Alvin Kamara and the New Orleans Saints face off against Christian McCaffrey and the Carolina Panthers in a game featuring two top-tier fantasy running backs. Both players are good options this week. That said, Kamara, now healthy and priced $2,300 less than CMC, is a player to build around in DFS. Find out who to build your Week 12 daily NFL lineups around.
Week 12 DFS Core Plays: Play Alvin Kamara
Quarterbacks
Matt Ryan $6,700
Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in what Vegas has pegged for a high-scoring affair. The game has the highest O/U (51.5) on the slate. The Falcons are 4.5 point favorites. The Bucs have allowed the third-most DraftKings points to quarterbacks this season. With Austin Hooper out of the mix, Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley are in a position to thrive if Ryan has a big game. It makes sense to stack all three together in some lineups. Both offenses in the matchup have the firepower to turn this game into a shootout. You’ll want some exposure to this game in your lineups.
Jameis Winston $6,200
The Bucs offense lives and dies by its passing attack, making Winston and his receivers great options for DFS. This week, Winston and company have a good matchup. The Falcons rank 26th in passing yards allowed per game (261.7). Winston, Mike Evans, and Chris Godwin are all worth getting exposure to in your lineups. Four marquee wide receivers are playing in this game. It wouldn’t be crazy to run out a few lineups with all of them in there mixed with Winston and Ryan. However, be aware that all of them will be popular plays. So if you are playing in large-field GPP tournaments, make sure to differentiate your lineup by playing a low-owned player or by leaving a few hundred dollars in salary on the table.
Nick Foles $5,400
Foles returned last week and threw 47 passes for 296 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. This week, Foles will face the Tennessee Titans, who rank 28th in DraftKings points allowed to quarterbacks. The Titans are vulnerable in their secondary, Foles, and the Jacksonville Jaguars have the talent to exploit that weakness. At only $5,400, Foles has a chance to eclipse 4x this week. The Jaguars offense provides the opportunity for low-cost and low-owned GPP stacks.
Running Backs
Alvin Kamara $8,200
Kamara has an excellent matchup this week. He faces the bottom-five run defense of the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers rank 29th in DraftKings points allowed to running backs. Now in his third week back since returning from injury, Kamara should resume handling his usual workload. Kamara should see in the neighborhood of 20-25 touches this week. If he gets his full allotment of snaps, he should have a big game.
Derrick Henry $6,900
Henry plays the Jaguars this week who are great defending against the pass but rank bottom-10 in the league in run defense. The Jags rank 25th in DraftKings points allowed to running backs. The Titans are three-point favorites in the matchup. As long as the Titans remain competitive in the game, Henry will be fed the ball, and anytime the team gets around the goal line, Henry will be the one running it in the end zone. Plus, this is a late-season game against the Jaguars. Remember what Henry did against the Jags in their second meeting last year? Here’s a reminder – 17/238/4. Let that sink in. Henry can be a bit boom/bust because of his lack of work in the passing game, so he is best utilized in GPP lineups.
😤 Derrick Henry leads the NFL in yards AFTER contact per attempt this season!
Presented by @survivethehero
Visit: https://t.co/tGdmT4PXor pic.twitter.com/tTzkaMTXL6— PFF (@PFF) November 15, 2019
Derrius Guice $4,700
Guice is a somewhat dicey GPP play. However, he returned to action last week and looked good in his limited opportunities. The Washington Redskins have every reason to increase his workload this week. Adrian Peterson has been banged up with a bunch of injuries. If the team decides to give Peterson some rest and Guice gets more touches, he could be a valuable DFS asset. Guice has playmaking ability. He just needs the touches in order to make enough plays to pay off.
Sony Michel $4,600
Michel has been pretty awful for fantasy purposes of late. However, the New England Patriots got back a valuable player along the offensive line this week in tackle Isaiah Wynn. With Wynn back in the lineup, the Patriots offense will hopefully run more effectively. The Patriots play the Dallas Cowboys who rank 23rd in DK points allowed to running backs. The Patriots are 6.5 point home favorites, which alludes to a running back-friendly game script for New England.
Wide Receivers
Michael Thomas $9,300
Thomas leads the league in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. He is the most consistent receiver in the league. Thomas has been targeted at least 11 times in eight of 10 games this season. His lowest score through 10 games was 16.4 points back in Week Three. Thomas has now scored 25+ in four straight games. Lock him in.
Michael Thomas on pace for 153 catches, which would shatter Marvin Harrison’s single-season record of 143. Thomas also on pace for 1826 rec yards, which would be 5th-highest single-season total. No WR ever won NFL MVP; if Saints lock up 1 or 2 seed, Thomas should get some support
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 13, 2019
Julian Edelman $6,900
Edelman is another player to lock in cash lineups. With his route running ability and Tom Brady throwing him open even when he’s not, Edelman is virtually unguardable. Edelman has been targeted 10 or more times in each of the last five games and seven of ten games this season. Few players offer a safer floor. With reports that Mohamed Sanu could miss the game, Edelman becomes even more valuable.
D.J. Moore $6,400
Moore has at least seven receptions in four out of his last five games. This week he plays the Falcons who are in the top half of the league defending wideouts. However, Moore’s target volume should help him overcome the tough matchup. Moore is also a pivot off of the chalk wide receivers from the other NFC South division matchup of the week. He offers high upside at relatively low ownership.
D.J. Chark $6,400
Last week there was worry about Chark and how he would fare with Foles at quarterback. It turns out that he is going to be just fine. Chark caught eight of 15 targets for 104 yards and two touchdowns. Chark is a stud, Foles and the Jags are well aware of this. They will continue to feature him in the passing attack. This week, the Jags face the Titans who Chark had 4/76/1 receiving against in Week 3. The Jags were still feeling out the talent on the roster at that time. This time around, Foles is back, and Chark is the hands-down number one receiver on the team. He should get WR1 usage again this week, play Chark with confidence.
Tight Ends
Zach Ertz $6,000
Ertz is one of the few reliable pass catchers on the Philadelphia Eagles roster. It appears Carson Wentz is finally coming to the same conclusion. Wentz has targeted Ertz 11 times in back-to-back games, resulting in back-to-back nine catch, 90+ yard outings. Ertz represents the safest tight end option for DFS cash games this week.
Ryan Griffin $4,200
Griffin has quickly become one of Sam Darnold’s favorite targets. He has played on 88 percent of the New York Jets offensive snaps, which is second-most on the team behind only Robby Anderson. In his last three games without Chris Herndon, Griffin has a 17 percent target share and has produced a 15/225/3 receiving line. He’ll play the Oakland Raiders this week, who rank 21st against tight ends.
Ryan Griffin's last three games without Chris Herndon:
* 90% of the snaps
* 94 routes on 113 Darnold dropbacks
* 17% target share
* 15-225-3 line— Adam Levitan (@adamlevitan) November 18, 2019
Dallas Goedert $3,700
Goedert is a GPP pivot play. He offers upside with his $3,700 price tag and allows you to spend up at other valuable positions. Also, should Goedert have a big game, it would likely come at the expense of Ertz, hence the pivot. However, both Philly tight ends have been active in the offense this season, and both have fantasy value. Ertz is in a higher tier and a better overall option. However, Goedert is capable of having a big game. With all the problems surrounding the Eagles receivers, he could be called upon to do more this week. He has been getting more looks in the passing game as the season wears on. Goedert is averaging over 10 DraftKings points his last four games. He’s worth throwing a dart at in a couple of lineups to get some differentiation and leverage against the field.
Defense
Pittsburgh Steelers $4,000
The Steelers will face the struggling Cincinnati Bengals this week. The pass rush of the Steelers defense should wreak havoc on the Bengals offense and quarterback Ryan Finley, who has committed four turnovers in his two starts. When these teams last faced each other back in Week Four, the Steelers put up 19 DraftKings points. A similar showing is expected this time around as well.
New England Patriots $3,300
The Patriots defense hasn’t been priced this cheap since Week 1. Even though their matchup with the Cowboys is no cakewalk, the Pats defense should present plenty of problems for the Cowboys offense. If the Patriots can get out to a lead and force the Cowboys into obvious passing situations, the Pats defense can find ways to pressure Dak Prescott into making mistakes. Vegas currently lists the Patriots as 6.5 point favorites.
Player pricing and data by Draft Kings
Vegas odds by vegasinsider.com
