With two weeks now behind us, it’s time to take a look at the 13-game Week 3 slate on DraftKings. Below are some potential targets at QB and RB.
Quarterback — Even while DK has made the QB position more bunched together when it comes to salaries this season, there have always been plenty of options to pay down for. The elite options this week are likely in the 49ers vs. Chiefs game, which opened with a wild projected total of 56 points. The red-hot Patrick Mahomes ($7,000) makes for a really strong play, as should Jimmy Garropolo ($6,500), who finds himself in the best matchup of the young season. The best bang for your daily fantasy buck is at Yahoo. Sign up now.
Another similar matchup offers nearly identical upside, but with cheaper salaries. The Saints vs. Falcons has a projected total of 53 points, and yet we ran roster Drew Brees ($6,400) and Matt Ryan ($5,700) at extremely attractive price tags. Ryan in particular remains far too cheap after scoring nearly 32 DK points against the Panthers, even if his two rushing touchdowns were a bit flukey. Unless something significant changes by Sunday, Ryan should be the top value option at the position.
Jared Goff ($5,900) has been extremely solid this season, and managed 22.36 DK points in a situation where you’d really fear for his fantasy production. The Rams defeated the Cardinals 34-0 on Sunday, and Todd Gurley ($9,200) scored three times … you’d think Goff would’ve struggled to score fantasy points, showing us he has a very safe floor. His salary has dropped $1,100 since Week 1, which is pretty unexplainable with a matchup against the Chargers on deck.
Cam Newton ($6,000) is also in consideration with an unusually low salary. Down $600 since last week and $900 since the start of the season, a matchup against the Bengals has really depressed Cam’s price. Cincy ranks middle of the pack against QBs, and has given up 23 points in both games so far. It feels like Cam should’ve remained closer to $7,000 this week.
Running Back — With James Conner and the Steelers playing on Monday, we now lose one of the values we had been locking into lineups the first two weeks of the season. Back to the drawing board at RB for Week 3.
If you can afford Alvin Kamara ($9,500), and there’s value on the board this week to help us do so more easily than last week, he’s worth investing in against the Falcons. Kamara was quiet by his standards against the Browns, who might have a better defense than we’re crediting, but this is a dream matchup for pass-catching RBs. Christian McCaffery ($7,800), who is a good play once again in a matchup with the Bengals in the absence of Greg Olsen, hauled in 14-of-15 targets for over 100 yards in this game, and Kamara bring an even higher ceiling. The Falcons funnel the passing game towards opposing RBs, which could burn them against a receiving threat like Kamara.
Gurley and McCaffery have both already been mentioned, and are also strong plays for Week 3. I prefer Gurley against a poor Chargers defense, but CMC provides the discount. While names like Ezekiel Elliott ($7,700) and Saquon Barkley ($7,600) aren’t on my radar due to difficult matchups, you may notice David Johnson ($7,200) really sliding down in salary. DJ let us down once again, and has a really tough matchup against the Bears this week. However, Johnson played on 78 percent of the Week 2 snaps (up 10 percent), so there’s some reason to consider him at such a low price.
In the mid-priced tier for RBs, I feel Kareem Hunt ($6,000) stands out as one of the best plays on this slate. We get that high projected total here, but Hunt comes at a $900 discount from the salary he began the season. Hunt’s played on 70 percent of the snaps thus far, and managed to gain 80 yards on 19 touches against the Steelers, catching one of Mahomes’ six touchdowns. Mahomes is going to slow down at some point, meaning the running game will pick back up. This is a great matchup for Hunt to breakout in, and he’s underpriced because of the start the passing game has had for Kansas City. Finally, Hunt comes as a nice pivot play off of Giovani Bernard ($5,900), who will be a popular play due to the Joe Mixon injury, but his salary is pretty fair since DK had time to react to the news.
I have plenty of values at WR for you on Wednesday, so we don’t need to look at paying down too much at RB, but here are some considerations if you need a bargain: Matt Breida ($5,400), Lamar Miller ($5,000), Jamaal Williams ($4,800), Javorius Alen ($4,600), Phillip Lindsay ($4,600), Corey Clement ($4,300).
You can feel free to reach out to me with any comments or questions on Twitter: @julianedlow
