By The Hudsonian, Joshua Hudson
I win two in a row from these guys and suddenly I’m the one writing this column. You know what? I’ll take it. Daily fantasy, no matter how much I enjoy playing it, has stifled me since I started playing. And even if I haven’t won a large amount playing this year, I’ve won two in a row against Commishie and Richey so that’s a damn good season if I do say so myself. Below are some people I’m looking to build lineups around this week. Hope the right combination helps you win some money too!
QB
Matt Ryan (FD $8600/DK $7300) – Second highest on FanDuel and third highest on DraftKings. He’s worth it. While the Eagles have played great pass defense throughout this season, they haven’t looked great the during their last five games. If you needed more reason to start your lineups with him: in last season’s opener, he threw for 298 yards and 2 TDs. And he’s been a better quarterback this season. This game will be an offensive shootout and Ryan will lead the scoring.
Drew Brees (FD $8200/DK $6900) – A bit surprised? You shouldn’t be. Yes, the Broncos have a great pass defense, but their run defense has been more annoying than a leaky faucet. If they commit to stopping Mark Ingram and Tim Hightower, Brees can pick his spots. Do I think he’ll go off for 30 pts? Probably not. But he had over 20 against the Seahawks at home and he gets the Broncos at home, where Brees is amazing. Great pick for tournaments where he’s sure to have low ownership.
Marcus Mariota (FD $7400/DK $5700) – Arguably the best value play this week, Mariota has been hot and the Packers secondary is depleted. We know of his connection with Delanie Walker, but he’s developing a great rapport with Rishard Matthews as well, with 5 TDs thrown his way in the last five weeks. The other plus with Mariota? The rushing yards. He’s getting them more frequently now and defenses can’t stop him. Paying low on him allows you to buy high at RB and WR.
If you’re looking for cheap options – Jay Cutler (FD $7000/DK $5300) gets a Bucs defense that was just lit up by Matt Ryan, and has been by just about every other quarterback they’ve played this season. In case you were asleep last Monday night, Cutler just shredded the Vikings defense… Carson Wentz (FD $6800/DK $5400) plays a Falcons defense that is leading the league in allowing fantasy points to QBs. Sure, he’s a rookie, but I have a feeling he’ll be throwing a lot in an effort to bring his team from behind to win.
RB
David Johnson (FD $9400/DK $8400) – The most expensive player this week at running back. And he’s worth every penny. He plays the 49ers this week. I think that’s all you need to know.
Ezekiel Elliott (FD $8900/DK $7900) – The second most expensive player this week at running back. And he’s worth every penny. Remember all those great Steelers defenses of yesteryear? Well this isn’t one of them. And they allow the fourth most fantasy points to opposing running backs. The Cowboys will definitely want to make a statement here, and it starts with Elliott.
Jay Ajayi (FD $7800/DK $7000) – I’m a believer. The Chargers give up A LOT of fantasy points to opposing RBs, third most in fact, and Ajayi has been on a tear lately, with over 500 rushing yards in his last three weeks. The Dolphins will lean on him hard to stay with the high-scoring Chargers offense.
If you’re looking for cheap options – Mark Ingram (FD $6300/DK $5400) is coming off one of the best games of his career. Sure, there are questions about who is actually the starter in New Orleans, but there’s no question who has the most talent. The Broncos are AWFUL at stopping the run, the Saints’ opponent on Sunday… Darren Sproles (FD $5100/DK $4300) has been getting close to 80% of the work out of the Eagles backfield. And he’s cheaper than his backup, Ryan Mathews, on DraftKings… Matt Asiata (FD $5800/DK $3800) & Jerrick McKinnon (FD $5700/DK $3800) are one in the same for the Vikings and get a Redskins defense that can be run on. Great value if you go with either.
WR
Julio Jones (FD $8800/DK $9500) – Again, the Eagles have been great against the pass this year, but not in the last five games. Here iss a reminder of last year: 9 catches for 141 yards and 2 TDs vs. the Eagles in Week 1. They don’t have a cornerback that is worthy enough to carry Jones’ sports bag to work on Sundays, let along one that can stop him.
Mike Evans (FD $8500/DK $9000) – Evans gets a Bears secondary that allows THE MOST fantasy points to opposing WRs. That’s all you need to know to justify the price.
Larry Fitzgerald (FD $7200/DK $7600) – The 49ers defense is pathetic. I wouldn’t be shocked if the Cardinals score 50 on them this week. If they do, there’s plenty to go around for both David Johnson and Fitzgerald.
If you’re looking for cheap options – Kelvin Benjamin (FD $7000/DK $6800) has actually been better than you think this year. He is tied for first in the league with the most games of 70+ yards or more. This week he gets a Chiefs secondary that allows the fourth most fantasy points to WRs. Now, if only Benjamin could find the end zone… Tyrell Williams (FD $5900/DK $5700) is quietly becoming Rivers favorite target in the absence of Keenan Allen. He has 2 100-yard games in his last five weeks and makes for a great stack with Rivers… I like Carson Wentz, so a good guess would be that I wouldn’t mind pairing him with his number one target Jordan Matthews (FD $5900/DK $5900)… And how about Rishard Matthews (FD $5800/DK $4200)? He has 5 TDs in his last five games and gets a banged up Packers secondary. A Mariota-Matthews stack is inexpensive and effective to help afford the like of David Johnson and Mike Evans.
TE
Travis Kelce (FD $6300/DK $5600) – The best value at TE this week. Panthers allow the fourth most fantasy points to TEs this season. And we know the Chiefs don’t like throwing to wide receivers.
Tyler Eifert (FD $6100/DK $5200) – He’s back and he’s one of two really great targets for Andy Dalton. The Giants will be focused on stopping A.J. Green which will leave Eifert open to do what he does best.
If you’re looking for cheap options – Zach Ertz (FD $4600/DK $3700) resurfaced last week in a big way and if Coach Pederson wants to keep up with the high-powered Falcons, he’ll need Ertz to be a big part of that… Zach Miller (FD $5400/DK $3600) is a Cutler favorite and he’s quietly been a top 5 TE this season. You’ve read how much I think the Bucs defense is bad, yes?… Kyle Rudolph (FD $5000/DK $3600) was supposed to be great last week, but only caught one pass. If you started him, luckily, that one catch was a TD. He should be better this week as the Redskins focus on slowing down Stefon Diggs.
D/ST
If you want to spend on a defense, the Cardinals (FD $5200/DK $3700) are the way to go. If not, the Chargers (FD $4600/DK $2900) and the Rams (FD $4600/DK $2900) have great match-ups, get sacks, and play quarterbacks prone to turnovers.
As always, with Kickers, just pick one that fits your budget. It’s all about game flow folks. Now let’s see how Commishie, Richey, and myself constructed our teams. Hope the advice helps! Good luck this week and make some money on me!
Josh
QB – Phillip Rivers ($8100)
RB – David Johnson ($9400)
RB – Jay Ajayi ($7800)
WR – Tyrell Williams ($5900)
WR – Larry Fitzgerald ($7200)
WR – Emmanuel Sanders ($6900)
TE – Zach Miller ($5400)
K – Chandler Catanzaro ($4500)
D/ST – Chargers ($4600)
Richey
QB – Eli Manning ($7600)
RB – Jordan Howard ($6900)
RB – Le’Veon Bell ($8100)
WR – Jamison Crowder ($6000)
WR – J.J. Nelson ($5600)
WR – Antonio Brown ($8600)
TE – Rob Gronkowski ($8000)
K – Nick Novak ($4500)
D/ST – Rams ($4600)
Commishie
QB – Jay Cutler ($7000)
RB – David Johnson ($9400)
RB – Melvin Gordon ($8300)
WR – Alshon Jeffrey ($7200)
WR – Jarvis Landry ($6800)
WR – Dontrelle Inman ($5300)
TE – Tyler Eifert ($6100)
K – Dan Bailey ($4900)
D/ST – Texans ($4700)