Geoff Lambert breaks down Week 3 of the NFL preseason and gives you a few of his top plays for DraftKings.

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Here we are, Week 3 of the preseason and only 13 days away from the start of the regular season. Are you excited yet? For now, we will have to settle for the dress rehearsal for our NFL DFS fix. I have one word of caution before I jump into my picks for today. Don’t assume just because it’s Week 3 that all the starters are going to play 50 percent or more snaps. Guys like Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees don’t usually play much in any preseason game. In fact, Rodgers only played 31 percent of snaps last season and Brees was only slightly higher at 32 percent. Be sure to look at trends when picking your lineup. Here are my picks for today…

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Quarterbacks

Deshaun Watson (HOU)
Watson still has an outside shot at landing the starting QB spot for Week 1, and as much as the Texans say Tom Savage has the job locked up, I think there is a small part of them that hopes Watson wins the job. I expect the Texans to play Watson a huge chunk of this game.

Jameis Winston (TB)
Winston played 58 percent of the snaps in last year’s Week 3 preseason game, and I’d expect something similar in this game. In fact, Winston led all Bucs skill players in snaps in that game and went 16-for-25 259 yards and two TDs. He is my favorite QB on the slate today.

Running Backs

Tevin Coleman (ATL)
This is the “dress-rehearsal” for the regular season which normally means the starters play at least a half, but in the case of the Falcons, their starting RB Devonta Freeman (concussion) has been ruled out for this game. That leaves Tevin Coleman as the lead back in a very good offense. Last year in Week 3 of the preseason, Freeman played 27 percent of the snaps and Coleman played 23 percent — with Freeman out Coleman could play 35-plus percent.

James Conner (PIT)
Le’Veon Bell has already stated that he will not sign his franchise tender until September 1, meaning he is all but guaranteed to miss the entire preseason. Conner has performed well in his absence rushing for 98 yards on 20 carries, ranking him as seventh overall this preseason. Making it even more impressive is that he did all of that in one game. The Steelers may have found the heir apparent to Bell should he leave via free agency next season, and they will give Conner opportunity to show it tonight.

Wide Receivers

Sterling Shepard (NYG)
Both Brandon Marshall and Odell Beckham Jr. are dealing with injuries they suffered in last week’s game. Beckham may not even be ready for Week 1 of the regular season, and Marshall will likely invoke the “veteran” rule and sit this game out. That leaves Shepard as the de facto No. 1 WR on the field and should soak up a bunch of targets with the first team offense.

Adam Humphries (TB)
Humphries had five targets in the last week’s preseason game, second to only Mike Evans (6). He isn’t the big-play threat that Evans or DeSean Jackson, but Winston looks for him a lot on the short to intermediate routes and he could potentially lead the team in targets this week. Evans and Jackson are also good plays from this game, but Humphries has the highest floor.

Zay Jones (BUF)
Sammy Watkins is gone. Anquan Boldin is gone. Jordan Matthews (chest) is injured. Zay Jones will get plenty of time on the field in this one.

Tight Ends

O.J. Howard (TB)
I expect Howard to struggle early on during the regular season, especially with Cameron Brate still having a role in this offense, but in this preseason game, I’m looking for the Bucs to let their rookie tight end play a ton of snaps. They have run a lot of red zone drills with him in practice, but it has yet to translate to a game. I think this is the game he finds the end zone.

Hunter Henry (LAC)
Antonio Gates is the starter in the regular season, but we all know Henry is set to take over that role at any time now. I’m expecting Gates to play very little, if at all, in this game, leaving Henry to pick up the extra snaps with the first team offense.

Defense

Giants vs NYJ
The Jets have nothing on offense that scares you. The Giants will likely be the chalk, but rightfully so.

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