NFL DFS Week 3: FanDuel and DraftKings' top daily fantasy football picks include De'Von Achane and Jahmyr Gibbs

Every NFL season brings its share of early-season surprises and the 2024 NFL season is no exception. The New Orleans Saints have a 2-0 record with a +62 point differential, the best of any team in football. Saints running back Alvin Kamara was the RB1 in fantasy football last week, so he could be someone to consider in your Week 3 NFL DFS strategy. In contrast, the Baltimore Ravens have a 0-2 record after finishing with the best record in the AFC last season, so daily fantasy football players will need to figure out how to value Lamar Jackson, Zay Flowers, and Mark Andrews when making their Week 3 NFL DFS lineups.

Sunday's Week 3 NFL DFS core player pool includes stars like Jalen Hurts, CeeDee Lamb, and Jonathan Taylor, so who should you include in your NFL DFS picks? Who are some of the surprise NFL DFS players that aren't as well-known that you should consider for your Week 3 NFL DFS picks? Before making any Week 3 Sunday NFL DFS core lineups on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, make sure you check out the NFL DFS core players that you should consider in your Week 3 NFL DFS picks. Check out NFL DFS tips, strategy and stacks from SportsLine's daily fantasy expert Mike McClure.

McClure is a legendary professional DFS player with more than $2 million in career earnings. He uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every NFL play, taking into account factors like matchups, statistical trends and injuries. This allows him to find the best DFS values ​​that he shares only with SportsLine members. His methodology has led to huge wins on FanDuel and DraftKings, including: last year, he won the DraftKings Millionaire Maker twice and the FanDuel Million once. Anyone who has followed him is way up there.

Now, McClure has turned his attention to the NFL's Week 3 main Sunday programming and has just set his top daily fantasy football picks. You can only see his predictions and analysis at SportsLine.

Top NFL DFS picks for Week 3

One of McClure’s top NFL DFS picks from Sunday’s Week 3 main slate is Dolphins running back De’Von Achane for $7,000 on DraftKings and $7,700 on FanDuel. Miami is playing its first game of the season without quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who suffered a concussion on Thursday Night Football in Week 2. Skylar Thompson will be the starting quarterback on Sunday and that will likely limit the big-play potential of wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle. Thompson, a seventh-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, averaged 120.5 passing yards in his two regular-season starts in 2022.

Miami will likely lean more heavily on its running attack against Seattle in Week 3 and Achane should handle the bulk of the carries. Raheem Mostert missed last week with a chest injury and may not be able to return Sunday. Achane rushed for 96 yards on 22 carries and added seven receptions for 69 yards and a touchdown last week against Buffalo. Four of those seven receptions came from Thompson, as Achane could see a high volume of targets near the line of scrimmage as Thompson may need some time to develop chemistry and timing with the wide receivers.

Part of McClure’s optimal NFL DFS strategy also includes adding Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs ($6,800 at DraftKings, $7,900 at FanDuel) to the roster. Gibbs rushed for 84 yards on 6.5 yards per carry and added seven receptions for 22 yards last week against Tampa Bay. Though Gibbs is still in a timeshare with David Montgomery, he’s been the more effective back, averaging 5.2 yards per carry on 24 attempts compared to Montgomery’s 4.5 yards per carry on 28 carries this season.

The Lions face the Cardinals, who had the second-worst scoring defense (26.8 points per game) in the NFL last season and allowed 34 points to the Bills in Week 1 before holding an injury-riddled Rams team to 10 points last week. Gibbs is a big-play back, and the Cardinals allowed the most rushing yards (143.2 per game) and second-most yards per carry (4.7) last season. See who else McClure likes here.

How to set your top NFL DFS lineups for Sunday in Week 3

McClure also has his sights set on another underrated player who could explode and make huge numbers on Sunday. This pick could be the difference between winning tournaments and cash games or going home empty-handed. You can only see who he is and the rest of McClure's NFL DFS picks at SportsLine..

So who is Mike McClure including in his optimal NFL DFS lineups for Week 3 on Sunday, and which little-known NFL DFS picks offer great value for Week 3 of the 2024 NFL season? Visit SportsLine now to see NFL DFS picks, rankings, advice and optimal stacks, all from a daily Fantasy expert with more than $2 million in earnings.and find out.