NFL DFS bargain bin- Week 3 Sunday slates
NFL DFS bargain bin: Week 3 Wide Receivers
Nelson Agholor, PHI vs. DET (DraftKings-$3,600/FanDuel-$4,800/FantasyDraft-$7,800/Yahoo-$14)
In addition to the aforementioned attrition the Eagles have suffered on their defensive line, they don’t have anything resembling a clean bill of health in their pass-catching corps, either. Alshon Jeffery and Dallas Goedert will both carry questionable tags into Week 3 due to calf injuries, while DeSean Jackson (groin) is already out.
The latter’s absence is what really should pique our interest with respect to Agholor, who’s capable of running all of Jackson’s deep routes in this pass-centric offense and is arguably a more complete receiver than the veteran.
The Lions’ pass defense checks in with a bottom-half figure of 43.7 DraftKings/FantasyDraft and 34.0 FanDuel/Yahoo points allowed per game to wide receivers while also yielding a relatively elevated 13.4 yards per reception.
And while they haven’t exactly made it easy — Detroit is surrendering the third-lowest catch rate (50.0 percent) through two games — Agholor’s expected volume in this game combined with his very affordable prices makes him highly worthy of consideration for either cash or tournaments, especially considering he saw 11 targets overall in Week 2 with Jackson missing a good chunk of that contest.
James Washington, PIT at SF (DraftKings-$3,500/FanDuel-$5,200/FantasyDraft-$6,500/Yahoo-$13)
It feels like Washington has more buzz surrounding him this week than any receiver with a 4-74 line through two weeks would warrant, but there are indeed reasons for optimism. The second-year speedster may now have a better fit for him at quarterback in former OSU teammate Mason Rudolph, who’ll take over for Ben Roethlisberger (elbow) under center this week.
Washington enjoyed a trio of 1,000-yard, double-digit touchdown seasons in college with Rudolph as his quarterback and also had plenty of success with him this past preseason.
As with Agholor, this is another case where the positional match-up on paper isn’t a bulletproof one by any stretch, but where the player’s salary and expected role outweigh those concerns, at least when considering Washington as a GPP play.
With Donte Moncrief being demoted to the No. 4 role for the time being and rookie Diontae Johnson filling the No. 2 role for depth chart purposes, this is a spot where Washington’s chemistry with Rudolph could really come into play.
The 49ers have been about middle of the pack in DraftKings/FantasyDraft (38.6) and FanDuel/Yahoo (29.6) points allowed per game to receivers as well, and the 14.6 yards per ctach they’re surrendering so far implies they may have a certain degree of vulnerability downfield that would dovetail well with Washington’s route tree.