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 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 6 Recap
Things were truly boom or bust with our DraftKings lineups in week six as we had some players who crushed it, but unfortunately had some big misses which forced us into a negative day for the first time since week one. Ironically, it was our heavy hitter high priced talent that let us down, not the value players. Focusing on the positives, we mentioned it would be a great week to save money utilizing a cheap QB, and both of our Ryan suggestions, Tannehill and Fitzpatrick delivered with huge days. We took a shot with the struggling Matt Ryan and he delivered in a big way as they torched the Vikings early and often. Our Star of the Week wasn’t completely dominant, which is the expectation, but certainly did a quality job as Gardner Minshew scored twice and tossed for nearly 250 yards and ran for a handful more. Ultimately though, we need more from our Star, which is something we think can happen this weekend. Reading this summary, you can see, QB play certainly was on point, it was the skill positions that did us in.
Some nice hits with the Dolphins defense and A.J. Brown were a couple of highlights on the week. Some expected video game numbers in Minnesota as Matt Ryan looked like the Ryan of old. Here’s a few others:
Who Made Us Look Brilliant?
- Matt Ryan – 371 Yards Passing, 8 Yards Rushing, 4 Total TDs
- Kirk Cousins – 343 Yards Passing, 3 Total TDs
- Ryan Tannehill – 364 Yards Passing, 4 Total TDs
- Miami Dolphins – DST – 0 Points Allowed, 3 Sacks, 1 FR, 1 Int
- Kenny Golladay – 105 Yards Receiving
- A.J. Brown – 56 Yards Receiving, 2 Total TDs
Who Made Us Look Foolish?
Way too many misses as we mentioned, especially at the top of the list. Ben Roethlisberger played an efficient game as his team dominated their rivals. As a result, he wasn’t asked to do much in the game. We missed with both of our big-time tight ends as Johnnu Smith and Mark Andrews were basically irrelevant in their contests. David Montgomery was disappointing as he couldn’t capitalize on a dream matchup with just over 50 yards and no scores.
- Johnnu Smith – 23 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD
- Mark Andrews – 24 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD
- Eric Ebron – 9 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD
NFL Week 7
STAR OF THE WEEK:
UPDATE –
With the injury to Aaron Jones in practice we’re updating our Star of the Week to Justin Herbert.
It is oh-so tempting to give rookie QB Justin Herbert the nod as the star of the week as his matchup with the Jaguars would make Joe Flacco a consideration. OK, that might be exaggerating just a bit. In all seriousness, you’ll see Herbert mentioned below and we strongly suggest getting him into your lineup against a team that has given up 30 points in every game this season. You get the point on where we stand with Herbert this week so let’s focus on who our actual Star of the Week nominee is, and that’s Green Bay Packer running back Aaron Jones. The Houston Texans defense is swiss cheese and was just run over by the powerful and fast Derrick Henry on Sunday. Jones is another physical runner who will be ecstatic to see some running lanes after being bottled up by the tough Buccaneer front. Coming off of an embarrassing loss you can expect this Packers team to come out firing and focused. This sure seems like a great spot to ride Jones to a 100 yard day and potentially a TD or two and it’s possible he could finish as the top running back of the week. Start him confidently despite his paltry yardage output in week number six.
PLAYERS WE’RE TARGETING:
Quarterbacks:
Kyler Murray – $7,100 vs. Seahawks
Aaron Rodgers – $7,000 vs. Texans
Running Backs:
Alvin Kamara – $7,900 vs. Panthers
Aaron Jones – $7,200 vs. Texans
Wide Receivers:
DeAndre Hopkins – $8,200 vs. Seahawks
Julio Jones – $7,100 vs. Lions
Tight Ends:
Robert Tonyan – $4,600 vs. Texans
Hunter Henry – $4,500 vs. Jaguars
Defense / Special Teams:
Kansas City Chiefs – $4,300 vs. Broncos
Quarterbacks:
Ben Roethlisberger – $6,600 vs. Titans
Justin Herbert – $6,400 vs. Jaguars
Running Backs:
Chris Carson – $6,400 vs. Cardinals
Devin Singletary – $5,800 vs. Jets
Wide Receivers:
Keenan Allen – $6,200 vs. Jaguars
Terry McLaurin – $5,800 vs. Cowboys
Tight Ends:
Austin Hooper – $4,000 vs. Bengals
Eric Ebron – $4,000 vs. Titans
Defense / Special Teams:
Cleveland Browns – $2,800 vs. Bengals
Quarterbacks:
Teddy Bridgewater – $5,800 vs. Saints
Joe Burrow – $5,500 vs. Browns
Running Backs:
Latavius Murray – $4,800 vs. Panthers
Giovani Bernard – $4,500 vs. Browns
Wide Receivers:
Tyler Boyd – $5,400 vs. Browns
Demarcus Robinson – $3,400 vs. Broncos
Tight Ends:
Dalton Schultz – $3,900 vs. Washington Football Team
Tyler Kroft – $3,100 vs. Jets
Defense / Special Teams:
Washington Football Team – $2,500 vs. Cowboys
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!
