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 (Heavy Hitters), the average-priced contributors (Average Athletes), and the guys very questionable players at the bottom of the cost charts (Sneaky Sleepers). 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 .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 14 Recap

A moderate weekend of winnings as we hit on many of our key players again in week 14 but ultimately ended up mostly treading water. It would have potentially been a great weekend, except our Star of the Week QB Ryan Tannehill had a pretty average game overall. He tossed a couple TDs, but we needed more out of him to really make some money this past weekend. We also had his running back Derrick Henry, who helped carry the load as an anchor on our rosters, as well as A.J. Brown at wide receiver. (If you didn’t see his sweet catch on their flea flicker check out the link below). We scored nicely with some affordable options like David Montgomery and the suddenly re-emergent T.Y. Hilton, but struck out with the Vikings Adam Thielen who surprisingly was silent in a game that was setup for him to shine in.

Week 14 ranked as just our 9th best out of the 14 weeks so we’ve got some work to do as we look ahead to this upcoming slate. With two Saturday games there are several options of games to play, but as always we’re focused on the millionaire maker.

Who Made Us Look Brilliant?

• Russell Wilson – 206 Yards Passing, 4 Total TDs
• D.K. Metcalf – 61 Yards Receiving, 1 Total TD
• Derrick Henry – 215 Yards Rushing, 7 Yards Receiving, 2 Total TDs
• Keenan Allen – 62 Yards Receiving, 1 Total TD
• Mike Gesicki – 65 Yards Receiving, 2 Total TDs
• David Montgomery – 113 Yards Rushing, 42 Yards Receiving, 1 Total TD
• A.J. Brown – 112 Yards Receiving, 1 Total TD
• Mitchell Trubisky – 267 Yards Passing, 23 Yards Rushing, 3 Total TDs
• T.Y. Hilton – 86 Yards Receiving, 2 Total TDs

Who Made Us Look Foolish?

• Adam Thielen – 39 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD
• DeAndre Washington – 39 Yards Rushing, 9 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD
• Cameron Brate – 9 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD

NFL Week 15

STAR OF THE WEEK:

An old adage in fantasy football is to avoid “chasing the points”, as rostering a player that is coming off a big game is often a recipe for disaster. We’re going to try to buck that trend this weekend as we’re focused on Colts running back Jonathan Taylor who is coming off his best game of the year where we he was electric all game long. You get the feeling that the team was just waiting for Taylor to take the reigns as the true lead back and he definitely didn’t disappoint last Sunday. This weekend’s matchup is even friendlier as he’ll face the hapless Houston Texans defense, a team that has not been able to hold down anyone all year. While Taylor doesn’t come cheap, he’s still under the likes of the Dalvin Cook and Derrick Henrys of the world on DraftKings. If Taylor is the guy the Colts believe he is, this is a game where he absolutely needs to shine.

This weekend’s card offers as many potential big-time performances as we’ve seen all season so determining which tiered talent to nail down will be really important. Jonathan Taylor isn’t the only rookie to keep an eye on as J.K. Dobbins and Cam Akers are both proving to be legitimate fantasy stars at the running back position. The biggest key to success this weekend however may be selecting the best quarterback. Is it best to take a reliable point getting like Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson or Ryan Tannehill, or should you roll the dice with a Taysom Hill, Jalen Hurts or Jared Goff? The best advice we can give you in this tricky weekend is to either go really light, or play numerous combinations in an effort to win. Our best advice is listed here…

PLAYERS WE’RE TARGETING:

Quarterbacks:

Lamar Jackson – $7,500 vs. Jaguars
Ryan Tannehill – $6,700 vs. Lions

Running Backs:

Derrick Henry – $9,500 vs. Lions
Jonathan Taylor – $7,200 vs. Texans

Wide Receivers:

Calvin Ridley – $8,200 vs. Buccaneers
Cooper Kupp – $7,000 vs. Jets

Tight Ends:

Travis Kelce – $8,000 vs. Saints
T.J. Hockenson – $5,200 vs. Titans

Defense / Special Teams:

Los Angeles Rams – $4,500 vs. Jets

Quarterbacks:

Jared Goff – $6,300 vs. Jets
Philip Rivers – $5,900 vs. Texans

Running Backs:

Cam Akers – $6,600 vs. Jets
Ronald Jones II – $6,000 vs. Falcons

Wide Receivers:

Terry McLaurin – $6,600 vs. Seahawks
Brandon Aiyuk – $6,300 vs. Cowboys

Tight Ends:

Logan Thomas – $4,000 vs. Seahawks
Tyler Higbee – $3,800 vs. Jets

Defense / Special Teams:

San Francisco 49ers – $3,100 vs. Cowboys

Quarterbacks:

Gardner Minshew II – $5,300 vs. Ravens
Alex Smith – $5,000 vs. Seahawks

Running Backs:

J.K. Dobbins – $5,900 vs. Jaguars
Latavius Murray – $4,700 vs. Chiefs

Wide Receivers:

Corey Davis – $5,800 vs. Lions
Chad Hansen – $4,200 vs. Colts

Tight Ends:

Hayden Hurst – $3,300 vs. Buccaneers
Trey Burton – $2,900 vs. Texans

Defense / Special Teams:

Philadelphia Eagles – $2,500 vs. Cardinals

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!