4 NFL FanDuel Value Plays to Target in Week 3

One of the crucial aspects of daily fantasy football is unearthing cheap production.

Our projections can help you do just that by allowing you to sort players by their point-per-dollar value. A lot of times, the top value plays come as a result of injury situations, meaning it's imperative to see inactives on Sunday morning before setting your lineups.

When looking for a salary-saving option, check out one of these main-slate players this week.

Week 3 of the NFL is here! We have a loaded 13-game slate, and there are plenty of options across the board. Let's take a look at some value plays to help you afford the top stars on the main slate.

Jerick McKinnon, RB, San Francisco 49ers ($5,700)

The San Francisco 49ers suffered a series of injuries in Week 2, but that opens up plenty of value.

Last week, the 49ers saw running backs Raheem Mostert and Tevin Coleman both suffer injuries against the New York Jets. This led to both Jerick McKinnon ($5,700) and Jeff Wilson seeing plenty of time on the field. McKinnon played on a total of 13 offensive snaps, had a total of 77 rushing yards on 3 carries, along with a single target, which didn't result in a reception. All three of those carries and the one target came in the second half after Mostert left the game. This is -- hopefully -- an encouraging sign that McKinnon will be a large part of the 49ers' offense going forward.

The 49ers are up against the New York Giants, where the over/under is set at 40.5 points -- the lowest on the entire slate. This isn't ideal, but numberFire's projections still have McKinnon as the second-best value among running backs on the main slate, set to go for 13.9 FanDuel points on nearly 21 total touches.

Darius Slayton, WR, New York Giants ($5,500)

The New York Giants have placed Sterling Shepard on Injured Reserve, and they are yet another team to offer value this week.

I know what you're thinking, "another player from the game with the lowest over/under?" Yes. That is the short answer, but the long answer will show that Darius Slayton ($5,500) is a strong option this week. Through two weeks, Slayton has a target share sitting at 18.42%, which is the second-highest on the team. The third-highest (13.16%) was Shepard, who is now on Injured Reserve. The four-highest (11.84%) was Saquon Barkley, who is done for the year with an ACL injury.

Slayton was already established as a strong option in the offense for the Giants and is now -- arguably -- their best receiving option. He has a total of 15 targets, 9 receptions, 135 yards, and 2 touchdowns through the first two weeks. The receptions, yards, and touchdowns lead the Giants, while the targets are tied for first with tight end Evan Engram.

Jonnu Smith, TE, Tennessee Titans ($5,600)

Jonnu Smith ($5,600) is coming off a monster week for the Tennessee Titans and is still very affordable.

Smith finished with only five targets last week, but he turned that into four catches and two touchdowns for 22.4 FanDuel points. Both of those touchdowns came while in the red zone, building on what we saw in Week 1, where he also caught a touchdown in the red zone against the Denver Broncos. Red zone targets are super valuable to all fantasy players, especially a player like Smith, who doesn't see a super-high volume of targets.

The Titans have a 25.50 implied team total this week as they are up against the Minnesota Vikings, making this a great spot to attack. Last week against the Colts, the Vikings allowed Mo Alie-Cox to go for 111 yards on only 5 receptions. Smith's 30% red zone target share against this horrible pass defense has him coming in as the third-best value among tight ends this week.

A.J. Green, WR, Cincinnati Bengals ($5,900)

I don't know if this has ever been said in NFL DFS, but A.J. Green ($5,900) is a value this week.

With 24 targets through the first two weeks of the season, Green is tied for the second-most in the entire league. However, Green has turned those 24 targets into only 8 receptions, 80 yards, and no touchdowns. That isn't good -- no, that is terrible. Leavings fantasy points on the field is horrible, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel for Green.

Through the first two weeks, Green leads the league with 388 Air Yards, is third in the league with a 44% Air Yard Share, and is 16th with a 14.1 aDoT (Average Depth of Target). Green's underlying metrics are strong, and you can chalk up the first two weeks to him playing for the first time since 2018, getting comfortable with rookie quarterback Joe Burrow, or whatever you want. What matters is that Green owns a 25% target share in the Cincinnati Bengals' offense and his salary makes him an easy addition to your lineups this week.