NFL

Week 3 FanDuel NFL Tournament Pivots

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Quarterback

Chalk:

At the top end, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan, and Derek Carr all will be highly sought after. In the mid-range, Cam Newton could be a trendy pick against the New Orleans Saints, while Matthew Stafford may end up being popular in a potential shootout.

Pivots:

Philip Rivers, $7,500 (vs. Kansas City Chiefs): Quarterback is a tricky position to find true pivots off of this week, because there really isn't a lot to like at the top if fading the previously mentioned dudes. You could pay nearly $10k for Tom Brady, who could be playing without Rob Gronkowski and is in a tough matchup, but most of the other top priced options seem like suboptimal plays.

Instead, the best path to a contrarian approach at the position may just be to spend down and hope some (or all) of the expensive options bust. If taking this approach, Philip Rivers should be near the top of your list of candidates.

While the Los Angeles Chargers' implied team total (22.25 points) might not jump off the page, the fact that they're underdogs in this one might actually play into Rivers' favor. Opposing quarterbacks have averaged 45.5 passing attempts while playing catchup against the Kansas City Chiefs through the first two games, averaging 300 passing yards. While Kansas City has a strong defense, Rivers' volume might be enough for him to still put up a strong fantasy performance against the Eric Berry-less Chiefs.

DeShone Kizer, $6,900 (at Indianapolis Colts): DeShone Kizer might fly under-the-radar in this one due to a 21.25 implied team total for the Cleveland Browns and a 4.88 FanDuel point performance in his last game, but he is certainly in play in tournaments.

While neither team boasts a prolific offense, this game may actually have some sneaky shootout potential thanks to the dreadful defenses on both sides of the ball. If you watched the Thursday Night Football game this week -- which featured a 39.5-point over/under and ended up totaling 80 points -- you can see the possibilities.

Few teams have been worse defending pass than Kizer's opponent in this one. The Indianapolis Colts have ranked in the bottom-five against the pass according to our opponent-adjusted Net Expected Points (NEP) metric to start the season, just as they did in 2016 when they finished 29th.

Kizer's gunslinger mentality (he ranks fourth in average intended air yards per attempt) and rushing ability make him an intriguing tournament option when he finds himself in advantageous matchups such as this. Our projections love him this week, listing him as the second-best value at the quarterback position. Give him a look if fading the higher-owned quarterbacks.