FanDuel Week 9 Picks
Welcome to another season of Daily Fantasy Football; these articles will focus on games being played at FanDuel. Each week I will highlight some of my preferred plays of the week, plus some deeper “tournament” plays—decent options to mix in for the larger field tournaments in an effort to differentiate your line-up from the similar higher owned line-up options.
For those of you who are not familiar with the format at FanDuel, here is a quick primer:
- Scoring: Half PPR with 4 point Pass Touchdowns, -1 for Interceptions and -2 for Fumbles Lost.
- Lineups: 1 Quarterback (QB), 2 Running Backs (RB), 3 Wide Receivers (WR), 1 Tight End (TE), 1 Kicker (K), and 1 Defense (D).
- Salary Cap: 60,000 with player salaries ranging from 4,000 to approximately 10,000 in any given week.
Different from some of the other sites, there is a smaller range of salaries from the top to bottom players, so rather than a “Stars & Scrubs” approach as many will take on certain sites, on FanDuel you are better off looking for value in the mid-range and avoiding the bottom end players unless a clear value play emerges.
FANDUEL WEEKLY PICKS (WEEK 9)
Note: These rankings are only for the full Sunday/Monday FanDuel leagues, the Cleveland Browns/Cincinnati Bengals Thursday game is not part of these rankings.
Another note: the Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, and Seattle Seahawks are on bye this week.
Quarterback Top Plays
- Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers (8300 v. OAK) – The Raiders have been able to score points this year, so a home game for Roethlisberger with no Le’Veon Bell looks to be a big potential passing game for Big Ben in his second game back from injury.
- Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6700 v. NYG) – Winston draws the home game against the Giants who lack any sort of pass rush to pressure opposing quarterbacks.
Secondary Plays
- Eli Manning, New York Giants (7800 @ TB)
- Marcus Mariota, Tennessee Titans (7100 @ NO)
Tournament Plays
- Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers (7900 v. GB)
- Ryan Tannehill, Miami Dolphins (7400 @ BUF)
Running Back Top Plays
- Devonta Freeman, Atlanta Falcons (8900 @ SF) – Big price tag, but likely to be the highest scoring running back of the week against a porous San Francisco defense; Atlanta will likely have the lead against the horrible lineup the 49ers are fielding.
- Mark Ingram, New Orleans Saints (7700 v. TEN) – The Saints will not likely need to throw for seven touchdowns this week, so Ingram should be leaned upon heavily against the Titans.
- Jeremy Langford, Chicago Bears (6400 @ SD) – Many will immediately gravitate to DeAngelo Williams as the top cheap option, but the Raiders have played stingy run defense (82.9 yards per game), while the Chargers have not (124.6 yards per game).
Secondary Plays
- Todd Gurley, St. Louis Rams (9000 @ MIN)
- Chris Ivory, New York Jets (7500 v. JAC)
- DeAngelo Williams, Pittsburgh Steelers (6500 v. OAK)
Tournament Plays
- Ronnie Hillman, Denver Broncos (6400 @ IND)
- Melvin Gordon, San Diego Chargers (6100 v. CHI)
- Danny Woodhead, San Diego Chargers (6000 v. CHI)
Wide Receiver Top Plays
- Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers (8700 v. OAK) – With Roethlisberger back at home against the Raiders, look for Antonio Brown to make a run at a big double digit reception game.
- Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7500 v. NYG) – The Giants were just beaten for an all-time performance by Drew Brees last week, with the lack of pass rush by New York, Jameis Winston will have time to find Evans often on Sunday.
- Amari Cooper, Oakland Raiders (7300 @ PIT) – Cooper is not the tallest receiver in the league at 6’1”, but he will be matched up against Steeler cornerback Antwan Blake who is only 5’9” in a game that should be high scoring.
Secondary Plays
- Odell Beckham Jr., New York Giants (9000 @ TB)
- Jarvis Landry, Miami Dolphins (7000 @ BUF)
- Malcom Floyd, San Diego Chargers (6100 v. CHI) / Stevie Johnson, San Diego Chargers (5400 v. CHI)
Tournament Plays
- Alshon Jeffery, Chicago Bears (7900 @ SD)
- Robert Woods, Buffalo Bills (4900 v. MIA)
- Dorial Green-Beckham, Tennessee Titans (4900 @ NO)
Tight End Top Plays
- Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers (6000 v. CHI – check injury report closer to game day) – Ladarius Green is unlikely to play, and both Keenan Allen and Brandon Oliver were placed on injured reserve this week, opening up additional targets for Gates.
- Delanie Walker, Tennessee Titans (5500 @ NO) – Tennessee will need to throw early and often to keep up in this game, and with Kendall Wright ruled out, Walker is the clear number one target for Marcus Mariota.
Secondary Plays
- Heath Miller, Pittsburgh Steelers (5800 v. OAK)
- Charles Clay, Buffalo Bills (5700 v. MIA)
Tournament Plays
- Jordan Reed, Washington Redskins (5700 @ NE)
- Zach Ertz, Philadelphia Eagles (5000 @ DAL)
Kicker Top Plays
- Kai Forbath, New Orleans Saints (4600 v. TEN) – I think New Orleans settles for some field goals this week in a game they should not need 52 points to win.
- Chris Boswell, Pittsburgh Steelers (4500 v. OAK) – Pittsburgh should score a good amount of points at home against the Raiders; at a minimum salary, there is good value here.
Secondary Plays
- Brandon McManus, Denver Broncos (5000 @ IND)
- Graham Gano, Carolina Panthers (4700 v. GB)
Tournament Plays
- Connor Barth, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4800 v. NYG)
- Josh Lambo, San Diego Chargers (4700 v. CHI)
Defense Top Plays
- New England Patriots (4900 v. WSH) – There are very few solid defense choices this week, so do not try to get cute and pay up for a strong option; with a home game against the Redskins and turnover prone Kirk Cousins, New England looks like one of the best in my opinion.
- Atlanta Falcons (4900 @ SF) – Blaine Gabbert and Kendall Gaskins – those are the starting quarterback and running back for the San Francisco 49ers this week; enough said.
Secondary Plays
- Philadelphia Eagles (4700 @ DAL)
- Dallas Cowboys (4500 v. PHI)
Tournament Plays
- Minnesota Vikings (4700 v. STL)
- Carolina Panthers (4400 v. GB)
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