WEEK 3 - FANTASYSCORE GPP OFFERINGS
FantasyScore is a USA Today Sports Media Group fantasy sports game that is powered by RealTime Fantasy Sports. It is a DFS site that can give you the excitement of playing fantasy football each week during the NFL season. FantasyScore offers Draft Leagues (Draft & Go) and Salary Cap leagues weekly during the NFL season.
In this feature we are going to look at the GPP contests and offer the top stacks, fades, and ownership projections for each upcoming week.
For Week 1 of the NFL season, FantasyScore is offering three big GPPs for buy-ins of $1, $5, and $10. The $1 GPP is limited to 1,000 total entries and pays the top 200 places, with $135 going to first place. The $5 and $10 GPPs are limited to 500 total entries, with both paying out the top 100 places. The top prize in the $5 contest is $450, while the top prize in the $10 contest is $1,700.
FantasyScore will also be hosting a $25,000 Football Championship for Week 16 for which you can qualify during Weeks 1-15 via satellite tournaments. There will be a total of 105 "golden tickets" available to be won via satellite contests from Weeks 1 to 15 and the Championship pays the top 20 winners, with $10,000 going to first place. In Week 3, FantasyScore will run a $20 satellite with 50 total entries, where 4 golden tickets will be awarded, and a $5 satellite with 170 entries, where the top 3 finishers will receive a golden ticket.
TOP STACKS
Pittsburgh Steelers -- QB Ben Roethlisberger ($8,400) and WR Antonio Brown ($8,900)
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been throwing at a rapid pace to kick off the 2015 season. In two games he has passed for 720 yards and 4 touchdowns. Out of those numbers he has found his safety net wide receiver Antonio Brown for 18 receptions, 328 yards and two touchdowns. The duo are one of the highest QB/WR combos to own this week but they always feel like the safest ones as well. Over the past two seasons Antonio Brown has never had a game with less than 5 receptions so even with his very high price ($8,900) you are paying for an assurance of receptions in this Steelers passing game.
Arizona Cardinals -- QB Carson Palmer ($8,200) and WR Larry Fitzgerald ($5,700)
Carson Palmer now has 7 touchdown passes in two games and is showing no signs of his age and slowing down. He looks comfortable in the offense and is relying on the veteran Larry Fitzgerald to help make plays for him down the field. Fitzgerald himself is having a blast from the past type of season so far putting up 14 receptions, 199 yards and 3 touchdowns. With the Cardinals playing at home against a suspect 49ers defense you have to like the odds of Palmer and Fitzgerald being on the end of yet another touchdown drive or two.
Cincinnati Bengals -- QB Andy Dalton ($6,500) and WR A.J. Green ($7,100)
No one likes to draft Andy Dalton in fantasy as he always feels limited in what he can do but when it comes to looking at the stats he always seems to pile them up no matter the situation. Through two games he has completed 41 of 60 passes for 483 yards and more impressively he has found the endzone 5 times. He has found a new target in Tyler Eifert that he trust and that will be sure to open up the offense down the field and A.J. Green will have more chances down the field. Green has 12 targets on the year which have resulted in 8 receptions, 108 yards and a touchdown. The Bengals get a divisional game against a Ravens defense that has been struggling against the likes of the Raiders so a team like the Bengals should also be able to find ways to put a lot of points on the board. Dalton and Green's prices are very reasonable and they make for a low ownership stack to differentiate yourself against the competition in GPPs.
VALUE STACKS
New York Jets -- Ryan Fitzpatrick ($5,500) and Brandon Marshall ($6,300)
The Eagles defense has struggled in two straight weeks against teams top WRs, as both Julio Jones and Terrance Williams have had big games. Jones started the season off with 9/141/2 and Williams had 4/84/1 so to think that Brandon Marshall can't produce in Week 3 would just be silly. Marshall has a nice streak for himself going as well as he has back to back games with a touchdown and 13 receptions for 163 yards overall. He is building some nice chemistry with journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick who has 423 passing yards and 4 touchdowns on the season. The stack of Fitzpatrick and Marshall is very affordable and has some added upside against a struggling Eagles secondary.
Buffalo Bills -- Tyrod Taylor ($6,200) and Sammy Watkins ($4,800)
Tyrod Taylor showed some guts last week as he battled all game long against the Patriots. He finished the game with 242 passing yards and 3 passing touchdowns along with another 43 yards on the ground and an added rushing touchdown. He has completed 37 of 49 passes so far to start the season and has rushed for 84 yards as well and although the matchup is a bit tougher this week against the Dolphins he still offers plenty of upside at a fair price. Sammy Watkins struggled in Week 1 by not catching a single pass on his 3 targets but he quietly rebounded in Week 2 with 6 receptions for 60 yards and a touchdown against the Patriots. With his struggles in Week 1 still on people's minds he could be off a lot of radars and he makes for a nice value stack to go along with Tyrod Taylor this week.
FADES
Based on price and matchups alone you are going to have some players that are highly owned in Week 3.
Quarterback -- Colin Kaepernick, San Francisco 49ers ($6,800)
Colin Kaepernick put up some stats last week against the Steelers as he passed for 335 yards and a pair of touchdowns while adding 51 more yards on the ground. This week he gets a much better defense in the Arizona Cardinals and will be on the road so a repeat performance is not likely. The Cardinals defense has looked very good to start the season and will create all sorts of problems for Kaepernick down the field. It is looking like a good week to fade Kaepernick after his strong Week 2 fantasy performance.
Running Back -- Giovani Bernard, Cincinnati Bengals ($5,300)
Giovani Bernard is coming off a game where he carried the ball 20 times for 123 yards and also caught 3 passes for 16 more yards. On paper he looks to be a player that is on the way up and should not be faded but he still has to prove that he will take away carries from starting RB Jeremy Hill. Hill had an off game last week as he fumbled the ball away and because of it lost a bunch of carries to Bernard. In Week 1 against the Raiders, Bernard only carried the ball 8 times as it was the Jeremy Hill show on the ground. Banking on Bernard seeing another 20+ touches this week seems silly as the Bengals will once again have to put some trust in Hill to secure the ball and be the workhorse back in the offense.
Wide Receiver -- James Jones, Green Bay Packers ($5,900)
If you were just to look at the box score the first couple of weeks you would see that James Jones has back to back weeks with touchdown receptions and in fact has 3 total in 2 games. Last game against the Seahawks he was only targeted 3 times and only caught 1 of those targets but he made the most of it and turned it into a 29-yard touchdown. You want to draft guys in good offenses that see lots of targets and although Jones plays in one of the best offenses that is led by star QB Aaron Rodgers he is still only seeing 3 or 4 targets a game. The touchdowns have been fun so far but can we really count on a third week in a row that Jones finds the endzone?
Tight End -- Zach Ertz, Philadelphia Eagles ($4,700)
All week long it was a question mark if Zach Ertz was going to play or not and it turned out that he did and was targeted pretty heavily with 7 targets for 3 catches and 17 yards. The problem right now with Ertz is that the Eagles offense is struggling and now they have to play a tough New York Jets defense on the road. We need to see some production and consistency from both Sam Bradford and Zach Ertz before we can insert either back into our lineups.
Defense and Special Teams -- New York Jets ($2,400)
The Jets have been looking great so far to start the season as the defense has stood the test against both the Cleveland Browns and the Indianapolis Colts through the first two weeks of the season. This week the head back home for a game against the Philadelphia Eagles. It is no secret that the Eagles have been struggling to open the season and Chip Kelly's offense looks out of synch as Sam Bradford struggled mightily against the Cowboys defense last week. The Jets have all the writings on the wall to dominate on defense this week but it also might only be a matter of time before the Eagles offense actually gets going and pushes the ball down the field. Chip Kelly already stated that he was embarrassed last week and I am sure he will be making the necessary adjustments to get the offense back on track.
OWNERSHIP PERCENTAGE
It is hard to predict exactly who will be over-owned and who will be under-owned, but we can take our best guesses based on price, matchups, and current buzz and ADP heading into Week 3. I will try to predict the three highest- and lowest-owned players each week and check back in the next week to evaluate how I did with my predictions. We will use just the $10 Touchdown GPP as our contest of choice each week.
HIGHEST OWNERSHIP
Quarterback
Tom Brady, New England Patriots ($8,700)Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers ($8,400)Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers ($8,800)
Running Back
Marshawn Lynch, Seattle Seahawks ($7,100)Le'Veon Bell, Pittsburgh Steelers ($8,100)Devonta Freeman, Atlanta Falcons ($5,100)
Wide Receiver
Donte Moncrief, Indianapolis Colts ($3,300)Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers ($8,900)Brandon Marshall, New York Jets ($6,300)
Tight End
Crockett Gillmore, Baltimore Ravens ($2,900)Martellus Bennett, Chicago Bears ($6,300)Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots ($7,700)
Defense and Special Teams
Seattle Seahawks ($3,300)Arizona Cardinals ($2,200)New England Patriots ($2,500)
LOW/VALUE OWNERSHIP
Quarterback
Sam Bradford, Philadelphia Eagles ($7,500)Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals ($6,500)Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers ($4,800)
Running Back
Melvin Gordon, San Diego Chargers ($6,000)C.J. Anderson, Denver Broncos ($6,400)Jeremy Hill, Cincinnati Bengals ($6,900)
Wide Receiver
Brandin Cooks, New Orleans Saints ($6,400)Sammy Watkins, Buffalo Bills ($4,800)Jeremy Maclin, Kansas City Chiefs ($6,000)
Tight End
Heath Miller, Pittsburgh Steelers ($4,200)Eric Ebron, Detroit Lions ($5,000)Greg Olsen, Carolina Panthers ($6,200)
Defense and Special Teams
San Francisco 49ers ($1,700)Cincinnati Bengals ($1,700)San Diego Chargers ($1,900)