Odell Beckham Jr. of the Giants had a productive Week 2. (Getty)
Thursday night in the NFL season means one thing: the fantasy football weekend gets underway. And Heavy’s partners at DraftKings have a one of their more popular contests ready to go when the Giants and Redskins kick off.
Sign up with DraftKings here and enter the $1M Kickoff Million contest, which is free for first-time users. The top prize is $100,000.
As mentioned above, when you sign up with DraftKings for the first time, you will receive a voucher giving you free entry into the Kickoff Million contest. You don’t need to redeem the voucher for this contest, but if you choose to use it for another game, the entry for the Kickoff is $3. The voucher expires 1 year after it’s issued.
First place wins $100,000, while second place takes home $50,000 and third $30K. Nearly 85,000 entered teams will be paid out. Lineups must be set by 8:25 p.m. Eastern.
Sign up here and enter DraftKings promo code HEAVY, and DraftKings will give you a best-in-the-industry 100 percent deposit match up to $600 that you can put to use during football season.
The rules are simple: with a salary cap of $50,000, choose the best 9 players (1 quarterback, 2 running backs, 3 wide receivers, 1 tight end, 1 FLEX and 1 Defense/Special Teams) you think have a chance to accumulate the most fantasy points during the entire Week 3 of the NFL season. The better your selected lineup does on the field, the better your fantasy team does, the more money you make.
If you are entering the Kickoff contest, you’re likely to be using players on the Giants and Redskins.
There are a few decent fantasy plays from this game. One of my favorites is tight end Jordan Reed of the Redskins. He’s averaging nearly 17 points per contest and is definitely a top target of QB Kirk Cousins, who I am not so enamored with for this game. The Giants rank 29th out of 32 teams in fantasy points allowed to opposing tight ends and Reed’s salary cap hit of $3,800 is more than reasonable. At $5,200, Washington wide receiver Pierre Garcon is averaging nearly 14 points per game. Reed and Garcon are about it for this team’s passing game.
I’m not running to put Giants quarterback Eli Manning into my lineup. So far the Redskins have allowed the third fewest fantasy points to opposing QBs (just 2 TD passes in 2 games). Manning and WR Odell Beckham Jr. seem to have found their groove in Week 2, connecting 7 times for 146 yards and a touchdown. Beckham is the only Giants WR I would consider, yet he’s rather pricey at $9,000.
Redskins running backs Alfred Morris had a huge game in Week 1. Last week it was Matt Jones who put up the big points. That’s a dangerous situation as they could split carries and cancel out their fantasy values. There are better plays in Week 3.
Here’s the NFL scoring key for DraftKings:
Offensive players will accumulate points as follows:
Passing TD = +4PTs
25 Passing Yards = +1PT (+0.04PT/ per yard is awarded)
300+ Yard Passing Game = +3PTs
Interception = -1PT
10 Rushing Yards = +1PT (+0.1PT per yard is awarded)
Rushing TD = +6PTs
100+ Yard Rushing Game = +3PTs
10 Receiving Yards = +1PT (+0.1PT per yard is awarded)
Reception = +1PT
Receiving TD = +6PTs
100+ Yard Receiving Game = +3PTs
Punt/Kickoff Return for TD = +6PTs
Fumble Lost = -1PT
2 Point Conversion (Pass, Run, or Catch) = +2PTs
Offensive Fumble Recovery TD = +6PTs
Defense/Special Teams will accumulate points as follows:
Sack = +1PT
Interception = +2PTs
Fumble Recovery = +2PTs
Kickoff Return TD = +6PTs
Punt Return TD = +6PTs
Interception Return TD = +6PTs
Fumble Recovery TD = +6PTs
Blocked Punt or FG Return TD = +6PTs
Safety = +2PTs
Blocked Kick = +2PTs
0 Points Allowed = +10PTs
1-6 Points Allowed = +7PTs
7-13 Points Allowed = +4PTs
14-20 Points Allowed = +1PT
21-27 Points Allowed = 0PTs
28-34 Points Allowed = -1PT
35+ Points Allowed = -4PTs
— The following scoring plays will result in Points Allowed (PA) by your Defense/Special Teams (DST):
Rushing TDs, Passing TDs, Punt Return TDs, Kick Return TDs and Blocked Punt TDs
2pt conversions
Extra points
Field goals
*Note: Points Allowed (PA) only includes points surrendered while DST is on the field — it doesn’t include points given up by team’s offense (i.e. points off offensive turnovers).
Don’t forget to bookmark our fantasy football rankings 2015 page to keep up-to-date on the latest projections and rankings all season long so you know who to start and sit.
