FanDuel Studs and Duds of Week 3
Welcome to the third edition of FanDuel Studs & Duds! You may be familiar with The Fantasy Footballers’ Studs and Duds segment. This will take a closer look at who shined and who disappointed specifically in FanDuel pricing and scoring the week before. If you’re new to DFS all together, read the The Beginner’s Guide To FanDuel DFS. First, we’ll take a look at the Expensive Studs; guys who were worth the big bucks. Second, the Value Studs; guys you got at a decent price, good value. Third, I’ll highlight the Super Bargain Studs; guys who were studs in a big way at little cost to you. Then, last and least, we’ll look at the Duds; guys who really disappointed relative to their cost.
All prices and point totals are from FanDuel. Not on FanDuel? Sign up with our special offer to get 5 free entries and try it out…
Expensive Studs
QB Aaron Rodgers vs DET, $8900, 26.4 pts.
-205 passing yards, 4 touchdowns, 22 rushing yards
Before fans at Lambeau Field could even finish their first beer Rodgers already had three touchdowns in a bounce-back performance on Sunday. He paid off for those who forked over the cash for the second most expensive quarterback of the Week. Aside from the Seattle Seahawks in Week 14 and Minnesota Vikings in Week 16, I wouldn’t hesitate to pay the hefty price for the future Hall of Famer.
WR Jordy Nelson vs DET, $8300, 25.1 pts.
-6 receptions, 101 receiving yards, 2 TD
Someone had to catch Rodgers’ four touchdowns and who better to catch half of them than his favorite target. Nelson seems like he’s fully healed from his ACL injury last year. Through three Weeks he leads the team in yards, receptions, touchdowns, and most importantly targets. He and Rodgers will continue to reignite their flame all season long as Nelson will push himself back into the conversation of a top 5 WR in the NFL.
RB David Johnson vs BUF, $8400, 24.6 pts.
-3 receptions, 28 receiving yards, 83 rushing yards, 2 TD
Johnson seemed to be the only bright spot on a tough day for the Arizona Cardinals. He accounted for both of the team’s touchdowns while dominating touches in the backfield once again. His 19 rushes were 17 more than back up Chris Johnson. The worry of Chris Johnson taking carries is far, far behind us. David Johnson will consistently be one of the most expensive running backs all season, but will also consistently get the volume to return the high price tag.
RB Todd Gurley vs TB, $8300, 20.5 pts.
-85 rushing yards, 2 TD
QB Matthew Stafford vs. GB, $8200, 26.5 pts.
-385 passing yards, 3 TDs, 11 rushing yards
Value Studs
QB Jameis Winston vs LA, $7600, 25.5 pts.
-405 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, 11 rushing yards
Instead of feasting on accidentally stolen crab legs, Winston carved up the Los Angeles Rams secondary for his second 25 point performance of the season. His other game? Just 4 points with 4 interceptions. While it’s clear that Winston has grown since last season, I’m not convinced he can do it against a good secondary yet. With Denver and Carolina up next, I am staying away from him in any daily until after his bye week.
RB Carlos Hyde vs. SEA, $6100, 25 pts.
-1 reception, 2 receiving yards, 103 rushing yards, 2 TD, 2-pt
Oh, the garbage man can! Pretty much playing against the Seattle Seahawks backups, Hyde did a majority of his scoring in the second half, including a touchdown with 56 seconds left in the game. This is his second 20-plus point effort of the season, but two entirely different games. As long as the matchup is decent, Hyde could provide value as head coach Chip Kelly loves to run the ball, but I would not want to rely on his garbage time scoring.
WR Emmanuel Sanders vs CIN, $6500, 28.2 pts.
-9 receptions, 117 receiving yards, 2 TD
It’s safe to say that quarterback Trevor Siemian has found his favorite target. Sanders got 13 targets on Sunday, 6 more than the second receiver on the team. The Denver Broncos are getting their money’s worth after they signed Sanders to an extension. Don’t be surprised to see his price in FanDuel go up throughout the season, but if he continues to get targeted it like he is, he’ll pay dividends.
RB Charles Sims vs LA, $6300, 21.4 pts.
-6 receptions, 69 yards, 55 rushing yards, 1 TD
RB Jeremy Hill vs DEN, $6400, 21.7 pts.
-97 rushing yards, 2 TD
RB Marvin Jones vs GB, $6900, 35.5 pts.
-6 receptions, 205 receiving yards, 2 TD
Super Bargain Studs
RB Darren Sproles vs PIT, $5200, 21.7 pts.
-6 receptions, 128 receiving yards, 1 TD
If you read our FanDuel GPP Picks for Week 3, you’d notice the name Darren Sproles next to my smiling face. The same smiling face I had when he took a dump-off pass 78 yards to the house against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It’s obvious that fellow running back Ryan Mathews is not healthy which opens the door for more opportunities for Sproles. They use him on screens, designed routes, and quarterback Carson Wentz looks for him out of the backfield as a safety blanket. The 70-yard touchdown is certainly an outlier, but it’s not unreasonable to think Sproles could put up decent production with Mathews nursing his ankle.
TE Cameron Brate vs LA, $4800, 19.1 pts.
-5 receptions, 46 receiving yards, 2 TD
The release of starting tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins was all Brate needed to get the offseason hype train rolling again. Brate caught 2 of Winton’s 3 touchdowns on Sunday, while finishing 3rd on the team in targets. His 10 targets is a huge reminder that Winston loves to throw to his tight ends. As mentioned with Winston, I would be very hesitant to start him against a good defense, but he has a chance to be this year’s Gary Barnidge.
WR Terrelle Pryor vs MIA, $5800, 27.9 pts.
-35 passing yards, 21 rushing yards, 8 receptions, 144 receiving yards, 1 TD
And he played a snap at safety. Pryor baffled the NFL world with his performance all over the field on Sunday. With the Cleveland Browns decimated with injuries at receiver and quarterback, they’re sure to use Pryor in any way possible. Aside from that, it’s clear he’s there number 1 receiver until Josh Gordon comes back. His team-high 14 targets, were 8 more than Gary Barnidge’s 6. He might be a popular play next week, but look for him to have more success against a Washington Redskin secondary that lost two players to injury this week.
QB Dak Prescott vs CHI, $7100, 22 pts.
-241 passing yards, 1 passing TD, 36 rushing yards, 1 rushing TD
QB Trevor Siemian vs CIN, $6700, 28 pts.
–312 passing yards, 4 passing TD, 5 rushing yards
Duds
RB DeAngelo Williams vs PHI, $8800, 6.4 pts.
-21 rushing yards, 4 receptions, 23 receiving yards
After finally getting the respect he deserves as the most expensive running back, Williams dropped a dud against a surprisingly strong Philadelphia Eagles team. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ offense couldn’t seem to get anything going, falling behind early they had to abandon the run. With Le’Veon Bell coming back this week, Williams goes back to being unusable in daily unless Bell is unable to play for whatever reason. It was fun while it lasted, goodnight sweet prince.
WR Kelvin Benjamin vs MIN, $7800, 0 pts.
-0 receptions, 0 receiving yards
All I can say from this game is that the Minnesota Vikings defense is for real. On the road, they dominated the Carolina Panthers, allowing Benjamin just 1 target. Good news? This might scare off some players from using him as he faces the Atlanta Falcons next week. The Falcons have been in a high scoring game every week so far this season, averaging 65 total points. Points will be had and Benjamin will bounce back.
QB Carson Palmer vs BUF, $8200, 3 pts.
-287 passing yards, 4 INT
Palmer is known for throwing some interceptions every once in awhile but he was on a whole other level on Sunday. His 4 were a career high for a single game. Palmer has had two very solid games before this one so I feel this game will be the outlier. West coast traveling to the east coast for a 1 o’clock game time can have huge effects and I think that’s what we saw. The offensive game plan is too solid, and the receivers are too talented for Palmer to carry this over the entire season. This should be his only appearance in the dud section.
QB Ben Roethlisberger vs PHI, $8400, 7 pts.
-257 passing yards, 1 INT, 1 FUM
RB C.J. Anderson vs CIN, $8000, 4.6 pts.
–1 reception, 4 receiving yards, 37 rushing yards
WR Brandon Marshall vs KC, $7900, 4.2 pts.
-3 receptions, 27 receiving yards
The new prices are already out for Week 3! Not on FanDuel? Sign up with our special offer to get 5 free entries and try it out…