FANDUEL WEEKLY PICKS (WEEK 3)
Welcome to another season of Daily Fantasy Football; these articles will focus on games being played at FanDuel. Each week I will highlight some of my preferred plays of the week, plus some deeper “Tournament” plays, who will be decent options to mix in for the larger field tournaments in an effort to differentiate your lineup from the similar higher owned lineup options.
For those of you who are not familiar with the format at FanDuel, here is a quick primer:
- Scoring: Half PPR with 4 point Pass Touchdowns, -1 for Interceptions and -2 for Fumbles Lost.
- Lineups: 1 Quarterback (QB), 2 Running Backs (RB), 3 Wide Receivers (WR), 1 Tight End (TE), 1 Kicker (K), and 1 Defense/Special Teams (D).
- Salary Cap: 60,000 with player salaries ranging from 4,000 to approximately 10,000 in any given week.
Different from some of the other sites, there is a small range of salaries from the top to bottom players, so rather than a “Stars & Scrubs” approach as many will take on certain sites, on FanDuel you are better off looking for value in the midrange and avoiding the bottom end players unless a clear value play emerges.
Week 1 Rankings (These rankings are only for the Sunday/Monday FanDuel leagues, the Washington Redskins/New York Giants game is not part of these rankings)
Quarterback Top Plays
- Carson Palmer, Arizona Cardinals (8100 v. SF) – Palmer is off to a torrid start this season with 492 yards passing and seven touchdowns over his first two games. In a home game versus San Francisco, who was obliterated by Pittsburgh last week, he should be able to continue his strong season.
- Marcus Mariota, Tennessee Titans (7300 v. IND) – I expect Indianapolis to get their offense going in this matchup, so in turn the Titans will need to throw to keep pace; Mariota makes for a good midrange option this week
- Nick Foles, St. Louis Rams (6500 v. PIT) – Foles had a big game Week 1 at home against Seattle, and Pittsburgh’s defense is far from the talent of Seattle’s. Pittsburgh defense has allowed a top ten weekly passer in ten of the last 12 games.
Secondary Plays
- Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers (9100 v. KC)
- Cam Newton, Carolina Panters (7900 v. NO)
- Brandon Weeden, Dallas Cowboys (6500 v. ATL)
Tournament Plays
- Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts (9000 @ TEN)
- Tyrod Taylor, Buffalo Bills (7000 @ MIA)
- Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs (6500 @ GB)
Running Back Top Plays
- Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings (8900 v. SD) – San Diego has been torched in the run game by Ameer Abdullah and Giovani Bernard in the first two weeks of the season, now the Viking offensive line will have a field day opening up holes in the weak Charger front seven.
- Latavius Murray, Oakland Raiders (7000 @ CLE) – With 109 yards rushing, 58 yards receiving, 10 receptions and a touchdown over the first two weeks, Murray has proven to be a dynamic weapon and appears ready to breakout. Cleveland is strong in pass defense, but has issues stopping strong running backs.
- Dion Lewis, New England Patriots (6700 v. JAC) – Coming off two big games, this is not chasing stats, it is using a strong player at a still suppressed salary. Lewis is a much better player than LeGarrette Blount, however there is danger New England tries to salt away a big lead with Blount.
Secondary Plays
- Marshawn Lynch, Seattle Seahawks (8700 v. CHI)
- Chris Ivory, New York Jets (7100 v. PHI)
- Jonathan Stewart, Carolina Panthers (6500 v. NO)
Tournament Plays
- Giovani Bernard, Cincinnati Bengals (7200 @ BAL)
- Joseph Randle, Dallas Cowboys (6500 v. ATL)
- Chris Polk, Houston Texans (5300 v. TB)
Wide Receiver Top Plays
- Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers (9300 @ STL) – Until further notice, Brown will be a top play every week. St. Louis has a strong defense, but has allowed big games to Doug Baldwin and Pierre Garcon/Jordan Reed over the first two weeks. With the likely struggle of Le’Veon Bell in his first game back, Roethlisberger will lean on his favorite target.
- Brandon Marshall, New York Jets (7400 v. PHI) – Eric Decker will not be 100% even if he suits up, so Marshall will see a lot of targets against a secondary that has been horrible over the first two games.
- Donte Moncrief, Indianapolis Colts (6000 @ TEN) – Due to the insistence of sites to post their new games on Monday afternoons, Moncrief has not seen a salary adjustment that would be normal for a player of his caliber and production so far this year.
Secondary Plays
- Randall Cobb, Green Bay Packers (8200 v. KC)
- Allen Robinson, Jacksonville Jaguars (6600 @ NE)
- Kendall Wright, Tennessee Titans (5900 v. IND)
Tournament Plays
- Demaryius Thomas, Denver Broncos (8400 @ DET)
- Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals (6700 v. SF) / John Brown, Arizona Cardinals (6000 v. SF)
- Marvin Jones, Cincinnati Bengals (5000 @ BAL – if A.J. Green is out)
Tight End Top Plays
- Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots (8400 v. JAC) – It will be hard to fit Gronk’s salary under the cap this week with many expensive running backs being solid plays; however, there is a good shot for one of those ridiculous six catch, 80 yard and two touchdowns first halves this week, so fade him at your own risk.
- Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys (6000 v. ATL) / Gavin Escobar, Dallas Cowboys (4500 v. ATL) – Atlanta has notoriously struggled against tight ends over the past few seasons, although they have shown some improvement this season (4-52-0 to Zach Ertz/Brent Celek and 4-28-1 to Larry Donnell), I still think Brandon Weeden leans on the tight ends Sunday.
Secondary Plays
- Tyler Eifert, Cincinnati Bengals (5900 @ BAL)
- Greg Olsen, Carolina Panthers (5900 v. NO)
Tournament Plays
- Kyle Rudolph, Minnesota Vikings (5300 v. SD)
- Owen Daniels, Denver Broncos (4700 @ DET)
Kicker Top Plays
- Graham Gano, Carolina Panthers (4700 v. NO) – A game the Panthers should be winning and should move the football successfully, leading to multiple scoring chances.
- Nick Folk, New York Jets (4600 v. PHI) – The Eagles defense is bad, but it is not awful; there should be some good scoring opportunities, but the Jets will likely settle for some field goals.
Secondary Plays
- Brandon McManus, Denver Broncos (4900 @ DET)
- Kyle Brindza, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4500 @ HOU)
Tournament Plays
- Matt Bryant, Atlanta Falcons (4800 @ DAL)
- Chandler Catanzaro, Arizona Falcons (4700 v. SF)
Defense/Special Teams Top Plays
- Seattle Seahawks (5300 v. CHI) – Do yourself a favor and just find a way to fit the Seahawks in this week, you will be happy Sunday afternoon.
- New England Patriots (4700 v. JAC) – Teams with good offenses that force other teams to pass are often good fantasy defenses to exploit; the Patriots should have a handful of sacks and multiple turnovers in this game.
Secondary Plays
- Carolina Panthers (4600 v. NO)
- Cleveland Browns (4600 v. OAK)
Tournament Plays
- Denver Broncos (4600 @ DET)
- New York Jets (4500 v. PHI)
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