NFL - Week 3 Top Plays
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Check out their Week 3 Stacks Article now!
With how sharp the field is nowadays, you really have to hit at every position to have a chance in Main Slate contests. Compared to years past, almost everyone is main stacking along with a mini stack. Almost everyone is targeting high implied scoring teams and it leaves you with players getting hyper inflated ownership based on the industry talking them up. We call these players/stacks the “chalk”. Do they deserve to be high owned? In some cases yes they do. They usually have better opportunities to score. However, some players can become chalk just based on inefficient pricing. Guys that had an injury on the depth chart ahead of them, increasing their role would fit this mold perfectly (ex. Jonathan Taylor being placed on the PUP and Zack Moss being hurt has caused Deon Jackson to have a big role in W1 at just $4,100 will likely see some serious ownership). I want to try to find the guys that might not be seeing such high ownership, but are in spots similar to the chalk pieces that are getting hyped up. With that said, let’s jump right in!
QB Stacks:
Justin Fields ($7,100)
All I have heard in the media is how bad Justin Fields is and how he is blaming his coaches for his poor play. “He could never play well again he is trash…”. Weren’t we saying the same thing about Daniel Jones after Week 1 and he went on to be the QB1 on the main slate last week. Fields has elite rushing upside and regardless of how you view him as an NFL QB, he is a darn good fantasy QB. I can’t imagine he will only get 3 rush yards again. He seems like a very passionate player and all the bad press will light a fire under him to rebound against the Chiefs. I get they just shut down Trevor Lawrence, but they are entirely different players. The need to throw in this game will be high and he can always improvise and run. Not to mention he is sandwiched between two of the chalk QB options in Herbert and Cousins. Any time you get garbage time upside with the rushing stats it is a gold mine opportunity. Hopefully this can be the week for Fields to bounce back. I would pair him with DJ Moore and that is about it. If Mooney is marked as fully active he would be a cheaper option as well.
Deshaun Watson ($6,100)
Another one where the media is just roasting him for his play and no one thinks he can get back to the top 5 QB level he once was at. The Titans are horrible at defending the pass and very solid against the run. They just lost Chubb for the year and with the field all going to Ford as chalk, why not hedge that with Watson who will certainly be throwing more often than not. He also should be eager to defend himself on the field after a lot of people called him out. He has the passing weapons to target in Cooper, Moore, DPJ and Njoku. I think one or two of them can be stacked with him. Run it back with a Henry or Hopkins and you instantly have a unique stack that the rest of the field will likely not go to. I still think Watson has it in him to be a great QB.
CJ Stroud ($5,300)
This one might be a bit chalky with another popular stack being this Texans/Jags game. Stroud looked great last week in his second start, throwing for 300+ yards and 2 TDs. He is incredibly cheap and just like Fields will likely bring in some garbage time stats. His stacking options are cheap with Nico Collins, Robert Woods and Tank Dell all being affordable. I think the Jags also have some good run back options to go to. The Texans do have a lower implied total, but there is no reason they can’t best that. Going with a Stroud stack allows you to get to the priced up MIN/LAC options in a mini stack which could be what it takes to take down tournaments this weekend.
Other Considerations:
Josh Allen ($8,100)
Lamar Jackson ($7,700)
Justin Herbert ($7,500)
Kirk Cousins ($6,900)
Trevor Lawrence ($6,800)
Jared Goff ($6,500)
Geno Smith ($5,700)
RBs:
Bijan Robinson ($7,800)
Looking at pricing, honestly the RBs across the board will get decent ownership, but no one other than Ford and maybe Moss will be really chalky. However, Pollard is in a better spot and will get a touch more ownership $200 more and I would believe Etienne who is set up in a great matchup and almost $1,000 cheaper also gets decent ownership. That leaves Bijan kind of in a dead zone but the upside is immense. Back to back great games to start his career and it isn’t like the Lions rush defense is anything special. The only thing getting in Bijan’s way is Allgeier who has gotten the rushing TDs so far. I don’t think we enter Week 4 saying Bijan still doesn’t have a rushing TD. The volume is great, the ownership will be bearable and the matchup is set up well for him to have a big game. What more could you ask for?
Brian Robinson ($5,800)
What in the hell are we doing pricing the RB3 on the season as the RB10 on the slate?!? He is getting all of the volume with Gibson in the dog house due to fumbling problems, catching plenty of passes out of the backfield and faces a Bills rush defense that I don’t think is that good at stopping the run. I really don’t care what his ownership might be this is a clear miss price in my opinion. He should be closer to $6,500 than below $6,000. Volume is king and the new scheme in Washington is feeding him the ball. Why not continue to do that to run the clock and keep Josh Allen from having the ball? I love Robinson once again this week.
Tony Jones Jr. ($4,500) or Kendre Miller ($4,300)
Hear me out… Everyone and I mean everyone will scroll down the RBs, see Jerome Ford and auto click him into their lineup. He is facing a rush defense that shut down chalk Jamaal Williams and Joshua Kelley in back to back weeks plus suck against the pass. Yes, Ford projected a good bit better than both Jones and Miller, but Jamaal Williams is out and Kamara is still suspended. Unless we get word that Taysom Hill is going to start at RB, I would play whoever they deem as the starter. I would imagine it would be Jones since Miller is just now getting back from a hamstring injury. I don’t think Miller will be in good enough game shape to get any more than 5-10 touches. Jones got solid red zone work last week and gets an easier Packers defense that got gashed by Atlanta last week on the ground. Ownership should be extremely low and I think the price tag is just too low as well on these guys who will get solid touches.
Other Considerations:
Tony Pollard ($8,000)
Travis Etienne ($6,900)
Jahmyr Gibbs ($6,600)
Kenneth Walker ($6,200)
Raheem Mostert ($6,000)
Alexander Mattison ($5,800)
Zack Moss ($5,500)
Gus Edwards ($5,300)
Samaje Perine ($4,900)
Jerome Ford ($4,800)
Roschon Johnson ($4,700)
WRs:
Justin Jefferson ($9,300)
I literally do not care the outcome of this I am fully convinced I have the magic 8 ball and when I ask it if Justin Jefferson will have 10+ catches, 100+ yards and 2+ TDs this week… it says yes. I think he goes bananas in this matchup. The price tag honestly won’t scare anyone away with this game total an entire TD clear of the next closest game (54 total points and the next closest is 48 total points). Both offenses have poor rushing attacks with Ekeler out and Mattison well being Mattison. I see no reason Jefferson isn’t schemed up to get him his first TD of the season and well over 12 targets. The Chargers defense currently can’s stop a nose bleed so there is zero chance they stop arguably one of the deepest passing attacks in the league (Argue me all you want, JJ/Hock/Addison is a nuts combo). I am planting the flag on Jefferson and living with the outcome. God speed to anyone who plays this man in fantasy this week.
Zay Flowers ($5,400)
The Colts secondary is some dog doodoo and has allowed the opposing teams WR1 to go for 20+ DK points in both games to start the season. Flowers had a disappointing Week 2, but actually took over as the leading snap share WR on this team. With all the attention on Mark Andrews, I think Flowers could be in for a massive week. Lamar looked better last week throwing the ball, it just didn’t go Flower’s way. He still showed his big play ability with a 52 yard catch that was close to being a TD. I think he can get his first career receiving TD this week in a cupcake matchup with minimal ownership. He is sandwiched in a group with multiple guys that could see double digit ownership (Addison, McLaurin, Kirk, Nico Collins).
Jaxon Smith-Njigba ($4,300)
This is the week he has the breakout game. The Panthers secondary is awful and a rib injury for DK could mean they lean on Lockett (who I also really like) and JSN. The Panthers are built more to stop the run and Jaycee Horn’s injury has left them with a weak DB room. Just last week, MT got peppered with targets out of the slot and that is exactly what I think happens for JSN this week. I wish the snap share was a touch higher, but targets are targets and he is getting a healthy dose of them. It is time for him to showcase why Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave were saying that he was better than them.
Other Considerations:
Tyreek Hill ($9,000)
CeeDee Lamb ($7,700)
Keenan Allen ($7,600)
Calvin Ridley ($7,200)
Tyler Lockett ($6,500)
Mike Williams ($6,000)
Gabe Davis ($5,800)
DJ Moore ($5,700)
Terry McLaurin ($5,600)
Christian Kirk ($5,400)
Nico Collins ($5,300)
Drake London ($5,000)
Romeo Doubs ($4,800)
Robert Woods ($4,400)
Darnell Mooney ($4,400)
Josh Reynolds ($4,200)
Rasheed Shaheed ($4,200)
Marquez Valdes-Scantling ($4,200)
KJ Osborn ($4,000)
Adam Thielen ($3,900)
Jayden Reed ($3,800)
Tank Dell ($3,600)
Braxton Berrios ($3,600)** If Jaylen Waddle is OUT
River Cracraft ($3,400)** If Jaylen Waddle is OUT
Josh Palmer ($3,300)
Rondale Moore ($3,200)
TEs:
Sam LaPorta ($4,000)
I haven’t really stated until this point that my TE options portion is typically not going to have any spend up options. I think most weeks they are great plays due to the volatility at the bottom and if they go for 20+ DK points they almost always are optimal so keep that in mind. With that said, LaPorta could be primed to breakout this week with almost every position player going into this game banged up. Atlanta was bottom 5 last season in TE production allowed per week and started out the season letting Hayden Hurst be the optimal Week 1 TE. With the expected volume expected to increase this week, I could see LaPorta breaking out (wow I have said that far too many times this article). He has back to back games with 5+ targets and like I said it seems Atlanta funnels production to TEs on defense. He checks all of the boxes and has a QB that likes to sling the ball and the starting bruiser RB is likely to be out. Look for LaPorta to be a high floor play this week with a decent ceiling and low price.
Taysom Hill ($3,300)
I know I already mentioned that one of my favorite plays will be Tony Jones or Kendre Miller (likely Jones). However there is always going to be one guy that has a chance at busting there week and that is Taysom. We very well could see a vintage Taysom 10/60/2 game with a few catches at TE thrown in there and hell maybe even a pass or two. I truly think if you are not going to play Jones then Hill should be the next best option at a completely different position. They finally got him involved again with 31 snaps and 9 carries for 75 yards. He will surely eat up some of the snaps Jamaal got (18 last week) and the touches should stay the same. This could blow up in our faces, but everything points to him having that vintage Taysom game before Kamara returns.
Durham Smythe ($2,900)
I really don’t know how much ownership he could get if Waddle is out, but if that happens I can’t imagine him getting overlooked in the offense and putting up a blank. He has been getting very solid targets and against Denver who has the secondary to maybe give Tyreek he fits he could be in line for a big role. If Waddle plays I would probably look to the other considerations because that will change the defensive gameplan for the Broncos (they can’t stop both). However, in the event he misses this week I think Smythe could be a great cheap option that will let you get up to the JJs of the slate and the MIN/LAC stack that should hit.
Other Considerations:
Travis Kelce ($7,200)
TJ Hockenson ($6,500)
Mark Andrews ($6,000)
Gerald Everett ($3,800)
Jake Ferguson ($3,600)
Zach Ertz ($3,500)
Dalton Kincaid ($3,400)
DST
Patriots ($3,500)
Seahawks ($3,200)
Packers ($3,100)
Titans ($3,000)
Jets ($2,800)
