DFS NFL Picks: 2016 Week 3

QB:
Drew Brees-New Orleans Saints: Brees completed 29-of-44 passes for 263 yards and one touchdown Sunday in what was supposed to be a fantasy shootout between two high powered offenses. He plays another suspect defense next week (Falcons) and should have a bounce back game at home.

RB:
David Johnson-Arizona Cardinals: Johnson has proved that the is a three every time he gets the ball. He faces a struggling Buffalo Bills defense this week.

WR:
Antonio Brown-Pittsburgh Steelers: Brown was limited to four catches on 11 targets for 39 yards on Sunday, but expect him to bounce back in a big way next week as the Steelers hit the road to face the Philadelphia Eagles.

Julio Jones-Atlanta Falcons: ones had five catches, 106 yards, and one touchdown Sunday and could be argued as the best WR in football. He should be fine come Sunday.

TE:
Jordan Reed-Washington Redskins: Reed was targeted seven times on Sunday, catching five passes for 70 yards. The only problem with Reed is that Josh Doctson had several designed end zone plays, limiting Reed's. But Reed should be fine by Sunday.

D/ST:
Seattle Seahawks: Is there any surprise that the Seahawks are the best defense in the NFL right now, at least in the minds of many? They are a defense you need to pick every week (Except the team's bye week, obviously).

DFS NFL Picks: 2016 Week 2

Ezekiel Elliott could be one of the top RB choices for
Week 2.

QB:
Ben Roethlisberger - Pittsburgh Steelers: Three QBs came to our head here. Ryan Fitzpatrick faces the Bills on Thursday, and he had a pair of touchdowns in both games against them last year. Meanwhile, Joe Flacco faces the Browns, who he has a great history against. But ultimately, we feel Ben Roethlisberger is the way to go. He has performed excellent again the Bengals, who he faces this weekend.

WR:
Giant Mania: The Giants face the Steelers this weekend. No doubt Odell Beckham Jr. should be started, but Sterling Shepherd may be worth taking a chance on. The rookie wide receiver seems to have potential. But the salsa is back! Victor Cruz played his first regular season game after missing many from a slew of injuries and was even able to do that famous TD dance this past Sunday against Dallas. The Giants wide receiver position may get interesting, so follow up on that for sure.

TE:

Rob Gronkowski - New England Patriots: No question, if Gronkowski is healthy enough to start, start him. If not, fins another TE. Could not be more simpler.

RB:
Ezekiel Elliott - Dallas Cowboys: Elliott didn't exactly have the best week in Week one against the Giants, but he did score a TD and should do very well against a Redskins defense that struggled greatly in Week 1.

D/ST:
Seattle Seahawks: You're looking at possibly the NFL's best defense in the current day that is about to face the struggling Rams offense in this scenario. No question to pick Seattle, but definitely also consider the Minnesota Vikings defense. They're coming off an impressive two touchdown week 1 perfoemance, but it will definitely be hard for them to replicate that. Still, consider them.

Getting the boot: Kickers make a big impact in Week 1

NEW YORK (AP) — It is called football, after all. And in Week 1 of the NFL season, the kicking game has been critical, from the season opener on Thursday night through the finale of Sunday's first full day of action.

Matt Prater knocked his 43-yard field goal through to lift Detroit past Indianapolis, his 13th winning or tying field goal with under 4:00 to play in the fourth quarter or in overtime.

Chandler Catanzaro missed his potential winner from 47 after a bad snap, and New England escaped at Arizona.

Mike Nugent came through for Cincinnati against his former Jets team, and Graham Gano failed for Carolina vs. Denver.

Five kickers botched 33-yard extra points, though four of their teams won. The Jets' Nick Folk, who'd never missed a PAT in his 10-year NFL career, saw his string of 312 straight makes end. Plus, he had a field goal blocked in a 23-22 defeat.

"I feel like I let the team down," Folk admitted. "If we make the extra point and the field goal, they need a touchdown at the end. That would have put us up six, so it's just frustrating from my end."

He gets an early chance to make up for it: "We have a game in four days (at Buffalo), so we have to bounce back pretty quick."

No kicker had more to bounce back from since last season than Minnesota's Blair Walsh. He infamously shanked a 27-yard field goal on the final play of a wild-card game against Seattle in January, and had to live with that memory until Sunday.

Then he missed two field goals and an extra point at Nashville before snapping out of his funk and connecting on four field goals in a 25-16 win.

"It's nice to bounce back with four field goals, and we won the game," said Walsh, who was supported by coach Mike Zimmer afterward. "They were important kicks. But, man, you want to take the drama out of it, that's for sure."

There was enough kicking drama this week to fill a soap opera. Not all of it involved placekickers, either.

Catanzaro's wide-left boot came after a bad snap from rookie Kameron Canaday. That sparked the usual criticism from afar of the Cardinals for saving money on the position.

Jaguars punter Brad Nortman landed consecutive kicks at the Green Bay 3 that flipped the field and helped Jacksonville take a 10-7 lead. Those punts didn't seem so significant at game's end in Green Bay's 27-23 win, but they helped keep the Jags in it early.

A 17-yarder by Chargers rookie Drew Kaser certainly played a major role in San Diego blowing a 21-point lead at Kansas City and falling in overtime. The Chiefs took over at the San Diego 42 and marched to the tying touchdown.

Chargers coach Mike McCoy didn't exactly distinguish himself by opting to have Josh Lambo try a 54-yard field goal on fourth-and-2 while up 27-10 earlier in the fourth quarter.

No good.

McCoy had been told by special teams coach Craig Aukerman that Lambo "was crushing the ball."

"He had all the confidence in the world before the game," McCoy said of Lambo, "so I had all of the confidence in the world, too."

Saints rookie kicker Wil Lutz, a late signee after spending the preseason in Baltimore, was 2 for 4 on field goals and made his four extra points in a 35-34 loss to Oakland. And it's hard to blame him for missing a desperation 61-yarder on the final play.

Somewhat embarrassingly, though, Lutz and holder Thomas Morstead began hugging in celebration on that last kick before it faded short.

For all of the made and missed field goals, the sublime and sickly punts, possibly the most noteworthy footwork in Week 1 came on kickoffs.

With touchbacks now coming out to the 25-yard line instead of the 20, there is added incentive to "pooch" the kickoffs and have them drop inside the 5.

Naturally, it was 2015 All-Pro Stephen Gostkowski doing the brilliant kicking for the Patriots.

Four of his six kickoffs didn't enter the end zone, and Arizona's final drive started at the 8 (including a Cardinals penalty).

"Our kickoff team, we went into the game feeling like we had to make some field position plays in the kicking game," coach Bill Belichick said. "You don't want to put their offense on a short field. If you can pile a few more yards onto the drive, hopefully it works in your favor. I know there was a lot of sentiment to eliminate that play, but those are the kinds of plays that are good strategy plays in football.

"Certainly, we had an opportunity to kick it out of the end zone on the last kickoff, but with a good field goal kicker, a good offense, good quarterback, we try to put them on as long a field as we could."

Yep, keeping the foot in football.

via Associated Press.

Mariota the answer to the Titans' QB problem?

Marcus Mariota showed in his rookie year as Tennessee Titans quarterback in 2015 that he had the right "stuff," let's say, to be the team's franchise QB.

Mariota threw 2818 yards with 19 TD passes and only 10 interceptions, along with a 62% pass completion.

Mariota would have put up better numbers if knee injuries had not caused him to miss the first four games of the season.

But with the Titans releasing QB Zach Mettenberger earlier this offseason, and bringing in Matt Cassel to be the team's backup QB, it seems like Mariota may officially be the team's new starting QB.

Dolphins Plan An Attacking Defense

As the Dolphins went through their offseason program, there was one word that kept coming back when the discussion turned to the system and philosophy brought in by new defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. 

Attack.

“It pretty much sums it up,” Head Coach Adam Gase said. “I mean, I’m sure that we’re making it easy as far as what we’re saying, but for the most part that’s what we want our guys to do.” 

Defensive end Cam Wake had a pretty similar assessment. 

“Attack, that’s one word,” Wake said. “It’s something that I think fits well with a lot of guys that are going to be playing in it. Just getting after it, being aggressive … I think that’s something that a lot of guys really will enjoy. I’m one of those guys and I look forward to it.” 

The other term we heard throughout the spring was “Wide 9 defense,” which actually isn’t so much a scheme as it is an alignment within a scheme. 

The “wide 9” refers to the defensive gap along the line of scrimmage located outside the tight end. A January 2016 article in Philadelphia magazine indicated the idea of using that formation with the defensive ends lined up wide first came from the 1999 Tennessee Titans, whose defensive staff included Jim Schwartz and new Dolphins senior defensive assistant/pass rush specialist Jim Washburn. 

Schwartz used the technique quite a bit during his time as head coach of the Detroit Lions when Washburn was on his staff and some of his players included current Dolphins defensive linemen Ndamukong Suh and Jason Jones. 

“I enjoy it,” Suh said. “I enjoy that attack-style defense. It has suited me well. (I have) broken records with it. If you’ve had success with something, why not go back to it?” 

Said Jones: “To tell you the truth, there are a lot of defenses that work around the league. Being a 9-technique, it does have its advantages in the run game. It’s just about the players you have, how it is coached and how you go out there and play. It could be a 3-4 or it could be a 4-3, it’s just how you go out there and play. To me, it’s all talent. I think any player could probably play (in a Wide 9 defense), it’s just what that player has built inside and what coaches you have.” 

One of the ideas behind the Wide 9 is taking away stretch runs from the opponent and forcing them to run inside, which puts pressure on the defensive tackles and linebackers to fill the gaps and make tackles. 

The Wide 9 also puts an emphasis on speedy pass-rushing defensive ends, which the Dolphins certainly have with Wake and Mario Williams. 

Once training camp starts, the Dolphins’ defensive players will learn more and more about their new scheme, but their early impressions were favorable. 

Asking what has struck him so far about the Wide 9 defense, linebacker Jelani Jenkins said: “That we are just always attacking. I think that’s just the biggest part of it. It’s a very attack-style defense (with) constant pressure and I think that’s how we like it.” 

“It’s fairly easy, but it’s difficult,” Williams said about learning the new defensive scheme. “By that, I mean (Joseph) is really relying on the guys up front to turn it loose and get after it, which is what most of us (are) accustomed to doing. The difficult part is changing old habits in general, especially with the new acquisitions and stuff that we have. We’re players who have done different things in the past as far as schemes and stuff like that, but it’s exciting to cut it loose, turn loose."

(via Miami Dolphins)

Allen Robinson discusses his outlook, Jaguars offense

"The 100 Yards" Staff Report

Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Allen Robinson recently sat down with CBS Sports and discussed many topics, like his fantasy outlook and many other topics on the Jaguars.

Robinson was the No. 4 Fantasy receiver in standard leagues. He is one of just four receivers since the 1970 merger to have at least 1,400 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns and average at least 17.5 yards per catch.

The other three are Calvin Johnson, Randy Moss and Jerry Rice, and only Robinson and Rice did it in their second seasons.

Robinson finished with 80 catches on 152 targets.

Robinson said numerous times the Jaguars offense should be more "efficient," which is the focal point this year.

"It's being better on third downs, being better in the red zone and just being more consistent," he said. "We know it's not going to be how we want all the time, but we can't go as many possessions over the course of weeks without scoring in the red zone or converting at the right rate we want on third down."

RB Analysis: Le'Veon Bell and his knee injury

"The 100 Yards" Fantasy Football Report

Le'Veon Bell

Pittsburgh Steelers RB Le'Veon Bell (knee) said recently that the only thing he hasn’t been cleared for is cutting and sprinting.

There is still no timetable for Bell’s return, 

"I feel like I am going to be a better player at the end of this and that’s what I want,” Bell said. For Bell to say that means thathe is goingto be 100%when he starts playing.

TIP: Bell is arguably the No. 1 fantasy running back when he's fully healthy. His pass-catching ability makes him all the more valuable in PPR leagues. Assuming he makes a full recovery this offseason, Bell should be one of the first players selected in fantasy drafts.

Info from this article came from USA TODAY Sports.