Week 3 NFL DFS Preseason Saturday Breakdown

Aug 25, 2018

Week 3 of the preseason is dubbed the "dress rehearsal" because starters play for the longest duration of any game. Unfortunately, this takes a bit of the edge off because the players who blindly roster starting players aren't at an inherent disadvantage. Nonetheless, we can still gain leverage by knowing which starters will play the most. There's a particular first-team offense that won't be on the field this week that may be popular amongst the unaware. Below you will find the game-by-game playing time notes...

As always, make sure to keep up-to-date with breaking news. John Paulsen’s Twitter list of beat writers is a great resource.

Texans at Rams

Texans starters aren't slated to play a ton—probably a half, maybe a series or two. The issue with playing time in the preseason is that often times if a player or unit only plays a quarter, it usually means they had two scoring drives and the coach has seen enough. Units left out into the third quarter most likely have struggled, so sometimes it's not that significant. I like Deshaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins, Will Fuller, Lamar Miller and a little bit of Bruce Ellington.
Update: Check Will Fuller Status
John Kelly will probably be a heavy play of mine with Todd Gurley not playing. It looks as though Jared Goff won't play either due to some offensive line issues. The rest of the Rams offense takes a bit of a hit with Goff and Gurley sitting. I'm not sure much of a rhythm can be established with the starting receivers. If you need a low-owned tight end, Tyler Higbee is an option.

Titans at Steelers

Titans beat writers expect Mike Vrabel to play his starters "less than a half", which probably means probably no more than a quarter and a half. I'm still a bit undecided on Titans players at the moment because they can still get the job done in that amount of time. I probably won't have much Marcus Mariota, but I will have a bit of Corey Davis and Taywan Taylor. The final word isn't out on the Titans.
Mike Tomlin is going with the "all hands on deck" approach. Beat writers have translated that to mean all starters will play, but the situation is fluid. I don't like the sound of that, but again if the qualifier is points on the board, I don't care if they pull Ben Roethlisberger after he throws two touchdowns. Currently, my targets are James Conner and Jesse James (due to Vance McDonald and Xavier Grimble being out).
Update: Juju Smith-Schuster and James Washington are firmly in play.