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 differential 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 11)
Note: These rankings are only for the full Sunday/Monday FanDuel leagues, the Tennessee Titans/Jacksonville Jaguars Thursday game is not part of these rankings.
Another note: the Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, and Pittsburgh Steelers are on bye this week.
Quarterback Top Plays
- Matthew Stafford, Detroit Lions (7000 v. OAK) – The Lions offense has not been good this year, let’s just get that out of the way; but for 7000 in a home dome game against a poor Oakland secondary, I will be recommending a few Lions in the pass game this week, led by Stafford.
- Case Keenum, St. Louis Rams (4800 @ BAL) – This is a pure value play, although the Rams are likely to lean on Todd Gurley heavy in the game plan. At 4800, against one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL, Keenum does not need to do much at all to make this a good value play.
Secondary Plays
- Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers (8600 v. WSH)
- Tyrod Taylor, Buffalo Bills (7200 @ NE)
Tournament Plays
- Mark Sanchez, Philadelphia Eagles (6400 v. TB)
- Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs (6200 @ SD)
Running Back Top Plays
- Lamar Miller, Miami Dolphins (7400 v. DAL) – Dallas has been prone to giving up some large games to running backs, especially good pass catching backs; Miller has morphed into almost a receiving-first type of player, but with huge volume in recent games.
- Charcandrick West, Kansas City Chiefs (7100 @ SD) – The first thing I have done recently is look for the running back playing the Chargers; this week you have a productive back who has scored 19.9 FanDuel points or more in each of the last three games – be leery though, West will be HEAVILY owned this week, if you want to fade him, it could be a huge risk/reward decision.
- Latavius Murray, Oakland Raiders (6800 @ DET) – Detroit has given up the most 20-yard runs, most 40-yard runs, and most rushing touchdowns in the NFL this season; Murray is looking at a big day this Sunday, unless Detroit gets out to a big early lead.
Secondary Plays
- Devonta Freeman, Atlanta Falcons (9100 v. IND)
- Jonathan Stewart, Carolina Panthers (7000 v. WSH)
- Darren McFadden, Dallas Cowboys (6800 @ MIA)
Tournament Plays
- Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings (8900 v. GB)
- Jeremy Langford, Chicago Bears (6700 v. DEN)
- Danny Woodhead, San Diego Chargers (6400 v. KC)
Wide Receiver Top Plays
- Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions (8100 v. OAK) – Wide receiver is a tough position this week with most of the expensive options having big question marks surrounding them. Even Calvin is a little banged up. However, I am all in on Detroit this week, so have to have Calvin up top.
- Mike Evans, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8000 @ PHI) – Vincent Jackson is out at least another week, so Evans will continue to see a heavy dose of targets. With a matchup against an Eagles team that is susceptible to giving up some big pass plays, I like Evans this week.
- Danny Amendola, New England Patriots (6100 v. BUF) – I said wide receiver is a tough position this week, but that is outside of Amedola With Julian Edelman done for the regular season, and Dion Lewis also out for the year, Amendola takes over as the lone short pass weapon, expect double-digit targets each week from here on out.
Secondary Plays
- Eric Decker, New York Jets (7000 @ HOU)
- Sammy Watkins, Buffalo Bills (6600 @ NE)
- Jordan Matthews, Philadelphia Eagles (6300 v. TB)
Tournament Plays
- Michael Crabtree, Oakland Raiders (6500 @ DET)
- Golden Tate, Detroit Lions (6200 v. OAK)
- Doug Baldwin, Seattle Seahawks (5400 v. SF)
Tight End Top Plays
- Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots (8400 v. BUF) – There is a lot of value at quarterback and wide receiver this week, so you should have cap space to use Gronk at home this week against the Bills.
- Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs (5700 @ SD) – Kelce has been a victim of game planning lately, but the Chargers are horrible against tight ends, so I expect West and Kelce to be the main game plan on Sunday.
Secondary Plays
- Greg Olsen, Carolina Panthers (6400 v. WSH)
- Tyler Eifert, Cincinnati Bengals (6200 @ ARI)
Tournament Plays
- Jordan Reed, Washington Redskins (5800 @ CAR)
- Eric Ebron, Detroit Lions (5400 v. OAK)
Kicker Top Plays
- Stephen Gostkowski, New England Patriots (5100 v. BUF) – The Patriots score a lot of points at home, so Gostkowski should benefit from a nice volume game.
- Matt Prater, Detroit Lions (4500 v. OAK) – I wouldn’t use Prater with all of the Lions offensive players I have suggested at other positions, but on teams where you go elsewhere from the Lions, Prater makes for a perfect kicker option at a minimum salary.
Secondary Plays
- Cairo Santos, Kansas City Chiefs (5000 @ SD)
- Caleb Sturgis, Philadelphia Eagles (4800 v. TB)
Tournament Plays
- Graham Gano, Carolina Panthers (4800 v. WSH)
- Greg Zuerlein, St. Louis Rams (4600 @ BAL))
Defense Top Plays
- Seattle Seahawks (5400 v. SF) – Blaine Gabbert beat Atlanta at home, but even coming off a bye week, I expect the Seahawks to eat him alive this week.
- Kansas City Chiefs (4400 @ SD) – This is the best alternative to Seattle at a value price I see on the board; San Diego has struggled blocking all year and Philip Rivers has very little time to make decisions.
Secondary Plays
- Carolina Panthers (4900 v. WSH)
- Atlanta Falcons (4600 v. IND)
Tournament Plays
- Philadelphia Eagles (4900 v. TB)
- Minnesota Vikings (4300 v. GB)
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