Week 3 FanDuel NFL Tournament Pivots

Running Back

Chalk:

Melvin Gordon, $7,100 at Indianapolis Colts - Due to the litany of recent injuries, there are several available value plays at the running back position, highlighted by Melvin Gordon, Theo Riddick, and Charles Sims. All three appear set to be very popular options this week in their expanded roles.

Pivots:

David Johnson, $8,400 at Buffalo Bills - If paying up at running back, daily fantasy owners will likely be more inclined to just shell out a little more salary for DeAngelo Williams, who easily leads running backs in scoring through two weeks. As a result, David Johnson will probably end up seeing much lower ownership than he should against the Buffalo Bills. The Bills ranked as the worst run defense in 2015 according to our metrics and are fresh off allowing Matt Forte to put up 29.9 FanDuel points against them.

Johnson has been just as beastly as we remembered him from last year through two games, piling up 275 combined rushing and receiving yards. He also currently leads all running backs in Total Net Expected Points (NEP) through two weeks, after ranking first in Rushing NEP per carry among qualified backs in 2015. With the Arizona Cardinals listed as 4-point favorites and boasting a 25.5-point implied team total, game script sets up well for Johnson to have a huge game against Buffalo's defense.

Frank Gore, $5,700 vs San Diego Chargers - What's the difference between Frank Gore and all the other value plays available this week? Well, other than the fact that he is cheaper and will have lower ownership, there isn't much. Oh, unless you want to count the fact that he has the best matchup of all of them, against a San Diego Chargers defense that ranks 31st in Adjusted Defensive Rushing NEP per play this season after also ranking as the second-worst rush defense last year, according to our metrics.

There's also the fact that he is the only one that we have actually seen in a featured role, as he has accounted for nearly 80 percent of the Colts' running back carries through two games. Oh yeah, he also plays for a team with a higher implied team total than any of the other value backs, as Indy's 27-point implied team total ranks second on the slate. If there is ever going to be a week to target Gore, this week is it.