Guillotine Leagues™ Rankings For Startup Leagues Ahead of Week 3: All-In On Rome Odunze

Fantasy football can be cruel. We spend so much of our time researching and analyzing just for our entire season to be unraveled by a fluke toe injury (thanks, Joe Burrow). Thankfully, Guillotine Leagues™ are here to help you reset and get back in the game each and every week. Looking to draft a new team ahead of Week 3? Check out Guillotine Leagues.

Guillotine Leagues™ Rankings Targets For Week 3 Startup Leagues

Jaxon Smith-Njigba: Certified Stud

The breakout was already loading last season in Year 2 for Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The former first-round pick out of Ohio State finished 2024 with 1,130 yards and six TDs on 100 receptions, and he's already taking his game to new heights this season.

While he hasn't found the end zone yet, JSN has already tallied 23 targets, 17 receptions, and 227 receiving yards through two games.

The transition from Geno Smith to Sam Darnold has been…rocky…through two starts, but the one constant has been JSN. Here's what I mean:

Week 1 - Darnold threw for 150 yards, JSN accounted for 124 of them
Week 2 - Darnold threw for 295 yards, JSN accounted for 103 of them

As long as JSN remains the focal point of the passing attack, he remains one of my highest-ranked players if I were drafting today. In fact, Matthew Freedman feels the exact same way. In his Rest of Season Rankings for Guillotine Leagues, he has JSN as his WR6 and No. 9 overall. That's high praise for Darnold's WR1.

The Seahawks have enough offensive weapons to be competitive both on the ground and through the air. JSN's ascension to a certified stud means he's a priority waiver claim in Guillotine Leagues if he hits free agency and an easy Round 1 selection if I am drafting this week.

Rome Odunze: Chicago's Lone Star

Another former first-round pick is making waves this season, and he's only in his second year.

The Bears selected Rome Odunze last year with the No. 9 overall pick. It was a mixed bag for the talented rookie. Despite playing in all 17 games, he only finished with 54 receptions for 734 yards and three scores. On the plus side, he did see 101 targets, but that catch rate only illustrates just how brutal of a season it was for Caleb Williams and this offense.

Odunze came in as the WR3 in our Rookie WR Model behind only Marvin Harrison Jr. and Malik Nabers, so the potential has always been there.

Now in Year 2, Odunze appears to be the lone bright spot on an offense struggling to find its footing.

Through two games, Williams has thrown for 210 and 207 yards, respectively. That's not going to cut it when it comes to supporting a high-end wideout unless Odunze commands a massive share of a very small pie.

Thankfully, for fantasy managers who invested in Odunze, he has all three of Williams's passing TDs this season, and he's clearly the No. 1 option in the passing game. He leads all Bears in:

Targets - 20
Receptions - 13
Receiving yards - 165
TDs - 3

What's been somewhat surprising for me is that Olamide Zaccheaus has more targets (12) than DJ Moore (11), and that rookie Luther Burden (39th overall selection) has just two receptions for two yards (on three targets) this season.

Yes, a two-game sample size is admittedly small, especially since these first few weeks can feel like preseason for teams getting back up to speed. However, one thing is crystal clear: deposit the struggles on offense, Odunze is the clear No. 1 option for this passing attack.

As for where Freedman has Odunze slotted for the rest of the season, he has him down at WR25. That feels fair given the fact that Williams is struggling to top 200 passing yards in a single game. Even so, I think Ben Johnson and Williams continue to figure things out. That means WR25 could be the absolute floor for Odunze moving forward.

I like targeting players in these types of scenarios. They are producing well given the small sample size and limited passing volume, but there's a viable path for an enormous bump in production as the season continues to unfold.

A.J. Brown / DeVonta Smith: Not Flying High

The Eagles are 2-0 and Jalen Hurts has not thrown a single TD pass.

A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith managers, how are you all feeling right now?

Candidly, they're not feeling great considering the draft capital that was expended to land those two talented wideouts on rosters. Was there a chance we could've seen this coming? It's possible, but hindsight bias is going to be hitting managers hard this week.

Through two weeks, here are some upsetting stats for you:

Hurts

253 total passing yards

Brown

9 targets, 6 receptions, 35 yards

Smith

9 targets, 7 receptions, 69 yards (nice)

Both Brown and Smith have each scored 7+ TDs in each of the previous three seasons, but positive regression is going to have to start hitting in a big way, and soon.

Normally I would be all in on targeting a consolidated passing attack, an offense where targets are only distributed between two or three players (the opposite of the Green Bay Packers). However, this feels different, and Freedman feels the same way.

If you are drafting this week, Brown (WR13) and Smith (WR33) are a bit below where they were drafted at the start of the season. Brown's ranking serves as a nod to his historical dominance and ability to flip the field on a single play, but Smith's ranking worries me.

I would be hesitant to target Smith at this stage. The Eagles have an elite QB, an elite RB, and a defense that is still stifling. Smith can still offer week-winning performances, but the early returns are showing us that it might be a bit more hit or miss this season.

Tucker Kraft: Breakout SZN

I realize that I just mentioned the Packers as a team that does not have a condensed passing attack and how I try to avoid those types of situations.

However, the hometown fan in me cannot resist wanting more Tucker Kraft.

The breakout season is here and in full effect through two weeks. He's leading the team in targets (11), receptions (8), receiving yards (140), and TDs (2). Perhaps most important is the loss of Jayden Reed (collarbone) for the foreseeable future.

Couple that with rookie wideout Matthew Golden looking more like a downfield decoy on offense rather than an integral part of the game plan, and we are likely to see a heavy dose of both Kraft and Romeo Doubs in the weeks ahead.

Kraft is the new-age George Kittle. He's a menace as a blocker and a monster in the open field once he catches the ball. If you're looking for a hard-nosed TE who loves to lay the boom on opposing defenders, Kraft is your man.

Looking at the rest of the season, Freedman has Kraft as his TE5 and I'm all the way here for it. With Kittle's injury, and the old guard of TEs not playing well (Travis Kelce / Mark Andrews), there's little reason to push Kraft down any further. In fact, until Sam LaPorta (Freedman's TE4) finds the end zone, I have no issue pushing Kraft into the top four for the rest of the season.

Players Mentioned in this Article

JoeBurrow
QBCIN
PPG
17.43
JaxonSmith-Njigba
WRSEA
PPG
16.84
Proj
16.21
A.J.Brown
WRPHI
PPG
11.58
DeVontaSmith
WRPHI
PPG
9.68