Ah, daily fantasy football. The last bastion of fantasy football junkies, who can’t do any significant roster tinkering on a Saturday, so they wander into their daily fantasy football client of choice and make more rosters to tilt all over on Sunday. You get a heady feeling when you’re jamming Alvin Kamara, Patrick Mahomes, and DeAndre Hopkins all into your lineup. “This is going to be great!” you tell yourself, but then disaster hits. You’re out of money. “What do you mean, there’s nobody I can play for $1,200?!” You scroll and scroll. You even briefly consider Mike Davis, of all people. But, you aren’t that desperate. Or are you? Let’s look at some dumpster dive plays for daily fantasy football week three that you can use to help round out your lineup with superstars.
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Daily Fantasy Football QB Pick (Fan Duel):
Matthew Stafford at Philadelphia ($6,900)
Between my fantasy football week three sleeper quarterbacks article, the podcast, and this, I’ve been extremely vocal about the disrespect towards Matthew Stafford going into his matchup with Philly. Of course, that means that Matthew Stafford will fall flat on his face. Stafford is twentieth in QB Fan Duel salary, and he is the #5 quarterback on the season. The Eagles allowed over 300 yards and three touchdowns to both Case Keenum and Matt Ryan already this season.
Daily Fantasy Football QB Pick (Draft Kings):
Kyle Allen at Arizona ($4,000)
All-in, baby. The ultimate punt play, Kyle Allen is literally the lowest-priced QB on Draft Kings. He played well enough in one game last year against the Saints, posting 266 yards passing, two passing touchdowns, no picks and a rushing touchdown in week seventeen. Full disclosure, it was a super scrub bowl, as the teams were playing out the string on the regular season. This week, he gets a Cardinals team that’s already been torn apart by Matthew Stafford and Lamar Jackson. Stafford and L-Jax tore them up in vastly different ways, with Stafford posting 385 passing yards and three scores. Jackson had a respectable 272 yards and two touchdowns, but he destroyed them on the ground to the tune of 120 rushing yards.
Daily Fantasy Football RB Pick (Fan Duel):
Carlos Hyde at L.A. Chargers ($6,000)
The rumors of Carlos Hyde’s fantasy football death during the offseason were greatly exaggerated. Through two games with Houston, they showed that he’s the new Lamar Miller, whether Duke Johnson, Jr. stans want to admit it or not. The rail rider is on his fifth team since week 17 of 2017, but he’s seventh in the NFL in running back rushing yards. That puts him ahead of Ezekiel Elliott, and Todd Gurley, for reference. Despite having more jerseys on the wall than a Dick’s Sporting Goods outlet sale, Hyde is producing for 2019. This week, he gets a Chargers squad that allows the fifth-most fantasy football points to running backs so far this season. How’s Damien Williams working out for you second-rounders?
Daily Fantasy Football RB Pick (Draft Kings):
Frank Gore versus Cincinnati ($4,400)
At this point, I’m not sure what it will take to get a team to stop giving Frank Gore the football 15+ times a game. He’s 36 years old, which puts him behind just Marcus Allen as the oldest running back in NFL history. And he’s still getting the rock in his belly about ten to fifteen times a game. He’s not exceptionally efficient with it, but the Bills built themselves around running. Without Devin Singletary, that honor falls to Frank Gore to complete. The Bengals allow the most fantasy points to running backs, with Chris Carson, Raheem Mostert, and Jeff Wilson Jr. already scoring multiple touchdowns against them, and Matt Breida going for over 120 rushing yards on ten rush attempts.
Daily Fantasy Football WR Pick (Fan Duel):
Nelson Agholor versus Detroit ($4,800)
With Alshon Jeffery questionable to play Sunday, and Dallas Goedert and DeSean Jackson ruled out, a big part of the Eagles passing game falls to Agholor in what has been called a “free space” in the DFS community. He’s such a bargain-basement price, and he’s likely to get 8-10 targets. We can forget that he has hands like greased frying pans, given that target volume projection. Last week, he turned eleven targets into 107 receiving yards and a touchdown. Detroit’s defense isn’t the most porous, but they sit just outside the top-ten in passing yards per game allowed.
Daily Fantasy Football WR Pick (Draft Kings):
Phillip Dorsett II versus N.Y. Jets ($3,400)
The Patriots finally ended the Antonio Brown Saga, hopefully once-and-for-all. That gives Phillip Dorsett the ability to reprise his week one role of “taking the top off the dang defense.” In week one, he strolled behind the Steelers defense for two scores, one of them was a 25-yard shot to Dorsett in the end zone. The Jets are a middling opponent on paper, but both John Brown and Odell Beckham Jr. abused them deep in their first two games, with the deep threats combining for 284 yards and two touchdowns.
Daily Fantasy Football TE Pick (Fan Duel):
Jason Witten versus Miami ($5,000)
It doesn’t make me happy to recommend Jason Witten after he spent a year bumbling around on ESPN, but here we are. He has two touchdowns in two games for the high-flying Dallas offense. The 37-year-old has eight targets on the season, hauling in seven of them for just 40 yards. It’s the two scores that keep him afloat and fantasy football relevant. For this week, it’s actually his opponent. The Miami Dolphins. They let Mark Andrews crush them week one, and still rank #2 in tight end fantasy football points against, despite Matt LaCosse getting just two targets for 33 yards in week two. They’re bad, the Cowboys offense is good, and you don’t want to spend up at tight end. Don’t overthink it.
Daily Fantasy Football TE Pick (Draft Kings):
Will Dissly versus New Orleans ($3,400)
On paper, the Saints boast an extraordinarily stout pass defense against tight ends. In actuality, they’ve faced a combination of Jordan Akins, Darren Fells, Gerald Evertt, and Typer Higbee. These absolute studs of weekly tight end fantasy football production combined for just eleven targets among them. They’re the ultimate small sample size paper tigers right now. Will Dissly left week one with a knee injury aggravation but returned to turn in five catches for 50 yards and two scores in week two. You could do far worse than Uncle Will at the seventeenth-highest salary on Draft Kings.
Daily Fantasy Football DEF Pick (Fan Duel):
San Francisco versus Pittsburgh ($3,700)
The 49ers defense seems to be legit, crushing the Bucs and the Bengals in the first two weeks of the season. They have their home opener on Sunday against Mason Rudolph making his first career start. Much like Jason Witten versus Miami, don’t overthink this one. The 49ers are currently second in the league in takeaways + sacks, the big money plays for D/STs. Again, Mason Rudolph is making is first career start. On the road.
Daily Fantasy Football DEF Pick (Draft Kings):
Tampa Bay versus N.Y. Giants ($2,900)
Let’s also pick on the potentially erratic quarterback making his first start. Daniel Jones lit up future used car salesmen in the preseason, but revealed a horrible fumbling problem. If the Bucs can overwhelm him like they did Jimmy G in week one, they could bring out the worse parts of Danny Dimes. The Bucs D stymied Jimmy G in week one, and Cam Newton in week two. Call me crazy, but I don’t see Daniel Jones breaking that trend in week three. At $2,900, you can take a hit if things don’t go exactly as planned.
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