NFL DFS Week 3 D/ST Picks 2026: Top DraftKings & FanDuel Defenses

Published: Sep 24, 2026

Updated: Sep 24, 2026

It always takes forever for the NFL season to arrive, and then once it does, we fly through each week of the regular season, and before you know it, we’ll be breaking down our top DST picks for some postseason DFS contests. We’ve already made it to Week 3, and we’re given a 13-game main slate as Bye weeks and Sunday morning international games have not taken shape just yet.

Once again, we have some expensive DST options worth spending up for. But truly, there are some mid-range and value options on this slate that could really pop off for some slate-breaking scores. I’ll be sure to update this article Sunday morning with any notes/updates based on injuries and practice information that spills out over the next couple of days. Let’s dive in and take a look at the latest NFL DFS Week 3 DST picks on DraftKings and FanDuel!

NFL DFS Week 3 DST Picks

Seattle Seahawks

DraftKings: $3,800 | FanDuel: $4,800

We kick off our NFL DFS Week 3 DST picks with the reigning Super Bowl champions. The Seahawks played their first two games on the West Coast. The only concern I have with this matchup is that Seattle will be on the road against the Washington Commanders. And this game is in the early window. But I don’t tend to dwell on that narrative this early in the season. If we were in full swing during the October or November portion of the schedule, then I’d be a bit more worried about the travel narrative.

But Seattle goes on the road to face the Washington Commanders. And despite the road narrative, the Seahawks are still favored by seven points, and the Commanders have an implied team total of just under 17 points. Jayden Daniels obviously won’t be playing for this game due to last week’s injury. Marcus Mariota will get the start in his place.

The Commanders came into the year with one of the worst offensive lines in the league. Two weeks into the season, they’re living up to that billing. Pro Football Focus recently ranked them as the second-worst O-line in the league through two games. If you can fit this DST in, they should offer a very good floor/ceiling combination for the Sunday main slate.

San Francisco 49ers

DraftKings: $3,600 | FanDuel: $4,900

It truly was a toss-up between the 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs for this spot, but I don’t want to frontload the article with just the expensive teams with good matchups. I want to spread the written sections around to DST’s across the pricing spectrum.

While the Chiefs are in play with a good matchup against the lowly Miami Dolphins, I do give the edge to San Francisco. The 49ers are an 8.5-point favorite at home against the Arizona Cardinals, and the visiting Birds have an implied team total of just 19.5 points. The 49ers defense is currently top five in defensive DVOA, and they’re eighth in EPA per play.

Now they may not have truly been “tested” just yet. In Week 1, they faced the Rams in Australia, and the 49ers put a beating on them, but much has been made about the Rams’ travel arrangements and whether they were operating at their best. Then the following week they played the Miami Dolphins, who they held to just six points for most of the game, but they yielded a garbage-time touchdown in the final two minutes.

All in all, the pass rush looks much better than a year ago, and they’ve been difficult to throw on. The one concern is that the defense could bleed more garbage-time production late in the game, similar to last week. The late touchdown to Miami a week ago arguably cost them about four fantasy points due to the points and yardage they gave up. But they do offer a good floor, and if you like pairing your DST with a running back, then you’ll hear no rebuttal from me by pairing them with Christian McCaffrey.

Minnesota Vikings

DraftKings: $3,100 | FanDuel: $4,300

It is truly hard to tell what the Vikings need to do to gain a little respect and get priced up a little more on DraftKings. In each of their first two games, the Vikings defense has collected four sacks and forced two turnovers. Just last week against the Chicago Bears, they limited their division rival to just three points and under 300 yards of total offense. Sure, the weather was on their side. But the Bears scored 59 points against the Carolina Panthers back in Week 1.

Everyone knows the Vikings operate with heavy blitz packages. Just last week, Andrew Van Ginkel and Dallas Turner both touted a blitz rate over 75%. This week they draw the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Tampa. Per Mike Woellert, the Bucs are giving up a pressure rate of 57.1% when blitzed. And the Bucs have looked very sluggish on offense at times. Just last week against the Cleveland Browns, they scored only one touchdown and had to settle for four field goals when they got into Cleveland’s side of the field. Baker Mayfield got the contract extension he wanted, but he’s struggling to throw the ball deep and has only 398 passing yards through two games.

I’m leaning into the Vikings once again, just given how proactive they are defensively. With each defensive snap, they aim to get pressure on the quarterback, and that can lead to sacks and turnovers. This DST is a potential gold mine every single week if the pressure can correlate to big defensive plays.

Best NFL DFS DST Values for Week 3

Best DraftKings DST Value – Tennessee Titans; $2,400

The Titans go on the road in Week 3, but it’s looking to be a closer game than DraftKings and FanDuel initially thought. With Jaxson Dart officially missing the rest of the regular season, the New York Giants will turn to Jameis Winston to lead them the rest of the way. And I’m not one to take Jameis Winston lightly. But when he came on in relief of Dart earlier this week, he looked awful. He had almost no arm strength, and he completed just 40.7% of his pass attempts while throwing an interception.

The Titans are slight underdogs for this matchup, but the G-Men have an implied team total of just 21 points. The line could shift more towards Tennessee’s favor, but either way, given how Winston looked as if he couldn’t move the ball down the field, the Titans are going to be a trendy value option even if their DST has its warts.

Best FanDuel DST Value – New York Jets; $3,100

To be completely clear, I do think the Tennessee Titans are also a fantastic value option on FanDuel for our NFL DFS Week 3 DST picks. And they’re the same price as the Jets on FanDuel, but I’m mostly listing the Jets as a value play to give you another option outside the chalky Titans.

The Jets defense may not actually be all that bad! Aaron Glenn is a defensive-minded head coach, and this defense, while different in personnel from previous years, is playing pretty well. They’ve collected three sacks in each of their last two games, and they’ve held both the Green Bay Packers and Miami Dolphins to under 200 yards of total offense.

Obviously, the matchup is a huge concern. The Detroit Lions are at home with a little extra time off after playing on Thursday Night Football in Week 2. The Lions have an implied team total of 27 points for this matchup. But again, this is a punt option that won’t carry much ownership, and the Lions haven’t been flawless by any means. They played to the level of the Saints in Week 1, and they struggled offensively in the first half of their matchup against the Bills. The Titans are where we should land for a value cash game DST, but the Jets shouldn’t be overlooked for tournaments if we’re looking to save some salary.

NFL DFS DST Fade for Week 3

New York Giants

DraftKings: $3,400 | FanDuel: $4,600

The Giants are just in a weird spot this week. On paper, they are a defense that I should be interested in. The implied game total is very low at just 38.5 points, and the G-Men are favored by a field goal. But if they didn’t just lose their franchise quarterback for the year, they’d be much bigger favorites.

So the Tennessee Titans come to town, and sure, they’re certainly prone to offensive mistakes. Cam Ward hasn’t exactly taken the league by storm in his sophomore season. Ward has only thrown for 323 total yards through two games, and he touts a 50.6 QBR.

But while the Giants lost their quarterback last week, they’ll likely be without Brian Burns and Deonte Banks for this matchup. Burns is almost a lock to miss the game, while Banks is questionable after working on the sidelines during Wednesday’s practice.

So at the end of the day, they’re the fifth-most expensive DST on the Week 3 main slate, and they’re a bit beat up defensively. This is just one of those cases where I’d rather pay down for more upside, especially with our Play of the Week for our NFL DFS Week 3 DST picks.

NFL DFS Week 3 DST Play of the Week

Cincinnati Bengals

DraftKings: $2,900 | FanDuel: $3,600

I take full responsibility for getting torched in recommending the Carolina Panthers as a fade in Week 2. I’m seeking redemption this week with a high-upside play at DST. The Cincinnati Bengals are no longer the defensive doormat they used to be. I included them in the NFL DFS DST picks back in Week 1, and they delivered with 18 fantasy points. Last week against Houston, they collected 11 fantasy points and kept the Texans in check after Houston went toe-to-toe with the Buffalo Bills in Week 1.

This defense has eight sacks through two games, and they’ve allowed just 27 total points to the Bucs and Texans. For our NFL DFS Week 3 DST picks, they go on the road to face the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Bengals are favored by just over a field goal. We just saw Aaron Rodgers take a beating against the New England Patriots last week, and while I’m a Pats fan myself, I do think there’s untapped potential with the Bengals and their ceiling may be higher.

And while we can never truly expect any defense to blitz as much as the Vikings, in Week 2 the Bengals recorded a 43.5% pressure rate, and five different players on defense had at least four pressures per Jacob Barzilla. Through two weeks, this defense ranks top 10 in EPA per play and defensive success rate.

They may still carry that stigma from previous seasons that this defense is weak and that the Bengals will find themselves in shootouts. And that may be true some weeks, but I’m willing to take some tournament shots on this DST, and they correlate nicely with Chase Brown, as the Steelers' run defense has bled production to opposing running backs through two games.