NFL Preseason DFS Week 3 Breakdown: Thursday Slate

Aug 21, 2019

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You've probably heard that Week 3 of the preseason is the week you can play all the starters. That belief is held mainly because Week 3 had been dubbed the "dress rehearsal" week. Historically, teams have played their starters into the third quarter during this week of this exhibition play. However, the times they are a changin'. There are some coaches who don't believe in preseason reps at all, some who play their starters the exact amount of snaps in every game, and some who still hold true to the linear progression of playing time through the first three weeks. So there will definitely be starters and reserves who deserve to be rostered on this slate. Let's break it down.

Update (2:45pm): There still seems to be some uncertainty among beat writers on Tom Brady's playing time. Historically, he's gotten run in game three, but nothing is official. So I'll have some Brady but he doesn't jump off the page as a must play. Matt Ryan is growing on me as is Austin Hooper who saw almost 30 snaps last week.

Update (5:57pm): Well, two players we were already on (Auden Tate and Damion Willis) have been named starters for tonight's game. That's good and bad. We now know they are locked into probably a little less than two quarters, but their ownership may go up with the announcement. With that, I'll probably have some Andy Dalton and Ryan Finley as Jeff Drikel is not expected to play and I don't think the Bengals' 4th string quarterback gets much more than a series or two.

Update (6:30pm) Lamar Jackson may be OUT tonight, I wouldn't have much if at any at all in your lineups. He hasn't come on to the field yet at the Link. Additionally Evan Engram may be IN, so you can sprinkle him in if you'd like.

Panthers at Patriots

Through reading a few different beat reports, it seems as though Patriots' writers believe the first unit will get a solid amount of playing time. I've read anywhere from four drives to two quarters. Often times the length or amount of drives doesn't matter to the coach, it's how the team looks. If the Patriots come out and light up the Panthers for two quick scores, that might be all she wrote. Rookies Jakobi Meyers and Damien Harris look like they'll be my top two targets from this contest. Meyers has impressed in two straight weeks and the beat reporters are surmising they Pats want to get a look at him with Brady. He could then remain in the game with the second unit since they aren't too deep at receiver currently. After not getting into the first preseason game, Harris looked really spry last week and got 18 touches to boot. I would expect the rest of the touches to be fairly spread out to the other Patriots backs and pass-catchers.

Panthers' Head Coach Ron Rivera divulged to media members this week that he'd like to get three or four successful series out of his starters. We don't know exactly what that means but it does seem like they'll play into the second quarter. For now, the Panthers' starting offense is all in play. Three series of Cam Newton and Curtis Samuel or Christian McCaffrey is definitely enough to hit preseason value. Ron Rivera mentioned Jordan Scarlett and Elijah Holyfield as two players who should play a lot also.