Josh Jordan

Fantasy football under-the-radar plays — Week 3

Joshua Jordan
Sep 20, 2018, 7:09 am
Will Fuller always has a chance to make a big play. Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images

The second week is in the books, and I have more sleeper plays for Week 3. Let’s take a peek at how I did last week, and then look ahead to this week’s slate of games. My criteria for a good game is around 100 total yards and/or a TD. Last week was decent considering I’m not picking studs. Here’s how I did in Week 2.

James White (NE): Right, 83 yards with 7 catches in a PPR

James Conner (PIT): Right

Lamar Miller (HOU): Wrong, they got behind early

Dion Lewis (TEN): Wrong

TJ Yeldon (JAX): Wrong

JuJu Smith-Schuster (PIT): Right (Wow)

Cooper Kupp (LA): Wrong, but 12 ppr points didn’t kill you

Mike Williams (LA): Right, thankfully he scored

Brandon Marshall (SEA): Wrong, thought he would get a revenge TD

Eric Ebron (IND): Right

Jack Doyle (IND): Wrong

Jordan Reed (WAS): Wrong, though he's a decent play again this week.

Not a great week going 5-7, but these are sleeper plays. We’ll try and do better this week. I have included some REALLY deep plays, OJ Howard for example, so a lot of these guys should only be used if you're really hurting due to injuries, or you're looking for a good value play in DFS.

Week 3

RB

Jordan Howard (CHI): You’re probably starting him every week, but he has a really nice matchup, so fire him up. Arizona gives up the most fantasy points to RBs this year.

James Conner (PIT): You can’t sit him, and this will probably be the last time he appears in this article. He’s in must-start territory, but I included him because his matchup is terrific. The Bucs give up over 38 FPTS/G to RBs.

Latavius Murray (MIN): With Dalvin Cook out for this week's game, Murray is a nice start. He’s playing the Bills, enough said.

Matt Breda (SF): The Chiefs are a Top 5 matchup for RBs and have already given up 21 receptions to the RB position. Alfred Morris is not much of a receiver.

WR

Keelan Cole (JAX): It’s always dangerous starting a Jags receiver, but he’s a decent play this week. The Titans are giving up over 52 FPTS/G to the receiver position. If you have the stones, and are thin at WR, his matchup suggests he could come through.

Chris Godwin and DeSean Jackson (TB): Hopefully, Ryan Fitzpatrick has a little more magic left in him. The Steelers are giving up a ton of production to WRs. Joe Haden’s return could be an issue, and I don't advise starting both of these guys on the same team.

Will Fuller (HOU): When Fuller plays with Watson usually good things happen. The Giants are pretty decent against receivers by the numbers, but if you need some upside, give Fuller a shot.

Nelson Agholor (PHI):  Carson Wentz is coming back, and who else is he going to throw to besides Zach Ertz?

TE

Eric Ebron (IND): Jack Doyle is now officially out for this week's game against the Eagles. Ebron should get an uptick in targets, so he's worth starting this week for sure.

Jesse James (PIT): He’s hard to trust, but his matchup is fantastic. The Bucs are giving up over 20 FPTS/G to TEs. If you're desperate, he's a decent option.

George Kittle (SF): He let us down last week, but we’ll give him another shot. The Chiefs are giving up the 3rd most points to the position.

OJ Howard (TB): He’s a long shot, but the matchup is really good. This is only if you’re stuck and need a TE.

QB

Jimmy Garoppolo (SF): I think Jimmy is worth a shot this week and is a Top 10 option. This should be a shootout with the Chiefs.

Matt Ryan (ATL): Don’t count on him getting two rushing TDs again this week, but he should put up some points against the Saints.

 

Most Popular

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome

Listen Live

Houston loses to end the road trip

Dodgers get best of Odorizzi to split series with Astros

Jake Odorizzi allowed four home runs over three innings against the Dodgers on Wednesday. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images.

After spoiling the night of many Dodgers fans in the opener of this two-game series in Los Angeles the night prior, the Astros returned to the stadium to a fresh set of hostile fans, looking to get the mini-sweep. This one went much more in favor of the home team, though, as the Dodgers would ride three big innings to start the game to the win for the series split.

Final Score: Dodgers 7, Astros 5

Astros' Record: 65-43, first in the AL West

Winning Pitcher: Max Scherzer (9-4)

Losing Pitcher: Jake Odorizzi (4-6)

Odorizzi gets shelled

After a Michael Brantley solo home in the top of the first run against Max Scherzer, making his Dodger debut, it looked like the Astros may continue their momentum from the night before to grab hold of this game as well. However, that all changed in the bottom of the inning, as the Dodgers would tee off against Jake Odorizzi.

In that inning, he allowed four runs, a leadoff solo shot by Mookie Betts, then later a three-run blast by Will Smith. Betts made it 2-for-2 with solo homers in the bottom of the second, extending the lead to 5-1. Things went from bad to worse in the third, with Los Angeles getting their fourth home run, this one for two runs to make it a 7-1 game. Odorizzi would finish the third but go no further.

Scherzer K's 10 over seven innings in his Dodger debut

Houston tried to start clawing back into it in the top of the fourth, getting a second run against Scherzer with a two-out RBI-single by Kyle Tucker, trimming the lead to five runs at 5-2. First out of Houston's bullpen was Yimi Garcia in the bottom of the fourth, and he tossed the first 1-2-3 inning for Houston. Rafael Montero was next in the bottom of the fifth, working around a leadoff double followed by a walk for a scoreless inning.

Montero remained in the game in the bottom of the sixth, still 7-2, and would get another scoreless inning, this time sitting down the Dodgers in order. Scherzer finished his quality debut for his new team in the top of the seventh, erasing a leadoff walk to complete seven innings while allowing two runs.

Astros lose to split the series with Dodgers

Brooks Raley was Houston's next reliever, and he, too, would get through a scoreless inning by erasing a two-out single. In the game-within-the-game, the Dodgers brought in Joe Kelly for the top of the eighth, who notched two strikeouts to bring none other than Carlos Correa to the plate, setting up a rematch of the well-known incident that led to the "pouty face" clip from 2020. Carlos Correa won this round, launching a 405-foot homer off of Kelly to make it a four-run game at 7-3.

Phil Maton kept the score there, stranding two runners in the bottom of the eighth to send the 7-3 game to the top of the ninth, where the Dodgers would bring in Kenley Jansen. After a leadoff single, Kyle Tucker would get the Astros within two runs on a two-run homer, making it 7-5. That's as close as they would get, as Jansen would regroup to get the next three batters out to wrap up the loss for Houston.

Up Next: With this road trip completed, the Astros will have a quick turnaround as they catch a late flight back to Houston then turn around with a game Thursday at 7:10 PM Central to open a four-game series with the Twins. Framber Valdez (7-2, 3.01 ERA) will take the mound for Houston in the opener, while Minnesota will counter with Griffin Jax (1-1, 6.41 ERA).

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
astros astros score astros recap astros vs dodgers dodgers score dodgers recap dodgers max scherzer mlb mlb scores mlb recaps kyle tucker carlos correa vs joe kelly

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome