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 12 Recap

A relatively mixed bag of results for the BetCrushers last weekend that didn’t translate all that well in the money column. We had some nice hit with some sleepers, but largely failed with most of our stars, which ultimately sealed our fate. Outside of Deebo Samuel, it was a bit of a struggle with guys like Najee Harris and Justin Jefferson, who we were counting on. Perhaps the most disappointing picks were our quarterbacks, Star of the Week Jimmy Garoppolo, and Jalen Hurts. Garoppolo wasn’t awful, but put up a pretty pedestrian stat line, certainly not what we needed for the centerpiece of our rosters. Outside of Samuel, our best value plays were definitely Carson Wentz and Kendrick Bourne, both who would have been difference-makers had we not struck out with our higher priced players. It’s still been a few weeks since we’ve really pieced things together, and we’ll keep grinding.

Who Made Us Look Brilliant?

• Carson Wentz – 306 Yards Passing, 23 Yards Rushing, 3 Total TDs
• Deebo Samuel – 66 Yards Rushing, 12 Yards Receiving, 2 Total TDs
• Kendrick Bourne – 61 Yards Receiving, 2 Total TDs
• Jalen Hurts – 129 Yards Passing, 77 Yards Rushing, 0 Total TDs, 3 Ints
  

Who Made Us Look Foolish?

• Jamison Crowder – 5 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD
• Najee Harris – 23 Yards Rushing, 15 Yards Reciving, 0 Total TD
• Noah Fant – 12 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD
• Christian McCaffrey – 35 Yards Rushing, 0 Total TD
• Jalen Hurts – 129 Yards Passing, 77 Yards Rushing, 0 Total TD, 3 Ints

NFL Week 13 Preview

One of the more interesting rosters of the season in week 13 that is going to require monitoring the status of some players up until game time. Depending on how things shake out, there is potentially some big low-cost players out there that could allow you to really construct your rosters effectively. As an example, if Jalen Hurts ends up not playing, it’s worth a shot with Gardner Minshew as your QB for $4,000. Guys like Antonio Brown might return to action, and are priced way lower than their market value. The bottom line is, you may want to craft your rosters all the way up until game time. The money appears to be best spent at the running back position this week as some of the big names have really nice matchups. Finding some lightning in a bottle with wide receiver is going to be a necessity. Questions galore around the QB position as the mid-tier options aren’t great. And realistically, the sleeper options aren’t great either. If you want to play it safer with Lamar Jackson or Matthew Stafford, it’s going to make it tough to really build the rest of your lineup. Hopefully some of our players below can help you decide.

STAR OF THE WEEK:

For the second straight week we’re going with a San Francisco 49er as our Star of the Week. Elijah Mitchell returned quickly from his injury in week 10 and promptly put together a 100 yard rushing day in the team’s win against the Minnesota Vikings. The young running back will look to string together another nice outing in a favorable divisional matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. At just the 14th ranked RB listed at $6,000, value is an understatement for Mitchell in this contest. The Seahawks have had trouble slowing down the run all season and have gotten killed in time of possession. They’re ranked 31st at allowing fantasy points to opposing running backs, and are coming in off of a deflating loss on a short week. Throw in the fact that the 49ers will be without Deebo Samuel who had been grabbing a lot of carries out of the backfield, and there should be even more potential carries for Mitchell. With the Niners being favored in the game, if they’re able to get up on Seattle, the game script should also lend itself to a lot of running. If we’ve learned anything about Kyle Shanahan, it’s that he is more than content running the entire game if teams can’t stop them. Mitchell is a must-start for us in week 13, and you’ll want to give him a look where you can too.

PLAYERS WE’RE TARGETING:

Quarterbacks:

Lamar Jackson – $7,800 vs. Steelers
Tom Brady – $7,200 vs. Falcons

Running Backs:

Jonathan Taylor – $9,200 vs. Texans
Joe Mixon – $8,100 vs. Chargers

Wide Receivers:

Cooper Kupp – $9,000 vs. Jaguars
Justin Jefferson – $8,200 vs. Lions

Tight Ends:

George Kittle – $5,900 vs. Seahawks
Rob Gronkowski – $5,300 vs. Falcons

Defense / Special Teams:

Philadelphia Eagles – $3,600 vs. Jets

Quarterbacks:

Derek Carr – $6,000 vs. Washington Football Team
Taylor Heinicke – $5,600 vs. Raiders

Running Backs:

James Robinson – $6,200 vs. Rams
Antonio Gibson – $5,700 vs. Raiders

Wide Receivers:

Chris Godwin – $6,600 vs. Falcons
Hunter Renfrow – $5,800 vs. Washington Football Team

Tight Ends:

Logan Thomas – $4,000 vs. Raiders
Tyler Conklin – $3,700 vs. Lions

Defense / Special Teams:

Cincinnati Bengals – $2,800 vs. Chargers

Quarterbacks:

Jared Goff – $5,200 vs. Vikings
Ben Roethlisberger – $5,000 vs. Ravens

Running Backs:

Tevin Coleman – $4,500 vs. Eagles
Phillip Lindsay – $4,200 vs. Giants

Wide Receivers:

Marvin Jones, Jr. – $4,700 vs. Rams
Desean Jackson – $4,200 vs. Washington Football Team

Tight Ends:

Jared Cook – $3,100 vs. Bengals
Brevin Jordan – $2,500 vs. Colts

Defense / Special Teams:

Washington Football Team – $2,500 vs. Raiders

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!