Quarterbacks
1) Landry Jones – QB (DAL)
The Houston defense has been awful giving up 27 points against the lowly Tampa Bay offense without their starting quarterback. Landry Jones and the Dallas offense hasn’t been as dominant as most were anticipating before the season but they have been decent and have looked a lot better than Tampa overall. Landry’s price is lower than Walker which may help for lineup construction especially if he does happen to have more efficient performance. Keep in mind Landry does throw to his running backs and high tight-end (Donald Parham) quite a bit.
Stacks: Donald Parham (WR), Lance Dunbar (RB), Jeff Badet (WR), Flynn Nagel (WR)
2) PJ Walker – QB (HOU)
The only reason I don’t have PJ Walker as #1 is due to his extremely high price tag. Lineup construction with him is going to be tougher especially if you’re trying to play his number one (Cam Phillips) along with him. With that said PJ Walker and the Houston offense has looked unstoppable in this league. PJ continue to consistently show upside and last week we saw a taste of his ceiling. The price is high but he has clearly been the best QB on the best offense in this league.
Stacks: Cam Phillips (WR), Kahlil Lewis (WR), Nick Holley (WR)
3) Cardale Jones – QB (DC)
Cardale Jones was awful last week against a defense that had been struggling to that point and was missing their starting cornerbacks. This week Jones is lined up for a bounce back spot against the lowly Tampa defense. Last week we saw PJ Walker post a ceiling game against this team and DC’s defense looked a bit suspect as well as LA beat them up pretty bad.
Stacks: DeAndre Thompkins (WR), Eli Rodgers (WR), Rashad Ross (WR)
Running Backs
1) Cameron Artis-Payne – DAL (RB)
Artis-Payne has had double-digit rushing attempts in two straight games as well as 4, 5 and 6 targets in each of the first three weeks. Dallas likes to throw to their running backs and they haven’t been afraid to run the ball.
2) Matt Jones (Q) – STL (RB)
Jones is questionable but if he plays we should expect him to once again get a bulk of the workload on the ground. Should he miss Christine Michael and Keith Ford would get more work and are both cheaper so keep an eye out. Seattle’s defense hasn’t looked very good thus far.
3) Lance Dunber – DAL (RB)
Lance Dunbar is the #2 back behind Cameron Artis-Payne and while he hasn’t gotten much volume on the ground he has been pretty involved in the pass game with 6, 6 and 11 targets in each of the first three games.
4) De’Veon Smith – TB (RB)
De’Veon Smith doesn’t get a lot of targets in the pass game but he has gotten double-digit rushing attempts in each of the first three games. He’s a volume play that has demonstrated a decent floor though his ceiling remains in question especially on a struggling offense with a bad defense.
5) James Butler – HOU (RB)
Butler has managed to get double-digit fantasy points in three straight games despite only having 9, 7 and 7 rushing attempts in the first three games and 2, 2 and 3 targets. This offense is a powerhouse and he’s been feeding on the crumbs mainly by scoring their extra points.
Wide Receivers
Top-Tier
1) Cam Phillips – HOU (WR)
Cam Phillips remain the top option for PJ Walker and both have shown big ceilings. Phillips remains a top option though the pairing of him with PJ is very costly this week. If you can’t afford them both perhaps you can hope PJ doesn’t hit his ceiling and get exposure to him via Cam Phillips.
2) Donald Parham – DAL (WR)
Parham is actually listed as a tight-end and he has become one of Landry Jones’ top targets. This game has the highest total on the board and has shoot-out written all over it. Parham is expensive but his volume has looked really strong.
3) Trae McBride – LA (WR)
With Nelson Spruce out McBride should step in as the new #1 for James Johnson. McBride made his XFL debut last week in a game where Spruce got hurt and posted five receptions on six targets with two touchdowns.
4) Austin Proehl – SEA (WR)
Austin Proehl bounced back in week three after a horrid week two. Proehl continues to be the main option on a bad Seattle defense that is expected to be trailing. Proehl has a tougher match-up this week but he has three touchdowns already and makes for them best chances of scoring any this week.
5) Eli Rogers – DC (WR)
Cardale Jones has spread the ball out for the most part but El Rogers has managed to consistently get 6-8 targets per game. The price remains high but the match-up is pretty soft against Tampa.
Mid-Tier
1) Jalen Tolliver – TB (WR)
Jalen Tolliver had 13 targets last week despite the QBs splitting snaps. Tollver had a reception over 20 yards from each of the QBs and we should expect to see him utilized heavily once again especially if Tamba Bay trails again.
2) Keenan Reynolds – SEA (WR)
Keenan Reynolds continues to see 7-8 targets per game. The efficiency hasn’t been great but if that were to lineup with the opportunities, he could show a bigger ceiling that most may think.
3) Dan Williams – TB (WR)
Dan Williams has gotten solid targets in trailing game scripts and Tampa Bay figures to trail again against the DC Defenders. Williams has one touchdown and he has already had a 100+ yard game.
4) Jordan Smallwood – LA (WR)
With Nelson Spruce out we could see Smallwood get a increase in targets. Last week he only had two targets but his team just destroyed their opponents so there really wasn’t a sense of urgency in the pass game.
5) Sammy Coates – HOU (WR)
Coates has been bothered by an injury and Houston has been fine with his limited involvement. Still he was expected to be a top talent in this league and his price has fallen pretty dramatically.
Value
1) *** DeAndre Thompkins *** – DC (WR)
Thompkins should bounce back along with Cardale Jones here. Thompkins only had three targets last week but his QB really struggled. Tampa Bay’s secondary has been pretty bad and Thompkins has a very attractive price considering the week prior to last he nine targets.
2) Adonis Jennings – LA (WR)
Jennings is crazy cheap and with Nelson Spruce out we could see him get more looks this week. Last week he really wasn’t needed as his team dominated but should this game be a bit more competitive he could get enough looks to pay off this dirt cheap price.
3) Tanner Gentry – NY (WR)
Gentry is set to make his XFL debut and he’s dirt cheap. Gentry was expected to play a sizable role in this offense and they have really struggled as of late. We don’t know if he is limited in any way but his price certainly help get access to more spend ups.
4) Flynn Nagel – DAL (WR)
Flynn Nagel has posted double-digit fantasy points in two out of his three games. He has had six targets in both of those games and Dallas figures to pass a lot this week as they face the powerful Houston offense.
5) Reece Horn – TB (WR)
Horn has consistently seen 5-8 targets in the first three weeks. Tampa figures to have to throw a good amount this week against the defenders who struggled to stop the pass.
