NFL Week 3 DFS value picks: Dameon Pierce has upside against Chicago’s defense

Some value plays for Week 3.

Putting together a winning DFS roster is like hitting on an eight-leg parlay. You’ve got to be almost perfect and can hardly afford to have any misses in your lineup. Given the money you’re allocated, piecing together that roster can be really dang hard.

Here at Bet For The Win, we want to lend a helping hand. We’ll help you find the low-price, high-reward players that’ll help your roster building.

There are plenty of DFS value plays to make in Week 3. But for your lineups, you’ll need to make sure you target these specific players.

Here are the must-have players across each position.

Tim Tebow picked up and carried Paul Finebaum around like a child on live TV

The former Heisman Trophy winner scooped up the radio host while simulating some X’s and O’s for Roman Harper and SEC Network viewers.

Admit it, you’ve wanted to tackle Paul Finebaum before, right?

Whether it’s been on his long-running radio show or some other ESPN show, Finebaum has probably slighted your team, especially if you’re a fan of a squad in the SEC.

Well, you can live vicariously through Tim Tebow.

On Saturday’s SEC Nation, Roman Harper wanted to break down some X’s and O’s for viewers, so he enlisted Tebow, Jordan Rodgers and Finebaum to line up and simulate some live action football. Tebow was setting up as a wide receiver and Finebaum was the corner, and Finebaum got a little pushy when he was trying to jam Tebow at the line of scrimmage.

So, Tebow — who is a much larger human being than Finebaum — just scooped him up, like a toddler picking up a teddy bear. This is what happens when a former Heisman Trophy winner lines up against someone with a body built for radio.

SEC Nation is kind of like ESPN’s College Gameday; it’s a live Saturday morning show before a big game, but it’s southern and bit more fun. And Tebow carrying Finebaum around is a perfect example of that.

SEC Nation was broadcasting this week from No. 23 Texas A&M versus No. 10 Arkansas in Arlington, Texas. Despite Arkansas being 3-0, the Aggies (2-1) are 2.5-point favorites.

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Maryland takes opening kickoff to the face in worst possible start at Michigan

Not and ideal start for the Terrapins on the road.

It was going to be an uphill climb for the Maryland football team, as it went on the road to face a Michigan squad that is not only No. 4 in the country but also one that has scored at least 50 points in all three wins so far this season (including a 59-0 win over UConn last week).

The Terps were 17.5-point underdogs heading into the game, and Maryland needed things to go perfectly to hope for the huge upset.

Well, things didn’t get off to a great start. The Wolverines boomed the opening kickoff down the field, but Maryland’s Tai Felton misread the ball. Instead of a clean catch, it bounced off his face mask. Michigan would recover and score a touchdown one play later.

Here’s another angle of this not great start:

Maryland responded strongly, however, tying up the game 10-10 late in the first quarter. Can the Terps keep things close at the Big House?

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App State is wearing awesome ‘Yosef’ helmets, so it’s another Saturday you pay attention to them

We have a certified uniform battle between App State and JMU this week.

Appalachian State has dominated college football storylines this season.

You remember, right? They scored 40 points in the fourth quarter in a wild Week One game, only to lose 63-61 to North Carolina. The Mountaineers followed that up with a historic win though, going down to College Station, Texas to upset then-ranked No. 6 Texas A&M. And then last weekend – with ESPN’s College GameDay in Boone – App beat Troy on a tipped Hail Mary as time expired.

This weekend, App State hosts James Madison. The Mountaineers are a -6.5 favorite in a game that will stream on ESPN+ at 3:30 p.m. EST. So, it’s not a game that you *need* to pay attention to, right?

Wrong.

App State is wearing all-black uniforms with awesome helmets.

Behold: Yosef.

Any team that’s sporting helmets featuring a bearded man wearing a brimmed hat and smoking a pipe is worth watching.

Back in 2020, they wore white helmets featuring a patriotic Yosef. App State won that game 78-58, so it’s pretty obvious that Yosef has magical offensive powers.

According to App State’s website, its mascot – Dan’l Boone Yoseff from Appalachian – was introduced in 1941. The second “f” in his name got dropped in 1947, for reasons that are unclear. Anyway, the Yosef logo became popular in Boone during the 1970s, and App State reintroduced it to fans around 2012, just a few years before they made the jump to FBS in 2014.

Of course, there’s on-field football reasons you should pay attention to this game too.

James Madison is off to a nice start in their first season of FBS ball with a 2-0 record. In their first FBS game, they beat Middle Tennessee State 44-7. The Dukes followed that up with a 63-7 thrashing of Norfolk State.

This game for JMU will be their first-ever in the Sun Belt conference – you know this as the #FunBelt – but they have plenty of history with App, a fellow former FCS powerhouse. This is the first trip to Boone for JMU since a 2007 FCS playoff game, which App won 28-27 after a key fourth down conversion and fumble recovery. App went on to win its third straight FCS national championship that season (and yes, the Mountaineers’ famous win over Michigan happened at the beginning of that campaign).

App State is 12-4 all-time against JMU, and the two schools are separated by about 265 miles.

JMU is armed with a defense that is No. 1 in the nation in fewest yards allowed per-game (163), and grad-transfer quarterback Todd Centeio, who previously played at Temple and Colorado State. He threw six touchdowns passes in his Dukes’ debut, tying a single-game program record.

And since App State is wearing all-black on Saturday, that of course means the Dukes are wearing all-white. These uniforms are pretty sharp too.

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College GameDay: See Lee Corso’s headgear pick for Florida vs. Tennessee

Lee Corso is going with the Volunteers this week.

The ESPN College GameDay crew traveled to Knoxville, Tennessee for Week 4, posting up before the No. 11 Volunteers host the No. 20 Florida Gators. Tennessee is looking to improve to 4-0 on the season with a win over No. 17 Pittsburgh already on its resume.

Florida is 2-1 with both a ranked win (over No. 7 Utah), a ranked loss (to No. 20 Kentucky) and a win over South Florida in 2022. The Gators are looking for a pivotal SEC East win to counterbalance the 0-1 conference start, but the Vols are trying to keep pace with Georgia and Kentucky atop the standings.

Florida heads into Neyland Stadium as 10.5 point underdogs per Tipico Sportsbook, but Lee Corso went with the favorite this week:

Hopefully someone will let Smokey relax for a little bit before the game. So many noises and so much confetti.

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Why are LSU’s and Clemson’s stadiums both called Death Valley?

A tale of two Death Valleys: Explained.

During the 2019-20 college football season, Clemson and LSU met in the College Football Playoff national championship game. It was a battle of the undefeated, a battle of Tigers and, most importantly, a battle of Death Valley.

The two teams met that night at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, but both LSU’s and Clemson’s football teams play home games on their respective campuses at 80,000-plus-seat stadiums.

Clemson’s Memorial Stadium (81,500) and LSU’s Tiger Stadium (103,321) are each frequently referred to as Death Valley. Clemson was the first to own the nickname, back in the 1940s, while LSU grabbed the nickname later in the 50s.

Like all nicknames, there’s an origin story. Per Clemson’s athletics website, Memorial Stadium became known as Death Valley in 1948 after a win over Presbyterian College.

Through the years, Memorial Stadium has become known as “Death Valley” across the country. It was tagged by Presbyterian College Head Coach Lonnie McMillian during the late 1940s. After bringing his teams to Clemson for many years and getting whipped, he said the place was like “Death Valley.” A few years later, the name stuck.”

LSU was actually coined as “Deaf Valley,” once upon a time, thanks to how noisy the stadium was. The name “Death Valley” didn’t come along until after the 1959 Sugar Bowl when LSU defeated Clemson. More according to ESPN:

On Jan. 1, 1959, when LSU and Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon capped the school’s first national title with a 7-0 victory in the Sugar Bowl, some of those fans stole “Death” when describing the home valley. Why? Because they believed they had earned that right after defeating the team that was already using the name for its home stadium.

So, Clemson’s home is the original Death Valley, and LSU’s is the latest. But the reality is that two Death Valley’s coexist within the college football landscape and are here for the long haul.

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49ers tight end George Kittle cleared for season debut in Week 3 against Denver

Tight End U gets one of its best back on the field.

After missing the first two weeks of the NFL season, George Kittle is ready to make his season debut in Week 3.

Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle reported on Friday that Kittle is officially cleared to play against the Broncos on Sunday.

Kittle cooked the Denver defense during his only appearance against the Broncos back in December of 2018. He caught seven passes for 210 yards and recorded a touchdown in the Niners W.

But while Kittle had major success against Denver earlier in his career, he’s never scored a touchdown in any season opener as a pro. Still, fantasy players and bettors will gladly take their chances with Kittle in the lineup—especially considering he’s proven he can work well with Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback.

How will Sunday night play out? It’s anyone’s guess, but I’ve got my eyes all over Kittle’s +185 odds at BetMGM to score a touchdown.

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NBA will reportedly install blue lights in arenas to signal a scoring change is coming so bettors can relax now

This will help a lot of people.

The in-arena NBA experience is certainly different from the at-home one. Obviously, no one knows that better than NBA players, who recently experienced playing chunks of seasons without fans in attendance.

But the statement holds true for fans, especially.

While those in-person spectators have an up-close look at the game, those watching the television broadcasts have the advantage of audio and visual breakdowns that in-game attendees don’t.

Ever wonder which basic replays the people at games are seeing as you sit home with five or six different slow-mo views of the same play? What about when there’s a scoring change that the broadcast team announced but the public address announcer didn’t?

The NBA is getting ready to make life a little bit easier for those fans attending games—and bettors everywhere.

An addition like the upcoming one for scoring changes is great for fans and players — a signal of the reviewing of a scoring play will add another layer of transparency that might not have existed before in real-time.

It will also help ease the minds of those who are participating in sports gambling.

Whether is the points total, prop bets or the spread, worrying about a missed point or two here and there might cause a massive headache for bettors who wonder if those unaddressed situations could cost them money.

Now, they won’t be left in the dark.

The best takes and the sharpest bets on all the hoops storylines you need to know. Sign up for our Layup Lines newsletter, hitting your inbox on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

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Chargers spread against Jaguars drops sharply, sparking speculation that Justin Herbert will sit

The spread went from -7 to -3.5.

Once a seven-point favorite in their game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, the Los Angeles Chargers are now favored by just 3.5 points at BetMGM. The sharp drop in the spread is a strong indication that quarterback Justin Herbert is likely to miss Sunday’s game after suffering a fracture to his rib cartilage in last Thursday’s game against the Chiefs.

Officially, Herbert will be listed as questionable. He told reporters Friday he doesn’t if he’ll play and a decision will be made Sunday. Backup Chase Daniel took first-team reps at Friday’s practice.

The change to the spread came as Herbert was reportedly sidelined for at least the start of practice. According to ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry, he didn’t throw a single pass for the 19 minutes that practice was open to reporters.

According to Unabated’s MasseyPeabody ratings, the drop from QB1 to QB2 for the Chargers is 6.85 points. That means the spread could move even further if Herbert is ruled out.

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What are the odds Aaron Judge hits home run No. 61 against Boston on Friday?

In Aaron Judge we trust.

Congrats to the New York Yankees on extending their winning streak to four games after defeating the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Thursday and clinching a spot in the postseason.

Bigger congrats to those who did not bet money on Aaron Judge hitting his 61st home run of the season to pass the great Babe Ruth and tie Roger Maris for the most single-season homers in Yankees history.

Now the question is: will you bet on it happening today?

The smooth-swinging Judge hasn’t seen one exit the park since he hit HR No. 60 on Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates. If you’re thinking he’s due, you can get in on his +225 odds at BetMGM to hit a home run against Boston on Friday night.

He’ll face the left-handed Rich Hill, who he’s batting .500 against in four career at-bats.

Hill has not given up a home run to Judge.

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