The Conclusion: DraftKings DFS Core, GPP plays

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Welcome to "The Conclusion." Where each week I will go over my final player pool for DraftKings main slate. This is not a list of all the good players. This is a list of players that will make my final player pool. We can’t play everyone.

My contest selection for the main slate will generally be single- or three-max entry tournaments with less than 1,000 entries. I’ll usually do three lineups each week. This week I’ll be in single-entry small field entries.

Stack No. 1: Philadelphia Eagles at New Orleans Saints

The Philadelphia Eagles will take on the New Orleans Saints for a 1 p.m. EST start time on Sept. 22. This game has the second highest game total on the slate with a total of 49.5.

Both Jalen Hurts (7.3k) and Derek Carr (5.8k) are in play. I’ll likely be rolling with Carr as my quarterback for this stack. You’ll notice a theme throughout this article. I’ll be paying down at quarterback in my stacks compared to their counterparts who are more expensive. It’s not that I don’t like the pay-up spots. I do, they project well. I just don’t like a lot of popular pay-down spots that many are gravitating to, so I need to find other ways to save salary. I don’t expect Carr and the Saints to continue the efficiency they have to start the year. But we also haven’t seen anyone push the Saints. The Eagles certainly have the offense to push them, and even with less efficiency for the Saints we can expect higher volume in plays. If you have the salary to use Hurts, he is certainly in play.

Alvin Kamara (7.5k) and Saquon Barkley (7.7k) are solid options in this stack. Barkley is a great way to get “different” on this game/slate. He will likely be under 10 percent owned across all contests. Kamara is in a great spot and has started the year off on absolute fire. Kamara will draw some ownership, likely over 25 percent in all contests, maybe even 30-plus in small field. Kamara can be used in stacks with Hurts and Carr or a solid one-off.

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I will likely be starting my stack with Carr and Chris Olave (6.3k). Olave hasn’t had a big game yet, but it’s coming at some point. Rashid Shaheed (5.3k) is also a great stacking partner with Carr/Olave. On the other side, Devonta Smith (6.9k) will likely see a majority of the targets for the Eagles. Dallas Goedert (4.6k) can be added to any stack of this game.

I haven’t  decided exactly which way I’ll be attacking this game, but I will start with Carr/Olave and make multiple lineups and see which one looks best.

Stack No. 2:  Houston Texans at Minnesota Vikings

The Houston Texans will head north to take on the Minnesota Vikings at 1 p.m. EST on Sept. 22. We have a respectable total of 46.5.

You can use either C.J Stroud (7.1k) or Sam Darnold (5.8k). Sticking with the theme, I’ll be using Darnold to save some salary. Simply stacking this game without using Cam Akers will make your lineup unique. Everyone but Akers is projecting relatively low owned. Tank Dell being the next highest at about 15 percent. The Vikings are third in the NFL in PROE (pass rate over expectation), something we’ve become accustomed to with coach Kevin O’Connell calling plays. The Texans are 11th in PROE and their top two running backs are out.

Cam Akers is someone I will be fading this week. He is super cheap at $4,700 and is projected to be over 30 percent owned in large field and will likely approach 40 percent in small field. Dare Ogunbowale out snapped Akers last week, Akers had a key fumble and the matchup is not good. If Akers has a “have to have it” score, then I’m willing to lose this week. There is a lot that can go wrong with Akers this week and his ownership is way to high for me.

This stack simple for me. I’m pairing Darnold with Justin Jefferson (8.6k) and bring it back with Nico Collins (7.3k). This will be a very low owned combination. If you wanted to use Dell (5.2k) to save some salary, I’d be ok with that. Collins has the better matchup. If you wanted to add Jalen Nailor (4.4k) or Johnny Mundt (3.1k) to the stack with Darnold you can. I’ll likely keep it with just Darnold/Jefferson/Collins and save salary in a few other spots.

Stack No. 3: Baltimore Ravens at Dallas Cowboys

The Baltimore Ravens will take on the Dallas Cowboys at 4:25 p.m. EST on Sept. 22.  This game has a total of 47.5.

Lamar Jackson (7.5k) is certainly in play in this game but I’ll be using Dak Prescott (6.6k) paired with CeeDee Lamb (8.8k). With me fading Akers this weekend, I’ll be spending more salary at running back than other players and I’ll take the $900 savings with Prescott. If you can make Jackson work, his upside is out the roof.

I’m not interested in any of the running backs in this game, although Derrick Henry is in a decent position. Zay Flowers is too expensive for me. I’ll be turning my attention to Mark Andrews (4.8k) for the Ravens side of this stack. Andrews didn’t blow up last week, but we started to see the Andrews we are used to seeing. Isaiah Likely at $4,700 is priced to close to Andrews for me. If he was in the $3,000-range, I might consider him. Rashad Bateman is a large field dart throw option, but that’s too thin for me in small field contests.

You can add Jalen Tolbert (3.8k) or Jason Ferguson (4.5k) to the stack If you’d like to. I’m more likely to use Tolbert over Ferguson. I don’t use two tight ends, and I plan on using Andrews here. I don’t expect Tolbert to lead the team in targets, but the Ravens have struggled with outside wide receivers to start the season, and Tolbert has ran 67.8 percent of his routes on the outside. With his cheap salary, it only takes one big play touchdown to pay off.  

Game Target No. 1: San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Rams

The San Francisco 49ers head to in-state and divisional rival Los Angeles Ram for a 4:25 p.m. EST start time on Sept. 22. This game a low total of 43.5.

We aren’t expecting fireworks in this game. What we are expecting is concentrated offenses and values. Both these teams are missing multiple key starters. The 49ers will be missing Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and George Kittle. The Rams will be without Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp. I’m going to want pieces of this game in my lineups.

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For the 49ers, we’ll start with Jordan Mason (6.2k) and Brandon Aiyuk (6.2k). Both these player will be the highest owned players at their positions. But not all chalk is bad chalk. These two are expected to soak up most of the offense in a great spot against the Rams who have struggled mightily on defense to start the season. We want to note that Mason will get the bulk of the carries, but he hasn’t been involved in the passing game so far this season. He does have paths to fail or not quite get there. The Rams have been gashed by the Detroit Lions and the Arizona Cardinals running backs this season. Per Rich Hribar of Sharp Football, Aiyuk has run 240 routes with Samuel and Kittle off the field and he has a 29.8 percent team target share. The Rams have been lit up by outside wide receivers and Aiyuk runs 90.8 percent of his routes outside. Getting Aiyuk or Mason in my lineups this week will be a priority. We can also look to Jauan Jennings (4.1k) and Eric Saubert (2.5k).  Saubert caught 2 passes for 26 yards last week. He is a super cheap punt play that allows you to save a ton of money for spend ups at other positions. Jennings will come with more ownership that Saubert, but he will be handling the No. 2 wide receiver spot in a great matchup. Both are in play to save salary.

Things aren’t as clear on the Rams side but all of Demarcus Robinson (5.0k), Jordan Whittington (4.2k), Tutu Atwell (4.3k) and Tyler Johnson (4.7k) are in play. None of these guys are expected to come with high ownership. My favorite of the bunch is Whittington. He ran a route on 100 percent of the drop backs in the second half last week and 72.7 percent of those were in slot. Robinson would be next in line for me. I put Atwell over Johnson as he ran a route on 63.6 percent of the second half drop backs last week compared to just 36.4 for Johnson.

One-offs:

The following list of players will be the players I fill out the rest of lineups with. Whether it be as a mini stack or a one-off. I won’t be able to use everyone, but I will consider all when building lineups.

RB: Devon Achane (7.0k): We’ve seen the usage for Achane with Raheem Mostert out and we’ve seen how Skylar Thompson uses running backs in the pass game. I want to try and get Achane in a lineup if I can.

RB: Tony Pollard (6.0k): Pollard is in a good spot against the Green Bay Packers. The Packers haven’t been able to stop the run this year. Granted, they have played Saquon Barkley and Jonathan Taylor.

RB: Zach Charbonnet (6.0k): Charbonnet is slated to start once again for the Seattle Seahawks. He didn’t light up the scoreboard last week, but his usage was great and he provides multiple paths to get there.

RB: D’Andre Swift (5.6k): Something must give. The Indianapolis Colts can’t stop the run, and the Chicago Bears can’t run the ball. The Colts have been ran over by Joe Mixon and Josh Jacobs to start the regular season and they just lost their best run defender. Swift is averaging 2 yards per carry and has consistently been at the bottom of the league in yards after contact and that’s no different this season. We have seen Swift have big games before and this is a great spot. If we can’t use him now, when can we?

WR: Davante Adams (7.6k): It’ll be hard to get to Adams with what else I want to prioritize, but he needs to be in our player pools. The Las Vegas Raiders, yes, the Raiders are second in the NFL in PROE. Adams is in a good matchup.

WR: Chris Godwin (6.5k): Great usage so far this year, playing in that “Cooper Kupp” role in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' offense. Solid matchup this week. Godwin is certainly in play for us.

WR: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (5.4k): I was high on Smith-Njigba all off-season and last week he had his coming out party. If the Miami Dolphins can hang with Seattle this week, Smith-Njigba is in play as cheaper option at wide receiver.

WR: Diontae Johnson (4.9k): It has not been a good start for Johnson. But in comes Andy Dalton at quarterback for the Carolina Panthers. This should immediately elevate Johnson, and at $4,900 he is definitely in play.

WR: Jameson Williams (5.8k): Williams has been great to start the year even with Jared Goff underperforming for the Lions. This game has the highest game total of the week.

WR: Greg Dortch (4.6k): Dortch is questionable to play, so keep an eye out for his availability. I won’t be attacking this game as much as other players will be, but Detroit has been lit up by slot wide receivers.

TE: Brock Bowers (5.4k): See the Adams write-up about the Raiders PROE. Bowers has had a great start to his career, and this is a great matchup. If I have the $5,400 to spend at tight end, I’ll be playing Bowers.

TE: Trey McBride (6.2k): McBride lines up in the slot on 47.1 percent of his routes ran and Dortch is questionable to play. The Lions have been very leaky to slot players this season. McBride has great usage. I think I prefer the savings with Bowers.

Note: If Jordan Love starts this week for Green Bay, all the Packers wide receivers are in play. There is nothing special about the matchup, but they are all relatively cheap. Jayden Reed is $5,900, Romeo Doubs is $5,600 and Christian Watson is $4,900.

That will be it for the Week 3 player pool. Should anything change and I add anyone to the player pool, I’ll be sure to update that on X. You can follow me Twitter/X here. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out. Good luck this weekend and we’ll see you at the top of the leader board.