NFL DRAFT DFS: 2018 Week 9 Auction Analysis (DRAFT.com)

Why do you need another DFS site? Because DRAFT combines the excitement of a season-long draft into one set of games!  This article has some targets and pre-draft rankings all set for you to jump into some NFL DRAFT DFS action!

Welcome to the 2018 NFL week nine edition of NFL DRAFT DFS, now covering auction style drafts on DRAFT.com from FantasyCPR. Every week, the Auction Analysis will cover the main slate on DRAFT, omitting the Thursday game from this article. If you draft before Thursday night, there may be a few players not in the rankings to add to your rankings. If you are new to DRAFT or if you are wondering what I am even talking about, check it out here.

I will first go over my targets at each position, and follow that up with rankings. Each target will be followed with their current auction value, which I will refer to as CAV in the future. Auction values change over the course of the week, so I will make them a $5.00 window.

Rosters on DRAFT are 1-QB, 2-RB’s, and 2 WR/TE’s, so just five spots. New to the article this week, will be the fact that we will be geared more towards auction style drafts. Therefore, each targets write-up may talk about how to approach that certain player in an auction. We will still have our normal rankings after the targets, but instead of DRAFT’s projections following the players name, the CAV will follow instead. Auctions are six man contests, but I will still rank my top 50 players for those that are still here for the 10-man drafts. These will consist of my top 10 QB’s, and my top 20 RB’s and WR/TE’s.

NFL DRAFT DFS: QB Targets:

Cam Newton – Carolina Panthers – ($10-15)

Not always the best case scenario when a guy you want has the highest projection on the entire slate, but in this match-up with the reeling Buccaneers, I want as much Super Cam as possible. Tampa Bay kept it close last week, thanks to the benching of Jameis Winston after his fourth INT, and the return of Ryan Fitzpatrick in to action. Fitzpatrick was able to get the Bucs close, but they ultimately lost a close one 37-34.

Newton and the Panthers have won two straight, against some stiff competition, and have looked pretty solid in doing so. First in week seven, it was an unexpected victory, as Carolina beat the Super Bowl Champion Eagles in Philly 21-17. Cam threw for 269 yards and two TD’s in that one, while adding an additional 49 rushing yards. They followed with an easy 36-21 victory at home against the 4-4 Baltimore Ravens, and Newton had another solid day, this time adding a rushing touchdown to two passing TD’s.

In auctions this week, If he gets brought up early, I have had no problems picking him up for just $15. While I get that other quarterbacks that you can get for a $1 have similar upside, the bottom four just don’t have the same as Cam, because of the rushing yards and TD potential. He is averaging almost 25 DP per week, and last weeks 28 DP against the Ravens is rather impressive. He can easily go for 30 DP here against Tampa Bay right?

Aaron Rodgers – Green Bay Packers – ($1-5)

It seems like it’s getting near the beginning of the end for the Packers long time reign of dominance in the NFC North. The Pack now sits at 3-3-1 behind the Vikings in the standings after a heartbreaking 29-27 loss to the still undefeated Rams last week. Ty Montgomery let his frustrations cost his team last week, and Rodgers clearly showed anger and disappointment. I am guessing the front office did as well, as they shipped out Montgomery for a 7th round pick at the trade deadline.

It doesn’t get any easier this week, as the Pack will travel to Foxboro to face the Patriots on Sunday Night Football. New England stands 6-2, and they have been methodically beating teams as they normally do of late. Tom Brady will get to attack a Packers secondary that also took a hit at the trade deadline, as they decided to part ways with safety Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix. For a team right in the playoff mix, this doesn’t seem like a good move, as Clinton-Dix is still a great player. I think the Packers will throw early and often in this one, as they will likely be playing from behind the whole way. For late in my auctions when I don’t bid up on Newton or Mahomes, Rodgers is my $1 guy 100% this week.

NFL DRAFT DFS: RB Targets:

Todd Gurley – Los Angeles Rams – ($70-75)

The weekly ToddFather report is here for DRAFT this week, and we see more of the same in drafts, and an even steeper price in auctions. Gurley is once again the number one pick in every draft you will do in an expected shoot-out with the Saints, and rightfully so. I myself have paid up to $72 in auctions which is almost silly, but believe it or not, I am only getting him at a 60% clip.

Gurley continued to rack up points in all fantasy formats last week against the Packers, as he ran for 114 yards, and added 81 in the air. He is now averaging 28.08 DP a week, and he should also be able to run wild again this week when the Rams head to New Orleans to face the Saints. No debate this week, I think it’s worth to do what you can to get him in auctions, then look to these next targets at the end.

Nick Chubb – Cleveland Browns – ($1-5)

So you got Gurley for 3/4 of your salary, now you need someone to compliment him with. Chubb isn’t my top choice in this range, but I will have a variety of different of RB2’s in the auctions that I land Gurley. While the game script is not in favor of a Browns running back in this one, I think the Chiefs defense has just enough holes where taking a flyer or two on Chubb isn’t the worst pick.

Cleveland is at home will have the advantage of the Dawg Pound, and if they get the ball inside the five here at all I like Chubb’s chances of picking up a TD in this one. He had a tough time getting anything going against the Steelers last week, but if the Browns want to stay in this game, they will need to feed Chubb against this 25th ranked run D. Again, he is likely a $1 pick at the end of your auctions, but look for better options like Latavius Murray. In the 10-man drafts, I saw him go late third round, and I was able to land him early in the fourth in another.

Tarik Cohen – Chicago Bears – ($1)

My last running back target is another cheap player to target to pair with your top dog. I mean, if you are doing auctions, you better be getting Gurley or Kareem Hunt a majority of the time. I have also mixed in some Melvin Gordon, as you can have him for as little as $30 in most spots due to his questionable tag. The way I see it, if Gordon does sit another one out, back-up Austin Ekeler is a great swap due to the increased workload he could see. Another great swap in this spot, could be right here in Cohen.

The Bears back-up running back has been getting used quite a bit in the passing game the last three weeks, and he is quietly racking up DP’s because of it. In fact, Cohen has amassed double-digit DP’s in three straight, and had has approached 20 DP in each of those three. He only gets five or six carries a game as Jordan Howard is still carving out that role poorly, but he has scored three touchdowns through the air on the season, and is averaging 14.17 DP per week.

Cohen’s projection is pretty low considering the opponent is the Bills, so scroll to find him. While he isn’t making it into many auctions, I did see him get picked here and there. In the 10-man’s I did though, running backs went quick, and Cohen was usually gone by mid-third round. With the Bears on the road and QB Mitchell Trubisky struggling a bit, I think we see a hefty dose of the short passing game this week, with Cohen the prime beneficiary.

NFL DRAFT DFS: WR/TE Targets:

Adam Thielen – Minnesota Vikings – ($30-35)

With a nice spread of running backs up at the top, if you miss Gurley, it is still very viable to land a top running back, and pair him with once again the top receiver on the board in Thielen. It is now an amazing streak of eight straight 100-yard-games to start the season, and that will likely continue this week against the Lions. He continues to smash week in and week out, and is again a late first round pick in the 10-man’s drafts.

Surprisingly though, in auctions he is going for right around $30. That isn’t the surprising part, and I have been thrilled when my $31 bids have gone through. The surprising part is that there is still a random $31-34 bid on Julio Jones, although I have also seen him go as low as $12 this week. On top of that one is Davante Adams, who is consistently going for between $30-40. You can lock in Thielen as a top target for me once again, as I would much rather take the higher floor.

Brandin Cooks – Los Angeles Rams – ($1-5)

Cooks is a receiver getting some extra attention this week, maybe due to the factor of SWEET REVENGE!! That’s right, I bet you are surprised to see a FantasyCPR use a narrative angle, but players in the NFL in skill positions that get traded, always seem to give that extra push to get back at the team that traded them. For Cooks though, the Saints were the first team that traded him when they shipped him to New England, where he was again traded from the Patriots to the Rams before this season.

Cooks will get the benefit of Cooper Kupp back, as he is just another consistent wide receiving threat that the Saints defense will have to account for. With newly acquired Saints cornerback Eli Apple still getting acclimated to the new system, Cooks could get some extra looks if the Rams decide to target him. Cooks was surprisingly sniped from me in the third round of my 10-man drafts, as I was hoping to get him in the fourth. In auctions, Woods is going for more than Cooks, and can easily be had cheap at the end.

Emmanuel Sanders – Denver Broncos – ($1-5)

Yup you guessed it. At this point, if I am going deep on two receivers, I am usually posting the $70+ bid for Gurley. In that sense should I land him, which I have around 60% of the time at this point, I will likely need some cheap wide receivers. This will certainly be an odd game, as the Broncos will face the Texans in Denver, marking the immediate return of newly traded WR Demariyus Thomas to his former city and team. The Broncos cleared the path for Courtland Sutton by trading their number one receiver, which opens up more targets for an already excelling Emmanuel Sanders.

Sanders ranks eighth in the league in receptions with 50 at the halfway point, and that number should only increase with Thomas out of the picture. His 660 yards are good for 11th in that category, and he has found the end zone three times. I’ve used this target as a solid $1 WR at the end of auctions, and watched many of my opponents do the same. In the 10-man drafts, he was going on average in the mid fourth round.

For those still here for the rankings, click one more link below!!

NFL DRAFT DFS: Week 9 Rankings: Top 50

My rankings are pretty easy to follow. I have ranked the top 50 overall. Following each player is their DRAFT CAV, which is generated by me, in parenthesis. Again, we will have the top ten QB’s, 20 RB’s and 20 WR/TE’s, and here they are!

***The CAV is the Current Auction Value. These are not my projections or what I am spending on these players. This dollar amount is to be used as a guide to get a feel for what these players are currently going for in my auctions. When the CAV’s are absent that means I have not (or maybe once) seen them drafted in a 6-man auction*** 

1. RB – Todd Gurley – Los Angeles Rams – ($70-75) 

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2. RB – Kareem Hunt – Kansas City Chiefs – ($50-55)

3. RB – Ezekiel Elliott – Dallas Cowboys – ($45-50)

4. RB – Alvin Kamara – New Orleans Saints – ($40-45)

5. RB – Melvin Gordon – Los Angeles Chargers – ($30-35)

6. RB – Christian McCaffrey – Carolina Panthers – ($40-45)

7. WR – Adam Thielen – Minnesota Vikings – ($30-35)

8. WR – Antonio Brown – Pittsburgh Steelers – ($30-35)

9. RB – James Conner – Pittsburgh Steelers – ($35-40)

10. QB – Cam Newton – Carolina Panthers – ($10-15)

11. WR – DeAndre Hopkins – Houston Texans – ($20-25)

12. WR – Michael Thomas – New Orleans Saints – ($25-30)

13. WR – Julio Jones – Atlanta Falcons – ($25-30)

14. WR – Davante Adams – Green Bay Packers – ($35-40)

15. QB – Patrick Mahomes – Kansas City Chiefs – ($10-15)

16. RB – Latavius Murray – Minnesota Vikings – ($5-10)

17. RB – James White – New England Patriots – ($15-20)

18. RB – Phillip Lindsay – Denver Broncos- ($5-10)

19. RB – Nick Chubb – Cleveland Browns – ($1-5)

20. WR – Tyreek Hill – Kansas City Chiefs – ($10-15)

21. TE – Travis Kelce – Kansas City Chiefs – ($1-5)

22. WR – Robert Woods – Los Angeles Rams – ($10-15)

23. WR – Brandin Cooks – Los Angeles Rams – ($1-5)

24. RB – Tarik Cohen – Chicago Bears – ($1)

25. WR – Mike Evans – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – ($1-5)

26. WR – Julian Edelman – New England Patriots – ($1)

27. WR – Keenan Allen – Los Angeles Chargers 

28. QB – Aaron Rodgers – Green Bay Packers – ($1-5)

29. RB – Chris Carson – Seattle Seahawks – ($1)

30. RB – Kerryon Johnson – Detroit Lions – ($1)

31. QB – Tom Brady – New England Patriots – ($1-5)

32. WR – Stefon Diggs – Minnesota Vikings – ($1)

33. QB – Drew Brees – New Orleans Saints

34. WR – Emmanuel Sanders – Denver Broncos – ($1)

35. QB – Jared Goff – Los Angeles Rams

36. WR – JuJu Smith-Schuster – Pittsburgh Steelers

37. WR – Cooper Kupp – Los Angeles Rams

38. QB – Kirk Cousins – Minnesota Vikings

39. QB – Deshaun Watson – Houston Texans

40. RB – Adrian Peterson – Washington Redskins

41. RB – Kenyan Drake – Miami Dolphins

42. RB – Mark Ingram – New Orleans Saints

43. QB – Ryan Fitzpatrick – Tampa Bay Buccaneers – ($1)

44. QB – Mitchell Trubisky – Chicago Bears

45. WR – Kenny Golladay – Detroit Lions

46. RB – Alex Collins – Baltimore Ravens

47. WR – Devin Funchess – Carolina Panthers

48. WR – Jarvis Landry – Cleveland Browns

49. RB – Tevin Coleman – Atlanta Falcons

50. RB – LeSean McCoy – Buffalo Bills

Thanks for giving this a read. Any questions for me you can always find me on Twitter. My handle is at the top of the article. Good luck drafting and may your bids be perfect!