3 Daily Fantasy Football Players to Avoid in Week 3

Cam Newton, QB, Carolina Panthers

FanDuel Price: $8,100

DraftKings Price: $6,600

The New Orleans Saints defense has already allowed 793 passing yards in two weeks. They're dead last against the pass by our Net Expected Points (NEP) metric. They've allowed lofty FanDuel quarterback scores of 25.54 (Sam Bradford) and 30.78 (Tom Brady). The Carolina Panthers are 5.5-point home favorites with a 26.0 implied team total. And yet, I'm here to tell you that you should consider avoiding Cam Newton.

Coming off shoulder surgery and a preseason in which he only attempted two passes, the numbers simply haven't been there for Newton. Through two weeks he's thrown for 399 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception, along with just 30 rushing yards on 11 attempts. It's resulted in a pedestrian average of 13 fantasy points on both FanDuel and DraftKings, a mark that trails even Josh McCown. Newton will also be missing old standby Greg Olsen this weekend.

The lack of running -- a hallmark of peak Newton -- is especially concerning, and dates back to last season. He has a career per-game average of 37.9 rushing yards on 7.4 attempts. In 2016, that mark fell to 23.9 yards on 6.0 attempts. Including this season, he's now gone seven straight games without scoring a rushing touchdown. If he's not using his legs, that takes a big chunk out of his DFS upside.

But as noted above, this Saints defense is exceptionally poor, so surely he can still rack up the points in a shootout with Drew Brees, right? Except this game isn't in the Superdome, where Brees and the Saints are more likely to put up big scores. While these teams have had some epic fantasy fireworks under the dome, recent history shows this isn't so much the case when they're in Carolina. Over the last four meetings at Bank of America Stadium, the teams have combined for totals of 43, 49, 38, and 30.

Through two weeks, the Panthers defense ranks first by our metrics, so it's quite possible the same trend holds true on Sunday, and they stifle the Saints offense. If that's the case, the Panthers may elect to rely on their run game rather than have Newton sling it, something they have shown they're not afraid to do this year. They rank fifth in rushing play percentage this season.

Despite all the red flags, given the numbers the Saints have allowed, there's always the chance that the Newton of old emerges and dominates this game. It's understandable if you want to pursue that upside. But there is real risk here, and enough other strong quarterback plays to fade him in cash games, and arguably tournaments as well.