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With Week 2 in the books, it’s time to take an early look at Week 3 fantasy football and the DraftKings NFL optimal lineup. While many things can change from this early in the week up until Sunday morning, setting a solid gameplan entering the week is never a bad idea.
So, I’m going to dive in and look at the early-week lineup that I’ll be rolling out in at least one of the many DraftKings contests for the upcoming week. It’s worth noting that the Ravens vs. Jaguars game, which is being played in London, will not be featured in the main slate, so we’ve left them off of this lineup.
Week 3 DraftKings NFL Optimal Lineup
- QB: Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions – $6,200
- RB: Le’Veon Bell, Pittsburgh Steelers – $8,800
- RB: Dalvin Cook, Minnesota Vikings – $5,900
- WR: A.J. Green, Cincinnati Bengals – $8,100
- WR: Jermaine Kearse, New York Jets – $4,600
- WR: Kendall Wright, Chicago Bears – $4,300
- TE: Eric Ebron, Detroit Lions – $3,300
- Flex: Demaryius Thomas, Denver Broncos – $5,900
- Defense: Kansas City Chiefs – $2,900
For starters, Matthew Stafford is still drastically underpriced at $6,200 and has a matchup (at home) against the Atlanta Falcons. That game has high-scoring written all over it, and he’s coming off a game in which he threw two touchdowns against an incredibly strong New York Giants defense. I expect the Falcons to be coming down from the emotional Week 2 win in their stadium-opener. Great spot for Stafford.
As for the running back position, Le’Veon Bell‘s price dropped $1,000 from last week, yet he draws a solid matchup against the Chicago Bears, who have allowed the 15th most rushing yards per game this season. This one has Bell’s breakout game written all over it. And for Dalvin Cook, the price is too cheap to pass up, even against a solid Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense. For a player who’s likely going to see 20-plus touches and be a featured part of the gameplan, $5,900 is a steal.
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For wideouts, we’re going to keep this as simple as possible and try not to overthink it. A.J. Green summed up the Bengals offensive struggles pretty simply, as Paul Dehner Jr. of Cincinnati.com pointed out. Green stated that the “ball should be mine somewhere somehow,” and he’s not wrong. Green’s price is high, but the team firing offensive coordinator Ken Zampese should result in new coordinator Bill Lazor doing anything and everything to get the ball into Green’s hands.
As for the other two spots, we’re going to save some cash and use two players on the rise. The Jets and quarterback Josh McCown has found a new go-to target in Jermaine Kearse, who caught four passes for 64 yards and two touchdowns in Week 2. As for Kendall Wright, the Bears are simply depleted right now at wideout, and he stepped up last game nicely to grab seven catches for 69 yards. Both of these players are going to receive plenty of targets and will outperform their prices.
At tight end, I’ll be stacking Eric Ebron with Stafford for the potential big upside. I loved seeing Ebron get involved in Week 2 against the Giants, as he caught all five of his targets for 42 yards and a score. This is unquestionably the riskiest play of the bunch here, but at $3,300, it’s hard to pass up the low-cost, high-reward potential.
Last but not least is Demaryius Thomas, who doesn’t have an easy matchup on paper, drawing the Buffalo Bills, who’ve allowed only 177 yards per game through the air this season. With that said, the Bills did face McCown and the Jets, as well as the Carolina Panthers and their struggling offense. Even still, in the Panthers game specifically, we saw Kelvin Benjamin tally 77 yards on six catches. The upside and potential are there, and Thomas could be a sneaky play at under $6,000.