A couple of weeks ago, I was enlightened to the world of CDM Sports and their season long points scoring contest. While I was sucked into that format for most of the days leading up to Week 1, I am now here to tell you about another contest offered on the site: Play 3 Fantasy Football.

Whereas the points scoring contest is a season long engagement, Play 3 lasts for three weeks at a time, with the potential to continue through Week 15 and into the playoffs if you so please. Whereas the points scoring contest is very intricate, Play 3 is not. In Play 3, it’s this simple: In a PPR scoring format, you pick 10 players (2 QB, 3 RB, 3 WR, 2 TE)… That’s it. No budget, no transaction fees, no lineup changing fees, just pick who you think will be the 10 highest scoring players each week.

Now you are probably wondering how you can win money. Here’s how it plays out…

Prizes are awarded at the end of each 3-Week Mini Contest to the Top Half of all entries entered in the 3-Week Mini Contest, and the Top 100 entries will earn a FREE entry into the Playoff Contest. Prizes are also awarded at the end of each Week to the top 3 highest scoring teams each week during the 15 weeks of the contest. Overall prizes are awarded at the end of the 15 week contest to the top 25 entries based on their 3 single highest scoring weeks. For a visual aid, look below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are good enough to gain entry to the playoff championship contest, you will have a shot at a weekly prize of $500 for each playoff round, and a grand prize of $10,000 by the time the Conference Championships are all settled.

Considering this is the first week of the Play 3 contest, I hopped on into the fire and made myself a lineup. With the ability to change any players you want at any time throughout the three-week process (except during games of course), each Tuesday I will be critically analyzing each NFL matchup. For this week, I took what I learned from the simple rules and applied them to my lineup. So I filled the 10 slots with whom I believe to have the highest point scoring potential for Week 2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn’t get too cute here with my two quarterbacks, as I rolled the dice on not only what the Saints did offensively last week and what the Saints are capable of defensively, but I harked back to the memory banks of last season when these two teams (Giants and Saints) put up a shootout for the ages. Please let me just refresh you on what both Brees and Manning did in this very same matchup in 2015…

Manning: 30-of-41, 350 yards, 6 TD’s

Brees: 39-of-50, 505 yards, 7 TD’s

Final Score: Saints 52, Giants 49.

Sure the Giants new high-priced defense looked good last week against a rookie quarterback, but so too was the new high-priced Raiders defense supposed to look, but unfortunately for them, future hall of famer Drew Brees and the high-powered Saints offense instead carved them up like a Thanksgiving turkey. Brees is always a safe pick to produce in fantasy each week, but this week, coming off of a game in which he tossed for over 400 yards and four touchdowns, he seems to be in the form needed to go after his record numbers that he set against these same Giants last season.

Believe it or not, my Eli argument is much more convincing and I can make it with far fewer words… The Saints defense.

Manning was slow out of the gates for sure in Week 1 against Dallas, but lets keep in mind that he may possess the best receiving corps in football and he will be taking on a defense that last season was statistically the worst in NFL history. And oh yeah, that same defense just lost their number one cornerback to a broken leg. Manning right now is currently somewhere licking his chops.

For analysis on my running back selections, check out my “Nostra-Dom-Us” segment of my most recent edition of “Running Back Workloads”.

As for the wideouts, they were a tough choice considering so many of them continue to produce at a high level week in and week out. My first instinct was to go with the top three names on the list: Antonio Brown, Julio Jones, and Odell Beckham. Instead I decided to do two things:

1) Put my money where my mouth is and double down on this Saints vs. Giants matchup.

I selected ODB with no qualms considering the fact that he’s arguably the league’s premier receiver and because he hauled in three TD’s in this matchup last season, but my other choice in this matchup was to roll with Brandin Cooks who caught two against the Giants in 2015.

2) Ride the hot hand.

To go back to Cooks, the more I thought about it, the more I liked his selection. Not only did he scorch the G-Men for two TD’s last season, but on top of that, he’s coming off of a Week 1 in which he hauled in six catches for 143 yards and another two touchdowns. Something tells me he’s poised for an even bigger Week 2. The final spot also coincides with “riding the hot hand” as no one had a bigger Week 1 than A.J. Green. Green took the artist formerly known as “Revis Island” out back and gave him a whipping that he will never forget. When all was said and done, Green finished with 12 catches, for 180 yards, and a touchdown. Taking on the Steelers this week, he should again have a favorable matchup considering they have no imposing force in that secondary.

At the tight end position, I picked not only premier names, but I picked players in matchups that favor targets in their direction.

There is no question that the Texans feature one of the most intimidating pass rushes in the game today. When a quarterback is under duress, whom do they most often seek out for security? Their tight end. Travis Kelce not only will be that very tight end in this matchup this week, but he also happens to be the number one receiver in the Chiefs offense.

My pick of Walker is far less thought out and more simplistic. He’s an elite talent and the Lions do not have an elite defense. They have no elite linebacker or safety to matchup with him all game, so I predict considerable targets and production coming out of him in Week 2.

So there you have it folks. My Play 3 lineup in the flesh. As is only fair, I may tweak my lineup prior to Thursday’s start based off of new depth chart information or injury reports. After this week of games, I will again analyze the schedule on Tuesday, but this time you won’t be getting my cheat sheet. If you want more, you are just going to have to join me on http://www.cdmsports.com/football/play3