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 (High-Priced Heroes), the average-priced contributors (He’s so “Mid”), and the guys very questionable players at the bottom of the cost charts (Bargain Basement). Yes, for our longtime readers, we did change the titles of our tiers. 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 3 Recap
Things kept rolling right along in week number three and only the insane performances from the Miami Dolphins running backs kept us from really cashing in on the larger contests. Our keyed in guys at the top of the food chain really all performed well, it was the lower priced options we didn’t really hit. Defenses were also not kind to us, as we rolled the dice with the Commanders, which didn’t work out. We built our lineups around our featured Star of the Week, Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III, and the 2nd year back rewarded us with a pair of scores and good production on the ground and in the air. Ironically, we were a little hesitant with our running backs, outside of Walker, and they actually all showed up and showed out. Things could have been even better had Patrick Mahomes played an entire four quarters of football. All of this mashed together resulted in a third straight week of profit.
These Players Made Us Look Good:
Patrick Mahomes – 272 Yards Passing, 28 Yards Rushing, 3 Total TDs
Travis Kelce – 69 Yards Receiving, 1 Total TD
Isaiah Pacheco – 62 Yards Rushing, 16 Yards Receiving, 1 Total TDk
Kirk Cousins – 367 Yards Passing, 10 Yards Rushing, 3 Total TDs
Justin Jefferson – 149 Yards Receiving, 1 Total TD
Kenneth Walker III – 97 Yards Rushing, 59 Yards Receiving, 2 Total TDs
Zack Moss – 122 Yards Rushing, 23 Yards Receiving, 1 Total TD
Amari Cooper – 116 Yards Receiving, 1 Total TD
These Players Made Us Look Foolish:
Desmond Ridder – 203 Yards Passing, 3 Yards Rushing, 0 Total TD
Hunter Henry – 17 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD
Rashod Bateman – 6 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD
NFL Week 4 Preview
Week four has a different feel to it in comparison to the first three weeks of the NFL season, and that includes the DFS card we’re diving into. For starters, we’re getting a good feel at this point of not only which players are legitimate threats, but also which defenses to target or avoid as far as matchups go. There are at least six good team stack options this week, so that may be a good starting point when you’re looking to construct your roster. We’re peeling back the onion a little more and looking for some potential stacks that maybe aren’t the most high profile. Sure, Justin Herbert and Keenan Allen or Josh Allen and Stefon Diggs will probably continue to shine, but there are potentially better ways to spend your money on Sunday. One of these stacks is with the team that likes to spread the ball around in a game where they should put some points on the board. We’ll start there with the San Francisco 49ers.
Before we highlight our three levels of talent, let’s look at our projected star of the week:
STAR OF THE WEEK:
Let’s just put the elephant in the room out there in regards to the San Francisco 49ers offense. It has playmakers all over the place and Kyle Shanahan is a master at creating great matchups and exploiting opposing defenses. Whether you believe anyone could succeed as the quarterback of this team, or you think Brock Purdy is a top-tier leader, it really doesn’t matter. Purdy not only has this team and offense rolling in the win column, he’s putting up some pretty solid numbers along the way, including a strong 300 yard and two touchdown performance a week ago. This weekend he should be in line for another strong performance even though the Arizona Cardinals have played tough against their respective opponents. They actually really shut Dak Prescott down a week ago, and their effort on tape is really impressive. We’re not concerned though, as this is a home game for the 49ers, where Purdy has shined in his young career. Additionally, the Cardinals were able to play keep away a bit with the Cowboys last week, but the 49ers stout run defense is not going to allow that to happen. We’re fully looking at the Niners to hit the 30 point mark, which means Purdy will have a nice stat line. In fact, there seem to only be a couple of paths to where Purdy won’t have a monster performance. The first would be all of the scoring coming on the ground, and the second would be if the starters don’t play the entire game if the score gets away. Both are possibilities, but we like the advantage of the matchup more than the risk inherited here. At a price tag below $6,000 we’re going to build some lineups around Mr. Irrelevant and hope Christian McCaffrey doesn’t steal the whole show.
Quarterbacks:
Josh Allen – $8,200 vs. Dolphins
Justin Herbert – $7,800 vs. Raiders
Running Backs:
Christian McCaffrey – $9,200 vs. Cardinals
Tony Pollard – $7,800 vs. Patriots
Wide Receivers:
Stefon Diggs – $8,100 vs. Dolphins
Ja’Marr Chase – $7,800 vs. Titans
Tight Ends:
T.J. Hockenson – $6,500 vs. Panthers
Tyler Higbee – $4,200 vs. Colts
Defense / Special Teams:
Cincinnati Bengals – $3,800 vs. Titans
Quarterbacks:
Brock Purdy – $5,900 vs. Cardinals
Matthew Stafford – $5,700 vs. Colts
Running Backs:
Zack Moss – $6,000 vs. Rams
D’Andre Swift – $5,700 vs. Commanders
Wide Receivers:
Brandon Aiyuk – $6,200 vs. Cardinals
Amari Cooper – $6,100 vs. Ravens
Tight Ends:
Gerald Everett – $3,600 vs. Raiders
Hayden Hurst – $3,300 vs. Vikings
Defense / Special Teams:
Cleveland Browns – $2,800 vs. Ravens
Quarterbacks:
Jimmy Garoppolo – $5,300 vs. Chargers (check injury report)
Jameis Winston – $5,300 – vs. Buccaneers
Running Backs:
Javonte Williams – $5,500 vs. Bears
Elijah Mitchell – $4,600 vs. Cardinals
Wide Receivers:
Tank Dell – $4,600 vs. Steelers
Joshua Palmer – $4,000 vs. Raiders
Tight Ends:
Dalton Kincaid – $3,200 vs. Commanders
Zach Ertz – $3,200 vs. 49ers
Defense / Special Teams:
Carolina Panthers – $2,500 vs. Vikings
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! 
