NFL DFS Week 3 Picks: Strategy for DraftKings & FanDuel

In this article, weekly I’ll be breaking down my core player pool across each position, highlighting projected ownership trends, key leverage spots, and the plays I’m targeting for tournaments of all sizes. You can also get access to my premium DFS builds for every main slate here. Now, let’s dive in…

I’m a bit short on time this weekend so the article is going to be a bit abbreviated. Let’s dive in!

Quarterback

Highest Projected Own%: Caleb Williams, Dak Prescott, Marcus Mariota, Carson Wentz

My Targets: Dak Prescott, Marcus Mariota, Carson Wentz, Justin Herbert, Drake Maye, Jordan Love

This is a unique week where we have one game that’s going to hoard a lot of ownership – DAL/CHI with a 50 total – and several backup QB’s starting. With no Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes or Jayden Daniels available I’m less scared of spending down at QB because I don’t fear anyone at the top putting up a score that a cheaper option can’t compete with. I think Mariota is far and away the top option for both cash games and smaller field contests – you can play him naked in GPP or stack him up with either Terry McLaurin or Zach Ertz. I also think Carson Wentz is a great tournament play, because everyone will be focused on Mariota at that price level and he could come in lower-owned than anticipated. 

For tournaments, the spots I like the most are Drake Maye and Justin Herbert. Los Angeles has operated the most pass-heavy offense in the NFL through two weeks while the Broncos defense hasn’t been as elite as expected thus far. The same can be said about the Steelers defense, which makes Maye a top play for me as well. 

If you’re playing large-field or a lot of teams I don’t hate getting exposure to Jordan Love against the Browns. 

 

Running Back

Highest Projected Own%: Jordan Mason, Kenneth Walker, Christian McCaffrey, Bijan Robinson, Jonathan Taylor

My Targets: Kenneth Walker, Bijan Robinson, Jonathan Taylor, Saquon Barkley, Javonte Williams, Jaylen Warren, Chase Brown

There’s a very tight ownership pool at RB this week since we have so much salary to work with as well as two injury spots. Jordan Mason and Kenneth Walker will be the highest-owned options due to Aaron Jones and Zach Charbonnet being ruled out this week. Of the two, I think Walker is the better overall play and I will likely be playing 100% of him across my DFS teams. Mason has more paths to failure, which makes him a bit riskier at this ownership level in tournaments. We then have all of Christian McCaffrey, Bijan Robinson and Jonathan Taylor popping as spend up options. I would rank them in that order, and if you play one of them along with Mason or Walker just be mindful of the rest of your team construction. 

For tournaments I love Javonte Williams this week, along with Chase Brown and Jaylen Warren. Any of these guys in the mid-tier will come in lower owned than Walker / Mason and all have paths to exceeding them in fantasy points. If you aren’t stacking up the Cowboys/Bears game it makes too much sense to plug in Williams and hope that he is the one finding the end zone multiple times. Jake Browning was great for the RB production the last time we saw him starting and he should come in very low-owned. You can play him solo or pair him with Justin Jefferson for a mini correlation. 

Jaylen Warren is my preferred run back on a Drake Maye team. 

 

Wide Receiver

Highest Projected Own%: CeeDee Lamb, Puka Nacua, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Rome Odunze, Keenan Allen, Jakobi Meyers

My Targets: DAL WRs, Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, Ladd McConkey, Keenan Allen, Ricky Pearsall, Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, Nico Collins, DJ Moore, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Dontayvion Wicks

I think the cash pool at WR this week is pretty clear: CeeDee, Rome, JSN, Puka, Keenan. I think most teams will consist of three of them with Davante Adams and and Emeka Egbuka potential chances for increased ownership too. I think those are all strong plays, but how I want to play WR this week outside of my stacks is to just grab these high-ceiling low-owned plays. We have so much salary to work with, it’s easy to fit in a few of these options and I won’t worry as much about pairing them up with a QB or other parts of a game since everyone will be playing with extra salary this week. 

Chase, Jefferson, Garrett Wilson, McConkey, Pearsall and Nico Collins are at the top of my list. If I play a cheap QB I might just look to single stack him this week with no bring back and focus on packing my lineup with these high-ceiling, low-owned WRs. 

 

Tight End

Highest Projected Own%: Trey McBride, Jake Ferguson, Tyler Warren

My Targets: Trey McBride, Juwan Johnson, Harold Fannin, Zach Ertz

It’s not often that we get a spend up at TE in cash game slate on DK, but that appears to be the case this week. I think most users will be on McBride or Warren here, while I like them both I will probably look to save once again at TE in GPPs. Juwan Johnson correlates with Kenneth Walker and Harold Fannin is still underpriced for his role against a TE-funnel Packers defense.

Written  by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler)