DraftKings: NFL Week 3 best values
By Joe Romano
Week 2 is behind us and Week 3 is finally here. DraftKings continues to offer up free contests and big prizes. Week 3 has a bunch of intriguing matchups which offer daily fantasy value across the board.
Week 2 showed us that some teams are the real deal and to pump the breaks on others. Rookies continue to make impacts around the league, especially at the running back position. This week is an even slate of games with contenders playing contenders and bad teams playing bad teams.
A recap of last week’s best values (runner-ups in parenthesis):
QB: Jameis Winston (Jared Goff)
RB: Terrance West (Jacquizz Rodgers)
WR: Cooper Kupp (Kendall Wright)
TE: Cameron Brate (Charles Clay)
DEF: L.A. Chargers (L.A. Rams)
Jameis Winston in his first action of the season looked good but not great. The Buccaneers blew the doors off the Chicago Bears with a balanced attack. They got out to a big lead and coasted the remainder. Winston finished with only 204 yards and one touchdown. It was a better real life game than fantasy game for the 23 year old quarterback.
Jared Goff, the runner-up at the quarterback position, did not match his Week 1 performance. The Redskins beat the Rams in a close game. Goff only finished with 224 yards and a touchdown. He also threw a costly interception. He has definitely improved in his second season under the new regime in Los Angeles.
Both running backs punched in all important end zone looks for their value. Terrance West saw only ten touches total but converted one into a touchdown. His role will continue to be split with Buck Allen in a frustrating backfield.
In a backfield situation with more clarity, Jacquizz Rodgers saw the bulk of the carries for Tampa. In the blowout in Chicago Rodgers had 19 carries for 67 yards and a touchdown. Unfortunately he did not catch any passes, a place where I thought you’d get additional value. Rodgers is the workhouse until Doug Martin returns, and may retain that role even then.
At wide receiver, Cooper Kupp followed his quarterback in disappointing fantasy owners who thought their Week 1 game would carry over. Kupp only had three catches for 33 yards. The two definitely have a special connection, and like Goff, Kupp will find value down the road in certain matchups.
Kendall Wright, in a blowout loss, played well but failed to score. The opportunity arose to put up big numbers but the Bears are just a bad offense. Wright had 7 receptions for 69 yards. The volume will continue to be there but the touchdowns are going to be sporadic. He is the number one option and Mike Glennon loves throwing short. Wright will have value going forward as well, but it will be tough to trust anyone on this offense.
Neither tight end impressed in their games. Cameron Brate and Charles Clay both put up terrible fantasy numbers. They will both be top red zone targets for their team and will offer value as bye weeks begin to roll in.
The defenses did not put up much better numbers either. Both Los Angeles teams played middle of the road fantasy games by their defenses. The Chargers got slashed by Jay Ajayi and the Dolphins rushing attack. They failed to register a turnover and had 2 sacks of Jay Cutler. On the other side of town, the Rams had a similar game. Two sacks, and no turnovers, even with 3 fumbles from Washington. Both teams have good to very good defenses but had bad weeks in Week 2.
On to Week 3 where the value may be across a multiple amount of games. We are lacking that one matchup that we know will produce points. Two of the games last week did not fail to meet their fantasy hype with New Orleans and New England putting up points while Atlanta and Green Bay had a shootout on Sunday night. This week we will have to spread the wealth a bit more.