Fantasy Football: NFL DraftKings Cash Game Plays For Week 9
Oct 29, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) throws a pass against the Miami Dolphins in the second quarter at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Week 8 perfectly demonstrated why I play on DraftKings over FanDuel (aside from the kicker thing). If you saw my article last week, I recommended Ladarius Green, thinking Gates would be inactive. But it turned out Gates was a surprise active before the 1 o’clock games. If you played an earlier slate (which I did), FanDuel would have locked your roster with Green in it. Luckily on DraftKings I was able to pivot to Benjamin Watson, which saved me tons of money. Last week was a crazy week with all the injuries, but hopefully you managed to survive it.
In the week 9 article, I will not be mentioning any New England Patriots for DraftKings cash game plays. There are two reasons for this: #1, it’s extremely obvious, and #2, I live in the Washington D.C. area, and while I’m not at all a fan of the Redskins, I know that their games tend to make no sense, and I’m not comfortable with spending the majority of my DK budget on their opponents, even in such a seemingly obvious spot. If you choose to play Brady, Gronkowski, Lewis, Blount, or all of the team, I wouldn’t blame you. Just know that I hadn’t forgotten about them while writing this.
Next: Quarterbacks and Running Backs
Nov 1, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy (93) tackles Atlanta Falcons running back Devonta Freeman (24) during the second half at the Georgia Dome. The Buccaneers defeated the Falcons 23-20 in over time. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Quarterbacks
Phillip Rivers, SD ($6,900) Losing Keenan Allen is certainly scary, but the Chargers have so many weapons that Allen’s production can be replaced. While it’s an incredibly small sample, Rivers’ fantasy points per game in 3 games without Allen is basically the same as his games with Allen in the lineup. Whether it’s been
Tyrod Taylor, BUF ($5,300) Tygod is back, and I want some of him in my lineup. He hasn’t scored fewer than 15 points in the 6 weeks he played, and I trust he’s more than healthy enough to get a few points running and some passing TDs to the likes of Watkins and Clay. Harvin is on the IR, but whatever. He’s the perfect low-priced DraftKings cash game plays.
Running Backs
Devonte Freeman, ATL ($8,000) Freeman may appear to have a lesser role in the offense considering his lack of touchdowns the past few weeks. But don’t be mistaken; his touches and opportunities are still there, they just haven’t broken his way. He still has an absurdly low floor and also high upside. If there’s a week to bet against Todd Gurley, I think it’s this one against a formidable Vikings run defense in what will probably be a low scoring game.
Jeremy Langford, CHI ($4,000) I think his floor is a guaranteed 10 points, and he could easily get far more than that, making him ideal for a DraftKings cash game. The matchup is tremendous. The Chargers are the worst defense against runs almost any way you look at it. Langford is also incredibly cheap thanks to the lack of price changes during the week. He won’t match Forte’s targets in the passing game, but he will get a handful.
Next: Wide Receivers and Tight Ends
Sep 27, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; San Diego Chargers wide receiver Stevie Johnson (11) carries the ball during the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium. The Vikings defeated the Chargers 31-14. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Wide Receivers
Antonio Brown, PIT ($8,100) As I said last week, Antonio Brown is an every-week DraftKings cash game play, and his price tag still hasn’t caught back up to his value. Give me Brown over more expensive options like Julio Jones and Julian Edelman every week. It doesn’t hurt that he has a favorable matchup against the Raiders.
Stevie Johnson, SD ($3,200) Stevie Johnson is priced like a punt play, but he’s not even close to being one. Without Keenan Allen, Johnson will take over a lot of the short routes that Allen did. He won’t get all of them, but enough to have the high floor and consistency you’re looking for in a DraftKings cash game.
Tight Ends
*Note: if Austin Sefarian-Jenkins is healthy and active on Sunday, I’d probably use a ton of him. But he’s too risky for me to mention in this article.
Benjamin Watson, NO ($4,000) I’m only mentioning him because I feel compelled to mention two, but the guy below Watson is who I really want. Nevertheless, Brees clearly loves his tight ends, and Watson has proven to be that guy. I don’t know how highly owned he’ll be after the Saints scored like they were playing in Arena League last week, but he’s a strong DraftKings cash game play.
Heath Miller, PIT ($2,700) Get this: in 4 games without Roethlisberger, Miller averaged 2 targets for ~1 catch and 13 yards. With Roethlisberger? 7.25 targets for 5.5 catches and 55.25 yards. That difference is astounding, for some reason the DraftKings algorithm doesn’t account for it, and you should take advantage. If you really want Gronkowski, put him in your flex and use Miller at TE.
Next: Defenses and Narrative Street Special
Aug 28, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert (2) is sacked by Houston Texans linebacker Jason Ankrah (65) during the second quarter at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Defense/Special Teams
Denver Broncos ($3,000) I generally don’t pay premium price for defenses, but the Denver Broncos’ defense is proving to be the exception every week. And they’re less “premium” than you’d expect, shockingly there are seven defenses ranked higher than the Broncos. This might be due to the perceived strength of the Colts offense on paper, even though anyone who’s watched the Colts with Luck knows that the poor guy is going to get decimated by this defense. This is a don’t-think-twice type of play.
New Orleans Saints ($2,200) Speaking of dumpster fires, the Titans are in turmoil right now. The Saints aren’t great at all, but they’re incredibly cheap (only two defenses cost less) and don’t need many points to make their value in cash games. If you’re looking for serious salary relief, this is your play.
Narrative Street Special
Atlanta Falcons ($3,400) I would have put the Falcons in the DST section, but I wanted to start writing on the different narratives that happen in fantasy every week where I can analyze them and look through later to see how reliable narratives are (hint: they usually aren’t reliable). It just so happens that this week’s Narrative Street Special also has some very strong reasons to be played. Blaine Gabbert is a terrible, terrible, terrible quarterback, and the 49ers are going to get destroyed.
Here’s the narrative: As has been reported by multiple sources, the 49ers held off on starting Gabbert until the Falcons game so he would have an easier matchup. The Falcons PR team immediately responded hilariously, and the team is clearly going to use this as bulletin board material. Will the Falcons try even harder because of this insult? We’ll see on Sunday in San Francisco.