Buy Demaryius Thomas and Julius Thomas
Normally going into CenturyLink against the Seattle Seahawks would be considered a fantasy black hole for visiting teams. While that might very well be the case for Emmanuel Sanders, who will be lining up against Richard Sherman, the same cannot be said about the Thomas "brothers."
Seattle plays corner coverage, which means that Demaryius Thomas will line up against Byron Maxwell in this one. The struggling Seahawks cornerback is giving up a 77 percent completion rate when targeted this season. With Sherman likely to shut down Sanders, it makes perfect sense to believe that this Thomas "brother" will receive 12-plus targets come Sunday.
As it relates to Julius Thomas, he's going up against a Seahawks defense that yielded three touchdowns to Antonio Gates last week. With Tharold Simon and Jeremy Lane still sidelined, he's likely going to line up against a combination of K.J. Wright and Marcus Burley. Wright has given up nine receptions on nine targets this year. The slot has and will continue to be an issue for Seattle.
Avoid Philadelphia Eagles Wide Receivers
On the surface, it seems that Eagles' receivers would be a solid play against what has been a bad Washington Redskins secondary. But through two weeks, that just doesn't seem the case. Jeremy Maclin and Riley Cooper have caught a combined 42 percent of the passes thrown in their direction this season. In addition to that, DeAngelo Hall has surprisingly been a shutdown corner thus far, allowing just two receptions on four targets.
While Philadelphia might very well continue to perform well from a scoring standpoint, expecting it to tally 500 yards and 40-plus points in this game just isn't realistic. At $6,300 this week, Maclin doesn't represent tremendous value. Instead. look at some of these cheaper options.
Steve Smith, Baltimore Ravens: $6,200
DeAndre Hopkins, Houston Texans: $6,200
Mohamed Sanu, Cincinnati Bengals: $6,100
Kendall Wright, Tennessee Titans: $5,900
As it relates to Cooper, he's simply not a viable daily play this week, and his $5,400 price tag pretty much indicates that. Avoid him at all cost.
Look for Value at Running Back
Looking at the most-expensive daily options at running back, no one jumps out at me. Arian Foster is questionable with an injury at $8,800, while Jamaal Charles won't be suiting up. Meanwhile, Marshawn Lynch ($8,900) didn't practice on Wednesday due to a nagging back issue and will likely be a game-time decision. This issue forced him to see just six rush attempts against the San Diego Chargers last week. At $8,800, Le'Veon Bell isn't a solid option against what has been a dominating Carolina Panthers defense.
What does this all mean? Well, you'd be better off going for and attempting to find value a bit lower at running back in Week 3. This would enable you to get truly elite players at other positions while fully understanding what's happened at running back around the league through the first two weeks.
At $7,000, it would appear that Knile Davis is a solid play in replacement of Charles. Davis is averaging 26.7 touches per game in the last three outings that Charles has been out of action. He's also averaging over five receptions per outing during that span.
Chris Johnson could also be a solid under-the-radar play here. While the Chicago Bears did hold Frank Gore and Co. in check last week on the ground, it's not a unit that strikes fear in opposing running games. Johnson's ability to get outside the hashes on a consistent basis could be huge here.
Don't Buy the Cardinals and 49ers
San Francisco ranks sixth in total defense while the Cardinals are 10th in yards allowed. Some may want to consider buying the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd, Michael Crabtree and Anquan Boldin in this one. I am here to tell you to avoid those four receivers at nearly every cost.
Some suggest that Fitzgerald lining up against rookie Jimmie Ward in the red zone may indicate that the future Hall of Famer is a solid start option here. That's simply not the case. Chris Culliver will be lining up against Fitzgerald outside of the red zone, while the 49ers will utilize shade coverage his way inside the 20.
The players to look at here could potentially be Colin Kaepernick, who is looking to rebound from a disastrous Week 3 performance, and Andre Ellington. Even in those cases, just look in another direction with better all-around matchups.