3 Daily Fantasy Football Players to Avoid in Week 3

We have a lot of pieces on numberFire geared toward helping you figure out which players you should roster in your DFS contests on FanDuel, but an important aspect of the DFS process is figuring out who you shouldn't play.

Narrowing down your list of potential plays by avoiding those who are destined to underwhelm can go a long way toward helping you create winning lineups.

Zigging when the masses zag is part of giving yourself an edge in DFS, so you'll sometimes be able to make a case for using a player in this piece in an effort to be contrarian -- especially if said player is really good.

Inevitably, some of the players I feature in this article will blow up and pop for a big game, but that comes with the territory of doing a piece like this one -- unless I'm going to tell you to avoid playing dudes who aren't on anyone's radar. I'm not going to do that. I want this piece to be useful.

Here are some players I'm avoiding this week.

Lamar Jackson, QB, Ravens

FanDuel Salary: $8,600

I've got a pattern going through two weeks -- two of the three guys in this piece have quiet games while one goes off. I'm aiming for my first perfect week here in Week 3.

Lamar Jackson is capable of putting forth a slate-breaking performance in any week, and that makes him a scary fade. But I don't like him on this slate.

Some of it has to do with his matchup and expected game environment. The New England Patriots are a solid defense, and this game has a super blah 43.5-point total.

The rest of it has to do with the other high-end signal-callers on the slate and what kind of spots they're in. Josh Allen ($9,000) gets the Miami Dolphins in a game with a 52.5-point total. Jalen Hurts ($8,100) is taking on a pedestrian Washington Commanders D and is $500 less in salary compared to Lamar. Patrick Mahomes ($8,700) will see a skidding Indianapolis Colts defense, and Justin Herbert ($8,200) gets the Jacksonville Jaguars.

I prefer all of those guys to Jackson, and those are just the high-salary passers. Kirk Cousins ($7,600) projects for more FanDuel points than Lamar, per our model, and I'm also intrigued by Joe Burrow ($7,100) at a modest salary in a date with the New York Jets.

As I led with, you can always make a case for having a high-ceiling dude like Jackson in your player pool, but there are too many other quality quarterback plays this week for me to use much of him.

Antonio Gibson, RB, Commanders

FanDuel Salary: $6,700

Similar to Jackson, Antonio Gibson isn't necessarily a bad play in a vacuum, but there are too many other players at his position -- including a couple in his salary range -- that I prefer over him.

Gibson does have some warts in his profile, for sure. He's played only 64.3% and 54.2% of the snaps through two games, with the lower snap count coming last week in a negative game script at the Detroit Lions. He could very well be in a similar position this week with Washington a 6.5-point home 'dog against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Plus, as I mentioned, there are a few other quality running back plays at modest salaries -- specifically David Montgomery ($7,100), Miles Sanders ($6,800) and Leonard Fournette ($7,200) -- who profile as better options if you're shopping in this salary range.

Early draft percentage projections for the main slate have Gibson being fairly popular. He's someone I won't have much of on Sunday.

Brandin Cooks, WR, Texans

FanDuel Salary: $6,600

Brandin Cooks is playing in what might be the worst game of the slate for DFS purposes. The Houston Texans and Chicago Bears team up for an ugly 40.5-point total, which ties the Carolina Panthers-New Orleans Saints game for the slate's lowest over/under.

Cooks is clearly the number-one wideout for the Texans, but given Houston's 19.0-point implied total, I'm not sure how valuable that role is this week. This year, Cooks will likely be best suited as a run-back piece when you're stacking the offense that is facing Houston. That's not at all the situation this week.

The Bears' defense is no slouch, either, permitting only one receiving touchdown this year to a wideout. Facing Chicago on the road should be a tall task for Davis Mills.

Despite Cooks rating out fairly well in projections across the industry, including ours, I'll be looking elsewhere at receiver.