Welcome to the bar! The Week 3 DFS Cocktail Hour is here to satisfy your thirst for DFS football strategies. We’ll be looking at useful ingredients that you can use as part of your weekly DFS plays. Additionally, we’ll mix up my cocktail from this week’s Operation: Domination program.
A reminder that we’re looking at cash games on the DraftKings Classic mode, using the Sunday through Monday games. All player scores mentioned use DraftKings scoring as displayed by FantasyData.com.
Week 3 DFS Cocktail Hour: Base Spirits
Our base spirit has a Texas flair this week, as we’re targeting the Dallas Cowboys’ road matchup with the Chicago Bears. This game boasts one of the highest point totals on the slate and should provide plenty of fireworks.
The Boys bounced back last after a rough Week 1 loss. It took overtime to put the Giants away. In the end, Dak Prescott was able to outduel “DangeRuss” on perhaps the best passing day of Russell Wilson‘s career. Dak attempted 52 passes, his highest total since Week 1 of 2021. He finished just QB30 in Week 1, but the Giants game saw him finish QB6. It might feel like chasing the points a bit, but we’re going to go with Prescott ($5,900) as our quarterback this week. The Bears have given up the most points in the league to opposing fantasy quarterbacks. They allowed J.J. McCarthy to throw for a pair of scores and run for another in Week 1. Last week, they let Jared Goff and the Lions have their way on the ground and through the air. Goff would throw for over 300 yards and five touchdowns.
“Spirits” is plural
Dak is relatively inexpensive, just the 11th-most expensive passer on DraftKings. That’s going to allow us to pay up at wide receiver, and pay up we will. CeeDee Lamb ($8,000) is the week’s third-most expensive player at any position. But the same Bears who have given up all those points to quarterbacks have naturally been just as susceptible to wide receiver points. Only the Giants have surrendered more fantasy points to the position. And Lamb played a big part in that last week, finishing WR10 in DraftKings scoring. He’s seen the second-most targets of any player in the league in 2025. And while he hasn’t scored a touchdown yet, he’s been close. (Watch the games, folks. Not just the box scores.)
If you prefer the more affordable George Pickens ($5,900), I wouldn’t argue with that. In fact, I was able to build a solid lineup with pretty cheap options at receiver using the Dak and Pickens pairing. That allowed me to really spend up at running back and FLEX. Either way, the point here (and the base of our Week 3 DFS Cocktail build) is the Cowboys’ pass attack.
Souring Agent
The souring agent this week is another lynchpin in the game plan. We’re playing back against our Cowboys with Rome Odunze ($5,300!) Odunze is coming off a week where he was the WR4 in DraftKings scoring. That matches his WR4 standing overall in the young season. After catching just three touchdowns in his rookie season, Odunze has three in just two games of his sophomore pro campaign. That’s tied for the league lead through Week 2. He’s also tied for 10th in the league in wide receiver targets and yardage. Rome has conquered Ben Johnson’s offense and is playing at a very high level right now.
Dallas, despite its impressive offensive firepower, is missing Micah Parsons on defense. While they’re still generating pressure at a nice clip, they’re not getting home as often as they did last season. That’s put a lot of a different kind of pressure on their defensive backfield. That backfield is going to be without DaRon Bland for a second straight game. The Cowboys are giving up the fourth-most points to opposing wideouts. There are 33 (read that again, Thirty. Three.) receivers with higher DraftKings salaries than Odunze this week. That’s a value you won’t be able to match very often, if ever. If this game is the shoot-out Vegas thinks it will be, the passing numbers on both sides could be off the charts.
Sweetener
Our last little splash in this concoction is Bucky Irving ($7,100) against the New York Jets. We’re paying up for the premium ingredient, but our savings on Prescott and Odunze give us that luxury. Last week, Irving was on the sideline with six seconds to go, watching backup Rachaad White score the game-winning touchdown. But it was Irving who put in yeoman’s work to get the Buccaneers in position for White’s plunge. Bucky had four catches for 39 yards on that final drive and six for 50 in the game. White got the glory, but Irving was (and is) still the workhorse. Irving is 12th in the league in rush attempts and tied for seventh in targets among running backs. He also out-snapped White by more than two-to-one.
Irving is the RB12 in DraftKings scoring on the season. His price tag is a little high this week, but he’s getting plenty of volume. He’ll be facing a defense that just allowed the Bills to rush for 224 yards. 132 of those were by James Cook. The Buccaneers are anything but healthy along the offensive line. Irving probably won’t find the sledding quite as easy as Cook against the Jets. But I think his elusiveness will serve him better than White’s rushing style if the line struggles. This game could be one where the Bucs turn to the pass game, using screens and hot reads instead of the run. That could take some of the pressure off that beleaguered line. I think Bucky has a nice day receiving the ball and finds the endzone one way or another. That would sweeten things nicely.
Garnishes
There are some real bargains this week owing to injury situations and some strange pricing at DraftKings. How you dress up the rest of your lineup is up to you. For some lower-shelf options, check out GOYAADI’s DFS Cheapskate Plays. Now, let’s drink.
Week 3 DFS Cocktail: The Coin Flip
Who doesn’t love a good, old-fashioned peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Quick. Easy. And it’s like lunch and dessert all at once. The drink we’re making for the Week 3 DFS Cocktail is like a PB&J in a glass.
Ingredients:
- 2 ounces of peanut butter whiskey
- 1-1/2 ounces of either strawberry wine or regular Moscato (non-sparkling)
- 1/2 ounce of fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 ounce simple syrup
- Ice
- Grapes or strawberries (garnish)
Directions:
Combine ice, peanut butter whiskey, lemon juice, and simple syrup in a shaker. Now, here’s where the “Coin Flip” gets its name. You can choose to use either a strawberry wine (I like to use strawberry Moscato) or a regular Moscato (like strawberry or grape jam, get it?) Once you’ve made your choice, add it to the shaker. Cover the shaker and shake like it owes you back gambling debts. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice and garnish with fruit. Slàinte mhath!
A few notes:
- Try a few peanut butter whiskey brands to find one you like, as I find they vary in taste.
- How you choose which wine to use is up to you. You can go with personal preference, or have both on hand and literally flip a coin in the spirit of things. Do it. Live a little.
- Garnish with the fruit of your choice (grapes for Moscato, strawberries for strawberry wine) however you wish. You could just skewer a few and lay them on top. If you want to go full Martha Stewart, freeze the grapes and berries and put them right in the rocks glass with the ice.