DraftKings NFL: Week 15 lineup
By Joe Romano
High Priced Quarterbacks
Tom Brady – New England Patriots ($7600) – The New England Patriots disappointed the fantasy community with a dud in Miami on Monday night. It did not effect most people on DraftKings as the Monday night game is not part of the featured slate. Quarterback Tom Brady is coming off two sub-par performances. He will need to bounce back against a tough Pittsburgh Steelers defense to get back on top of the AFC playoff position. The Steelers have had an up and down defensive season. Currently they sit 27th in points allowed to opposing quarterbacks, however over the last four weeks that number has fallen to eighth. There are holes that Brady can exploit this weekend. Getting two of his favorite targets, Rob Gronkowski and Chris Hogan, back should also up the optimism surrounding the future Hall of Fame quarterback.
Russell Wilson – Seattle Seahawks ($7300) – Has any quarterback in the NFL done more with less than Seattle Seahawks Russell Wilson? He is the team’s leading rusher, and is playing MVP-caliber football behind a patchwork offensive line. Even against the league’s best defense in Jacksonville a week ago Wilson put up a solid performance. This week is another tough test with the Los Angeles Rams coming to Seattle. Like Pittsburgh, the Rams are in the bottom half of the league in points allowed to opposing quarterbacks. That ranking also jumps inside the top ten over the last four weeks. This season Wilson has about as low a floor as any quarterback in the league. I’d feel comfortable starting him any week but this Rams defense could aid him in putting up another big game.
Carson Wentz – Philadelphia Eagles ($7100) – DraftKings puts out their pricing Monday. That is before the official news broke that the Philadelphia Eagles have lost quarterback Carson Wentz for the remainder of the season. Backup Nick Foles will lead the team this week against the Giants and into the playoffs. You have to feel bad for Wentz who was an MVP front runner and fan favorite.
Aaron Rodgers – Green Bay Packers ($6800) – From an injured quarterback to one returning from an injury. The Green Bay Packers can finally R-E-L-A-X after seeing quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ Instagram post professing that he has been medically cleared. The former MVP will return to action after missing the last eight weeks to injury. The Packers are traveling to Carolina to play a weak Panthers secondary. The Carolina defense ranks 22nd in points allowed to quarterbacks this season but over the last four weeks only the Jets have given up more quarterback points. Rodgers and his talented receiving core should make easy work of the Panthers secondary. The new running game in Green Bay should also keep the Panthers guessing and Rodgers upright. It will be great to see him back on the field, the NFL is better when a star like Rodgers is out there.
Ben Roethlisberger – Pittsburgh Steelers ($6700) – The Pittsburgh Steelers hold the number one seed in the AFC. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is coming off a game where he threw the ball 66 times! The Steelers won that hard fought battle with the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night to clinch the division. They will look to wrap up the top seed in the conference on Sunday against the New England Patriots. This game is predicted to be a shoot out with neither defense being able to slow these two elite offenses. After a midseason surge, the Patriots defense is regressing to what we saw earlier this season. Roethlisberger and his litany of weapons will look to exploit the holes in the Patriots defense and he is another solid play like most of the quarterbacks inside the top five priced.