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 14 Recap
Much like a week prior, we really grabbed most of the key performers and had another profitable weekend. Much like a week prior, we also had a running back in most of our lineups that left us hanging from the big payouts. A week ago, it was Nick Chubb, this week it was our Star of the Week, D’Onta Foreman. The Carolina Panthers running back didn’t have a bad game overall, however from a fantasy perspective it was simply not good enough. Foreman ended up being stuck in a running back committee and lost out on two rushing touchdowns, to Chuba Hubbard and Raheem Blackshear. Despite that disappointment, we can’t sulk too much, as there were a lot of hits, and very few misses with our recommended players. We suggested getting some guys from the Lions and Vikings games onto your rosters, and if you did, you likely succeeded. Let’s take a closer look.
These Players Made Us Look Good:
Jalen Hurts – 217 Yards Passing, 77 Yards Rushing, 3 Total TDs
Jared Goff – 330 Yards Passing, 9 Yards Rushing, 3 Total TDs
Kirk Cousins – 425 Yards Passing, 2 Total TDs
Derrick Henry – 121 Yards Rushing, 34 Yards Receiving, 1 Total TD
Tony Pollard – 42 Yards Rushing, 20 Yards Receiving, 2 Total TDs
Ezekiel Elliott – 61 Yards Rushing, 19 Yards Receiving, 1 Total TD
Justin Jefferson – 223 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD
Jerry Jeudy – 73 Yards Receiving, 3 Total TDs
David Njoku – 59 Yards Receiving, 1 Total TD
Jerick McKinnon – 22 Yards Rushing, 122 Yards Receiving, 2 Total TDs
Zay Jones – 77 Yards Receiving, 1 Total TD
These Players Made Us Look Foolish:
Mike Evans – 44 Yards Receiving, 0 Total TD
NFL Week 15 Preview
There are 3 games on Saturday this week which can make for some additional DFS fun, but as far as Sunday goes, the byes are over making it another normal week of action. If you’re scrolling through the potential players you will notice a lot of “Q”‘s out there, so watching the injury reports later in the week will be important. Look for those players who could be up for expanded roles to fill in your rosters, and make sure your key selections are healthy enough to produce. At this point in the season, it’s also important to really evaluate potential game scripts, as teams could rest players if they’re up big or trailing big in the second halves of games. In a year that has been a little off in terms of stacking players, there are a couple of pretty nice options this week to keep an eye on. Here’s who we’re focused on.
Before we highlight our three levels of talent, let’s look at our projected star of the week:
STAR OF THE WEEK:
There were a few really nice options for the Star of the Week, which is hopefully a good thing when we piece together our lineups in their entirety. We settled on Chargers wide receiver Mike Williams, who returned from his ankle injury to put up some nice numbers in a win over the Dolphins. Williams is part of a potential 3-way stack with Justin Herbert and Keenan Allen that should have every opportunity to explode against a Titans defense that is really struggling, especially in the secondary. Williams is the economical choice, with a salary of just $6,300, making him highly undervalued based on his ceiling in this matchup in the dome. It’s true that Williams can be a little bit of a boom or bust player, as his targets tend to come down the field more often than that. Despite this, his physical play against the cornerbacks of the Titans is simply too good to pass up. With the Chargers offense finally healthy, at least at the skill positions, the offense should have little trouble moving the ball and getting into the end zone. All of that adds up to what should be a strong performance for Mike Williams on Sunday.
Quarterbacks:
Jalen Hurts – $8,200 vs. Bears
Justin Herbert – $7,200 vs. Titans
Running Backs:
Derrick Henry – $8,000 vs. Chargers
Tony Pollard – $7,100 vs. Jaguars
Wide Receivers:
Ja’Marr Chase – $8,300 vs. Buccaneers
Keenan Allen – $6,800 vs. Titans
Tight Ends:
Travis Kelce – $7,800 vs. Texans
Gerald Everett – $4,300 vs. Titans
Defense / Special Teams:
Arizona Cardinals – $3,400 vs. Broncos
Quarterbacks:
Dak Prescott – $6,200 vs. Jaguars
Trevor Lawrence – $6,000 vs. Cowboys
Running Backs:
Miles Sanders – $6,500 vs. Bears
Isiah Pacheco – $5,900 vs. Texans
Wide Receivers:
Chris Olave – $6,500 vs. Falcons
Garrett Wilson – $6,000 vs. Lions
Tight Ends:
Greg Dulcich – $3,600 vs. Cardinals
Hunter Henry – $3,300 vs. Raiders
Defense / Special Teams:
Carolina Panthers – $3,300 vs. Steelers
Quarterbacks:
Mike White – $5,400 vs. Lions
Mac Jones – $5,000 – vs. Raiders
Running Backs:
Jerick McKinnon – $5,200 vs. Texans
Rex Burkhead – $4,600 vs. Chiefs
Wide Receivers:
Zay Jones – $4,900 vs. Cowboys
Jakobi Meyers – $4,700 vs. Raiders
Tight Ends:
Tyler Conklin – $3,100 vs. Lions
Cade Otton – $2,900 vs. Bengals
Defense / Special Teams:
Denver Broncos – $2,700 vs. Cardinals
If you play Daily Fantasy Football, 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! 
