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 10 Recap

GROSS. That’s about the only way to sum up how our DFS parade worked out last week. It’s impossible even for those who analyze and crunch the numbers and watch the film to win every week, so we aren’t surprised we had a down campaign last Sunday. What is both surprising and disappointing is just how badly we whiffed with both our Star of the Week and some other high priced talent. Let’s focus on our Star pick, who was previously well-playing quarterback Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons. How did Matty Ice respond for us against the Dallas Cowboys? With his second worst fantasy performance of his 13 year career. Before we look at the ugly numbers, we have to at least mention that we said if you weren’t sold on Matt Ryan, to roll with a bounce back effort from Josh Allen or Dak Prescot But we can’t escape our horrible miss, so let’s explore what happened. Ryan tossed for just 117 yards, didn’t get the team into the end zone, and threw a pair of picks as the Falcons got destroyed by the Cowboys. The only thing we capped correctly is we expected the Falcons to be down big, forcing them to throw a lot. As if Ryan wasn’t awful enough, our other big ticket quarterbacks also had pretty miserable performances as Tom Brady and Justin Herbert both struggled in surprising losses. You can take a look at what happened below with some more of our selections, and it’s a lot more bad than it is good.

Who Made Us Look Brilliant?

• Dak Prescott – 296 Yards Passing, 5 Yards Rushing, 3 Total TDs
• Najee Harris – 105 Yards Rushing, 27 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD
• Dalvin Cook – 94 Yards Rushing, 24 Yards Receiving, 1 Total TD
  

Who Made Us Look Foolish?

• Justin Herbert – 195 Yards Passing, 1 Total TD, 1 Int
• Dalton Schultz – 15 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD
• Cordarelle Patterson – 25 Yards Rushing, 14 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD
• Trevor Lawrence – 162 Yards Passing, 33 Yards Rushing, 0 Total TD
• Carson Wentz – 180 Yards Passing, -1 Yard Rushing, 0 Total TD
• Chris Godwin – 57 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD

NFL Week 10 Preview

Injuries, injuries and COVID-19… Things to be very aware of when you’re setting those rosters, especially at the running back position. Nick Chubb is a must start, if he clears the COVID protocols. Some other key notes, throw a dart with your defense this week and save the money as the top options aren’t necessarily great. A heavy card of tight ends makes for some interesting decisions if you want to spend some money there. This definitely seems like a wide receiver week after you’ve selected your quarterback. We’re looking to stack some players in the projected highest scoring game of the week between the Chiefs and Cowboys. After our brutal week 10, we’re just really excited to get back in the game and rebound with a winning effort on Sunday. Good luck!

STAR OF THE WEEK:

Very rarely do we put enough trust in a rookie player to list him as our Star of the Week, but after our debacle pick last week, we can only go up right? By most accounts the Dolphins wideout has been the right in line with fellow rookie Devonta Smith as the second best wide receiver behind the Bengals Ja’Marr Chase. Waddle has been pretty productive with the the revolving door at QB in Miami, consistently seeing a solid number of targets each week. The disappointing seasons of his peers Davante Parker and free agent acquisition Will Fuller V have forced the Dolphins to really rely on Waddle. Sunday brings up perhaps the best potential matchup of the year for Jaylen Waddle when the Dolphins face the New York Jets. The same New York Jets that are routinely giving up 40+ points per game, and being torched by both great, and mediocre wide receivers. Their secondary is a mess, and without safety Marcus Maye guiding it, they are flat out terrible. Even though quarterback Tua Tagovailoa will spread the ball around, and can have some accuracy issues, Waddle will be a big part of the gameplan on Sunday. We’re fully expecting Waddle to find paydirt at least once and grab at a minimum of six passes. Although we haven’t seen it much as of yet, he’s also got big play ability so a long pass or catch and run are also very much in play. Add him to your roster as a nice compliment to your top three players, and he can help put you over the top if the remainder of your lineup is strong.

PLAYERS WE’RE TARGETING:

Quarterbacks:

Patrick Mahomes – $7,600 vs. Cowboys
Dak Prescott – $7,200 vs. Chiefs

Running Backs:

Jonathan Taylor – $8,300 vs. Bills
Nick Chubb – $7,800 vs. Lions

Wide Receivers:

Tyreek Hill – $8,200 vs. Cowboys
Marquise Brown – $7,100 vs. Bears

Tight Ends:

Travis Kelce – $7,100 vs. Cowboys
Mike Gesicki – $5,200 vs. Jets

Defense / Special Teams:

Buffalo Bills – $3,200 vs. Colts

Quarterbacks:

Joe Burrow – $6,600 vs. Raiders
Russell Wilson – $6,500 vs. Cardinals

Running Backs:

A.J. Dillon – $6,200 vs. Vikings
James Conner – $6,100 vs. Seahawks

Wide Receivers:

D.K. Metcalf – $6,800 vs. Cardinals
Brandin Cooks – $6,000 vs. Titans

Tight Ends:

Dawson Knox – $4,000 vs. Colts
Tyler Conklin – $3,900 vs. Packers

Defense / Special Teams:

Cleveland Browns – $3,100 vs. Lions

Quarterbacks:

Jimmy Garoppolo – $5,600 vs. Jaguars
Tua Tagovailoa – $5,500 vs. Jets

Running Backs:

David Montgomery – $5,500 vs. Ravens
Matt Breida – $4,400 vs. Colts

Wide Receivers:

Cole Beasley – $4,800 vs. Colts
Jamison Crowder – $4,700 vs. Dolphins

Tight Ends:

Adam Trautman – $3,200 vs. Eagles
David Njoku – $2,900 vs. Lions

Defense / Special Teams:

Chicago Bears – $2,500 vs. Ravens

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!