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FanDuel offers some of the biggest payouts in all of daily fantasy sports. Among them is the $2.75 million FanDuel Sunday Million contest where a $7 entry has a shot at the $1 million first-place payout. This week in the contest there was a decent overlay (in the 12% range) and nearly 25% of the field finished in the money for at least a 42% profit on their entry fee. Each week FanDuel will be running a Sunday Million GPP Contest and we will break it down here at Footballguys.com and see what the keys were to having the top lineup on the week and taking home the top prize of $1,000,000. 

Here is how Week 3 of the Sunday Million shook out:

For the third week in a row in 2017, the $1 million winner was a relative newcomer. In fact, four of the top-5 finishers lacked the 'experienced' avatar from FanDuel's player database and 6-of-10 at the top encompassed the more inexperienced tag. Also, scoring was way up from what we saw in the first two weeks. 

The winning lineup was one of the more unique sets of players in recent memory. Christian McCaffrey was the highest owned on Sanderson888's roster at a low 8.9% in the contest and three of their selections were less than 5% owned (Stefon Diggs, Rob Gronkowski, Chiefs DST). Chris Thompson was heavily owned from the Sunday Night game and a lone share of Giorgio Tavecchio (Oakland kicker) was the top-10 action to close the contest. Thompson was electric, hitting nearly 5x value, but another catch or two would have shaken up the leaderboard with five teams in the top-6 owning Thompson and the ultimate winner, Sanderson888 fading Thompson.

Many owners in the top-10 this week had a single-digit performer, a relative bust to finish highly in the contest. However, Sanderson888 avoided such a landmine with Mohamed Sanu still hitting 2x value at 10.8 FanDuel points by finding the end zone with a 4-28-1 line.

WHAT WORKED?

Stacking Tom Brady: Week 1 seems so long ago when Brady stumbled out of the gate. After a rebound against New Orleans, Brady was aggressively priced at $9.400 and facing a stout Houston defense. Nevertheless, Brady hit 4x value and 80% of the top-10 owned him with an overall ownership of 6.6%. Brandin Cooks was the successful stack with Brady this week as all of the top-5 and 7-of-10 rostered Cooks and his near 4x value return. Half of the top-10 owned Rob Gronkowski (sparse 3.8% ownership for the entire contest) and four of the top finishers had a Patriots superstack with Brady-Cooks-Gronkowski.

Kareem Hunt: Despite a quickly elevating salary ($8,300 this week), Hunt continues to return GPP-worthy value at nearly 3x this week. Hunt broke a long touchdown in the final minutes to clinch the Chiefs victory and shift tournament winners as one of the chalk plays of the week with 29.4% ownership (30% in top-10).

Dalvin Cook: At just $6,500, Cook returned 32 touches and 169 total yards. Six of the top-10 owned Cook and his 3.9x value return. Tampa Bay's defense was exploited all game by the Vikings offense.

Chris Thompson: With Rob Kelley out and a projected shootout in the Washington-Oakland game, Thompson was owned in 50% of the top-10 finishers. Thompson's magical season start continued with 188 total yards and a touchdown on only 14 touches. Thompson returned nearly 5x value at $5,600 salary.

Stefon Diggs: Few in the contest were in on Stefon Diggs (2.1% ownership), but 60% of the top-10 had the Minnesota receiver and his 5x value return. Tampa Bay had little defensive punch this week and Case Keenum has been a pleasant surprise under center for the Vikings with a strong set of weapons, headlined by Diggs.

Dome Kickers: 7-of-10 top finishers featured strong-legged kickers in a dome, namely Matt Bryant and Matt Prater. 

WHAT FAILED?

Derek Carr: The Oakland offense was a no-show against Washington, gaining only 44 total yards as an offense deep into the second half. Carr lost Michael Crabtree to a chest injury but was already on track for a bust performance. At 11% ownership, Carr hit less than 1x value (123 total yards, two interceptions of note).

C.J. Anderson: Jamaal Charles is tempering Anderson's upside and at 10% ownership in the contest, Anderson was a bust with 43 total yards and 5.3 FanDuel points on his $6,900 salary.

Jay Ajayi: At 18% ownership, Ajayi returned less than 0.5x value with 25 empty yards and a couple receptions at a steep $8,200 salary.

Ty Montgomery: Despite dominating snaps and backfield touches for Green Bay as expected, Montgomery had only 50 total yards on 20 touches, barely 1x value on his $7,200 salary and balmy 32% ownership.

Michael Crabtree: He left with a chest injury, but Oakland was on track to be a fantasy flop anyway against Washington. Crabtree's 18.9% ownership was among the highest of the wide receiver position and posted a single catch.

Rashard Higgins: After being a Week 2 darling from nowhere, Higgins flopped in Week 3. At 11.8% ownership, Higgins logged a woeful 2-10-0 line.

Kelvin Benjamin: The hulking Carolina receiver made an early exit against the Saints, but was off to a slow start as well with 1.8 FanDuel points despite 16% ownership.

Travis Kelce: While Kareem Hunt and Tyreek Hill were securing quality games, Kelce was invisible in the Chiefs win against the Chargers. At 14% ownership, Kelce posted the rare-for-him 1-1-0 receiving stat line.

Jack Doyle: At 12% ownership, the FanDuel community was locked on Doyle for Week 3. However, it was Jacoby Brissett and T.Y. Hilton as the strong performers for the Colts, not Doyle, who logged 2-16-0 with a lost fumble on his $5,300 salary.

Eric Ebron: More drops from Ebron this week and the Detroit tight end has only 60 yards in three games in what is a critical fourth season for the former top-10 pick. 

Giorgio Tavecchio: The strong-legged Oakland kicker was owned at 11.4% in the contest. The Raiders offense was a general no-show against Washington and even at $4,800 salary, he could not return 1x value.

Buccaneers Defense: With 11% ownership, Tampa Bay was carved like a turkey by the Vikings offense to one of the complete bust performances of the week, allowing 34 points and failing to register a turnover or sack.

Eagles Defense: The Giants offensive line has been a turnstile thus far in 2017, but held up against the Eagles. Philadelphia scored two interceptions, but failed to record a sack or hold the Giants in check on the scoreboard (24 points allowed). At 21% ownership, the Eagles were a bust at 4.0 FanDuel points.

Broncos Defense: With strong ownership for the position at 10%, Denver failed to force a turnover against Buffalo and managed 4.0 FanDuel Points (less than 1x value).

SHOOTING THE NEEDLE

While most rostered options in the top-10 were moderate to highly-owned across the contest, here are some of the top performers with low-ownership in this week's tournament:

Russell Wilson: Off to a clunky start with two games of less than 200 passing yards and a single touchdown leading up to Week 3, few were backing Wilson at his $7,800 salary. At 0.7% ownership, Wilson shook off a slow start against Tennessee with 399 total yards and four passing scores for more than 4x value.

Case Keenum: Few took a shot on the minimally-priced Minnesota quarterback ($6,000) with 0.2% ownership. However, he came through against a poor Tampa Bay defensive effort with nearly 5x value, pushing 400 total yards and three scores.

Jacoby Brissett: At 1.1% ownership, Brissett hit more than 4x value with 273 total yards and finding the end zone twice on the ground against Cleveland.

Jordan Howard: With Tarik Cohen being the hot name in fantasy circles and Chicago a poor offense overall, Howard had few supporters (0.3% ownership) in this week's contest. However, Howard totaled 164 yards, five receptions, and two scores for more than 4x value.

T.Y. Hilton: Most players have faded Colts options with Andrew Luck out to start the season. Hilton, however, hit 3.7x value at 2.2% ownership with 7-153-1. Jacoby Brissett played his best NFL game to-date against the struggling Browns defense.

Chris Hogan: With a minuscule 1.5% ownership, Hogan logged 4-68-2 and 3.2x value.

Ted Ginn Jr Jr.: The Saints speedster totaled 59 yards and found the end zone for 2.2x value and 0.8% ownership as Kelvin Benjamin missed time for Carolina.

Jets Defense: A sparse 0.7% of the contest took a shot on the minimally-priced Jets defense against Miami. The Dolphins were a no-show until the final minutes of the game and the Jets forced two turnovers, three sacks, and a points allowed bonus en route to 3.5x value.

Head over to FanDuel now and catch the action for Week 4.

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