Mike's Week 3 Player Grid

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 Now, let’s dive into today’s feature from the Daily Dose…

Welcome back to my (Mjohnson86) Player Grid. The format will vary slightly from JM’s Player Grid, as we each see things slightly differently and play in slightly different contests, but should complement his thoughts and content very well for those looking to build their lineups for the week. The format of this article will vary slightly from my FanDuel Player Grid, which will be more direct in terms of which players I like. Enjoy!!

The Core

This is a list of players that stand out to me at each position from using my “Checking the Boxes” criteria outlined in my course you can find in our Marketplace. This list is a starting point, from which I build out lineups using game theory and roster construction concepts (which we will also touch on) with the mindset being to find the best plays with big ceilings. Low ownership is a bonus, but not a must. This section will focus primarily on three positions – running back, tight end, and defense – as the other two positions (quarterback and wide receiver) tend to have more dependent tendencies which I try to attack from other angles (which we will get into in the other sections). I like all of these plays on all sites unless otherwise noted:

Running Back ::

• Christian McCaffrey – There is plenty of value available on the slate and CMC continues to churn out good games so far this season. He has yet to truly break one open, but at home against this Cardinals defense that plays right into his strengths seems like a perfect spot for an eruption.

• Bijan Robinson – Bijan may very well be the best running back in the game right now and he is facing what is very likely the worst run defense in the league. Some things are relatively simple. There is the off chance this plays like last week’s Panthers game, where they fell behind so fast that Arizona’s skill players didn’t need to do anything. 

• Kenneth Walker III – He looked like he was back to his old self in Week 2 and now gets the backfield to himself as Zach Charbonnet is listed as doubtful. Matchup, talent, volume, home favorite, and moderate salary.

• Jonathan Taylor – JT plays basically every snap for the Colts and faces a Titans defense that has been gashed so far this year, ranking 31st in run defense DVOA. Quarterback Daniel Jones has three 1-yard touchdowns, which, if they had gone to JT, would have pushed the latter’s salary to around $8k already.

• Saquon Barkley – This is a player who ran for over 500 yards against the Rams last season. He has been relatively quiet so far this season, but the Rams are a legitimate threat to Philly and Barkley is always a threat to bust the slate.

• Javonte Williams – The Bears defense is really struggling and Williams is dominating the backfield usage for Dallas so far this season. Javonte has looked much better this season than he did in 2024.

• Jordan Mason – Bell-cow usage at home in a dome against a Bengals defense we expected to be weak this season. He carries some systemic risk in this spot, but clearly has paths to a very strong game.

Tight End :: 

• Tyler Warren – Elite role and talent. Sneaky game environment. Mispriced. 

• Trey McBride – McBride has quietly racked up a 30% target share, but he hasn’t scored a touchdown and the Cardinals have not had to pass much against the Panthers and Saints. I expect Kyler Murray to throw more this week against the 49ers, around 35 times, which puts McBride on pace for double-digit targets, with paths to reach the 15-target range.

• Juwan Johnson – Spencer Rattler continues to lean heavily on Johnson, who has a matchup against a Seahawks team that will be without two of its top three safeties. Johnson has 20 targets through two weeks, and if that role holds, he is underpriced as well.

• T.J. Hockenson – This is the lowest salary I ever remember seeing for Hockenson. He hasn’t looked great this year, but Carson Wentz leaning heavily on him in this spot wouldn’t be shocking. The Bengals blitz at a very low rate, so Hock should be running a lot of routes and could be funneled targets in the short areas.

Defense :: 

• Texans – Houston is 0-2, but its defense hasn’t been the issue. They held the Rams in check and the Bucs only scored 13 points before their desperation drive to end the game. Jacksonville’s passing game has some clear issues right now and Houston is by far the toughest defense the Jaguars have seen so far.

• Bengals – The Vikings’ offensive line is beat up and their offense has been struggling. Now they are turning to a backup QB and have lost their top RB. A clear way to bet against Jordan Mason on a roster where you fade him.

• Packers – It isn’t too hard to find the salary this week, and it makes sense if you can. Green Bay might have the best defense in the league and Cleveland might have a bottom-five offense. Sometimes it’s just that simple.

Premium Passing Game Stacks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NYJ)

Baker Mayfield posted six games of 29+ DraftKings points in 2024, and this week he gets a Jets pass defense that ranks 28th in the league through two weeks. The kicker here is the state of the slate where there aren’t many of the “elite” QBs playing. If Mayfield does post a 30-burger, it could separate him in a big way. The Bucs’ offensive line is dealing with injuries, which could lead to their running game really struggling and also increases the chances that they keep throwing if they have a lead late in the game. Mike Evans and Emeka Egbuka are clearly the “alphas” here, and this group has a high ceiling while it isn’t drawing much attention. The Jets allowed their opponents to score on 10 of their first 17 drives to start this season before the Bills called off the dogs in the fourth quarter last week. Playing the Jets side could be viable with Tyrod Taylor cheap and under center while Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall dominate the usage.

Philadelphia Eagles (LAR)

The Eagles haven’t been pushed yet and are playing a very conservative style of football. The result is their passing game has depressed salaries and will project poorly, making them very low-owned relative to their ceiling. This is a spot where they could actually have to open things up, in which case A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith at $6,300 and $5,300, respectively, would be an absolute smash. On the flip side, Puka Nacua and Davante Adams are doing exactly what we thought they might entering the season, dominating the Rams passing game usage and being highly efficient doing so. The Eagles secondary has been their defensive weak point so far this season. They just got away with it because the Chiefs injuries couldn’t fully exploit them. The way to beat the Eagles isn’t getting into a street fight with them, the Rams’ best chance of winning this game is jumping out to a lead and forcing the Eagles to play a different way than they want to. A total of 107 points were scored by these teams in two games last season, while each game also had over 750 yards of total offense. These teams bring out the best in each other and could be the key to the slate.

GPP Game Stack Of The Week

Dallas Cowboys // Chicago Bears

These are two teams with inept defenses who just gave up a combined 92 points in Week 2. There are explosive offensive players on both sides of the ball and this game has the highest total on the slate by a healthy margin. We talked about this game at length across the site this week, so I won’t go too long here, but this game has clear blow-up potential for a variety of reasons.

UNIQUE COMBOS

Brock Bowers + Trey McBride

Last week, I gave you a two-TE combination that was a couple of cheap options that opened things up to hit on the high-priced studs. That worked out nicely, and at least one of our subs hit it big with that one. This week, I give you a similar look, but on the other end of the spectrum. Salary is easy to come by on this slate as value has opened up all over the place, especially at QB and RB. One way to spend that excess salary would be to pair Bowers and McBride. Let’s not forget that these two players were second- and third-round picks in fantasy and Best Ball drafts just a couple of weeks ago. The reason for their high ADPs was their ability to post week-winning scores for their position. Both can catch double-digit passes in a given week and have paths to 25 to 30 points, while both have modest salaries for their abilities. Most people will use the money they save from the “value” spots to pay way up, but pairing these two helps you create a more balanced build and unique roster construction with massive upside.

$4k QB + Bengals Defense

Carson Wentz has a very wide range of outcomes this week, but it would be somewhat surprising if he doesn’t make at least a couple of mistakes. If those mistakes are big and/or lead to Bengals defensive scores we can obviously see how it would make CIN D an awesome play at low salary and ownership. However, that could happen and Wentz could still put up a great fantasy score as desperation sets in and he chucks it to his weapons while also running a bit. The total salary is $6,400 and it wouldn’t be shocking for Wentz to score 20 and the Bengals score 12 to 15. 

You can also play this the other way by just betting on Wentz being awful start to finish and the Bengals posting a great score that way. Should that happen, pairing Mariota with CIN D makes a lot of sense as the combined salary is still only $6,400 and the ceiling between the two is actually probably higher than the Wentz option. That would be a clear leverage play against the popular Wentz and Jordan Mason.

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