NFL Fanduel Picks Week 3
Football season is in full swing and if you didn’t guess that Andy Dalton would be 2nd in passing yards, Carlos Hyde would be 5th in rushing yards, and John Ross would lead the league in receiving yards, join the club. It has been a wild season so far but I am so glad we get NFL football until February.
As always, these are the tools that I utilize to help me make my weekly lineup decisions:
- Daily Roto – Daily Roto has Redzone data, snap counts, targets, and an awesome Lineup optimizer
- The Quant Edge – TQE has a WR/CB matchup tool that’ll be perfect for WR Start/Sits
- FantasyData – Advanced player metrics, stats and live odds for week two
Quarterback
$7,500 vs Bengals
The easy picks this week are Lamar Jackson, Dak Prescott, and Patrick Mahomes. I am looking a little deeper at the position to give you other options for either variance or so you can plug in studs at other positions. Josh Allen is fresh off back to back 250-yard passing performances and rushing touchdowns in each of those games. According to The Quant Edge, Allen has the 10th best matchup of the week. The Bengals allowed Jimmy Garoppolo to throw for 297 yards and 3 touchdowns last week. The Bengals pass defense was atrocious in 2018 and that is continuing into 2019. On top of that, Allen seems to have improved his efficiency from last year. Allen is completing 64.2% of his passes while also throwing 33.5 times per game through 2 weeks. Allen is looking to have his first multiple passing touchdown game of the season and week 3 gives him a real shot.
$6,900 at Eagles
Sticking with cheaper options at the position, Matthew Stafford offers some week 3 upside. The Eagles run defense is stout which could force the Lions to throw the ball more than they want. Through the first two weeks, Stafford has been serviceable. Week 1 he tossed for 385 yards and 3 scores, while week 2 saw 245 and 2. The Eagles rank 8th in points allowed to the position and are 8th against running backs. This discrepancy should be realized and taken advantage of by the Lions coaching staff. Stafford is also currently 4th in passing yards and tied with Mahomes for the most deep pass attempts (18). These deep shots give Stafford a better chance at producing big numbers in week 3.
Runningback
$8,800 vs Dolphins
How Elliott is not the most expensive back on the slate I do not know. He is a stud, at home, against the worst team in the NFL. The Dolphins are allowing the 2nd most points per game to running backs. Elliott should run for over 100 yards and I would not be surprised to see multiple touchdowns from him. Due to the dumpster fire that the Dolphins are, I don’t feel that I need to sell you on Elliott anymore than I have.
$5,900 vs Steelers
After going with one of the most expensive running backs of the week, I felt the need to find a possible money saver for the other option. Breida is in the midst of a 3 headed monster in San Francisco but he is easily the best and most explosive of the 3. He averaged over 10 yards per carry in week 2 and now gets a Steelers defense allowing 20 points per game to the position. The downside is that Kyle Shanahan announced that Kyle Wilson will be the red zone back. In a game that I think Garoppolo has more troubles passing in, Breida could carry the load and I think gets into the end zone.
Wide Receiver
$7,100 vs Giants
Mike Evans may not be this cheap the rest of the season. He has obviously had a very rough start to the 2019 season and he will be looking to rebound in a very nice matchup with the Giants. The Giants are currently allowing the 4th most points to receivers. There has been a lot of talk going around that Chris Godwin is the new WR1 in Tampa Bay, however, he only has 2 more targets than Evans. Godwin has been more efficient with his targets than Evans and that has led to this belief. Evans is still the WR1 but will the success of Godwin, Evans should see better opportunities as teams adjust to try and slow both of them down. I think with the price where it is and the matchup, this is the week to roster Evans.
$5,900 vs Panthers
After back to back 100-yard games it seems to be that grabbing Fitz at this price point is a steal. His teammate Christian Kirk is the same price and I also like Kirk but what made me choose Fitz over Kirk was the red zone usage. According to Fantasydata, Fitzgerald has seen 5 targets in the red zone and 3 end zone targets while Kirk has only seen 2 red zone and no endzone targets. Fitzgerald also does not come off the field. He is one of only 8 receivers that has played 100% of his teams snaps through 2 weeks. Another benefit to Fitzgerald in week 3 is his 92.4% of snaps from the slot. Chris Godwin runs primarily out of the slot and just burned the Panthers for 121 yards and a touchdown. Fitzgerald is in a great position to start his season with 3 straight 100 yard games
Tight End
$6,100 at Cardinals
As of this writing, it is unknown if Cam Newton will be the starting quarterback for the Panthers in week 3. What is known, is the Cardinals can not defend a tight end to save their lives. In week 1 the Cards were torched by TJ Hockenson (6/131/1). In week 2 Mark Andrews continued the trend (8/112/1). Olsen is next and looks healthy. He just had an excellent game in week 2 against the Buccanneers and whether its Cam or Kyle Allen throwing the football, Olsen should be a primary target.
Don’t forget to check out our Start/Sit article for all your season-long start/sit questions.
Father to a daughter and son as well as a husband to a wife. I have a healthy obsession with football and not so healthy obsession with ice cream. I have been following the NFL closely for over a decade all while working full-time jobs, primarily as a police officer.
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