JC Fantasy Football National Poll Week 3

Three weeks are in the books, and the preseason portion of the National Poll is now becoming a very small part of the equation.

Every manager has six results available — three head-to-head games and three league-median games. Record matters, but so do division-normalized all-play performance, scoring, consistency and strength of schedule, which means two teams with the same record can have very different résumés.

Six managers remain perfect at 6-0, while several teams that began September buried in the preseason rankings have forced their way into the playoff conversation.

Week 3 National Poll

1. Vikki Simpson — Division D

6-0 | Week 3: 168.88 points | Last week: #1 | —

Simpson keeps the No. 1 spot by producing the highest score in Division D and moving to a perfect 6-0.

She has now beaten 92.6% of possible Division D opponents in normalized all-play, the best cumulative mark in the entire league.

There is no preseason projection holding her up anymore — after three weeks, this is simply the strongest résumé in JC Fantasy Football.

2. Trey Matey — Division A

6-0 | Week 3: 131.22 points | Last week: #2 | —

Matey did not lead Division A for the first time this season, but 131.22 still comfortably earned both results and preserved the perfect record.

His 90.9% all-play rate trails only Simpson, and doing it in Division A keeps the defending champion firmly in the argument for No. 1.

For now Simpson’s enormous Week 3 keeps Matey at No. 2, but there is essentially no separation between the league’s top two résumés.

3. Mark Handy — Division C

6-0 | Week 3: 134.50 points | Last week: #8 | ▲ 5

Handy is officially past the point where his preseason No. 40 ranking matters, adding another 2-0 week and moving to a perfect 6-0.

He owns an 87.9% all-play mark through three weeks and has now followed his 178.66-point explosion with two more winning performances.

The model needed time to trust the breakout; at No. 3, it clearly does now.

4. Heath Strickland — Division B

6-0 | Week 3: 162.68 points | Last week: #12 | ▲ 8

Strickland posted the highest score in Division B for the second time in three weeks and remains perfect at 6-0.

His 88.9% normalized all-play rate is elite, and Week 3 erased any concern that his huge opener was simply a one-week spike.

A preseason ranking of No. 36 is now ancient history — Strickland has performed like one of the best four teams in the league.

5. Chad Skipworth — Division E

5-1 | Week 3: 164.86 points | Last week: #11 | ▲ 6

Skipworth rebounds from a quieter Week 2 by leading Division E in scoring and sweeping both available results.

His 5-1 record comes with an 85.2% all-play rate, meaning the performance underneath the record is every bit as impressive.

The lone blemish keeps him behind the undefeated group, but Skipworth currently has one of the strongest non-perfect résumés in the poll.

6. Aaron Quarles — Division B

6-0 | Week 3: 123.64 points | Last week: #14 | ▲ 8

Quarles keeps doing enough to win, clearing the median again and moving to a perfect 6-0.

His 74.1% all-play mark is lower than the other unbeaten teams near the top, so the poll is distinguishing between perfection and outright dominance.

Still, six wins in six opportunities cannot be ignored, and Quarles has now climbed forty spots from his preseason ranking.

7. Zac Grantham — Division A

6-0 | Week 3: 113.44 points | Last week: #3 | ▼ 4

Grantham remains perfect, but Week 3 was a narrow escape: 113.44 barely cleared Division A’s 112.64 median and edged John Matey by fewer than two points head-to-head.

His 6-0 record remains excellent, but his 66.7% all-play performance has been less dominant than the undefeated teams above him.

Dropping four spots while winning twice may look harsh, but this is the National Poll separating a perfect record from a perfect performance.

8. Julius Foster — Division A

5-1 | Week 3: 141.56 points | Last week: #9 | ▲ 1

Foster continues to validate his excellent start, finishing second in Division A scoring and sweeping both Week 3 results.

The newcomer is now 5-1 with a 75.8% all-play rate despite competing in one of the deepest divisions.

At this point, the question is no longer whether Foster belongs in the playoff race — it is how high his ceiling might be.

9. DJ Billmeier — Division E

5-1 | Week 3: 150.64 points | Last week: #19 | ▲ 10

Billmeier continues his rapid climb with the third-highest score in Division E and another 2-0 week.

His schedule has been among the tougher ones faced by any Top-16 contender, which makes the 5-1 record more impressive than it first appears.

From preseason No. 45 to No. 9 in three weeks, DJ has become one of the biggest corrections the poll has made all season.

10. Tryten Kelly — Division D

5-1 | Week 3: 129.86 points | Last week: #5 | ▼ 5

Kelly rebounds from his razor-thin median loss in Week 2 and earns both Week 3 results with 129.86 points.

His 5-1 record and strong cumulative scoring keep him comfortably inside the Top 10 even though several teams around him posted more dominant Week 3 performances.

The former No. 1 has not fallen apart — the field around him has simply become much stronger.

11. Todd Wilson — Division C

4-2 | Week 3: 152.16 points | Last week: #4 | ▼ 7

Wilson scored 152.16, which would have beaten almost anyone in Division C, but Allen Barnes happened to score 158.08 in the same matchup.

He still earned the median win and owns a 72.7% all-play rate against one of the stronger schedules among contenders.

The 4-2 record pushes him below several 5-1 and 6-0 teams, but the underlying performance remains clearly Top-16 caliber.

12. Raiden Weeks — Division B

5-1 | Week 3: 148.26 points | Last week: #20 | ▲ 8

Weeks bounces back from a mediocre Week 2 with the second-highest score in Division B and another full 2-0 week.

He is now 5-1 with a 66.7% all-play rate, turning what originally looked like a surprising start into a legitimate playoff résumé.

Another strong week would make it difficult to keep Weeks outside the Top 10.

13. Jen Grantham — Division A

5-1 | Week 3: 164.52 points | Last week: #13 | —

Grantham absolutely erupts in Week 3, posting the highest score in Division A and beating every possible divisional opponent.

That gives her a 5-1 record and helps erase the mediocre all-play showing from Week 2.

The poll leaves her at No. 13 only because the teams ahead are also producing, but this looked much more like the championship-level Grantham résumé we expected in August.

14. Shane Able — Division B

4-2 | Week 3: 140.66 points | Last week: #21 | ▲ 7

Able follows his 153.78-point Week 2 breakout with another strong showing, finishing third in Division B and collecting both available wins.

After beginning 0-2, he has now won four consecutive results and raised his all-play mark to 66.7%.

Able has gone from early disappointment to solidly inside the current playoff field in only two weeks.

15. Daniel Horn — Division C

4-2 | Week 3: 103.98 points | Last week: #6 | ▼ 9

Horn beat Tammie Simms head-to-head but missed the Division C median, producing his least convincing performance of the season.

His first two weeks were strong enough to preserve a 63.6% cumulative all-play mark, so one mediocre week does not erase the excellent start.

The drop reflects how crowded the Top 16 has become more than any major concern with Horn.

16. Colton Black — Division C

4-2 | Week 3: 113.64 points | Last week: #23 | ▲ 7

Black follows his division-leading Week 2 performance with another 2-0 week, beating Aiden Horn and clearing the median.

He is now 4-2 with a 63.6% all-play rate, giving the preseason No. 39 team increasingly strong evidence that it belongs here.

For the first time this season, Colton Black owns the final spot in the projected playoff field.

— CURRENT PLAYOFF LINE —

17. Allen Barnes — Division C

4-2 | Week 3: 158.08 points | Last week: #25 | ▲ 8

Barnes delivered Division C’s highest Week 3 score and beat Todd Wilson in one of the week’s best matchups, leaving him painfully close to the playoff line.

His 4-2 record and another elite scoring week make him the most obvious candidate to break into the Top 16 next Tuesday.

18. Cindy Able — Division E

4-2 | Week 3: 152.18 points | Last week: #28 | ▲ 10

Able has now completely erased her disastrous opening week, following a 2-0 Week 2 with another sweep and Division E’s second-highest score.

At 4-2, she has gone from No. 40 after Week 1 to one of the first teams outside the playoff field.

19. Trey Reynolds — Division E

3-3 | Week 3: 106.66 points | Last week: #7 | ▼ 12

Reynolds runs into DJ Billmeier’s 150.64 and misses the median, creating his first full 0-2 week despite having faced one of the toughest schedules in the league.

The all-play résumé remains strong enough to keep him inside the Top 20, but the actual wins need to catch back up.

20. Ashton Matey — Division A

4-2 | Week 3: 138.68 points | Last week: #37 | ▲ 17

Matey follows her excellent Week 2 with an even better Week 3, finishing third in Division A and moving to 4-2.

She has now climbed seventeen places in one week and thirty-four spots from where she sat after the opening weekend.

21. Aiden Benge — Division D

3-3 | Week 3: 153.84 points | Last week: #35 | ▲ 14

Benge posts the second-highest score in Division D and improves to 3-3, while his 66.7% all-play rate is actually stronger than several teams with better records.

If the head-to-head results begin matching the underlying performance, Benge could enter the Top 16 very quickly.

22. Dusty Glass — Division A

4-2 | Week 3: 122.06 points | Last week: #32 | ▲ 10

Glass earns both Week 3 results and improves to 4-2, continuing a quiet climb from the lower third of the preseason poll.

His scoring has not been spectacular, but consistent winning in Division A is beginning to build a legitimate résumé.

23. Kent Larson — Division E

4-2 | Week 3: 136.14 points | Last week: #31 | ▲ 8

Larson rebounds nicely from his Week 2 collapse, beating Nathan Nunley and clearing the median with 136.14.

At 4-2, he is back in the Top 24 and only a strong week away from returning to the playoff line.

24. SJ Buchanan — Division D

4-2 | Week 3: 125.92 points | Last week: #33 | ▲ 9

Buchanan earns the head-to-head win over Darren Tankersley but narrowly misses the Division D median, leaving her at 4-2 through three weeks.

The record is stronger than the all-play profile, but four wins are enough to push her into the traditional Top 24.

25. Robert Buchanan — Division D

3-3 | Week 3: 149.88 points | Last week: #45 | ▲ 20

Buchanan makes the week’s biggest move after posting Division D’s third-highest score, sweeping both results and continuing to outperform a brutal early schedule.

26. Lynn Burkhead — Division D

4-2 | Week 3: 69.86 points | Last week: #16 | ▼ 10

Burkhead still owns an excellent 4-2 record, but Division D’s lowest Week 3 score exposes how much better the record has been than the underlying all-play performance.

27. Danielle Abbott — Division B

3-3 | Week 3: 131.84 points | Last week: #29 | ▲ 2

Abbott loses to Shane Able but beats the median, continuing her recovery from the 0-2 opening week and returning to .500 overall.

28. Israel Flores — Division C

3-3 | Week 3: 118.44 points | Last week: #48 | ▲ 20

Flores earns both results and jumps twenty spots, giving him two head-to-head victories in the last three weeks and a rapidly improving résumé.

29. John Breeze — Division E

3-3 | Week 3: 78.88 points | Last week: #10 | ▼ 19

Breeze takes the largest fall near the top of the poll after posting Division E’s lowest score and dropping both Week 3 results.

30. Aaron Crawford — Division C

3-3 | Week 3: 92.72 points | Last week: #17 | ▼ 13

Crawford suffers a second straight weak scoring week, losing to Mark Handy and the median as his excellent opener becomes increasingly distant.

31. Nathan Nunley — Division E

3-3 | Week 3: 85.54 points | Last week: #26 | ▼ 5

Nunley falls back to .500 after Kent Larson beats him comfortably and 85.54 finishes near the bottom of Division E.

32. Robby Meek — Division C

3-3 | Week 3: 110.70 points | Last week: #47 | ▲ 15

Meek loses head-to-head to Israel Flores but beats the median, and his second solid week in a row sends him another fifteen places upward.

33. Michael Russo — Division C

2-4 | Week 3: 91.14 points | Last week: #15 | ▼ 18

Russo’s excellent Week 1 start is disappearing quickly after consecutive 0-2 weeks, including a loss to Mallory Crawford in Week 3.

34. Andy Miller — Division B

2-4 | Week 3: 113.72 points | Last week: #39 | ▲ 5

Miller loses both results despite a respectable 113.72, but his overall all-play performance remains better than the 2-4 record suggests.

35. Mark Bentley — Division B

2-4 | Week 3: 79.76 points | Last week: #27 | ▼ 8

Bentley draws undefeated Aaron Quarles and posts Division B’s lowest score, undoing much of the progress he made through the first two weeks.

36. Steven Matey — Division A

2-4 | Week 3: 85.10 points | Last week: #18 | ▼ 18

Matey has now followed his spectacular 173.56-point opener with two sub-median performances, sending the former Top-10 team sharply down the poll.

37. Kile Brandon — Division D

2-4 | Week 3: 112.94 points | Last week: #36 | ▼ 1

Brandon cannot carry over his huge Week 2 rebound, losing to Robert Buchanan and the median to fall back below .500.

38. Eric Collier — Division D

2-4 | Week 3: 124.64 points | Last week: #24 | ▼ 14

The preseason No. 2 has now gone 0-4 over the last two weeks, although 124.64 was only a few points short of Division D’s median and offers more hope than his Week 2 collapse did.

39. John Matey — Division A

1-5 | Week 3: 111.58 points | Last week: #22 | ▼ 17

Matey loses to Zac Grantham by fewer than two points and misses the median by barely one, making the 1-5 record considerably uglier than the Week 3 performance itself.

40. Beverlye Landry — Division E

2-4 | Week 3: 122.68 points | Last week: #51 | ▲ 11

Landry earns another head-to-head win and climbs eleven places, continuing to make steady progress from her low preseason starting point.

41. Braxyn Smith — Division A

2-4 | Week 3: 91.54 points | Last week: #30 | ▼ 11

Smith’s Week 2 recovery stalls against Jen Grantham, with 91.54 producing losses in both the matchup and median result.

42. Tammie Simms — Division C

2-4 | Week 3: 81.26 points | Last week: #44 | ▲ 2

Simms remains 2-4 after a difficult Week 3, but the poll keeps her slightly above several teams with even tougher overall starts.

43. Charissa Burkhead — Division D

1-5 | Week 3: 133.36 points | Last week: #41 | ▼ 2

Burkhead finally beats the median with a strong 133.36, but she runs directly into Vikki Simpson’s 168.88 and remains stuck with only one result through three weeks.

44. Mallory Crawford — Division C

1-5 | Week 3: 105.94 points | Last week: #50 | ▲ 6

Crawford earns her first head-to-head win by beating Michael Russo and continues inching closer to Division C’s weekly median.

45. Tanner Harris — Division A

0-6 | Week 3: 111.84 points | Last week: #40 | ▼ 5

Harris remains winless, but 111.84 missed the Division A median by only 0.80 and was easily his most competitive performance so far.

46. April Marlow — Division B

1-5 | Week 3: 90.14 points | Last week: #34 | ▼ 12

Marlow’s rough start continues with another 0-2 week, although there is still plenty of time for a manager with her historical résumé to stabilize the season.

47. Jay Robinson — Division B

1-5 | Week 3: 96.14 points | Last week: #38 | ▼ 9

Robinson finally earns his first head-to-head win by beating April Marlow, a small but meaningful step after opening the year 0-4.

48. Dustin Barnett — Division A

1-5 | Week 3: 75.40 points | Last week: #42 | ▼ 6

Barnett has endured a difficult first three weeks, but the season remains young enough for one strong waiver pickup or breakout player to change the shape of the roster quickly.

49. Matt Billmeier — Division E

1-5 | Week 3: 129.58 points | Last week: #46 | ▼ 3

Billmeier finally clears the league median with 129.58, but he draws Cindy Able’s 152.18 and remains searching for his first head-to-head victory.

50. Earnest Vincent — Division B

0-6 | Week 3: 109.50 points | Last week: #43 | ▼ 7

Vincent improves again from his disastrous opener, but another tough matchup and another median loss leave him winless through six results.

51. Darren Tankersley — Division D

0-6 | Week 3: 72.84 points | Last week: #53 | ▲ 2

Tankersley remains 0-6, but moving off the bottom of the poll at least gives him a small positive step heading into Week 4.

52. Dwayne Landry — Division E

0-6 | Week 3: 95.86 points | Last week: #54 | ▲ 2

Landry also remains winless, though he continues to stay close enough to several teams above him that one strong week could produce a meaningful jump.

53. Michael Matey — Division A

0-6 | Week 3: 92.00 points | Last week: #52 | ▼ 1

Matey has faced the toughest cumulative schedule in Division A and still has not found his first result, so the record is rough even if the path has been unusually difficult.

54. Aiden Horn — Division C

0-6 | Week 3: 81.58 points | Last week: #49 | ▼ 5

Horn remains winless after Colton Black beats him comfortably, but Week 4 offers another chance for the newcomer to begin separating his season from the difficult opening stretch.

Three Weeks Down

There are now six perfect teams: Vikki Simpson, Trey Matey, Mark Handy, Heath Strickland, Aaron Quarles and Zac Grantham.

But even among the undefeated, the National Poll is beginning to distinguish between simply winning and consistently dominating a division. Simpson, Matey, Handy and Strickland have all beaten nearly 90% or more of their possible opponents, while Quarles and Grantham have relied more heavily on consistency and converting close opportunities into wins.

The other story is how quickly the middle of the poll is changing. DJ Billmeier, Ashton Matey, Robert Buchanan, Israel Flores and Robby Meek have all made enormous moves in a matter of weeks, while several preseason favorites are discovering that August expectations have almost no value once actual scores begin piling up.

After Week 3, the preseason safety net is nearly gone.

The Top 16 is what matters now.

Check back every week for the updated JC Fantasy Football National Poll.