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, who will be decent options to mix in for the larger field tournaments in an effort to differentiate your lineup from the similar higher owned lineup 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 midrange and avoiding the bottom end players unless a clear value play emerges.
FANDUEL WEEKLY PICKS (WEEK 7)
Note: These rankings are only for the full Sunday/Monday FanDuel leagues, the Seattle Seahawks/San Francisco 49ers Thursday game and Buffalo Bills/Jacksonville Jaguars London game are not part of these rankings.
Another note: the Chicago Bears, Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos and Green Bay Packers are on bye this week.
Quarterback Top Plays
- Carson Palmer, Arizona Cardinals (8200 v. BAL) – Baltimore has proven to be one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL (27th, 286 yards per game); with a Monday Night home game, I expect the Arizona offense to keep their passing game rolling.
- Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers (8000 v. OAK) – Rivers is having a career year, and with Antonio Gates back plus the struggles in the run game, look for the Chargers to attack the Raiders’ secondary through the air.
Secondary Plays
- Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts (8900 v. NO)
- Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers (8100 v. PHI)
Tournament Plays
- Ryan Fitzpatrick, New York Jets (7100 @ NE)
- Landry Jones, Pittsburgh Steelers (6000 @ KC – check injury status of Ben Roethlisberger)
Running Back Top Plays
- Devonta Freeman, Atlanta Falcons (8700 @ TEN) – Freeman has turned into a similar version of Ray Rice during his prime years, as a multifaceted talent that can attack you in all phases on offense; after letting Lamar Miller get loose last week, Freeman should do well against Tennessee.
- Todd Gurley, St. Louis Rams (7400 v. CLE) – Gurley is averaging 104.7 rush yards per game, Cleveland is allowing a league high 149.8 rush yards per game – rubber meet road; I expect Gurley to be the highest owned player this week.
- Latavius Murray, Oakland Raiders (7000 @ SD) – I expect Green Bay to run all over San Diego last week, just thought it would be Eddie Lacy, not James Starks – but the end result was the same and Latavius Murray should have a field day against the horrendous San Diego front seven.
Secondary Plays
- Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings (8900 @ DET)
- Doug Martin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7200 @ WSH)
- Jonathan Stewart, Carolina Panthers (6700 v. PHI)
Tournament Plays
- Le’Veon Bell, Pittsburgh Steelers (8900 @ KC)
- Mark Ingram, New Orleans Saints (7600 @ IND)
- Danny Woohead, San Diego Chargers (6000 v. OAK)
Wide Receiver Top Plays
- DeAndre Hopkins, Houston Texans (9200 @ MIA) – The matchup is not ideal, but Hopkins appears to be matchup proof this season; Miami should be leading in this game, so Houston will be throwing often .
- Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona Cardinals (7800 v. BAL) – As I mentioned under Carson Palmer, I will be using a lot of Arizona passing game players this week against the horrible Baltimore pass defense.
- Donte Moncrief, Indianapolis Colts (6500 v. NO) – The Colts should be over the mess of the fake punt debacle against the Patriots, and no better place to get well than in a home game against New Orleans.
Secondary Plays
- T.Y. Hilton, Indianapolis Colts (7700 v. NO)
- Steve Smith, Baltimore Ravens (6900 @ ARI)
- John Brown, Arizona Cardinals (6700 v. BAL)
Tournament Plays
- Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers (8300 @ KC)
- Stefon Diggs, Minnesota Vikings (5800 @ DET)
- Michael Floyd, Arizona Cardinals (4900 v. BAL)
Tight End Top Plays
- Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers (5800 v. OAK) – The Raiders the worst defense in the NFL against tight ends; while Keenen Allen appears to be on track to play, he is not 100% and with a struggling running game, Philip Rivers is sure to lean on Gates heavily.
- Kyle Rudolph, Minnesota Vikings (5000 @ DET) – Adrian Peterson is likely going to be the focal point of the offense this week, but Detroit can put up some points, which will require the Vikings to maintain some passing attack against the 25th ranked tight end defense in the league.
Secondary Plays
- Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs (6000 v. PIT)
- Delanie Walker, Tennessee Titans (5500 v. ATL)
Tournament Plays
- Jordan Cameron, Miami Dolphins (5500 v. HOU)
- Jordan Reed, Washington Redskins (5400 v. TB)
Kicker Top Plays
- Chandler Catanzaro, Arizona Cardinals (4900 v. BAL) – Baltimore is looking like one of the worst defenses in the league, Arizona should put up a lot of points on Monday Night.
- Greg Zuerlein, St. Louis Rams (4600 v. CLE) – Run-heavy game plan? Check. Favorite at home? Check. Dome Game? Check. There is a lot to like about Zuerlein at this price this week.
Secondary Plays
- Graham Gano, Carolina Panthers (4700 v. PHI)
- Josh Lambo, San Diego Chargers (4700 v. OAK)
Tournament Plays
- Dustin Hopkins, Washington Redskins (4800 v. TB)
- Chris Boswell, Pittsburgh Steelers (4600 @ KC)
Defense Top Plays
- St. Louis Rams (4500 v. CLE) – Cleveland quarterback Josh McCown, came crashing back to Earth last week while facing an elite Denver defense; the Rams are not quite as talented as Denver, but with a home date against Cleveland, the Rams will be widely owned this week.
- Washington Redskins (4400 v. TB) – This is strictly a value play, while Washington has performed well this year, they are not that good of a unit; but a home game against Jameis Winston can provide ample opportunities for fantasy points.
Secondary Plays
- Pittsburgh Steelers (4600 @ KC)
- Miami Dolphins (4500 v. HOU)
Tournament Plays
- Carolina Panthers (4800 v. PHI)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4000 @ WSH)
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