FanDuel Optimal Lineups & Stacks: NFL Week 3

How about we take a stroll down memory lane. Week 2's optimal lineup brought us Cam Newton, DeAngelo Williams, Jarvis Landry, Antonio Gates, and the San Diego Chargers defense are the top plays. Unfortunately Danny Woodhead and Jonathan Stewart ruined the GPP and stack lineups with early injuries. Top wide receivers not named Julio Jones had a rough week, so the Antonio Brown play did not pay off. If you want to see more optimal lineups, check out the forum posts.

DFC Cash & GPP Lineups

I tweaked the optimizer settings a little bit this week using our Vegas model. As you can see, the lineup is centralized on teams with high Vegas totals. Ryan Tannehill is our first quarterback, who is going to be a popular play this week in certain formats, but probably not cash. I have a tough time stomaching him in my cash lineups, even though he is in a really good spot. Cleveland's secondary is certainly one to target.

Because Tannehill is so cheap, it opens up plenty for the receiving core, which is something I am thrilled with. Jarvis Landry is a great pair with Tannehill, while Allen Robinson and Antonio Brown are two of my favorite wideouts this week. Brown going up against Nolan Carroll is a mismatch for the ages, and is certainly one to exploit. Robinson has had some tough individual matchups in his first two weeks, and will draw Jimmy Smith. I am banking on him having a bounce back week for the Jags.

DeAngelo Williams will have this week left to carry the load 30+ times, and FanDuel finally raised his price. I am still looking to pay up for him this week, especially with value at tight end, and your second running back spot. Philly's defense looks better, but I am not sold given they have played Chicago and Cleveland so far. Williams is by far the best option to pay up for. Frank Gore I have seen get some love, especially from our own Russell Clay. At a $5,700 price tag, I can see the reasoning, and the matchup isn't all that bad. He should see some red zone looks due to the lack of size in the passing game. 15 carries, and a handful of targets isn't out of the question. He might actually see a few more dump-offs, and has seven catches in two games.

With Dennis Pitta $500 away from Jesse James, this doesn't seem like the move to make. But with zero dollars remaining, there is no leeway. I am not a fan of playing three players from one team in my cash game lineups, and James would be the odd man out.

Adam Vinatieri is a solid option at $4,700. The Colts will move the ball, but with the lack of size inside the red zone, they might have some drives stall for a field goal. I am fine with him at that price. Pittsburgh's defense seems to be more of a GPP defense than anything. I am not sold on Carson Wentz, but I am not sold on the Steelers defense either.

The GPP Pivot Model, which is our own algorithm, will swerve off of chalky plays, and go towards the secondary scorers. We certainly see that here with this lineup, which completely punts wide receivers, and that is always contrarian especially this week.

Cam Newton's upside is undeniable, but Minnesota is one hell of a stingy defense. With his rushing upside, and the fact they are without Jonathan Stewart, he might still come through. Newton isn't my favorite quarterback, but his ownership will be low because of that. The odd thing here is that nobody is paired up with him. No Kelvin Benjamin or Greg Olsen.

Paying up at both running back spots is a REALLY contrarian way to go. Williams is not, but adding David Johnson into the mix is. Football Outsiders has them ranked 22nd in rush defense, and I like the Arizona Defense and Johnson pairing. Arizona will be traveling, but I like the potential of game flow to make Johnson one of the more effective backs this weekend. He is another low owned play.

Now we start to get weird. No wide receiver over $7,000. Kenny Stills is a boom or bust threat against a bad Cleveland secondary, and is the third amigo when it comes to DeVante Parker and Landry. Stills has one hell of a low floor, but is worth a look in GPP's. The Jacksonville passing game has all the potential in the world, and is in a matchup where we might be able to finally see it. I mentioned my love for Robinson this week, but adding Julius Thomas and Allen Hurns instead of him will go against the masses. Antonio Brown is going to be the highest owned wide receiver in Week 3, well probably besides Stefon Diggs. Going with Markus Wheaton is one of the boldest calls I can see making this week.

GPP Optimal Stack

All these players I have talked about above. I will talk about the Jacksonville stack as a whole. For one, I do like the fact DeAngelo Williams and Antonio Brown are apart of this, but once again I do not like James as a third Steeler player.

Baltimore's defense was a targetable one back in 2015, and they certainly had their fair share of injuries. Things might change this year, but being two games in I am not going to be diving all in and just fading against the Ravens like Ray Lewis and Ed Reed are walking through those doors again.

Blake Bortles was a slow starter in 2015, he had a 78 QB rating in the month of September. It will take some time before we see Bortles have that 300-yard game and three touchdowns. We just want to be on it when it happens.

Hurns and Robinson have a combined 36 targets in two games this season, and for some reason TJ Yeldon has more than Hurns. That needs to change. Both are the ideal stacking partners to pair with Bortles.

If Baltimore can push this game open from the start, we all love Bortles comeback garbage time. The Ravens are just small favorites, but with both of these run games being ineffective, I expect both sides to be tossing the ball a fair amount.

This is a great swerve off of Green Bay, Pittsburgh, Indy, and San Diego as far as stacks go.