Daily Fantasy Football Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, DraftDay and Draftster for Week 3

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A peek ahead at week 3

If you want our full slate of picks for week 3, click here. I go position by position and give you whom I believe to be the best plays, dollar for dollar, for Week 3's games. This article is going to be a little bit different. Instead, I'm going to focus on particular lineup formation strategies that might help you get some separation from the field and get those value plays and sleepers that will let you spend money elsewhere while cashing in for cheap.

Sleepers

Weekly disclaimer:
The whole concept of a sleeper in one week fantasy football games needs to be adjusted. First of all, there's no real such thing as a "sleeper," in that you're not really going to sleep on a guy until he wakes up. What you're looking at with cheap plays are guys who are priced very reasonably who could go off if all things break right. Sniffing out the best cheap plays with upside is really the only way to have a chance in hell at taking down some of these utterly massive NFL tournaments. You'll pay up for the big names, and then hope your bargain plays pay off. That's where we come in - here are some sleepers that we love for Week 3.

Another quick note: When we're thinking about sleepers, the reason we want to play sleepers in football are to get in high priced studs with massive upside. Basically, we're trying to catch lightning in a bottle at a position with relatively low upside (like QB) so we can fit in the big dollar guys at high upside position (like TE or WR). To that end, I'm much more likely to play RB or QB sleepers than WRs. Makes sense? Awesome.

Terrance West - FD 5800 DK 5600 DD 9800 DFSTR 3700
West is back again this week because he's a guy who had 20 total touches & a touchdown, and he'll be facing a Baltimore Ravens team that has been below average against the run this year. Some speculated the West would get more carries but fewer red zone opportunities (losing them to Crowell), but it appears instead that the Browns simply ride one until he's tired and then swap in the other. West punched in a 9 yard run on Sunday, and appears to still be the lead back. Getting 20+ potential touches for less than $6,000 on FanDuel leaves room for tremendous upside.

Matt Asiata - FD 6200 DK 4600 DD 9700 DFSTR 3000
Another guy that is seeing big playing time in the absence of a star, Asiata acquired 18 touches in a game where Minnesota really had no business ever running the ball. The Vikings' use of Asiata in the passing game was very encouraging, especially on sites with a higher emphasis on PPR. The Saints have been dreadful against the run this year, and while they might jump out to a lead, it looks like the Vikings are determined to employ Asiata regardless in Peterson's absence.

Khiry Robinson - FD 4700 DK 3900 DD 9150 DFSTR 3000
With Mark Ingram sidelined for about a month, Robinson stands to inherit the bulk of the workload out of the back field. It seems as though the Saints are determined to use Pierre Thomas as more of a passing down back, so you could get 18-20 touches out of Robinson (including all goal line work) for an incredibly cheap price. Robinson showed some talent in the playoffs last year, and I wouldn't be surprised if he were given a rather solid shot to make something happen. Particularly love him since I think the Saints will, in fact, crush the Vikes - leaving them with a lot of available carries to pass along.

Bobby Rainey - FD 5700 DK 5800 DD 4000 DFSTR 3000
We gave you Rainey in last week's NFL sleepers column, and have our eye on him for this week's tilt against the Falcons as well. Doug Martin's status is still up in the air, but you don't have to invest much in Rainey at all to potentially get a huge performance on the cheap. Some chance the Falcons run the Bucs out of the building, though, so this is a high variance play.

Note: Some guys, like Knile Davis, Niles Paul, or Ahmad Bradshaw won't show up here since we recommended them in our regular picks column.

Brian Quick - FD 5200 DK 5300 DD 8800 DFSTR 3000
Austin Davis looked Quick's way 9 times last week, and Quick also saw 9 targets in week 1. For these incredibly low prices, you can get a guy who is a main feature of the Rams' admittedly crappy offense. But if stays in the 7 catch ~80 yard range and sneaks in a TD, all of a sudden he could be a major player on a fantasy team that makes a big score. While Dallas bottle up the Texans last week, they were putrid in week 1, and bad against the pass in 2013 as well. I think this is a great spot to go cheap and pay elsewhere.

Golden Tate - FD 5000 DK 5000 DD 10300 DFSTR 4900
While he hasn't snuck into the end zone yet, it's clear that Tate is continuing to build trust with Matthew Stafford. After converting all six of his targets into catches in week 1, Tate saw 8 balls thrown his way in week 2. He's clearly the #2 receiver on the team, and if teams make an effort to blanket Megatron, Tate should continue to see a lot of favorable coverage situations. The Packers should make for a better match-up than the Panthers, and I think Tate does great here.

Markus Wheaton - FD 5100 DK 4600 DD 9050 DFSTR 4000
The Steelers seem determined to get Wheaton the ball, and with Antonio Brown getting banged up, you're getting a lot of opportunity here for very little price. Wheaton went from getting 7 looks in week 1 to 8 targets and 2 rushing attempts in week 2, and it's clear the Steelers think they have a special player on their hands. The only thing that spooks you here is Carolina's tough defense, but I suspect the Steelers will be playing from behind and trying to get the ball in his hands.

Eddie Royal - FD 4900 DK 3200 DD 5250 DFSTR 3100
Sort of a home run and wishful thinking play, I guess, but Royal collected 7 passes on 10 targets in week 2 after seeing 6 targets (though 1 pathetic catch) in week 1. Buffalo has allowed almost 300 passing yards a game, and one has to think that the Charges will look to take to the air with Matthews continuing to be banged up.

Stack Targets

 
The New Orleans Saints
I'm not going to win any prizes for originality here, but the Saints are easily my top stack target of the week. Finally back in the dome and coming off of an embarrassing loss, the Saints take on a Vikings team that will be without their best player (and hopefully, much of a prayer). The Vikings also allowed the 2nd most passing yards of any team last season. There's some chance they just run away with it, but I think Drew Brees, Jimmy Graham, and one of the Saints receiving corp (though I don't know who) have a nice game.

The Detroit Lions or the Green Bay Packers
After being bottled up against the Panthers, I think the Lions come out gunning in this game. And on the other side of the field, Aaron Rodgers should be leading his elite WR talent up and down the field as well. I think you'll do great to combine Stafford with Johnson or Tate, or go with Rodgers and Nelson/Cobb.

The Philadelphia Eagles
There's one specific stack I'm looking at here, and that's Nick Foles with Jeremy Maclin. Foles seems to be in love with Maclin - targeting him 11 times last game alone. Maclin's seen the end zone in both of the first two games of the season, and my guess is that those targets start to turn into considerably more receptions. You can also make a very strong case for stacking Foles with Sproles - plus, you get to feel awesome for stacking guys on the same team whose names rhyme! I'm a little less bullish on Sproles going forward than some, but the Eagles seem content to use him as basically a slot receiver who gets to carry the ball 5 times a game. Not a bad guy to have in your lineup.

Give a follow on Twitter @dailyfantasysr and @dougnorrie.

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Thanks, and good luck!