RADIO
Welcome to Week 3 of the NFL Season! Each week, I'll be bringing you our famous NFL DFS Cheat Sheet with expert research and picks for cash games and GPPs. Here are a few notes about the sheet.
- We start the year using 2023 data and won't likely flip over to 2024 data until Week 4.
- Green means GO (good for the player) while red reflects a poor rating/matchup. The more green, the better...
- CASH CORE pieces are highlighted with BRIGHT GREEN highlighter on the chart for extra emphasis.
- The "fantasy points allowed rank" reflects how a player's opponent ranked in fantasy points allowed to their specific position. The lower the number, the better the matchup.
- Passing and Rushing game matchups are once again DVOA ratings as I regained access to that metric and I find it to be super helpful.
- A play labeled "cash" is a higher-owned play that is recommended for cash games. A "strong" play is playable in all formats. "Slate-breakers" are some of my favorite GPP targets for upside or reduced ownership.
- Vegas and risk columns will all be updated during the week to reflect injury info, weather info, and the most recent Vegas info.
Premium NFL DFS Cheat Sheet - Week 3
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Cash Game Cores
DraftKings: Mason/Kamara/Aiyuk/Smith
FanDuel: Mason/Achane/Aiyuk/Akers
Deeper GPP Flyers
This is where I want to give you some other players who will be in my player pool, who didn't make the cheat sheet. The main recommended plays are always going to be geared more toward cash games and single-entry tournaments, but here are some lower-owned options for large-field tournaments.
QB: Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff, Justin Fields
RB: Kyren Williams, Jahmyr Gibbs, Aaron Jones, Cam Akers (cash worthy now)
WR: CeeDee Lamb, Davante Adams, Chris Olave, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Tyler Johnson, Wan'Dale Robinson
TE: Dallas Goedert, Colby Parkinson
DEFENSE (safest to riskiest): Tampa, Chicago, Cleveland, Tennessee, Minnesota
Week 3 DFS Slate Notes
Sunday Updates:
It's time to get caught up on what's happened since Friday and how we should adjust accordingly.
The first major thing to address is the Cam Akers situation. He's starting for the Texans with both Mixon and Pierce out and set to get the bulk of the work in both the run and pass games. On FanDuel, he's 4K, which is absurd and you have to play him in cash formats. On DK, I don't think it's as urgent of a situation although he is now being projected as chalkier than Charbonnet, Kamara, and Achane. FWIW - he's in my FD cash build but not my DK build as I really want the Kamara/Mason/Achane trio and I think there's value elsewhere, too.
The other news we got on Friday was that George Kittle is out. We were already locked into Jordan Mason, but now Brandon Aiyuk becomes a core play for cash games, too, and Jauan Jennings becomes a very interesting punt play for GPPs as he's now projected among some of the best values at WR.
TE is such a nightmare now with Kittle out, too. You can pay up for Trey McBride or Brock Bowers or just punt entirely and take some shots on cheap guys. If you can get to Bowers in cash, I'd do it, but the other cheap guy I'm leaning on here is Jonnu Smith.
Because there is such heavy chalk at RB this week, there are now at least 5-10 running backs with high ceilings at under 10% ownership so don't be afraid to get different in GPPs there to differentiate yourself from the field.
A late addition to my "other plays" listed above is Jaxon Smith-Njigba. He's coming off a massive game and makes for a compelling pivot off Charbonnet who is getting steamed up.
Chris Godwin went off for us last week, and I think a lot of people have forgotten about him. He could be a smash GPP play now at only around 10-12% ownership.
I also edited my game stacks below because I have become increasingly more fond of this Houston-Minnesota game as the week has gone along.
Good luck everyone, let's get it this week!
FAVORITE GAME STACKS:
ARI-DET: Murray-McBride-Montgomery (also Goff, Gibbs, Dortch, St. Brown, Williams)
PHI-NO: Carr-Olave-Smith (also Hurts, Barkley, Kamara, Shaheed, Goedert)
HOU-MIN: Darnold-Jefferson-Collins (also Akers, Diggs, Jones, Nailor)
Also consider: Miami-Seattle or Baltimore-Dallas
Premium DFS Expert Lineups - Week 3
FanDuel Lineup
DraftKings Lineup
Please note that these are sample lineups we provide as a tool for you to use. They are designed to give you building block options as you go about choosing your own lineups, but in no way can we guarantee success. Be sure to examine the latest injury updates, Las Vegas projected game totals, and late scratches before finalizing your lineups to ensure the players you are choosing are active on game day.
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