It was the first tough week of DFS for our cash-game lineups in Week 3, as Derek Carr completely flopped, as did Marshawn Lynch and the entire Raiders offense, destroying the opportunity to cash in what was an extremely high-scoring week in fantasy football. But hey, we live and learn, and may try to avoid players traveling across the country in our lineups going forward.
Play in our exclusive $5,000 FREE contest at DraftKings this week 
With that being said, both Week 1 and 2 were profitable, so we’re right back at it in Week 4. If you’re new to this article, this is where he spotlight the best players to play in DraftKings cash-game lineups. These are not necessarily the players you want in tournaments, as some are considered the “chalk,” which will be highly owned. In cash-games (50/50’s, head-to-heads, double ups), you don’t care what projected ownership is. These players should have a safe-floor, and in some cases, a high-ceiling. Let’s get back on track this week.
Quarterbacks
Dak Prescott (vs. LAR) $6200
Through three weeks, Prescott has had one of the toughest schedules in football, playing against the Giants, then the Broncos and Cardinals on the road. He’s managed to stay afloat despite the tough start and currently sits as the No. 8 quarterback in fantasy. Going back to last year, Prescott has finished with less than 15.9 fantasy points just twice in his last 17 games (excluding Week 17 where he threw just eight attempts in a quarter’s work) and just three with fewer than 17 fantasy points. Those games came against the Giants, Vikings, and Broncos on the road. So, when you see Prescott at home against a Rams defense that has allowed 66 points over the last two weeks to the Redskins and 49ers, you should get excited about the possibilities. He’s among the safest plays on the slate this week.
Tyrod Taylor (at ATL) $5300
If you’re looking for a cheaper option to jam in some big names, Taylor can fill the quarterback slot on your roster. Similar to Prescott, he’s had a tough couple weeks on the schedule, facing the Panthers and the Broncos. He’s thrown just over 26 pass attempts per game this year, something that will massively increase against the Falcons. Through three games, Falcons opponents are averaging 45.0 attempts per game, which is the highest in the NFL (not all that close, either). Going through his game logs, there have been just six times Taylor has thrown the ball more than 36 times. In those games, he has averaged 267 passing yards, 1.5 passing touchdowns, 40 rushing yards, and 0.33 rushing touchdowns, amounting to nearly 23 fantasy points per game. Predicting the game-flow of this game is in Taylor’s wheelhouse. With how cheap he is, it’s nice to have a floor of roughly 15.3 points, a number that he’s hit in 14 of his last 17 games.
Running Backs
Ezekiel Elliott (vs. LAR) $8200 or LeSean McCoy (at ATL) $8400
This is something I’ve never done before, but I felt it necessary to let you know that there are two options to choose from if you’re paying up at running back. Elliott would be my favorite choice, as he’s playing a Rams team that has allowed their opponents running backs to rack up 30 carries per game, and through three games, Elliott has handled 55 of the Cowboys 61 carries. He’s going to see a lot of work against a Rams front-seven that’s allowed five rushing touchdowns to the Colts, Redskins, and 49ers run games. He’s going to eat. McCoy is another one you should covet this week, as the Falcons weakness is against pass-catching running backs. Through three weeks, they’ve already allowed 25 receptions for 218 yards and two touchdowns to running backs alone. Coming off two games against the Broncos and Panthers, McCoy should have more room to operate on the ground as well. He’s game-script proof against a defense who’s now allowed 22 total touchdowns to running backs over their last 19 regular season games.
Leonard Fournette (at NYJ) $6700
Through three weeks, Fournette has played against the No. 3, No. 7, and No. 9 run defenses from last year, yet he’s still managed to sit tight as the No. 5 fantasy running back. Keep in mind that he’s done this while seeing stacked boxes (eight or more defenders in the box) roughly 55 percent of the time, which is well above the league average of 30 percent. The Jets may have stopped Jay Ajayi last year, but that has more to do with him ailing and his sub-par offensive line than it does with the Jets. Look no further than the two previous weeks against the Raiders and Bills where they allowed 275 rushing yards and three rushing scores. This is legitimately the first solid matchup Fournette has had in his career and it should be filled with fantasy points.
Bilal Powell (vs. JAX) $4600
If you’re paying up for guys like Elliott or McCoy, you’re going to need someone to fill a cheap spot on your team, and Powell is the perfect one. After a disappointing start to his season where he’s surrendered 85 snaps to Matt Forte, Powell is back in the driver’s seat for Week 4. Forte is dealing with turf toe and will miss this week, while rookie Elijah McGuire fumbled last week and may find himself in the doghouse. The Jaguars defense has been amazing for the most part, but they really have struggled against the run through three weeks and will be coming off a trip to London. Despite holding two teams to just seven points apiece, the Jaguars have allowed 338 rushing yards and two touchdowns on just 71 carries thus far (4.76 YPC). Don’t forget that Powell was the No. 2 running back over the final four weeks of 2016 while Forte was out or limited. At his price, he just needs to score 11.5 PPR points to hit value, which should be a given.
Wide Receivers
Julio Jones (vs. BUF) $8800
We haven’t had that Julio explosion game yet this year, but it may happen in Week 4 against the Bills. Some will see that they’ve allowed a league-low 12.3 points per game this year and run, but when you consider their games against Josh McCown, Cam Newton, and Trevor Siemian, that should be taken with a grain of salt. They’re better than expected, but having cornerback E.J. Gaines cover Jones is just asking for a problem. If you missed the WR/CB matchup article this week that features the Jones/Gaines matchup, check it out here. He’s yet to score this year, but it’s coming very soon.
DeAndre Hopkins vs. TEN $6400
Probably one of my favorite plays of the week, Hopkins is someone who I advocated against last week versus the Patriots, but he needs to be in lineups this week against the Titans. Even in a tough matchup last week, Deshaun Watson showed willingness to target Hopkins a healthy eight times, which may be his floor. He leads the NFL in targets right now and might see 15 of them this week against a Titans secondary that has allowed a top-12 wide receiver in each game this year. Just last week Doug Baldwin busted out of his slump and posted 10 catches for 105 yards and a touchdown against them. It’s rumored that Will Fuller will actually play in this game and that might be a good thing for Hopkins, as Fuller demands the free safety’s attention quite a bit.
Larry Fitzgerald (vs. SF) $6100
After having him in our cash-game lineup the first two weeks, of course Fitzgerald goes off in Week 3 when he’s not on the main slate. He showed signs of life last week, as did Carson Palmer, and they’re likely to get their top offensive lineman Mike Iupati back this week. These teams know each other very well and Fitzgerald has always done well against them, posting lines of 12/132/0 and 6/81/2 against them last year. Any time you can get a player who is seeing over 11 targets per game at just $6100, you do so. Think about it this way – he hits value if he catches seven passes for 85 yards and no touchdown.
Tight Ends
Travis Kelce vs. WAS $6000
This has been the toughest part of lineups over the last two years, because tight ends have been so inconsistent. As of now, the No. 10 fantasy tight end has averaged just 6.8 fantasy points per game. So, if you catch just one ball for eight yards that’s a touchdown, you’re a TE1. Because of that, you may want to spend up for Kelce this week. He’s disappointed in two of three games, but this is one matchup that should produce massive results. The Redskins have allowed a league-high 250 yards to tight ends on just 22 targets. He’s on the Monday night slate, so pay attention to your contest entries, as DraftKings has started excluding night games from the main slate.
Charles Clay at ATL $3700
If you’re looking for a tight end to play on the main slate, Clay makes a lot of sense. Some will see his 18 targets and think, “Eh, that’s not too many in comparison to others,” but you have to look at the larger scope. His 18 targets are massive when you consider the fact that Tyrod Taylor has thrown the ball just 79 times. That makes for a 22.8 percent target share, which is the same that Rob Gronkowski has had through three weeks. In a game where we are projecting Taylor to throw the ball much more than usual (Falcons opponents average 45.0 pass attempts per game), it’s fair to say that Clay should see plenty of targets, which is all we can ask for at the tight end position. The Falcons allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to tight ends in 2015 and the sixth-most in 2016 under head coach Dan Quinn, so we have to assume it’s a scheme thing at this point. At just $3700, there isn’t a better value at the tight end position.
Subscribe: iTunes | Stitcher | SoundCloud | Google Play | TuneIn | RSS
Mike Tagliere is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeTagliereNFL.
