NFL DFS Projections Preview | DraftKings & FanDuel Lineup Optimizer Values Week 3
What a wild NFL DFS week 2 as we had a couple big QB injuries, a fight leading to a suspension, along with a bunch of other new injuries and as is expected with each new week the injury reports are just going to keep growing longer and longer. MIA/BAL went absolutely bonkers and you needed at least a few players in that game to have a chance at winning a GPP while Nick Chubb smashed the RB position with three TDs with McCaffrey, Taylor, Barkley, Mixon, Swift, Fournette, and Williams combining for zero TDs. Pricing has gotten a lot tighter on both sites but there are still plenty of great value plays and we should get more value as the week goes on as there really are a huge amount of questionable players right now.
This is a weekly NFL article that can hopefully show you some lineup building tools on RG as well as provide some picks and analysis based on those tools.
This Week’s FanDuel & DraftKings NFL DFS Projections Preview
There are ways to get edges in DFS NFL, such as stacking a WR or TE with your QB, correlating an RB or WR on the opposing team of your stack, and targeting volume guys with high floors who get goal line carries and/or endzone targets that can maximize their ceilings with TDs. I will be focusing on the “main slate” for the week, but you can still find plenty of analysis for the Thursday and Monday NFL games on RG, and feel free to leave suggestions in the comments sections for any strategies / tools you’d like to see here!
This article is meant to highlight some of RG’s most helpful tools for NFL, including our industry-leading NFL DFS projections and NFL lineup optimizer, with some picks and analysis along the way. Let’s get to it!
NFL DFS Injury Roundup
Before we take a look at the projected lineups and picks for the week, it’s important to get a feel for any injuries that we’ll need to monitor as the week goes on and how these injuries will affect our builds if a questionable player ends up out. For cash games I’m looking for safety, volume, and upside so I tend to avoid players who are dealing with an injury, as they are more likely to aggravate it or possibly have their snaps limited compared to someone coming into the week fully healthy with a full week of practice under their belts.
Looking at The Situation Room we can see who is still out for week 3, how likely guys who missed week 2 are to play week 3, and any new injuries that we’ll need to monitor ahead of week 3 and how it will affect lineups if certain questionable players end up sitting.
Guys on the main slate who are definitely out for week 3 be it suspension, injury, or game day inactive are Zach Wilson, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Keenan Allen, Rondale Moore, Hunter Renfrow, Jakobi Meyers, Kyle Philips, Julio Jones, Christian Watson, Sammy Watkins, Taysom Hill, Van Jefferson, DeAndre Hopkins, Brian Robinson, Jameson Williams, Tyquan Thornton, Gus Edwards, Brevin Jordan, Ty Montgomery, Bryan Edwards, Damien Williams, Blake Bell, Giovani Bernard, Brycen Hopkins, James Proche, Kenyan Drake, Deonte Harty, Terrace Marshall, and N’Keal Harry.
NFL Projected Lineups – Analysis & Top Stacks
Let’s take a look at NFL Starting Lineups to see any major lineup news, such as guys missing or interesting depth chart changes (main slate for this article) as well as which teams or games I’m looking to stack. This page is my favorite tool for NFL DFS as we get betting lines, DFS salaries, projected ownership, and updated depth charts that we can refer to as we build our lineups or see what is affected by any news throughout the week, so make sure to take advantage of this page to keep you up to date on a variety of beneficial DFS info.
I’ve mentioned it already but the status of Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Julio Jones is one of the biggest aspects that will shape this slate with Evans already ruled out and I’d expect Godwin to need at least another week with his hamstring injury. Jones has a shot to play but I would not be surprised if he ended up out as well with his knee injury which would leave Russell Gage, Breshad Perriman, and Scotty Miller as the starting WRs who combined saw 19 targets last week it would be hard to not use at least one of them as a value play if the top 3 WRs end up out.
The Colts WR situation is another big one as they will likely need to throw a lot this game to keep up with the Chiefs so if Michael Pittman and/or Alec Pierce miss another week I’d consider Ashton Dulin for value and no one will be on Parris Campbell after he failed to make a catch on 2 targets last week so he would be an interesting GPP play.
NFL DraftKings & FanDuel Lineup Optimizer Picks
With a good feel for injuries, projected lineups, and strong stacks to consider, let’s check out LineupHQ, where you can create lineups in seconds with our lineup optimizer tool as well as the “build” tool where you can create up to 300 lineups at once based on your custom settings.
If we click on the “P/$” column header in the LineupHQ grid, it will rank all the available players from high to low based on their expected fantasy points per dollar of salary on the specific DFS site you have selected — this is one of the best starting points for finding value on any slate.
On FanDuel:
- The early top p/$ projected QBs are Jalen Hurts ($8,100), Josh Allen ($9,000), Patrick Mahomes ($8,700), Kirk Cousins ($7,600), and Matthew Stafford ($7,700) and for the price, matchup, and rushing upside I’m leaning Hurts as the best cash game play.
- I also really like Kyler Murray ($7,800), Lamar Jackson ($8,600), Justin Herbert ($8,200), and Carson Wentz ($7,500) for GPPs.
- At RB, we see Leonard Fournette ($7,200) as the top projected p/$ play which makes sense as he is one of the cheapest RBs seeing big volume, involvement in the passing game, and the clear goal-line back. He will also have to be heavily relied upon if Evans, Godwin, and Jones are all out.
- Joe Mixon ($8,200) and Dalvin Cook ($8,300) are the next best p/$ projected RBs in good bounce back spots this week against the Jets and Lions respectively and the best projected p/$ value RB is Chase Edmonds although his matchup with Buffalo along with only seeing five rushes and three targets last week in a shootout make me hesitant to trust him in a cash game lineup. If Alvin Kamara ($7,000) plays he’d be one of my favorite cheap RBs while Aaron Jones ($7,000) and Antonio Gibson ($6,700) are squarely in play for other cheap RBs.
- At WR, my favorite p/$ plays under $7,000 right now are Brandin Cooks ($6,600), Adam Thielen ($6,000), Allen Robinson ($6,000), DJ Moore ($6,400), Drake London ($6,200), DeVonta Smith ($6,000), Chris Olave ($5,500), Curtis Samuel ($6,300), and Garrett Wilson ($6,100).
- At TE for value I’m liking Dallas Goedert ($5,500), Zach Ertz ($5,200), Tyler Higbee ($5,700), Logan Thomas ($5,400), and Gerald Everett ($5,800) while Kyle Pitts ($5,600) should see his ownership plummet after two terrible weeks making him a top GPP play.
- The Bucs ($4,700) and Chargers ($4,500) are my favorite expensive defenses, while the Texans ($3,800) and Seahawks ($3,400) are cheaper options I like as well.
Looking at DraftKings:
- Jalen Hurts ($7,600) remains my favorite cash game QB while Josh Allen ($8,200) and Lamar Jackson ($8,000) are my favorite GPP QBs and for cheaper options I’m liking Matthew Stafford ($6,500), Kirk Cousins ($6,700), Carson Wentz ($6,300), and Derek Carr ($5,900).
- Leonard Fournette ($6,500) remains the top projected p/$ RB while Joe Mixon ($7,600), Dalvin Cook ($7,900), and Aaron Jones ($7,400) are still at nice prices to keep them in cash game consideration. Josh Jacobs ($5,400), Miles Sanders ($5,500), and David Montgomery ($5,900) are my favorite RBs under $6k while Antonio Gibson ($6,400) and D’Andre Swift ($7,200) are other RB’s I like for the price.
- At WR, my favorite p/$ plays are Stefon Diggs ($7,700), Amon-Ra St. Brown ($7,200), Christian Kirk ($6,200), Michael Thomas ($5,900), Brandin Cooks ($5,800), Drake London ($5,800), DJ Moore ($5,600), Curtis Samuel ($5,100), Chris Olave ($4,500), and Garrett Wilson ($5,400).
- Dallas Goedert ($4,700), Zach Ertz ($4,600), Tyler Higbee ($4,500), Gerald Everett ($4,400), and Logan Thomas ($3,500) remain my favorite TEs while Kyle Pitts ($4,800), Juwan Johnson ($2,900), and Irv Smith ($3,100) are my favorite GPP TEs.
- For defense I like the Bucs ($3,100), Seahawks ($2,700), or Texans ($2,600) for cash games while the Chargers ($3,900) are my favorite GPP option.
Keep checking LineupHQ for any projections changes throughout the week, as the best p/$ plays could change in an instant if someone gets ruled out or some other type of news makes someone likely to see more or less volume.
NFL DFS – RotoGrinders Premium Tools Pre-Lock
If you have any tough lineup decisions or need some quick picks, be sure to check out the Consensus Value Rankings, Expert Survey, and LineupHQ tags from our DFS experts.
For up-to-the-minute news and analysis leading right up to lock, make sure to follow the RotoGrinders NFL twitter feed and our NFL DFS Alerts page.
Good luck this week!
Image Credit: Imagn