Fantasy Football Week 3 Quarterback Rankings: Can you trust Justin Herbert?

Chris Towers breaks down his quarterback rankings for Week 3

By Chris Towers

Sep 25, 2022 at 11:15 am ET • 2 min read

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It sounds like Justin Herbert is going to try to play through the pain of his rib injury Sunday, but should your Fantasy team be willing to trust him? It's a tough call -- when healthy, Herbert is one of the best quarterbacks in the game, and even after suffering the injury last Thursday, he made arguably the best throw of the season in helping lead the Chargers down the field late in the game. If he can play, it's going to be hard to go away from him.

But you've got to at least consider it. For one thing, the Chargers don't play until 4:05, so you won't know if he's playing until after most of the games have already kicked off. Your options for replacing him if he's inactive will be limited -- among players who might be available to add and start from the 4 p.m. and later window, Trevor Lawrence, Marcus Mariota, and Jimmy Garoppolo are probably your best options. And those aren't ideal options.

Then, of course, you've got the potential that Herbert just isn't very good while dealing with the injury. He's not Lamar Jackson or Jalen Hurts, but Herbert's athleticism is an asset in his game, as is his willingness and ability to let plays develop to hit down the field. If that is compromised, he's going to suffer. Add in the risk of re-injury, and there's just a lot that could go wrong.

I'm still ranking Herbert as a top-10 option for this week, but that is partially a result of the position not being in great shape overall -- I don't necessarily trust Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers this week, among others. Herbert is ahead of Tua Tagovailoa for me, but I could flip a coin -- Tagovailoa should benefit from the Bills secondary being beat up, even if the pass rush does give me some pause. If you have Tagovailoa and Herbert, you might just need to pull the trigger on Tua, just in case Herbert isn't cleared to play.

It's a tough spot to be in, and hopefully this is just a short-term issue for Herbert. Of course, that might come down to whether he plays it cautious this week. You might be best served doing that.