Welcome to the weekly Fantasy Notebook, the must-stop spot for keeping your finger on the pulse of Fantasy Nation. NFL news and developments drive fantasy values. The Notebook is here to keep you in the loop on all of it throughout the season.
Are We Normalizing Yet?
After three weeks, we're seeing some trends developing. Some, dare I say, are taking a direction we expected heading into the season.
Expect more of this.
With each passing week, we'll slowly start seeing more of the things we forecast to happen coming to pass. Not all of them. There are always surprises.
But normalization comes, and the signs are increasing.
Let's look at some situations arising this past week and test them for stickiness . . .
Hitting the Mark . . . Hard
As NFL.com's Grant Gordon wrote, "It was apparent from the outset Monday night that the Detroit Lions wanted to establish their running game with authority."
With a bit of cooperation from Baltimore's defense, running backs David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs ran roughshod in an impressive 38-30 win over the Ravens, combining for 218 rushing yards and four touchdowns.
"Pick your poison," said Lions quarterback Jared Goff, who threw the only non-rushing Lions TD to Amon-Ra St. Brown in the third quarter.
The tandem led a statistical and historical bonanza in which they each had rushing scores in a game for a league-record 11th time.
Montgomery, carrying just 12 times for a career-high 151 yards and two touchdowns -- including a 72-yard gain and a 31-yard score -- finished the week as RB2 with 29.4 points.
Gibbs had 22 carries for 67 yards and two TDs -- along with five receptions for 32 yards, with the roles switching a bit as Gibbs was the workhorse and Montgomery was the game breaker.
The results were perfectly fine, as Gibbs finished the week as RB3 with 26.9 points while the Lions ran for 224 of the team's 426 yards of offense.
The production of Gibbs and Montgomery isn't wholly unprecedented, as their aforementioned record 11 times rushing for scores in the same game would suggest.
But as Gordon pointed out, they took it a step further on Monday . . .
Is It Sustainable?
Well, Monday night might have been historic, but even with the over-the-top touchdown production, it's not exactly an outlier.
Gibbs has run for 2,357 yards and 26 touchdowns on 432 carries and caught 104 passes for 833 yards and five touchdowns in his two seasons as a Lion. But Montgomery has also been plenty busy with 404 carries for 1,790 yards and 25 touchdowns, and 52 receptions for 458 yards, working alongside Gibbs the last two years.
The duo is the only running-back tandem in NFL history to record at least 10 rushing touchdowns apiece in back-to-back seasons.
Even if they're not both in the top five at the position when all is said and done, it's not a massive reach to expect two top-10 finishes.
Why would I believe that?
We've Seen This Movie Before
Last year, Gibbs was RB5 while playing alongside Montgomery over the first 14 weeks. Montgomery was RB9 over that span.
First-year playcaller John Morton understands what he has in this offense.
And even if there will be games -- like last week -- where the passing game is front and center, Gibbs and Montgomery will be major players on a regular basis; fantasy managers can continue rolling out both in lineups with confidence . . .
Taylor-Made For Success
What's behind the Colts' offensive efficiency?
It's not hard to figure out . . .
Indianapolis has 103 points through the first three games of 2025 (tied for second in team history). They entered Week 3 tied for the lead in yards per play and ranked second in offensive expected points added.
That trend continued in Sunday's performance . . .
How Come?
According to ESPN.com's Stephen Holder, it's turnover margin, for one. The Colts are one of four teams not to commit a turnover, and that is keeping drives alive.
Additionally, quarterback Daniel Jones is spreading the ball around, preventing defenses from locking in on any one player (four receivers had four or more targets in the game) . . .
Riding the RB1
Perhaps more importantly, running back Jonathan Taylor continues to roll.
Taylor was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for the second straight time, rushing for 102 yards and three touchdowns in Indy's 41-20 blowout victory against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
Taylor had a pair of 1-yard TD runs and a 46-yard score as the Colts got off to a 3-0 start.
That 46-yarder was the ninth career rushing touchdown of 40-plus yards, tying Pro Football Hall of Famer Lenny Moore for the most by any player in Colts franchise history. Taylor has five "explosive" runs -- defined as plays of 12 yards or longer -- so far this season, good for second-most in the NFL through Sunday's early games.
He also had a 43-yard pass reception in Week 2.
Although Taylor did not run for a touchdown in the first two weeks of the regular season, he did have a touchdown catch in Week 2, and he's done enough to more than satisfy the needs of fantasy investors who landed him in the second round of drafts this year.
In addition to leading the league in rushing through three weeks, Taylor is also fantasy's RB1 on the season with an average of 25 points per game.
Will It Persist?
As I explained in last week's Fantasy Notebook, Jones' success this season is based on multiple factors, not the least of which is avoiding the kind of mistakes that have highlighted his career in the past.
Heading into the 2025 season, Jones had 73 turnovers in 70 career games.
He hasn't turned the ball over this year.
In fact, Jones threw his third touchdown pass of the season against the Titans and, per the NFL, he is the first player in the Super Bowl era to throw at least three touchdowns and run for at least three touchdowns without turning the ball over in the first three games of a season.
But some of the credit for Jones' success should go to Shane Steichen for keeping the offense balanced. Also, Taylor -- and his ability to take the ball to the end zone every time he touches it -- is what makes that easy.
As I wrote last week, "If Indianapolis can maintain this level of balance throughout the season, Jones' chances of being consistently effective increase, and he might be one of the biggest fantasy surprises of the season."
I should have added, "And Taylor will be one of the best fantasy assets of the year . . ."
Buffalo's Cooking With Fire
As Profootballtalk.com's Mike Florio suggested, the Bills surely are not experiencing buyer's remorse.
Running back James Cook, who parlayed a training camp hold-in into a new contract, has gotten off to a great start.
In each of the team's first three games, Cook has more than 100 yards from scrimmage and a rushing touchdown.
Via Alec White of the team's official website, Cook now has a streak of seven straight games with at least one rushing touchdown. It puts him in a four-way tie for the franchise record.
It's also one reason he's in such good standing with fantasy investors.
In Week 1 at Baltimore, Cook had 44 rushing yards and 58 receiving yards. In Week 2 vs. the Jets, Cook rushed for 132 yards, with three yards in the passing game. Last Thursday night, Cook rushed for 108 yards and added 10 yards receiving against the Dolphins . . .
Hiding in Plain Sight?
This is where I remind you that Cook carried the ball 207 times last season, racking up 1,009 yards and 16 touchdowns. He added 32 receptions for 258 yards and two more scores.
His 18 total touchdowns tied Derrick Henry for second-most in the NFL (behind Gibbs' league-high 20 scores).
Cook showed breakaway potential with four rushing TDs of 40-plus yards -- the most in a season by a Bills ball carrier. It paid off for fantasy managers, as Cook finished as RB9 with 16.7 points per game.
Better still, he was RB3 during the all-important Weeks 15-17 stretch, averaging 21.7 points . . .
That Might Be the Baseline
Cook is currently RB3 on the season, averaging 22.8 fantasy points per game.
And he's already well ahead of his workload pace from any prior season, and he's making a case to get the ball even more. Cook touched it 22 times against Miami and was the Bills' most consistent offensive weapon.
At this point, even though I readily acknowledge this offense will always run through Josh Allen, it's not hard to argue Cook has established himself as an apex fantasy predator at his position. In fact, I heard my friend Michael F. Florio discussing Cook on NFL Network last week, and he characterized Cook as a top-7 back.
I reached out and asked him about it while writing this. Florio took it a step further in his response, telling me he's moved Cook into his top 5, behind Bijan Robinson, Gibbs, Saquon Barkley, and Derrick Henry.
It's a fair assessment based on what we've seen dating back to last year. Cook is closer to untouchable than trade target . . .
Eagles Finally Take Flight!
The Philadelphia offense was night and day before and after halftime on Sunday. In the first half, Philadelphia managed just 33 total yards and seven points. But they exploded in the second half with 255 yards and 20 points in a 33-26 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
What changed?
Analyst Matt Higgins of Supernaut.com noted the Eagles let quarterback Jalen Hurts air out the ball and got A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith involved in the game following a quiet first two weeks.
Hurts finished the game 21 of 32 for 226 yards and three passing touchdowns.
Brown had his best game of the young season with six receptions for 109 yards and a score, good for 22.9 fantasy points and a WR5 finish on the week. Smith had eight receptions for 60 yards and a TD, which led to 20 fantasy points and a WR9 finish.
In case you haven't been following along, Brown was WR82 after the first two weeks; Smith was WR56 . . .
This Isn't Hard To Figure Out
It's simple. Down 26-7 early in the third quarter, the Eagles opened up the playbook and Hurts cut loose. He connected on a 38-yard pass to Brown and a 35-yard touchdown throw to tight end Dallas Goedert. The comeback included an increased sense of urgency, utilizing no-huddle on 53.7 percent of their plays in the final two quarters after doing so just once in the first half.
It's no coincidence that Hurts' 32 attempts against the Rams were a season-high . . .
Volume Is King
The lack of pass attempts isn't new. I've written about it before.
Hurts threw 104 fewer passes in 2024 than in 2023 -- and 99 fewer than in 2022, despite playing the same number of games (13). In 2024, Hurts attempted 30-plus passes in just five games (compared to eight in 2022). The Eagles went 10-1 in the 11 games where he attempted fewer than 30.
To that point, the 32 attempts we saw against the Rams were a number Hurts has only reached one other time in the last 11 regular-season games . . .
A Moment or a Paradigm Shift?
The reason Hurts threw less last year was Saquon Barkley.
He rushed for 2,005 yards -- just 101 short of Eric Dickerson's all-time NFL record. With that ground game rolling, Philly didn't need Hurts to air it out.
This year?
Barkley has yet to have a 100-yard rushing game in the first three games this season, as the Rams held him to 46 yards on the ground on 18 carries.
Through the first three games, Philadelphia's offense has averaged just 268.7 total yards per game.
They will need to do better, starting this week, when they travel to Tampa Bay to take on the 3-0 Buccaneers.
As Higgins summed up, "This group is way too loaded to be stuck in neutral for long stretches."
The hope is that something sustainable clicked into place late against the Rams that can be carried into this week and beyond. We were all going to continue playing Barkley, Brown, and Smith based on investment alone.
But if you were looking to move the receiving assets here, I'm not sure when you'll get another sell-high opportunity . . .
These Bears Aren't Hibernating
According to NFL.com's Eric Edholm, this was what a Ben Johnson offense is supposed to look like. That it came against a beat-up Cowboys defense is irrelevant for now.
What's relevant is Caleb Williams' contributions to Sunday's 34-14 win in Chicago.
The Bears mixed deep shots, trick plays, and a patient, creative run game, and had their best offensive performance of the season by a mile. There were hints of Johnson's scheme working in each of the first two games, but this was the first synthesis of Xs and Os and execution.
Johnson unleashed a passing attack that allowed Williams to put together arguably the best game of his career. Williams threw for 298 yards and four touchdowns, which tied a career high. He set personal bests with a 142.6 passer rating while reaching 10.8 yards per attempt.
After taking a league-high 68 sacks as a rookie and six sacks in his first two games this season, Williams walked away from Week 3 without being sacked for the first time in his NFL career.
"He played an outstanding game," wide receiver DJ Moore said. "I think four different people scored. I mean, you can't ask [for] much more."
By halftime, Williams had thrown for 239 yards, the most in any half of his young career. He threw touchdown passes to Moore, Rome Odunze, Luther Burden III, and Cole Kmet, and didn't turn the ball over.
Williams' 65-yard touchdown pass to rookie Burden traveled 62.1 yards in the air, the longest completion in the NFL this season and the longest completion of Williams' career. He also became the first player with 225-plus passing yards and three or more passing TDs in any half this season.