Best NFL DFS Picks for Thursday Night Preseason Week 3: Steelers-Bills, Patriots-Browns, 49ers-Raiders, Rams-Chargers

Preseason Week 3 wraps up the exhibition slate with a four-game Thursday night lineup: Steelers at Bills, Patriots at Browns, 49ers at Raiders, and Rams at Chargers. With most teams sitting their proven starters ahead of Tuesday’s roster cutdown, tonight is really about backups, rookies, and bubble players chasing a 53-man spot, which flips the usual DFS approach on its head. Snap counts and playing-time plans matter more than name recognition, and the guys who are locked in for extended run make for the safest daily fantasy football building blocks.

On a four-game preseason slate like this, DraftKings and FanDuel both run flat-salary contests where every player costs the same, so the game becomes less about squeezing value out of a cap and more about correctly projecting who plays the most snaps behind the widest opportunity. New to the platform? A DraftKings promo code is worth grabbing before first kickoff. Below are five NFL DFS picks worth rostering for tonight’s action, built around confirmed playing-time news and real preseason production.

Adrian Martinez, QB — San Francisco 49ers ($5,500 DK / $6,000 FD)

Martinez has been the 49ers’ preseason workhorse under center, leading San Francisco in pass attempts in both exhibition games while head coach Kyle Shanahan holds Brock Purdy and Mac Jones out of extended run. Through two games, Martinez has already flashed rushing upside to go with his arm, scoring on a four-yard scramble in the preseason opener and adding another rushing touchdown on four attempts in the 41-17 win over the Chargers, where he went 8-of-17 for 57 yards and a passing score to go with two interceptions.

The volume is the story here. San Francisco didn’t play its top two quarterbacks in last year’s preseason finale either, and that same script is expected again versus the Raiders, meaning Martinez should see the bulk of the offensive snaps and another 25-plus pass attempts. Vegas’ defense will mostly be reserves and roster-bubble players itself, which keeps the matchup soft even with some risk of turnovers given his up-and-down accuracy so far.

For DFS purposes, Martinez offers a rushing floor most preseason quarterbacks can’t match, plus enough passing volume to hit a big number if the touchdowns connect. He’s a strong anchor to build a 49ers-Raiders lineup around, especially in a flat-salary format where volume is king.

Mike Washington Jr., RB — Las Vegas Raiders ($5,500 DK / $6,000 FD)

Washington has been the most efficient runner in the entire preseason, and it isn’t particularly close. The fourth-round rookie out of Arkansas has piled up 119 yards on just 15 carries through two games, a 7.9 yards-per-carry average built on a 53-yard house call against the Cardinals and a 33-yard breakaway versus the Texans. Pro Football Focus has him grading out with a 90.3 rushing mark, best among any running back with at least five preseason carries, and he’s forced six missed tackles to go with 7.1 yards after contact per attempt.

The opportunity just got bigger, too. With starter Ashton Jeanty banged up with an ankle injury, Washington profiles as a near-lock for extended touches against San Francisco, and Vegas may lean on him even more heavily than earlier plan called for given the uncertainty atop the depth chart. He’s also shown a bit of receiving work, adding two catches on four targets for 18 yards across the first two games.

Washington is the rare preseason DFS play who’s earned his workload on tape rather than by default. Between the per-touch explosiveness and the expanded role with Jeanty compromised, he’s one of the safer plays on the entire four-game slate.

Max Klare, TE — Los Angeles Rams ($5,500 DK / $6,000 FD)

The Rams don’t play their starters in the preseason under Sean McVay, full stop, and that includes tonight against the Chargers. That approach has been a gift for Klare, a rookie second-round tight end out of Ohio State who has drawn at least six targets in each of his two preseason appearances. He caught seven of eight targets for 37 yards in his Rams debut against the Chiefs, making the most of his opportunity as the starting tight end while Colby Parkinson, Tyler Higbee, and Terrance Ferguson all watched from the sideline. Across two games, Klare has turned his opportunities into 11 catches for 59 yards.

That target volume for a tight end on a full-backup offense is exactly the profile DFS players should chase in a flat-salary format. Klare is currently slotted with the second-team offense on L.A.’s unofficial depth chart, which sounds counterintuitive until you remember the Rams’ starters simply won’t suit up tonight, leaving the backup group to soak up all the offensive snaps and targets.

Volume-based tight ends are typically the hardest position to find production from on a preseason slate, and Klare has been the exception through two weeks. With a near-certainty of another full workload tonight, he’s a strong value building block, especially paired with a Rams passing-game stack.

Kaden Wetjen, WR — Pittsburgh Steelers ($5,500 DK / $6,000 FD)

Wetjen turned two targets into one of the plays of the preseason in his NFL debut, catching both for 79 yards and a touchdown, including a 74-yard catch-and-run that nearly went the distance. The rookie wideout out of Iowa graded out at 88.0 by Pro Football Focus for that outing and has carved out a role in the return game as well, having led the FBS with 26.8 yards per punt return last season. He also added three kickoff returns for 61 yards and two punt returns for 10 yards in that same game.

With Josh Allen sitting out for Buffalo and the Bills expected to play a mix of backups on defense, the door is open for another featured look for Pittsburgh’s rotating wideouts behind Drew Allar and Will Howard. Wetjen’s big-play juice, combined with the extra touches he can pick up as a returner, gives him a rare multi-way path to a big fantasy score even on a limited target count.

He’s a classic tournament-style DFS pick: the target volume isn’t guaranteed, but the touchdown equity and return-game upside make him a high-ceiling piece to pair with either Steelers quarterback. For anyone tracking the odds movement on tonight’s Steelers-Bills game, the live NFL odds page is worth a look before locking in a lineup.

Drew Allar, QB — Pittsburgh Steelers ($5,500 DK / $6,000 FD)

Allar has taken the QB1 reps for Pittsburgh this preseason and has thrown the ball more than anyone else in the QB battle, racking up 36 preseason attempts compared to Will Howard’s 24. His debut was the headline performance of the Steelers’ preseason: 10-of-13 passing for 153 yards and two touchdowns, plus a rushing score, good for a 154.8 passer rating against Green Bay. His follow-up against the Jets was rougher, completing 11 of 23 for 110 yards with three sacks taken, but the volume of dropbacks remained the appeal.

Tonight’s matchup against a Bills defense playing without many of its usual starters, with Josh Allen also sitting for Buffalo, sets up as another extended look for Allar, who is expected to check in after Howard opens the game. Between his rushing ability, flashed in both preseason outings, and his standing as the passing-volume leader in the Steelers’ QB competition, Allar gives DFS players a second correlated piece with Wetjen in a potential Steelers stack.

He’s more volatile than Martinez given the uneven accuracy in outing two, but the raw workload and touchdown flashes make him a viable value pivot if you want exposure to the Steelers passing game without paying up.

Building Your Lineup

With four games and flat pricing across the board, the smartest approach is stacking correlated pieces from one offense rather than spreading thin across all four matchups. A Steelers stack of Allar or Howard with Wetjen captures both the passing volume and the receiver most likely to turn a handful of touches into a chunk play. On the late window, pairing Martinez with a 49ers pass catcher gives you access to San Francisco’s backup passing volume, while Klare stands alone as close to a lock for target share given the Rams’ well-documented refusal to play starters.

Washington is the pick that requires the least projection work of the night. He’s earned his touches on tape, and the expanded role created by Jeanty’s ankle injury only raises his floor further. Fade players tied to teams that have already confirmed their backups will play limited snaps, and prioritize the offenses where the starting quarterback situation is still unsettled, since those teams tend to play their top backups the longest as they gather final evaluation reps before Tuesday’s cutdown. Locking in one or two of these plays as anchors, then filling out the rest of a DraftKings lineup or FanDuel roster with situational value, is the cleanest path to separating from the field on a slate this unpredictable.