FanDuel NFL Lineups: Week 7

Welcome to the FanDuel NFL Lineups column for week seven of the NFL season.  We’re a Daily Fantasy Football column focused on top picks and best value for your weekly FanDuel NFL lineups.  We arm you with information for a big FanDuel NFL payday each week.

Over the last three weeks, Deshaun Watson presented deja vu moments, piling up over 30 FanDuel NFL points-per-game.  Deshaun gets the week off, for week seven.  But now, we have a replica at running back for the past two weeks, Melvin Gordon ($7,100).  After a lot of hype in the off-season, Gordon initial disappointed many FanDuel NFL players, with low scores.

But over the last two weeks, Melvin consistently averaged over 30 FanDuel NFL points-per-game.  Melvin was one of our top running backs last week, and he delivered.  However, Gordon has a tough match up this week, so will that continue?

For the Thursday night game, last week, we made the risky assessment that Carson Wentz was a sneaky GPP play.  While the Carolina Panthers were consistently stopping most NFL offenses, we noticed Wentz was having consistently solid success again any type of defense.

Fortunately, Carson backed up our claim, with 20.61 FanDuel NFL points on an affordable $7.8K salary.  Wentz is still averaging over 20 FanDuel NFL points-per-game, after six weeks of football, and should be on everyone’s radar each week.

We made some bold fade claims.  Some worked and some burned us.  Fading Antonio Brown, assuming Big Ben would target other receivers to spread the ball around and improve their offensive game, was a mistake.  Brown didn’t see 19 targets again, but saw ten while hauling in eight for 155 yards and a touchdown.

However, fading Julio Jones‘ expensive salary was worth it.  Julio only pulled in another disappointing ten FanDuel NFL points, not worth the salary.  Another miss, we recommended fading Leonard Fournette.  He piled up another 100+ yard rushing game with a touchdown.

Our claim remains valid.  Fournette is a ticking time-bomb.  Leonard has struggled with injury issues over the last several years, at LSU, and is consistently on the injury report.  At some point, FanDuel NFL players will get burned by an injury during a game.

Once again, FanDuel is offering several slate options, including a Thursday through Monday slate covering all 15 games.  We’re going to focus our lineup options on all 15 games, and you can pick as you like, to build your top lineups for each slate.  Hopefully this helps you cover the slates you’re targeting this weekend.

Now, let’s get starting with the Quarterbacks…

FanDuel NFL Lineups: Week 7 – Quarterbacks

Top Picks

With Aaron Rodgers out of the season, and Matt Ryan playing poorly, compared to last season, under his new offensive coordinator, Tom Brady ($9,200) is your weekly elite option at quarterback for the rest of the season.  Tom is having another MVP like season, and is playing the Falcons, in a repeat of the 2017 Super Bowl match up.  Like only a handful of quarterbacks this season, Brady is averaging over 20 FanDuel NFL points-per-game, and is a cash game lock.

The Patriots poor defense this season, in both the passing and running game, is leading many FanDuel NFL players to target their defense each week.  It’s generally a smart play.  But there’s something not clicking between Ryan and Falcons offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian.

Matt Ryan ($8,700) has thrown for over 300 yards only once this year.  And Matt only has two touchdowns in one game.  However, the Falcons have played four of the top 15 passing defenses in Ryan’s five games.  The one team not falling into the top 15, the Lions, has Darius Slay at corner, one of the best in the NFL.  On Sunday night, Sark is probably going to unleash Ryan and their best offensive game plan on the Patriots in New England.  This is riskier, but also a great cash game play.  The Falcons offense is going to bounce back.

PRO FOOTBALL FOCUS: The best in football stats just got better. Elite packages now on sale!

Dak Prescott ($8,400) and the Dallas Cowboys have Zeek for another two weeks, at least.  So the run game will continue to take pressure off of Prescott, and he will continue to play well for the next couple of weeks.

Dak is averaging over 22 FanDuel NFL points-per-game, and is facing one of the worst defenses, and teams, in the NFL right now.  If the Patriots and Falcons were on a bye this week, Prescott would be the obvious lock, and still might be the best play, for cash games.

Other Top Options

The Titans offense has been all over the place this season.  Their run game looks great some weeks, and their passing game appears to be emerging.  But then Marcus Mariota ($8,200) had some injury concerns, and they looked mediocre against a poor Colts defense last week.

This week, Mariota and the Titans had more time to get healthy, and are playing a mediocre Browns passing defense.  Surprisingly, the Browns run defense has been quite good this year, only giving up 84.3 rushing yards per game, 6th best in the NFL.  When the Titans offense sputters, they’ve leaned on their strong running game, but this week they’re going to ask Mariota to air the ball out often.  There’s some risk here, but it’s one of the better GPP plays at quarterback this week.

The Washington Redskins run defense has greatly improved this season.  That’s likely one of the reasons the Philadelphia Eagles mostly aired the ball out in Washington, to win the first game of the season.  Carson Wentz ($7,800) threw the ball 39 times, had one pick, but also over 300 yards and two touchdowns for 19.88 FanDuel NFL points.

Since week one, we’ve seen the Eagles run game gradually improve.  At times, the Eagles have even leaned on the run game, to beat the Giants and Chargers.  But this week, the Eagles likely need to air the ball out more, again, and Wentz has seven touchdowns in his last two games.

Also worth noting, Carson is averaging six carries and over 15 rushing yards per game.  A rushing touchdown isn’t out of the question either.  This is one of my favorite GPP plays at QB, again, this week.

Buried in the list of quarterbacks is Tyrod Taylor ($7,000).  Taylor and the Bills passing game struggled over the last two weeks, on the road against the Bengals and Falcons.  But Taylor managed solid games against the Jets and Broncos, hovering around 20 FanDuel NFL points in each game.  This week, the Bills have a favorable match up against the Buccaneers.  If Taylor stays away from Grimes, he has a pretty wide open left side of the field to target.

Fades

Kirk Cousins ($7,500) – In theory, teams should target the passing game against the Eagles.  But as the season has progressed, the defense backs for the Eagles are getting more confident and playing more aggressively for the ball.  That’s because the Eagles have the top rushing defense in the NFL.

In week one, we saw a glimpse of that against the Redskins.  Counsins struggled, only providing 11.6 FanDuel NFL points in that game.  Washington’s offense has improved since then, but so has Philly’s defense.  And I expect Jim Schwartz and the Eagles D to play aggressively in a very important divisional match up for the Eagles.

Trevor Siemian ($7,500) – The Broncos passing game looked solid against a poor Giants team last week.  But Siemian and the Broncos are playing in Los Angeles this weekend, against some of the most underrated defensive backs in the NFL.  The Chargers likely slow Trevor’s game down this week.  This is a tempting, but trap pick.

Russell Wilson ($8,100) – We realize Wilson looks good, at times, this season.  But the problem with Russell and the Seahawks offense is that you never seem to know what you’re getting.  Wilson piled around 30 FanDuel NFL points in Tennessee and at home against the Colts.  But at home against the 49ers, he only managed to give us 15 points, and last week in L.A., the Rams slowed Wilson down to only 12.52 FanDuel NFL points.  This salary isn’t worth the risk.

FanDuel NFL Lineups: Week 7 – Running Backs

Top Picks

We were a strong proponent of fading Kareem Hunt ($9,700) in week five, and it worked well.  However, we expected Hunt to bounce back and week six, and only 13.5 FanDuel NFL points for a pricey $9.3K wasn’t what we were expecting.  But we’re sticking with Hunt as the top pick thsi week, with a much better match up against the Raiders.

Kareem only saw nine carries last week, nowhere near his typically 15-20 carries per week.  Also, even though the Chiefs focused on the pass game against the Steelers, mostly because they were behind in the game, Hunt only saw six targets.  That’s about one to two more than usual.  This week, the Chiefs should bounce back and rely on Hunt’s run game boosting his fantasy output.

Ezekiel Elliott ($8,700) is, once again, a solid play this week against a bad 49ers defense.  But even though Hunt’s $1K more expensive, I’d rather pay up for Hunt and get value with the second pick.  Elliott is a riskier play.

If you’re unwilling to pay for Hunt and want a better deal than you’re getting with Elliott, LeSean McCoy ($7,900) and Jay Ajayi ($7,400) have nice match ups on reasonable salaries.  McCoy and the Bills are coming off a bye week, and get to stay in Buffalo, where they’re hosting a Bucs run defense who just let Ajayi burst down the field for 130 rushing yards on 26 carries.  McCoy is a more dangerous all-around running back, and LeSean should have an even better day.

Ajayi has been a frustrating play for FanDuel NFL players, and I suspect many will fade him this week, with the expectation that his up and down season will disappoint again.  That’s likely a mistake.  The Jets run defense was great last year, but they’re terrible right now.  The other upside here, the Jets offense isn’t good, and they likely fall fast and let the Dolphins lean on the run game for the second half.

Other Top Option

There must be something in the water in L.A., because the Chargers and Rams are each great at stopping the pass, but terrible at stopping the run game.  The Rams are 29th in the NFL defending the run, giving up nearly 140 yards per game.

In his first game for the Cardinals, Adrian Peterson ($6,300) surprised many and piled up 134 rushing yards, with two touchdowns, on 25 carries.  AP had a fumble, but he totaled 25.4 FanDuel NFL points, providing one of the best value picks of the week.  In week seven, the Cards get the Rams in L.A., and we’ll find out if AP is a consistent running pick each.  For now, we’re assuming he continues to role and for $6.3K, you can use Peterson in both Cash and GPP plays.

LaGarrette Blount ($5,800) continues to get the majority of the Eagles rushing snaps.  He only has two touchdowns this year, but LeGarrette has 390 rushing yards, 8th in the NFL, and is averaging 5.6 yards per carry, second only to Hunt.

The first week in Washington, Blount had a reception for a touchdown, along with 46 yards on 14 carries.  He wasn’t very active in Kansas City, but has been a huge part of the offense since the first two weeks.  Blount will likely get over ten FanDuel NFL points again this week, on a very reasonable salary.

Another great option in Philly this weekend is Chris Thompson ($6,200).  Washington is facing the top run defense in the NFL, but Thompson has been a dynamic pass-catcher out of the backfield, including four receptions for 52 yards and a touchdown against Philly in the first week.  Along with Alvin Kamara ($6,100), these two could have big games with an increased workload in the passing game.

Fades

Le’Veon Bell ($9,700) – Another bold, and potentially stupid, fade idea.  Bell looked fantastic last week in Kansas City, and three weeks ago in Baltimore.  But Le’Veon and the Steelers struggled with their run games against solid run defenses like the Jags, Vikings, Bears, and Browns.  Bell’s FanDuel NFL points in those games average well below 20, which is a rip-off at this price.  The Bengals pass defense has been better, but they still have a top 15 run defense.  This salary isn’t worth the risk here.

Todd Gurley II ($8,400) – Gurley and the Rams run game has fallen off a cliff over the last two weeks.  There’s a reason for that.  In the first four weeks, Gurley played three of the worst run defenses in the NFL.  Over the last two weeks, he’s seen two of the top 15 run defenses.  This week, the Rams are looking at a poor Cardinals passing defense, but a top ten run defense.  The Rams will need to rely on the passing game again, which doesn’t bode well for Gurley’s $8.4K salary.

FanDuel NFL Lineups: Week 7 – Wide Receivers

Top Picks

Well, as we mentioned earlier, fading Antonio Brown ($9,300) was a very stupid move last week.  Brown has consistently been a target monster from Big Ben this year, and it appears the Steelers will continue to look that way all season.

Brown had over 300 yards, in just the last two games.  And one of those games was against one of the better passing defenses in the league, the Jacksonville Jaguars.  In fact, the Steelers have now faced four of the top ten passing defenses in the NFL, and yet Antonio is the leading receiver.  Aside from a relatively quiet game in Baltimore, Brown has been the most dominate receiver in the NFL, and is a must own in cash games.

We talked about how we like Dak this week, and Dez Bryant ($8,200) should be the top recipient of a great game from Prescott over the 9ers.  He’s a little pricey this week, but Bryant’s run through tough corners has ended, and his solid stats to start the season, are only going to get better this week.

There are plenty of great top picks below Bryant, but we love the Miami Dolphins target machine, Jarvis Landry ($7,000) this week, at home, against the Jets.  Statistically, the Jets passing defense looks decent.  But that’s mostly because many teams are utilizing their run deficiencies, and the Jets have faced some easier competition this season.

After a pretty terrible start to the season, likely impacted by the hurricane, the Dolphins are starting to stabilize on offense, and Landry had 13 receptions for over 100 yards and two touchdowns, combined, in the last two games.  Jarvis is averaging over eleven FanDuel NFL points-per-game, and he should do better than that this week.

With Kelvin Benjamin ($6,800) likely getting most of the attention from the Bears DB’s this week, Devin Funchess ($6,700) should get back to his seven reception, 50+ receiving yards trend he was developing before the Panthers ran into the Eagles last week.

Other Top Picks

Nelson Agholor ($5,900) has four touchdowns, one per game, in six games this season.  Carson and Nelson are clearly on the same page, looking toward the slot, this season.  Over the last two games, Wentz threw Agholor’s way 12 times, for eight receptions, 158 receiving yards, and two touchdowns.  That includes a tough match up in Carolina.  This week, the Eagles are at home facing a Redskins defense who gave up six receptions over 80 yards, and a touchdown to Agholor.  Nelson should have another consistently solid week.

We’re expecting Mariota to bounce-back this week, and one of his biggest targets all season is Rishard Matthews ($5,500).  With only one touchdown, so far, this season, Rishard is often ignored in FanDuel NFL.  But Matthews is getting nearly eight looks each week, is consistently hauling in around four receptions per game, and is averaging over 50 yards per game.  With a touchdown grab, this is going to be a great GPP play.

Finally, we think Taylor and the Bills have a great shot at a good passing game this week.  Jordan Matthews ($5,900) has been complaining about catching on his right hand, and is questionable.  Along with the Charles Clay injury, rookie Zay Jones ($4,500) could have a big game, finally emerging into the talent we’re all expecting of him since the draft.

Fades

Brandin Cooks ($7,800) – We generally like Cooks this season, but for a DFS play, his production has been all over the place.  We don’t love his consistency.  This week, the Pats are facing a tough Falcons defense in every facet of the game.  It’s likely the Falcons blanket Cooks, and force Brady to stick to the short-yardage game.

Jordy Nelson ($7,400) – Our favorite weekly FanDuel NFL wide receiver may be a tough option to pick through the rest of the season.  Aaron Rodgers left last week with a season-ending injury, and it also happen to be Nelson’s first game without a touchdown.  There isn’t just a coincidence.

T.Y. Hilton ($7,600) – Against the Jags defensive backs?  No thanks!

FanDuel NFL Lineups: Week 7 – Tight End / Kicker / Defense

At tight end, once again, the consistently dominate Rob Gronkowski ($8,500), Travis Kelce ($7,400) and Zach Ertz ($7,200) are the top options.

We have landed on Ertz almost every week, as he’s getting the bulk of Wentz’s targets, and had three touchdowns in the last two games.  Zach is still a great play, but there’s another option emerging, which resembles Ertz value over the first six weeks.

Cameron Brate ($6,200) is now averaging 12.52 FanDuel NFL points-per-game, and has four straight 11+ point games.  Brate has a touchdown in each of the Bucs last four games, and Cameron is getting around seven targets per game, for five catches and over 60+ yards per game.  Regardless of who’s taking snaps this weekend, they each look to Brate often, and especially in the red zone.

Like Ertz, we’ve continued to stick to Eagles back-up rookie kicker Jake Elliott ($4,600).  However, we’re not moving off of Elliott this week.  It’s very likely the Eagles continue to score points at their current rate, at home in Philly this week.  Jake is a very reasonable $4.6K while providing over 12 FanDuel NFL points-per-game.  He’s a must play in all formats.

For defense, we’re going to take advantage of an opportunity, and therefore value.  The common theme of the season for the New Orleans Saints ($4,500) has been that their defense, especially pass defense, is soft.

But that narrative hasn’t played out over the last three weeks.  After a terrible start, the Saints are averaging over 20 FanDuel NFL points-per-game, in the last three games.  That’s mostly been due to turnovers, seven interceptions in the last three games, leading to three defensive touchdowns against the Lions.

This week, the Saints are playing a Rodgers-less Packers offense.  Yes, the game is in Green Bay, but the Packers offense is reeling without their elite quarterback to throw the team onto his back.  This is a great opportunity to get a hot defense on a low salary, allowing you to load up everywhere else, in all FanDuel NFL formats.

So after reviewing all the options, we put together our favorite lineup for the week.  Here’s a look at our Final FanDuel NFL Week 7 lineup:

QB – Prescott (DAL $8,400)

RB – Hunt (KC $9,700)

RB – Blount (PHI $5,800)

WR – Brown (PIT $9,300)

WR – Landry (MIA $7,000)

WR – Jones (BUF $4,500)

TE – Brate (TB $6,200)

K – Elliott (PHI $4,600)

D – New Orleans Saints ($4,500)

This leaves us with $0 left, maximizing our picks using value in two receiver positions, defense, and kicker and loading up on some big point potential at quarterback, running back, and receiver.

Note: This is a recommended lineup after discussing our top options for the week.  You should use this as a guide, and provide your own input when building FanDuel NFL lineups.  We are not telling you, or selling you, to use this lineup.

Next: FanDuel NBA Picks & Pivots

Good luck with your FanDuel NFL plays week 7, and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR on Twitter for all the late breaking lineup news and roster updates!