5 Daily Fantasy Football Matchups to Exploit in Week 3
New York Giants Passing Offense
Suppress your vomit for just a second here. Sure, the New York Giants burned a boatload of peeps last week, and those of you who go hard in cash games are likely licking your wounds right now.
It's just that they're in a really good spot again this week.
The perception around Washington is that they should be better at defending the pass this year thanks to the addition of Josh Norman. While he's clearly an upgrade over some of what they were using last year, that improvement hasn't shown through in the analytics just yet.
Washington enters Week 3 ranked 31st in Adjusted Defensive Passing NEP per drop back, besting only the Oakland Raiders. This is despite playing each of their first two games at home, including one against a rookie quarterback in Dak Prescott. Now, they head out on the road for another tough assignment, and it's fair to question how much Norman can mask their clear issues elsewhere in the secondary.
Even though it didn't necessarily translate into fantasy points, Eli Manning's efficiency has been acceptable through the first two weeks. He's 15th in Passing NEP per drop back of the 34 relevant quarterbacks, just ahead of national sweetheart Carson Wentz and reigning MVP Cam Newton. He's also second in Passing Success Rate, showing that his relatively-low Passing NEP numbers may be due to a lack of high-upside plays rather than inconsistent play.
The first inclination here would be to fade Odell Beckham with a matchup against his arch nemesis Norman on the horizon, and that's a totally valid thought given that Norman will likely shadow Beckham everywhere except for the slot. This throws the decent numbers for Antonio Brown and Dez Bryant against Washington out the window and should lower expectations for Beckham.
That doesn't mean we should forgo him entirely, though. Beckham will line up in the slot occasionally, and he posted 6 receptions for 76 yards and 1 touchdown against Norman's defense last year, a unit that had more surrounding talent than Norman has in Washington. Beckham will come at lower ownership given all of the factors involved, so using him in a tournament is totally warranted.
When choosing between Sterling Shepard and Victor Cruz, there really isn't a bad answer. Both saw the same number of targets in the first two weeks, and Shepard played only one additional snap in Week 2.
The advantage that Shepard holds is in Reception NEP per target, where he ranks seventh of 61 wide receivers with at least 12 targets, whereas Cruz is 29th. This seems to indicate that Shepard is the more talented of the two, providing a bit of a boost to his valuation. However, because of the largely equal opportunity, Cruz is also a fine option who will save you a bit extra salary if you're in need.
