Finding Paydirt: Week 3

by Joe Cistaro (joeycis) Last Updated 2019-09-20 11:54:49

Touchdowns, while extremely variant, make or break daily fantasy success and swing thousands of dollars every Sunday. Every weekend, players wait anxiously for the players on their roster to find paydirt. The purpose of the contest is to provide an opportunity for the RotoGrinders community to come together and have fun as we spend much of our time during the week stressing over the construction of our weekly lineups. Did I mention there will be prizes? Let’s have some fun!

Injuries, more than scoring, defined the second week of the NFL season. The injuries to Drew Brees and Ben Roethlisberger largely impact the fantasy landscape while the Jets injury situation otherwise put the final nail in a near-closed coffin. Despite the injuries, many contestants were able to tally touchdowns in Week 2. For a look at how everyone performed in Week 2, read this week’s Finding Paydirt: Week 2 Results.

If reading this for the first time, read through Finding Paydirt: 2019 Contest Guidelines for information about the contest and prizes. Ready? Let’s play.

That said, the time for Week 3 cuts is upon us.

The Cut List

Simply put, to compete in this contest you must pick a running back, wide receiver, and tight end to score a touchdown on Sunday. The player must be on the DraftKings Main Slate and cannot be any of the players below. These players are the top five at both RB and WR and the top three at TE — I nix them hoping to make the contest more interesting. Leave a comment with your picks.

Now, the following are my three picks for touchdowns this weekend.

Sony Michel – RB – $6,000

At the time of this writing, the New England Patriots are 22.5-point favorites against the hapless New York Jets… in Foxboro. Survivor Pool contestants are already making plans for Week 4 if they did not use the Patriots in Week 2. The Jets’ season ended faster than you can say mononucleosis.

So, the assumption is the Patriots will be scoring points. Depending on their intentions, at some point, one might assume that the Patriots will be content to pound the ball and run out the clock against their battered divisional foe. Even if the passing attack is effective, New England would be wise to limit any exposure Tom Brady has to any Greg Williams-directed late hits.

Enter Sony Michel. I know. The Patriots have so many running backs now that Rex Burkhead is getting work — so, trusting one will be tough. Frankly, I don’t care much about Michel’s viability as a fantasy player. I am just looking for him to find paydirt. Michel’s six rushing attempts inside the ten leads the league early in 2019. Despite not playing in every game in 2018, Michel logged north of 40% of the Pats’ touches in the scoring area.

If the Patriots are in the red zone or are way ahead, Michel will see the volume. As a massive favorite on Sunday, Michel should see his share of touchdown opportunities.

Chris Godwin – WR – $6,900

The early returns for Chris Godwin truthers have not disappointed. Godwin has two touchdowns thus far and has amassed 15 Jameis Winston targets in the first two games of the season. The Giants defense is atrocious — making Godwin a likely popular target this week when looking for touchdowns.

While I am tempted to play the leverage game and take Mike Evans in this tier, I will leave that for actual DFS lineups and not the touchdown game. While both players already collected two red zone targets this season, Godwin was the primary target hog in the red zone last season. The budding receiver was targeted 11 times inside the ten-yard line last year, dwarfing the six targets directed at Mike Evans.

The Giants defense is bad enough for both players to put together strong performances but I can only pick one. In my DFS lineups, Mike Evans seems like a logical leverage play against the Godwin-loving herd. When looking for touchdowns, however, I will sign up for the exciting new option on a pass-heavy offense.

Eric Ebron – TE – $3,800

Eric Ebron was a touchdown-waiting-to-happen in 2018. Easily putting together his most fruitful season, Ebron now must adjust to life without Andrew Luck behind center. Thus far, Ebron seems to be at least designated for a scoring area role for the Colts. Ebron already boasts two targets inside the 20-yard line and caught a touchdown last week against the Titans.

Last season, the Colts made the most of the large, athletic Ebron — offering him 21 targets inside the red zone. Ebron converted seven of those for touchdowns and was a strong standard-scoring option throughout the season. While Atlanta was not inept at covering the tight end position last season, Ebron’s stature alone poses matchup problems regardless of the opponent. Since we cannot attack the three best players at the position, I will target the guy who seems to have carved out a role as a top scoring option for the Colts’ offense.

Thanks very much for taking the time to read through this week’s picks. Be sure to tell me who you think will score a touchdown at each position in the comments section below. Also, give me a follow on Twitter to stay updated with the content I contribute to RotoGrinders throughout the football season. I will be back on Tuesday with a recap of Week 3 as well as a leaderboard update. Until then, good luck.