Daily fantasy football continues to climb in popularity as jackpots have risen consistently and more fans are joining sites every week. Our weekly article showcases players to target at three general levels of value: The big dollar talent (Heavy Hitters), the average-priced contributors (Average Athletes), and the guys very questionable players at the bottom of the cost charts (Sneaky Sleepers). Our selected players are based on DraftKings values as that is our daily fantasy site of choice, but the values should translate fairly well to any other sites you may use. We don’t share specific lineups or optimized computer rankings, but we will give you some great candidates for you to consider. We set this breakdown up that way because while winning is great, a big part of the fun draw of daily fantasy is mixing and matching your lineups to see how you can maximize your team. That and the fact that we are trying to win the same way that you are, and quite frankly, we don’t want our readers to all have the same exact lineups.

NFL Week 2 Recap

Who Made Us Look Brilliant?

Week two was a great Sunday overall for the BetCrushers and our Daily Fantasy earned us some placed victories, although it was admittedly a little hit or miss. We can begin with looking at our Star of the Week who certainly did not disappoint as Josh Allen posted a career high 417 yards passing, added 18 more rushing and threw for four touchdowns. Nailing the Star of the Week always feels good. We had some of the week’s other top performers as well as Aaron Jones was a monster, and some of our bargain priced tight ends came up big.

• Josh Allen – 417 Yards Passing, 18 Yards Rushing, 4 Total TDs
• Aaron Jones – 168 Yards Rushing, 68 Yards Receiving, 3 Total TDs
• Kyler Murray – 286 Yards Passing, Yards Rushing, 3 Total TDs
• Johnnu Smith – 84 Yards Receiving, 2 Total TDs
• Gardner Minshew – 339 Yards Passing, 19 Yards Rushing, 3 Total TDs
• Jordan Reed – 50 Yards Receiving, 2 Total TDs
• Hayden Hurst – 72 Yards Receiving, 1 Total TD
  

Who Made Us Look Foolish?

It wasn’t entirely shocking that a potential sleeper like Peyton Barber wouldn’t contribute as that’s always a chance you take with a low-priced time share running back. It was the very mild performances of wide receivers Adam Thielen and Davante Adams, neither of which eclipsed 40 yards or get in the endzone that were big misses for us.

• Adam Thielen – 31 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TDs
• Davante Adams – 36 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TDs
• Mark Andrews – 29 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TDs
• Peyton Barber – 1 Yard Rushing, 0 Total TDs

There are three games with over/under totals set in the low to mid 50 range so clearly we’re expecting some big performances by some big name players. The key is going to be figuring out which big boys to roll with and how to compliment them with some lightning in a bottle role players or guys stepping into lead positions for the week.

NFL Week 3

STAR OF THE WEEK:

A word or sentence of advice for this week in DFS, and that is start lots of Seahawks and lots of Cowboys. That game should see a ton of points scored so you can load up there. If you’re ever going to spend for the big quarterbacks, this may be the week to do it. For our star of the week we’re going to go with a guy who has underperformed a bit, although he does have three touchdowns in the first two games. The Vikings have not passed the ball well so Dalvin Cook is seeing a lot of loaded boxes, and having fallen behind in their games, he hasn’t received the volume of carries that he has received when healthy. His matchup this weekend is very favorable as the Titans were just gashed by the Jaguars running game, and this seems to be the type of contest where each team will be looking to establish the run. If the Vikes can manage to not fall behind, look for Cook to get 20+ carries which should put him over the century mark, and his propensity for finding the end zone should lead to a big day.

PLAYERS WE’RE TARGETING:

Quarterbacks:

Russell Wilson – $6,900 vs. Cowboys
Dak Prescott – $7,200 vs. Seahawks

Running Backs:

Dalvin Cook – $7,600 vs. Titans
Austin Ekeler – $6,800 vs. Panthers

Wide Receivers:

DeAndre Hopkins – $7,900 vs. Lions
Chris Godwin – $6,700 vs. Broncos

Tight Ends:

Tyler Higbee – $5,900 vs. Bills
T.J. Hockenson – $5,300 vs. Cardinals

Defense / Special Teams:

Indianapolis Colts – $4,100

Quarterbacks:

Joe Burrow – $6,200 vs. Eagles
Ryan Tannehill – $5,900 vs. Vikings

Running Backs:

Kenyan Drake – $6,000 vs. Lions
Melvin Gordon – $5,800 vs. Buccaneers

Wide Receivers:

Allen Robinson II – $6,200 vs. Falcons
Robert Woods – $6,100 vs. Bills

Tight Ends:

Hayden Hurst – $4,700 vs. Bears
Austin Hooper – $4,400 vs. Washington Football Team

Defense / Special Teams:

Philadelphia Eagles – $2,800

Quarterbacks:

Mitchell Trubisky – $5,700 vs. Falcons
Derek Carr – $5,400 vs. Patriots

Running Backs:

Devin Singletary – $4,900 vs. Rams
Antonio Gibson – $4,700 vs. Browns

Wide Receivers:

Darius Slayton – $4,900 vs. 49ers
Adam Humphries – $3,900 vs. Vikings

Tight Ends:

Drew Sample – $3,500 vs. Eagles
Jimmy Graham – $3,400 vs. Falcons

Defense / Special Teams:

Houston Texans – $2,100 vs. Steelers

If you play Daily Fantasy Football we love talking sports and we’d love to hear your take and who you like each week, find us on Twitter @TheBetCrushers and let us know. Good luck and enjoy the weekend!