5 Daily Fantasy Football Matchups to Exploit in Week 3

Indianapolis Colts Rushing Offense

There's only one game on this slate with an over/under above 48, so you know we're going to be sniffing it all over the place. You can absolutely check out the Colts' passing offense (waddup, Phillip Dorsett?), but it'd be in bad taste to overlook Frank Gore.

Because the Chargers have been slaughtering fools early in games in each of the first two weeks (even though they blew one of those big leads), the Bolts haven't faced heavy exposure to opposing rushing games. You can bet that'll excite a team that ranked 31st in Adjusted Defensive Rushing NEP per play, covering up a weakness more profound than their simultaneously-rough pass defense. Joey Bosa was brought in to change that, but he is yet to debut, so we're not fading a matchup based on a rookie with a bum hamstring.

As a result of their inefficiencies last year, the Chargers allowed nine separate running backs to finish as top-nine weekly scorers at the position. These included such prolific names as Duke Johnson, James Starks, and Jeremy Langford, all of whom finished as top-four weekly scorers when they faced San Diego. There was a lot of muck here, and giving them to Gore at home is conducive to Gucciness.

Gore hasn't been great this year, but he has also been acceptable. He's 18th in Rushing NEP per carry of the 42 backs with 15 carries, and that includes a matchup with a stout Denver Broncos' defense. Unless the Chargers' defense has radically changed since last year, he should be able to find success against them.

The other encouraging aspect of Gore is his usage thus far. Even though the Colts have trailed for almost the entirety of both games, Gore has been on the field for 57.3% of the snaps, including a mark of 68.6% in Week 1. His 9 targets are tied for 13th among all running backs, giving him a cushier floor than his perception would dictate.

This all seems to set up for a decent output for Gore, but his price tells a radically different story. There are 34 running backs more expensive than him on FanDuel even though he has finished as the 12th- and 26th-ranked running back in the first two weeks of the season. Gore is $1,200 cheaper than Christine Michael, $800 less than Justin Forsett, and $200 below Kenyan Drake, who has all of four career touches. Does anybody else find that a bit hard to fathom?

Gore is the lead running back on a quality offense in a good matchup. You're getting cheap exposure to a potentially high-scoring team by utilizing Gore, and he doesn't figure to come at high ownership, so his viability shouldn't be too hard to grasp.