NFL Week 3 has already delivered a flurry of both excitement and disappointment. We saw the Dolphins best the mighty Bills, the Jaguars upend the Chargers and even the struggling Broncos push past Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49ers.
The week wraps up tonight at MetLife Stadium as Ezekiel Elliott and the Cowboys take on Daniel Jones and the undefeated Giants on Monday Night Football. And best of all, you get the chance to make a few extra bucks playing the NFL DFS Showdown slate. The game total of 39 doesn’t exactly inspire hope for a shootout, but as always in daily fantasy football it’s not about how much scoring there is — it’s whether or not you have the right guys around whom to build a winning DFS lineup.
MVP/Captain
Saquon Barkley, RB, NYG
The most important thing to focus on is the touches as head coach Brian Daboll is making sure he is putting the ball into the hands of his playmakers. Barkley saw 18 carries and seven targets in Week 1 and then 21 carries and 4 targets against Carolina last week. Expect him to dominate in touches again as the Cowboys may not have surrendered a rushing touchdown yet this season, but they have allowed 120.5 rushing yards per game and rank 16th in DVOA against running back pass plays. Look for a lot of TE shifts to the weak side as New York looks to neutralize the speed of DeMarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons.
Ezekiel Elliott, RB, DAL
The running room has been tough to come by with the early issues on the offensive line, but we can probably expect another lean on the ground game and maybe even another 15 touches for Zeke with some of the injuries the Giants have on the weak side. Like the Cowboys, the Giants have yet to allow a rushing touchdown — but based off their DVOA ranking against the run and the 119.5 rushing yards per game allowed this could be the game Zeke gets into the endzone.
Tony Pollard, RB, DAL
While the Cowboys are getting a big boost tonight with the return of Michael Gallup, let’s not forget it’s still Cooper Rush and the short passing to Pollard — both out of the backfield and the slot — that should be where Dallas lives tonight. The Giants rank 30th in DVOA against running back pass plays through 2 games and the opposition has averaged 51.5 yards per game on those plays.
Mid-Tier
Daniel Jones, QB, NYG
Don’t look now, but guess who has a completion percentage north of 70 percent right now! Jones may not have 200 passing yards in a game yet, but these short, high-percentage passes are working for him and allowing the Giants to get into a better rhythm as they methodically march down the field. You’re not going to see crazy yardage, but you will see an efficient passer who will likely get you a touchdown or 2 and maybe he even gets to run one in himself tonight.
Cooper Rush, QB, DAL
The Giants have been stingy with the passing yards, but they have allowed 3 touchdowns through the air and opposing quarterbacks have compiled a respectable 91.5 passer rating against them. The return of Gallup adds a little oomph to this passing attack, but expect a low-yardage output as he will rely on short passes most of the time.
CeeDee Lamb, WR, DAL
The return of Gallup should have a positive impact on Lamb who has — for all intents and purposes — been a man alone on an island in this passing attack. Obviously limited by the skills of his quarterback, Lamb should be able to work a little more freely out of the slot — where he has lined up 60 percent of the time — and has a very strong mismatch against CB Darnay Holmes.
Sterling Shepard, WR, NYG
Despite the lack of production for Shepard in Week 2, you have to be encouraged by the fact that he saw 10 targets during the Giants win over the Panthers last week. Daboll has publicly announced that he is only going to focus on the players he deems worthy – guys who give it their all each and every time they step out onto the field. That should keep the targets coming Shepard’s way tonight.
Richie James, WR, NYG
James has taken over as the No. 2 receiver in this offense and has averaged 6 targets per game through the first 2 weeks. He probably plays on Draft Kings a little better given the full-point PPR format as his work has been primarily between the 20s thus far. That’s not to say he won’t see any red-zone looks, but he is likely to see a lot of Trevon Diggs in coverage. Diggs has been known to give up the big play when he’s ball-hawking, but that would require more shots downfield from Jones than we will likely see.
Noah Brown, WR, DAL
Brown been Rush’s favorite target so far with 10 catches for 159 yards and a touchdown on 14 targets. They have moved him all around the field to take advantage of his speed, but he should spend most of his time on the outside against Cor’Dale Flott. There is a definite speed advantage here for Brown, so look for Rush to try taking a few shots to him downfield.
David Sills, WR, NYG
Sills put himself into a nice position with his level of hustle and Daboll is all about that from his players. Hence he is getting the work ahead of veteran Kenny Golladay who is apparently now getting ready to seek a trade out of the Big Apple. While Sills isn’t the fastest guy on the field, he is a decent route-runner and his size gives him an advantage over Anthony Brown, against whom he should see plenty of in coverage. We haven’t seen too much of him, but we can expect an increase in snaps and targets in this game.
Michael Gallup, WR, DAL
Welcome back to the NFL, Mr. Gallup. Your table is right this way…next to Adoree’ Jackson. It’s a tough matchup for his first game back, but certainly not insurmountable. The fact that Rush is under center makes me wonder if he will garner enough attention to be fantasy relevant, but this offense has been a little stuck in the mud so maybe he gets a few extra looks.
Dalton Schultz, TE, DAL
If he’s on the field, we can expect some targets come his way as the Giants rank 21st in DVOA against the tight-end position. He is considered a true game-time decision, so if he is active he will be an intriguing contrarian play. If you are a multi-lineup player then he has some minor appeal.
Dart Throws
Daniel Bellinger, TE, NYG
The Giants haven’t sent much action the tight end’s way and considering Dallas ranks 6th in DVOA against the position we probably won’t see much come his way again. But maybe, just maybe, we get another red-zone target go his way while the rest of the Dallas defense is paying attention to the receivers.
Peyton Hendershot, TE, DAL
This is probably the biggest dart throw of all dart throws, but if Schultz is out, Jake Ferguson doesn’t necessarily step in as the next pass-catching tight end. We saw Hendershot get some passing work during the preseason, so if the Cowboys keep Ferguson on the line to help protect Rush, Hendershot could be that random red-zone dart throw you never knew you needed.
For additional NFL DFS Week 3 coverage, check out our full coverage on Fantasy Alarm
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