Welcome to Week 3 of the NFL season.
And for me I hope the rest of the season is much better than the first two weeks where I have literally stunk up the joint.
But let me not dwell on my pathetic daily football play.

For many of the northern portion of the United States, this might be the first Sunday with a chill in the air, well relatively considering the hot summer that if finally starting to cool off. And this is the first official weekend of the fall season as we pass the Autumnal Equinox on Thursday.

And this is Week 3 of the RotoWire & FanDuel Fantasy Football Championship. If you are unfamiliar with the competition, here are the basics:

• 10-week competition hosted on FanDuel
• $10 entry (max five entries each week)
• Compete against other users and three FanDuel experts (Jeff Erickson, Derek VanRiper, Kevin Payne
• Finish above the experts, win an entry in the Week 11 Freeroll with over $5,000 in prizes and RotoWire subscriptions up for grabs
• Each qualifying week acts as a double-up with the top 250 doubling up their cash
• This is not a continuous competition, so you can enter every week, and you don't have to have participated in Week 1 to enter this week's competition
• There is no limit on the amount of entries you can win for the championship round, so start racking them up this week if you haven't already
• You can sign up for this week's competition here

There is a separate RotoWire expert competition that is taking place concurrently with the public competition. Kevin Payne (kevinccp) won Week 2 and jumped into the Top 10 at eighth place with 246.68 points. Payne stacked it to say the least with Chargers, QB Philip Rivers along with WRs Tyrell Williams and Travis Benjamin as those three compiled almost a quarter of his total points, 63.8 from that one team. Joe Bartilotta (joelbartilotta) has shown consistency and moved into first place with 303.32 points.

You can check out the full expert leader board here, but here's the current top 10:

1. Joel Bartilotta (joelbartilotta) 303.32
2. Andrew Fiorentino (akf1986) 297.38
3. James Seltzer (schweppy23) 257.72
4. Chris Benzine (crispy272001) 257.04
5. Dave Hunter (therolypolyboy) 254.52
6. Mike Doria (mikeinlalaland) 254.24
7. Shawn Cwalinski (cwalinski) 247.36
8. Kevin Payne (kevinccp) 246.68
9. Paul Bruno (paulyb22) 242.42
10. Andrew Laird (kingmorland) 237.60

There is one note to take into consideration for this week. For some reason the Monday Night Football game of New Orleans vs. Atlanta is not included in the contest which ruins a lot of fun plays so remember no Drew Brees, no Matt Ryan, no Julio Jones and no Brandin Cooks among others. I wish that was the case last week or I would not have taken a bath with Jay Cutler and Jeremy Langford.

Without that tasty Saints-Falcons game, the highest scoring game anticipated to be San Diego at Indianapolis and you will see a trend in the picks listed below. And most importantly, make sure you double-check the inactive list when it gets closer to the early Sunday games.

Week 3 Value Picks

QBPhilip Rivers,San Diego Chargers @ Indianapolis Colts

FanDuel Price: $8,000

This might seem like a lot for a Value Pick, but there are eight other quarterbacks that are listed above Rivers and you have to get into what the over/under line is saying will be the highest scoring game of the weekend. A guy named Trevor Siemian threw for 266 yards against the Colts secondary that is hurting. In addition expect San Diego will have to keep up with the Colts offense that will also be scoring in this match-up.

RBShane Vereen, New York Giants vs. Washington Redskins

FanDuel Price: $5,200

Vereen was the most active Giants running back last week and that could very well be the case this weekend. Giants top back Rashad Jennings left the game against New Orleans and Vereen was given the ball. Vereen had already been the main Giants running back weapon in the red zone. In addition Jennings has been hurting this week and might be limited if he plays on Sunday against the Redskins.

RB Isaiah Crowell, Cleveland Browns @ Miami Dolphins

FanDuel Price: $6,900

Crowell has broken out of the battle with Duke Johnson Jr. as the Browns leading running back. While the Dolphins are expected to stack the box against the run, Cleveland head coach Hue Jackson loves to run the ball. In addition having the Browns third quarterback of the season in inexperienced Cody Kessler making his first NFL start, Cleveland will give the running game as much chances as possible to produce.

WRTravis Benjamin, San Diego Chargers @ Indianapolis Colts

FanDuel Price: $6,900

Benjamin was considered a sleeper before the season started and he has averaged 16.5 FanDuel points per game to start the season. One of the top picks last week (just ask Kevin Payne again), but the match-up is just too good. There are only five other wide receivers who have averaged more points and all of those players cost more this week. In addition like we have said that the Indianapolis secondary defense has been very poor so far in 2016.

WR Sterling Shepard, New York Giants vs. Washington Redskins

FanDuel Price: $6,500

It might be just talk but the talk through the week that Redskins' cornerback Josh Norman was going to shadow Odell Beckham Jr. That said, Shepard has been very good as a rookie in the first two games with 13.8 FanDuel points per game and the Redskins have allowed the 11th most receiving yards in the NFL so far this season.

WR Stefon Diggs, Minnesota Vikings @ Carolina Panthers

FanDuel Price: $6,400

Diggs dollars numbers are down because of the opponent, but Minnesota will probably be playing from behind and the running game is definitely a question mark not only without Adrian Peterson, but also a stiff Panthers running defense. Diggs has been one of the highest scoring in the FanDuel game for the first two weeks by averaging 21.2 points with only Panthers WR Kelvin Benjamin ahead of him and he's at $7,800 this week. This just in, Diggs did not practice on Friday so keep your eye on the news this weekend.

WR Phillip Dorsett, Indianapolis Colts vs. San Diego Chargers

FanDuel Price: $6,000

The absence of Donte Moncrief opens the door for Dorsett. As mainly a WR 3 he has already caught five passes for 124 yards and been targeted 11 times. Against a week San Diego secondary those numbers are sure to increase without Moncrief and the Chargers possibly concentrating on TY Hilton. He has not hit the end zone, but there is a good chance that will happen against San Diego.

High Risk/High Reward

QB Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts vs. San Diego Chargers

FanDuel Price: $8,700

Luck was limited in practice on Thursday with a right shoulder injury, but there did not seem to be a doubt that he will suit up for Sunday. The matchup with the Chargers is tasty to say the least with both defenses weak against the pass with both teams in the top seven in the NFL in passing yards allowed. It hurts slightly for Luck to not have Donte Moncrief out four-to-six weeks with a fractured scapula, but he does have more weapons in wide receivers, TY Hilton and Phillip Dorsett.

Steer Clear

RB Todd Gurley, Los Angeles Rams @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers

FanDuel Price: $8,300

Many probably think this will be the week that Gurley finally breaks out after only averaging 6.1 FanDuel points per game in the first two games. The Tampa Bay defense has been surprisingly stingy and has allowed only one rushing touchdown so far this season

QB Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers

FanDuel Price: $8,700

I would wait to see Wilson get a big game before plunking $8,700 on him, the sixth highest price for a player. The 49ers have been surprisingly good on defense (just outside the top 10 in passing yards allowed in the NFL) so this might be a low scoring game. The Seattle Seahawks offense has been to say the least putrid even at home in the first week against the Dolphins.