Saquon Barkley vs Alvin Kamara vs Jerome Ford: Who should I start in Week 3 fantasy football? 

With Christian McCaffrey on Injured Reserve, Saquon Barkley faces the very real prospect of being RB1 in fantasy football this season.

Barkley rushed for 95 yards in a Week 2 loss to the Falcons. While there were several takeaways from that one-point loss to Atlanta, Barkley's output has been true to his caliber as an elite running back.

That said, the Eagles go up against what has been a pleasantly jacked New Orleans Saints offense. Could we see a shootout on Sunday afternoon? And if we do, who ends up on top?

Saquon Barkley fantasy projection for Week 3

The Eagles were so close! So close. But fate had other plans in Week 2. Barkley's Week 1 performance was one for the ages. The message on social media was how did the Giants let go of Saquon Barkley.

Per FantasyPros data, Barkley delivered an RB11 finish last week. That number would have been a little higher if not for an overturned touchdown reception. And then it happened.

Barkley dropped a pass that would have surely wrapped up an Eagles win. Instead, Phily is 1-1 heading into a Week 3 showdown against the Saints.

So far, Barkley has thrived in Kellen Moore's offense as the Eagles' workhorse, but the Saints matchup is a tricky one to bet on. New Orleans' run defense has been stout and for all of Barkley's prowess as a premiere running back, this is a difficult matchup for him to dominate.

The thing is, even if he doesn't dominate like he did in Week 1, you're sure to end up with a pretty impressive return.

Saquon Barkley vs Alvin Kamara vs Jerome Ford fantasy projection for Week 3

Alvin Kamara fantasy projection for Week 3

Like Barkley, Kamara has been the Saints' workhorse, ably supported by Jamaal Williams. In the 44-19 beatdown of the Dallas Cowboys, Kamara had 115 yards on 20 carries for three (!!!) touchdowns.

Klint Kubiak's scheme appears to be geared towards getting the best out of all of Chris Olave, Rashid Shaheed, Derek Carr and Kamara. The latter now has five touchdowns after two weeks of football.

Per FantasyPros data, Kamara has a 20% target share so far, which is healthy enough to retain faith in him despite a very strong possibility of regression to the mean.

---

Jerome Ford fantasy projection for Week 3

There's a large gulf between Barkley and Kamara, and Jerome Ford. With Nick Chubb still out injured, the hope was that Ford would take over and retain his spot as the Browns' RB1.

He may be RB1 on the depth chart but Week 2 saw Ford's targets cut down. He played 44% of the snaps and had eight touches for a total of 64 yards. Ford also saw himself caught sharing the workload in a three-way committee between himself, D'Onta Foreman and Pierre Strong Jr.

Strong Jr. will probably miss Week 3 with an injury but it's clear the Browns are not willing to have Ford out there on volume. Cleveland also hasn't turned to Ford near the end zone, instead choosing to hand those duties over to Foreman. Unless we see some volume return to Ford's game, it's best to use him as a flex option.

---

Saquon Barkley vs Alvin Kamara vs Jerome Ford: Final verdict

Sportskeeda's Who Should I Start tool is pretty high on Barkley this week and with good reason. It's not the breeziest matchup, but we know what Barkley's capable of. The Eagles will also look to put that nervy defeat to the Falcons behind them in Week 3.

Saquon Barkley or Alvin Kamara or Jerome Ford: Week 3 fantasy projections

Kamara is also projected for a neat little return of nearly 12 points. At some point, you'd expect his production to cool down and the Eagles matchup is as good a bet as any for that to happen.