Welcome to FanDuel NFL Picks and Pivots where we look to build our DFS rosters for the final fantasy football weekend of the season!
Picks and Pivots has been focused on the NBA season for the better part of the past two months but with a light slate of NBA action today, we are turning our focus to the final weekend of FanDuel NFL and will look to help you build your best roster for today’s action.
FanDuel NFL – Quarterback – Aaron Rodgers ($9,600)
The question you have to ask yourself on this slate is whether you plan on stacking one of the two games or going with a more balanced approach in building your rosters. On this slate, I am heavily leaning towards a stacked approach to get as much exposure to this Packers-Falcons game as I possibly can!
With a combined team total of 61 points (11 points higher than the AFC counterpart), this game is going to be absolute track meet! FanDuel has priced Aaron Rodgers and Matt Ryan over $1k higher than the AFC quarterbacks and this is a spot where I think you need to find the salary to jump up at this position. With only a $400 salary difference between Ryan and Rodgers, I will opt to pay up for the best QB on the planet right now and roll with A- Aron tonight.
Rodgers comes into this game on an absolute tear, putting up 30+ FanDuel points in three of his last four games. Although Matt Ryan has been playing at an elite level, he has not topped 30 FanDuel points since Week 4 in Carolina so if you are paying up, Rodgers makes the most sense here.
The Falcons have given up the second most fantasy points on the season to opposing QB’s so this is a spot where all the stars align for Rodgers to have a monster game and I will happily let others try to drop down at QB while I lock in the top player on the board.
FanDuel NFL – Running Backs – Ty Montgomery ($6,900) & LeGarrette Blount ($6,500)
From a roster construction perspective, the question at running back is whether or not to pay up for Le’Veon Bell at $9,500 or drop down in price. For me, if I am locking in Rodgers at QB and looking to stack up at WR (more on that later), running back is a position where I will opt to target the mid-tier when building out my teams.
Montgomery is one of my top targets when building a Green Bay stack as I expect he will be highly involved in the passing game with the Packers WR’s banged up! Montgomery is dominating the backfield touches for the Packers and the fact he sees 5-7 targets out of the backfield each week only adds to his appeal in this spot.
Last week against Dallas, Ty got both of the Packers carries inside the five yard line so I love his potential to score both on the ground and through the air assuming players like Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams are limited!
Blount is my preferred option when targeting New England, as I expect most will look to chase Dion Lewis after last week which should lead Blount to be overlooked on this slate. I came across an amazing statistic when researching this week – in four career home playoff games for the Patriots, Blount has scored 3+ TD’s in two of those four! The upside here is real and the game flow could lend itself to a more run heavy approach for New England as they lean on Blount to wear down the Steelers.
In this match-up earlier this season, Blount rushed the ball 24 times, racking up 127 yards and 2 touchdowns for 25.9 FanDuel points!
FanDuel NFL – WR picks – Julio Jones ($8,800), Mohamed Sanu ($5,800) and Randall Cobb ($6,500)
If you are looking to stack the Green Bay-Atlanta game and have Rodgers locked in as your QB, the best correlation play is to stack the Atlanta WR’s so you neutralize any points from Matt Ryan on the other side!
No team in the NFL gave up more fantasy points to opposing WR’s this season than the Green Bay Packers and I expect the Falcons to attack early and often through the air. With Julio banged up, it may lead some to pivot away but I would rather hedge my Jones play by getting exposure to Sanu here and maximizing the exposure I can get to the Falcons passing game. The Falcons have the highest team total on the board and with the Packers biggest weakness through the air, I think you have to stack their WR’s today!
The Packers WR core on the other hand is going to be the biggest story leading up to lock as Jordy Nelson and Davante Adams remain question marks! Although both are expected to play, the coaching staff did say earlier this week that if this was a regular season game that both would likely sit out! I am not willing to take the risk especially considering their inflated salaries so will opt to get my exposure to Randall Cobb!
Cobb has gotten 15 targets over the last two games and is the safest play from a GB WR standpoint. Nelson and Adams may give it a go, but I could also see them lining up simply as decoys which would make Cobb the top option in the GB passing game!
FanDuel NFL – Tight End/Defense and Kicker Picks
Jared Cook ($6,400) This is probably the chalkiest pick of the day, but at tight end I see no reason to roster anyone but Cook unless you want to employ a strategic large field GPP fade!
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Cook has 20 targets in the last two games for Green Bay and makes for a great addition to any Rodgers stack considering the Falcons gave up the 6th most fantasy points to opposing tight ends this season!
Matt Bryant ($5,000) When selecting your kicker, I am looking to find the best correlation plays that work with the rest of my roster construction. With my reliance on the Green Bay offense, I am looking for them to score touchdowns and not settle for field goals, however on the other side of this, I can get additional exposure to the Falcons offense by locking in their kicker. This play also helps me strategically as I will be rooting for the Falcons WR’s to pile up catches but if Ryan and the Atlanta RB’s are kept out of the end zone, I can get an advantage over the rest of the field if Bryant is knocking through field goals!
New England Defense ($4,400) The last correlation play here is to take the New England defense and stack it with Blount as we hope the game flow in New England leads to a run heavy slugfest! New England will likely be the most heavily targeted defense on this slate but I think that is for good reason as Belichick is a master at taking away your top option so if he can find a way to neutralize either Bell or Brown, it will lead to a one-dimensional Steelers offense!
Next: FanDuel NFL Playoff Picks
Best of luck today in your FanDuel NFL contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR on Twitter for all the late breaking lineup news and roster updates!