Daily fantasy football continues to climb in popularity as jackpots have risen consistently and more fans are joining sites every week. Our weekly article showcases players to target at three general levels of value: The big dollar talent (High-Priced Heroes), the average-priced contributors (He’s so “Mid”), and the guys very questionable players at the bottom of the cost charts (Bargain Basement). Yes, for our longtime readers, we did change the titles of our tiers. Our selected players are based on DraftKings values as that is our daily fantasy site of choice, but the values should translate fairly well to any other sites you may use. We don’t share specific lineups or optimized computer rankings, but we will give you some great candidates for you to consider. We set this breakdown up that way because while winning is great, a big part of the fun draw of daily fantasy is mixing and matching your lineups to see how you can maximize your team. That and the fact that we are trying to win the same way that you are, and quite frankly, we don’t want our readers to all have the same exact lineups.
NFL Week 13 Recap
There have been several good weeks for us in DFS this year, including week 12, but week 13 may have been our best of the season to date. We placed in top 15 and top 100 in two of the big contests and profited heavily with just a total of five lineups. There was basically only one major miss, and it was unfortunately the Star of the Week, Jaylen Warren. We mentioned he was a high-risk / high-reward option, and he unfortunately just didn’t get it done. Had Warren been able to find paydirt, we may have been celebrating some huge paydays. We won’t be upset with winning money though, and being dialed in with a lot of our selections. Here are the guys that shined or faded.
These Players Made Us Look Good:
Tua Tagovailoa – 280 Yards Passing, 0 Yards Rushing, 2 Total TDs
Nico Collins – 191 Yards Receiving, 1 Total TD
Tyreek Hill – 157 Yards Receiving, -4 Yards Rushing, 2 Total TDs
Derrick Henry – 102 Yards Rushing, 18 Yards Receiving, 2 Total TDs
Gardner Minshew – 312 Yards Passing, 2 Yards Rushing, 2 Total TDs
Brock Purdy – 314 Yards Passing, 9 Yards Rushing, 4 Total TDs
Deebo Samuel – 116 Yards Receiving, 22 Yards Rushing, 3 Total TDs
Rachaad White – 84 Yards Rushing, 22 Yards Receiving, 1 Total TD
James Conner – 105 Yards Rushing, 2 Total TDs
Kyren Williams – 88 Yards Rushing, 24 Yards Receiving, 1 Total TD
Taysom Hill – 59 Yards Rushing, 15 Yards Receiving, 1 Total TD
These Players Made Us Look Foolish:
Bryce Young – 178 Yards Passing, 0 Total TD
Juwan Johnson – 0 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD
Pat Freiermuth – 29 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD
NFL Week 14 Preview
For the first time in a while, this slate of players and positions seems to be what we’ll parenthesis as “normal”. There is some serious fear of missing out at the running back position at the top of the chart though. One of the biggest decisions of the week is whether to go against the grain and not take the high-cost backs who look like they’re going to feast, or jump along for the ride. One spot we’re probably going a little sideways is not necessarily looking at stacking up across the board. There are some nice single options at really every position, which may or may not work out well.
Before we highlight our three levels of talent, let’s look at our projected star of the week:
STAR OF THE WEEK:
In his second stint as lead running back for the Colts, Zack Moss wasn’t able to produce a lot of fantasy points a week ago against the Titans. That certainly wasn’t due to lack of opportunities though, as Moss played three downs for the entire game, and notched 19 carries and a few targets, despite not getting much going in terms of yardage. The Colts will try to lean on Moss again, and they should have a little easier time against the Cincinnati Bengals. Cincinnati is allowing over 5 yards per carry, and that number has been steadily growing since week four of the season. Moss is the 18th priced running back at just $5,900 behind guys like Gus Edwards for starters. For a guy who has proven himself this year, and could get as many touches as any running back in the game on Sunday, we’re going to build our lineups around Moss.
Quarterbacks:
Lamar Jackson – $7,700 vs. Rams
Justin Fields – $6,800 vs. Lions
Running Backs:
Christian McCaffrey – $9,200 vs. Seahawks
Austin Ekeler – $7,600 vs. Broncos
Wide Receivers:
Amon-Ra St. Brown – $8,200 vs. Bears
Ja’Marr Chase – $7,600 vs. Colts
Tight Ends:
Travis Kelce – $7,800 vs. Bills
T.J. Hockenson – $6,000 vs. Raiders
Defense / Special Teams:
New Orleans Saints – $3,900 vs. Panthers
Quarterbacks:
Jared Goff – $6,400 vs. Bears
Russell Wilson – $5,800 vs. Chargers
Running Backs:
David Montgomery – $6,400 vs. Bears
Zack Moss – $5,900 vs. Bengals
Wide Receivers:
Brandon Aiyuk – $6,900 vs. Seahawks
D.K. Metcalf – $6,700 vs. 49ers
Tight Ends:
Isaiah Likely – $3,500 vs. Rams
Gerald Everett – $3,400 vs. Broncos
Defense / Special Teams:
Cleveland Browns – $3,000 vs. Jaguars
Quarterbacks:
Baker Mayfield – $5,300 vs. Falcons
Desmond Ridder – $5,000 – vs. Buccanneers
Running Backs:
Dameon Pierce – $5,000 vs. Jets
Keaton Mitchell – $4,900 vs. Rams
Wide Receivers:
Jerry Jeudy – $4,700 vs. Chargers
Odell Beckham, Jr. – $3,800 vs. Rams
Tight Ends:
Brevin Jordan – $3,100 vs. Jets
Tyler Conklin – $3,000 vs. Texans
Defense / Special Teams:
Buffalo Bills – $2,500 vs. Chiefs
If you play Daily Fantasy Football, we love talking sports and we’d love to hear your take and who you like each week, find us on Twitter @TheBetCrushers and let us know. Good luck and enjoy the weekend! 
