Week 3 Guillotine Leagues™️ Lineup Decisions: Start or Sit Tyrone Tracy, Matthew Golden and More

Week 2 was an absolute bloodbath. We had some major injuries, especially at the quarterback position. Joe Burrow is going to be sidelined for potentially the rest of the year, while Justin Fields and J.J. McCarthy are going to miss at least this week. Jayden Daniels has been ruled out with a knee injury, while Brock Purdy is expected to miss at least one more start. Add it all up, and upwards of five startable fantasy quarterbacks could be on the shelf in Week 3.

Week 2 was also a bloodbath in the Guillotine LeaguesTM streets, thanks mostly to the performance of star running back Derrick Henry. If you had him on your roster, there was a nearly 25% chance that your team didn’t survive the reaper. That is an absurd figure for Week 2. Despite the Ravens scoring more than 40 points, Henry finished with just 11 carries, 23 yards, zero touchdowns and zero receptions.

Unfortunately, when a star player like Henry goes bust, there’s very little you can do about it. There wasn’t any chance that Henry was coming out of your starting lineup, so you can’t beat yourself up too bad if he’s the reason you got axed.

However, there are some other lineup decisions each week that can play a factor in whether you live or die in Guillotine LeaguesTM . That’s the focus of this column. We’ll look at a few risky potential flex options and why you should consider benching them, and a few potential replacement options.

Week 3 Guillotine Leagues Start Em, Sit Em Decisions

Sit: Tyrone Tracy vs. Chiefs

LaMarca: The Giants’ backfield appears to be headed for a change. Rookie Cam Skattebo missed a large chunk of training camp with a hamstring injury, but he’s fully healthy now. Skattebo operated as the clear No. 2 option for the Giants’ rushing attack in Week 1, but he seemingly leaped Tracy in the pecking order in Week 2. He had 55% of the team’s designed rushing attempts, while Tracy plummeted from 59% in Week 1 to 25% last week.

Skattebo also has the clear edge around the goal line. He’s a prototypical power back, and he’s had 100% of the team’s carries from inside the 5-yard line so far this season. There’s no real reason to expect that to change moving forward.

At best, Tracy is the No. 2 option in a committee with minimal touchdown upside. He’s going to need to rack up receptions to maintain value in fantasy leagues, but he has just a 12% target share for the year. That’s not an awful figure, but it’s not going to be enough to singlehandedly save his Guillotine stock. Ultimately, there’s too much risk here for me personally.

Charch: I loved what we saw from Skatteboo last week, but I’m not ready to rule out Tracy as a Guillotine contributor at this early stage of the season, when we’re only looking for 10 PPR points from our runners. Even if last week’s trend continues, Tracy’s usage could be similar to Austin Ekeler’s, chipping in roughly 4 catches and 40 receiving yards along with odds and ends rushes.

Start: Kareem Hunt at Giants

LaMarca: On the other side of that matchup, the Chiefs’ running back situation is also a major question mark. Isiah Pacheco was the team’s No. 1 option before getting injured last year, and he was tentatively expected to resume that role this season. He had averaged at least 4.6 yards per attempt in his first two seasons, and he had minimal competition for touches.

However, Kareem Hunt has maintained a larger role than expected. Despite being signed off the street last year, Hunt has continued to carve into Pacheco’s workload in 2025. He’s been on the field for 39% of the team’s offensive snaps, and he’s handled 43% of their designed rushing attempts.

The big upside with Hunt is where his snaps have come. Specifically, he’s handled 91% of the short-down-and-distance situations for the Chiefs. Kansas City has yet to record a carry from inside the 5-yard line, but Hunt is the clear favorite to get those opportunities when the situation eventually arises. He’s also played on 81% of the long-down-and-distance situations, so he has some upside as a pass catcher as well.

Kansas City has started the year with two tough matchups vs. the Chargers and Eagles, but things should be significantly easier for them in Week 3. The Giants were absolutely gashed by the Cowboys last week, with Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders combining for 112 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Chiefs are currently listed as six-point road favorites in this matchup, and their 25.5 implied team total ranks fourth on the slate. It’s a great spot for Hunt to find the paint, and that should be enough for him to provide value.

Charch: With Pacheco seemingly washed, I like LaMarca’s contrarian angle on Hunt, but I can’t fully endorse a starting call on Hunt, particularly in a Guillotine League with do-or-die implications. He’s gotten just 5 and 8 carries so far, and is nearly invisible in the passing game, averaging just 1 catch per game since Week 11 of last year. And at this stage of his career, Hunt just isn’t very good. Among players with Hunt’s 13 carries, he ranks 24th in yards per carry, 22nd in yards after contact and he’s posted one broken tackle all year.

Sit: Matthew Golden at Browns

LaMarca: Matthew Golden entered this season with big expectations as a rookie. The Packers talked him up all offseason, and he was expected to step into their No. 1 receiver role right out of the gates. Add in injuries to Christian Watson and Jayden Reed, and the coast seemed clear for Golden to produce.

Unfortunately, that’s not how things have gone. Even with Watson out and Reed limited, the Packers have a bunch of mouths to feed in the passing game. Golden has been limited to a 63% route participation through his first two contests, while his target share sits at a paltry 8%.

With Reed now joining Watson on the sidelines, the temptation is there to give Golden one more chance. Perhaps this is the week he breaks out, but there is still plenty of risk with the youngster. Romeo Doubs and Dontayvion Wicks are both still around to soak up snaps and targets at receiver, while Tucker Kraft has become a clear focal point at tight end. Though keep in mind that Kraft popped up on the injury report with a knee injury.

Finally, the matchup vs. the Browns also carries some risk. They’re the No. 1 defense in the league in yards through the first two weeks, and they’ve held the Bengals and Ravens to just 292 passing yards combined. The Browns were a historically good defense back in 2023, and after a down season last year, it’s possible that they’re back to being one of the toughest matchups in fantasy. It’s still way too early to give up on Golden for the year, but there’s simply too much risk with him at the moment.

Charch: LaMarca has summarized Golden’s situation correctly. There’s temptation to assume Golden will get more minutes with Reed out. But stylistically Golden isn’t anything like Reed (nobody is, really). I expect Wicks to get more slot reps, and that’ll free up more opportunities for Goldon on the outside, his natural position. But he’s got a long way to go before he’s trustworthy in a Guillotine League.

Start: Elic Ayomanor vs. Colts

LaMarca: Let’s move from one rookie receiver to another. While Elic Ayomanor wasn’t considered the same level of prospect, he has a much clearer path to targets with the Titans. He’s had a target share of at least 20% in both contests this season, and he racked up 15.6 PPR points last week vs. the Rams. He wasn’t quite as successful in Week 1, but that was against a tough Denver defense in Cam Ward’s first professional start. Ward looked much more comfortable in Week 2, and he should continue to improve with more playing time.

Ayomanor seems pretty comfortably locked into 6-7 targets per week, and those could pay dividends vs. the Colts in Week 3. The Colts have looked really good on the offensive side to start the season, scoring on seven drives in each of their first two games. However, their defense has been exploitable. They allowed 28 points and 324 yards to the Broncos last week, so this game could have some sneaky offensive upside.

Ultimately, Ayomanor is a player on the rise, and he’s a solid potential flex candidate with 16 teams still remaining in standard Guillotine Leagues.