team’s defense. The Bills have had a superb pass defense so far this season, and their overall defense looks solid. Miami’s defense, on the other hand, has struggled as a whole both weeks and is giving up the second-most points per game in the NFL, allowing 33 points a contest. So in this case, Waddle is the definite sit, and Shakir is the definite start between the two WRs.
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Gray Deyo is a Nashville-based sportswriter who graduated with a sports management bachelor's degree from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He has covered prep sports, college sports, the WNBA, and the NBA for the past four years. In addition to writing for SI, Gray also currently contributes to Prep Girls Hoops