NFL DFS Game By Game Breakdown, Week 14

The fantasy football regular season might be over but we still have a lot of stuff to talk about foe the 13 game NFL DFS slate this upcoming week!

This is being written on a Wednesday and thisNFL DFS slate is already absolutely bonkers. It’s chock full of elite values and I think the ownerships on a 13 game slate are going to be very inflated because of it. Let’s just jump right in and go to work on who we need to be playing this week!

NFL DFS – Jets at Bills

Jets Defensive Ranks 

QB – 16th, 17.3   RB – 21st, 20.4   WR – 25th, 26.2   TE – 14th, 6.7 

I still can’t believe I’m actually going to type this but the Bills actually have some playable options this week. The first and foremost option is none other than Josh Allen. He’s averaging over seven rush attempts a game and  has almost 400 rushing yards on the season. If you want to play Lamar Jackson, you can save a few bucks and just play Allen instead. They’re realistically not that different for fantasy. Buffalo also released wide receivers Andre Holmes and Kelvin Benjamin on Tuesday, so that lessens the competition for targets.

If you feel really froggy, take a look at Zay Jones. He had a big game last week and runs about 52 percent of his routes out of the slot. Skrine allows a 95.7 passer rating, five touchdowns and receptions on 53 of 89 targets. This is Not a cash play by any means but both players can had for under $10,000 and represents some low-owned upside. LeSean McCoy gets all the work but I can’t do it at this point. Allen is killing him around the goal line, rushing the ball about twice a game in the red zone. Since Allen takes off so often, it also hampers the receiving numbers for McCoy. If Sam Darnold makes the start for the Jets, I’ll have plenty of the Bills defense. Darnold led the NFL in turnovers before his injury.

Cash Plays – Allen, Bills D/ST

GPP Plays – Jones

Bills Defensive Ranks 

QB – 1st, 12.8    RB – 22nd, 21.0   WR – 17.9   TE – 6th, 5.5 

Where you go with the Jets depends on how you think the game plays out. If you think it stays close, Isaiah Crowell has some excellent potential as a pivot to the other cheap backs that we’ll have interest in later on. He demonstrated that when the Jets hang with a team, he can get to get 20 touches. The price is so attractive because if he does, he’ll smash his price tag. The receiving corps is truly a mess and I might just play Chris Herndon. He’s had at least four targets in five of his past seven games and scored three times in that span. He’s legitimately emerging as a somewhat reliable fantasy option, at least as far as the tight ends go. I’m not very likely to have too much exposure to the Jets offense, but the defense is also plenty viable at just $2,400.

Cash Plays – Jets D/ST

GPP Plays – Crowell, Herndon

NFL DFS – Giants at Redskins

Giants Defensive Ranks 

QB – 10th, 16.3   RB – 25th, 22.5   WR – 8th, 20.7   TE – 17th, 7.6 

I hesitate to mess with the Redskins too much on a big slate since they’re now on their third string quarterback, Mark Sanchez. The running game is the one spot that I might be able to get on board with. The Giants have been getting gouged on the ground since they traded Snacks Harrison to Detroit and Adrian Peterson was the player that started that trend with a 30.6 DK point performance back in Week 9. It’s still a bit of a split with Chris Thompson but if the game stays close, Peterson should be relatively safe for 15+ carries. The fact he’s actually cheaper than Thompson and a pivot given the pricing around him is interesting as well. I would have been in on Josh Doctson had Colt McCoy been in the lineup as he’d been giving him the chance to make plays but I can’t go there with Sanchez. Any Redskins player carries significant downside with the quarterback situation.

Cash Plays – None

GPP Plays – Peterson

Redskins Defensive Ranks 

QB – 22nd, 18.6   RB – 12th, 17.6   WR – 27th, 26.3.  TE – 8th, 5.9  

The Giants are pretty easy at this stage because you have two studs and potentially a very cheap tight end. You really an’t go wrong with Saquon Barkley ever and he proved that last week in a difficult spot against the Bears. The volume is so secure it’s insane. He is once again a nice pivot off of Christian McCaffrey at a cheaper price. The Redskins have given up 189.5 yards a game to receivers and 15 touchdowns so it’s just a matter of if you trust Eli Manning to get Odell Beckham the ball or not. He’s had at least nine targets in every game this season except for one and is fifth in the NFL in raw targets.

I’m not sure I would consider him a cash option because there is volatility built-in. If Even Engram remains out of the lineup, Rhett Ellison is a very viable option as a cheap tight end. He’s seen a total of 15 targets in the past two games and that’s plenty of volume for a player that only costs you $2,700. The production has been there as well with 11.7 and 8.2 DK points the past two games. Landon Collins will miss this game but it’s still hard not to consider the Giants defense as a floor option against Mr. Butt Fumble himself.

Cash Options – Barkley, Giants D/ST, Ellison as a cheap tight end

GPP Options – Beckham

NFL DFS – Saints at Buccaneers

Saints Defensive Ranks 

QB – 29th, 21.3   RB – 4th, 14.3   WR – 32nd, 30.8   TE – 2nd, 4.4 

I’m going to go out on a limb and say this game might gain some traction since the first time we saw it, these two teams combined for 88 points. For the Bucs, we’ll have to wait on DeSean Jackson. If he plays, there’s an argument to be mad that there’s too many mouths to feed. If he doesn’t, fire up Chris Godwin and Adam Humphries yet again.

There’s reportedly a chance that Jackson could be done for the season so the Tampa receivers get a lot more attractive. Humphries draws the outstanding slot matchup against P.J. Williams that we’ve targeted all season. However,  Godwin should see plenty of that matchup too and Eli Apple when he’s towards the outside. Godwin destroys when he gets the workload and he leads the team with red zone targets with 12.   Marshon Lattimore squares off against Mike Evans and he got torched by Evans in Week one but the Saints defense was hideous then. That’s not the case anymore.

The Saints run defense is the league’s best(75.4 yards per game) so I will pass on Peyton Barber, despite him getting all of the work. Jameis Winston has played well the past two weeks but it has to make you a little nervous he’s due for a bad one. Having said that, I will likely have at least one lineup of Winston and both Humphries and Godwin if Jackson is indeed out.

Cash Plays – Winston, Humphries, Godwin if no D-Jax

GPP Plays – Evans

Buccaneers Defensive Ranks 

QB – 30th, 21.6    RB – 28th, 23.2   WR – 31st, 27.4   TE – 29th, 9.9 

I expect the Saints to bounce back in a major way in this one after their offense got their lunch money stolen in Dallas. Figuring out exactly which way that happens is going to be the real trick. Tampa has played better since they fired the former defensive coordinator but the New Orleans offense is a different animal. Drew Brees is fairly priced but this could easily be a running back game. If Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara combine for three or four rushing touchdowns, where does the upside come from Brees? It’s just a nitpick as the matchup is incredible for Brees but it does remain a potential outcome.

Tampa has given up 67 receptions and over 600 yards through the air so Alvin Kamara and barely over $8,000 has to be in play and is my favorite Saints target. Michael Thomas does have massive ceiling but also sees under 10 targets a game so the ceiling can be a hair lower than some of the other top end receivers. The safety is certainly there but the fact he’s more expensive than Kamara is noteworthy. Mark Ingram falls into the no-man’s land on the pricing scale this week and is a fantastic GPP play. If the Saints control this game and he gets 15+ touches, $5,700 is far too cheap.

Cash Plays – Kamara, Thomas, Brees

GPP Plays – Ingram, Dan Arnold as a punt tight end, Tre’Quan Smith

NFL DFS – Patriots at Dolphins

Patriots Defensive Ranks 

QB – 20th, 18.4    RB – 11th, 17.2   WR – 10th, 22.2   TE – 28th, 9.7 

Especially given some of the absolute elite value, I can’t get behind any Miami players. There’s just no reason to go for it. Kenyan Drake should be a large part of the passing attack in this game but Adam Gase has demonstrated for the entire season that his touches are suspect at best. The receivers just eat into each other and in 10 career games against the Patriots, Ryan Tannehill has an 80.1 rating, under 2,600 passing yards and 10 touchdowns against 11 interceptions. It was in New England, but Tannehill laid an egg the first meeting this year with a whopping 2.0 DK points. Is that something you want a piece of? Me either. If I lose because the Dolphins go off, I’ll admit my loss and move to Week 15.

Cash Plays – None

GPP Plays – Drake, hoping he flashes his explosiveness and finds the end zone twice

Dolphins Defensive Ranks 

QB – 17th, 17.5    RB – 24th, 22.4   WR – 13th, 22.8   TE – 24th, 8.9 

Now that everyone is healthy for New England, it could be a real pain for fantasy players. I want to attack the Dolphins defense but where to you go and feel comfortable about it? The running back trio could devolve into a full committee between James White, Sony Michel and Rex Burkhead. Last week saw the White/Michel/Burkhead combo play to a 44/40/23 percent split of the snaps. Michel did lead in the red zone with four touches to three combined for White and Burkhead so there is the great equalizer of touchdowns against one of  the worst run defenses all season long. If he doesn’t score, Michel could be underwhelming even though it looks to be an amazing matchup.

The passing game isn’t much better.  Could Josh Gordon see Xavien Howard and funnel targets to Julian Edelman? Sure because I think that’s what we saw last week when Gordon only saw three last week and Edelman saw nine. I don’t think I can pay over $7,000 for Edelman in this spot. DK keeps tempting me to play Rob Gronkowski but I’ll keep refusing. He just looks uncomfortable on the field and I’m not convinced there’s much upside there. Tom Brady will look great under $6,000 but he only has 20 touchdowns in 12 games. There’s so many other quarterbacks to play with the same upside and probably safer floor.

Cash Plays – Michel might be my favorite

GPP Plays – Gronkowski, Edelman, Gordon, White, Brady, Patriots D/ST

NFL DFS – Ravens at Chiefs

Ravens Defensive Ranks 

QB – 4th, 15.3   RB – 1st, 12.7    WR – 3rd, 18.4   TE – 18th, 8.3 

You can bet that I’ll have one Chiefs stack this week. Even in difficult matchups, the bottom DK total for Patrick Mahomes so far this year has been 20.06 against the Cardinals(Jacksonville also held him under 21). At $7,000 he’s just too cheap to not have a share and would still be basically 3x . Travis Kelce has a 28-20 target lead on Tyreek Hill the past two games and Kelce about bike the slate last week. He’s just monster but Hill was a few inches from having a big day himself. We’ll see if Sammy Watkins comes back. I would lean towards he does not but Watkins is cheap enough to use in a stack situation.

Given the slate size, construction and his price, Spencer Ware is not nearly the necessity he was last week. I do wonder if they run a little more now that they’ve had a full week to implement a gameplay with Ware as the starter so he’s still on the radar. Just understand he’s not the free square he was last week. You really can’t go a week without getting at least some Chiefs exposure no matter what the matchup is. They’re simply not expensive enough yet again.

Cash Plays – Mahomes, Kelce

GPP Plays – Hill, Ware, Watkins if running a stack

Chiefs Defensive Ranks 

QB – 28th, 20.9   RB – 30th, 25.5    WR – 12th, 22.7   TE – 31st, 11.4 

Provided Lamar Jackson remains the starter(I expect him to start yet again), he and Gus Edwards are the only two you could comfortably start. The Ravens are going to try to run the ball as much as humanly possible to keep Mahomes and the Chiefs offense on the sidelines. Since Jackson has become the starter, the Ravens have the highest run percentage in football at roughly 65 percent. Consequently, Jackson has only attempted 65 passes in three games so the receiving corps of Michael Crabtree, Willie Snead and John Brown are totally out of the question. Ty Montgomery could be a bit of a sleeper. The snaps were under 40 percent but he led the team with seven targets last week.

If the Chiefs do still score like they normally do or close to it, Montgomery could play a big role in the pass game. The Ravens are so one-dimensional, there isn’t much to look for with them. I personally think Jackson will develop as a passer but he hasn’t shown he’s there quite yet to trust anything in the passing game as a whole.

Cash Plays – Jackson, Edwards

GPP Plays – Montgomery, Ravens D/ST would be the ultimate GPP play if they hold the Chiefs down and get a touchdown somehow

NFL DFS – Colts at Texans

Colts Defensive Ranks 

QB – 15th, 16.8   RB – 15th, 18.2   WR – 5th, 19.3    TE – 16th, 7.5 

This game could really provide some major fireworks. I’m not sure how much I’ll play him but Lamar Miller is running hot with at least 13 DK points in the past three games and the Texans are the only two attempts off the league lead for rushing. That’s very notable as even though Alfred Bleu is involved and D’Onta Foreman was activated, I still think Miller gets plenty of volume. Deshaun Watson has some upside but it took him 70 rushing yards and a touchdown to achieve it against the Titans two weeks ago.

Other than that, he’s been a pedestrian option because they’re simply not passing the ball as often. DeAndre Hopkins under $8,000 seems like a mistake and he destroyed this Colts defense for 35+ DK points in the first matchup. Even with the huge amount of rushing attempts, Hopkins can still get his. Will Fuller wasn’t around for long in the first Colts matchup but he’s obviously still out so Hopkins could really go big if the Texans have to alter their game plan to keep up on the scoreboard. I would doubt I go anywhere but the big three for the Texans.

Cash Plays – Watson, Hopkins

GPP Plays – Miller

Texans Defensive Ranks 

QB – 7th, 15.9   RB – 8th, 16.4    WR – 7th, 20.4   TE – 26th, 9.2 

If you believe in narratives or players performing better against certain teams, you had better have some T.Y. Hilton this Sunday. In 13 career games against Houston, Hilton has 67 receptions, 1,246 yards and nine touchdowns which are all big time numbers. History tells us he could have a monster game and that means despite Andrew Luck being in another tough spot I have no issue going right back to him. I would highly doubt that the Colts get shutout yet again this week. Along with Hilton, Eric Ebron continues to roll and now draws a fantastic matchup (unless your name is David Njoku) against the Texans.

Only six teams have allowed more receptions and touchdowns to tight ends so far this year and we now know that Ebron is the clear number one tight end option in the offense. He saw a massive 16 targets last week. For the running backs, I might actually prefer Nyheim Hines over Marlon Mack. Hines out-snapped Mack by a 60-36 rate since Indy was trailing and passed the ball 52 times in the previous game but it could be tough for them to get a running game going. If they have to go pass heavy, Hines could catch another 5-7 passes with upside for more.

Cash Plays – Luck, Hilton, Ebron

GPP Plays – Hines, Mack

NFL DFS – Panthers at Browns

Panthers Defensive Ranks 

QB – 27th, 20.2   RB – 7th, 15.7. WR – 22nd, 25.7    TE – 30th, 10.9 

It may not have been pretty, but Baker Mayfield still hit just about 20 DK points this past week and I wouldn’t expect another three interceptions. He likely won’t approach 400 passing yards either but the Panthers have been smashed by passing games, giving up the 11th most yards and the third most passing touchdowns. The Cleveland passing game has just been a little hard to predict as far as who to use with Mayfield if you wanted to stack him. If you think the Browns trail, play Jarvis Landry who finally had a big game last week. Nick Chubb seems to find the paint every single week and would have seen much more than nine carries had the game been competitive. He’s also chipping in through the air as well with three receptions in three straight games. His floor is rock solid. David Njoku gets and even better matchup this week and could be a great GPP candidate after players got burned by him last week. He’s still ninth in targets at the position so the volume is relatively there.

Cash Plays – Mayfield, Chubb

GPP Plays – Landry, Njoku

Browns Defensive Ranks

QB – 18th, 17.7    RB – 26th, 22.8   WR – 19th, 24.7   TE – 23rd, 8.8 

With the elite running back value, Christian McCaffrey might be the chalkiest player on the slate. The Browns have given up 1,990 total yards to backs and 13 touchdowns so far this year and CMC gets legitimately all of the work. Now that the Panthers will be without Greg Olsen, that just raises the floor on the reception side of things for CMC. If you’re playing cash and don’t play him and don’t make money….well that might be your fault. He’s been over 30 DK in three of his last four and has the 50 spot mixed in there as well. I’m having a very difficult time constructing the case to fade him with the slate shaking out the way it is.

I don’t think I’ll have too much of Cam Newton this week and the passing game is tough to project. Devin Funchess only played about 46 percent of the snaps which is way under his normal rate. D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel were the target leaders not named CMC and they’re both fairly priced and in good spots this week if Funchess sees the majority of the coverage. I just have a feeling that with all three healthy, the odds of picking the wrong receiver rise significantly. Ian Thomas is an interesting punt at tight end with over 75 percent of the snaps and five targets after Olsen left last week. Cleveland has been mashed by the position all season long, giving up the sixth most points per game.

Cash Plays – McCaffrey, Thomas

GPP Plays – Newton, receiver of your choice and Moore would be my choice with his upside

NFL DFS – Falcons at Packers

Falcons Defensive Ranks 

QB – 31st, 22.2   RB – 29th, 23.5    WR – 26th, 26.2   TE – 11th, 6.2 

This is a fairly interesting spot as Aaron Rodgers is free from Mike McCarthy at least but I’m not sure I’ll use him. Noted issues with McCarthy aside, the Green Bay offense really isn’t that good when looking at the skill players. I thought even in the offseason that they lacked speed on that side of the ball and I think that’s shown itself this year. Now, Rodgers will likely be ready to prove Mike McCarthy was the reason the offense was dysfunctional and it’s not often that you’ll see Rodgers at $6,000. If you want to play him in a good matchup, just team him with Davante Adams and call it a day. Adams has a low score is 16.0 DK points because he’s been that consistent every time out. It’s crazy to think how Adams couldn’t catch anything just two short years ago.

What we do with Aaron Jones is also a pretty important question. He’s expensive given we don’t know how Joe Philbin will use him but if he gets the work he was the three weeks previous to last, he’s a great play. There’s just a little more risk than one might think. He had been dominating snaps until last week when they reverted to splitting him with Jamaal Williams half the time. Maybe that’s why McCarthy got canned because Jones had done nothing to get any work taken away from him. With the floor potentially pretty low, Jones is not a cash play but I’ll have some shares in GPP.

Cash Plays – Adams

GPP Plays – Rodgers, Jones

Packers Defensive Ranks 

QB – 13th, 16.7    RB – 20th, 19.7    WR – 29th, 26.7   TE – 3rd, 4.8 

It didn’t work out for me last week(that’s a massive understatement) but if DK keeps pricing Julio Jones under $8,000 and Matt Ryan is well under $6,000, I’ll run that combo again. That could possibly change if we get typical Green Bay weather in December but the Packers passing defense gives up about 275 yards per game and Jones sees an absurd 29 percent share of the Falcons targets. Green Bay is giving up a hair under 2,000 yards to receivers and 16 touchdowns to receivers, which means it sets up beautifully for Jones.

The only other player that I would have some interest in is Austin Hooper. He’s quietly putting together a pretty nice season, racking up 29 targets the past four weeks. The price isn’t really a punt play and the Packers are tough on tight ends on paper. This would be more of the Atlanta offense playing better than the Packers defense. I highly doubt I would use anyone else from the Falcons, including Tevin Coleman. He hasn’t had double-digit rush attempts in the past three weeks.

Cash Plays – Jones

GPP Plays – Ryan, Hooper

NFL DFS – Broncos at 49ers

Broncos Defensive Ranks 

QB – 12th, 16.6    RB – 17th, 19.4   WR – 16th, 23.9   TE – 21st, 8.7 

We have the first of the potential chalky backs in Jeff Wilson Jr, who is going to be popular after he burst onto the scene with a 20 DK point performance last week. The 20+ touches certainly came out of nowhere and he played well with the opportunity. Matt Breida is already ruled out so Wilson will be the main back for the 49ers. However, it would be surprising to not see Alfred Morris and Kyle Juszczyk more involved. Breida was hurt in pre game warmups and couldn’t make it through the game. Now the 49ers have time to implement a real game plan. Wilson Jr. could pay off at this tag easily, but might be riskier than we think and the Broncos run defense has tightened up recently. They haven’t allowed more than 90 yards on the ground to any back since early October when Todd Gurley ran wild on them. I’d like to see how the week develops before making a call on Wilson but he’s a name you need to heavily consider.

Is it chasing the points with Dante Pettis? He went nuts in Seattle last week and I don’t think it’s chasing to go back to him again. The 49ers invested a high pick on him and should want to get him on the field the rest of the way. He’s a legitimate talent and he does get a Denver secondary that will be missing Chris Harris Jr. In addition, Pettis has seen seven targets each of the last two games and played over 90 percent of the snaps. These are always clues that a player is trending upwards. George Kittle always safe because of the amount of targets he gets, which is among the top five in tight ends. There’s nothing wrong with playing him this week as Denver is mid-pack against tight ends.

Cash Plays – Kittle, potentially Wilson Jr.

GPP Plays – Pettis

49ers Defensive Ranks 

QB – 26th, 20.1   RB – 18th, 19.5   WR – 30th, 27.2   TE – 12th, 6.6 

The first place I look for the Broncos is the opposing team’s run defense and San Francisco  is giving up 108 yards a game on the ground. That means Phillip Lindsay can definitely stay hot with the amount of touches he gets. In addition, the 49ers would be worse against running backs if not for giving up just nine rushing touchdowns. There’s definitely some regression coming for that number and Lindsay has been one of the better stories of the season, ranking fourth in the league in rushing yards behind only Todd Gurley, Saquon Barkley and Ezekiel Elliott. Thats some pretty special company to be in.

There’s always going to be volatility to the Denver passing game and Case Keenum only threw the ball 21 times last week. That’s likely because they were facing a bad Bengals team but it’s really not a stretch to see that same style of game play out here. This isn’t the passing game that can support multiple(or likely one) receiver on just 21 attempts. I’m likely to not use Emmanuel Sanders or Courtland Sutton in this spot as I would expect the game to play out just like we saw against the Bengals.

Cash Plays – Lindsay, Broncos D/ST

GPP Plays – Sanders, Sutton

NFL DFS – Bengals at Chargers

Bengals Defensive Ranks 

QB – 32nd, 22.5   RB – 32nd, 27.4   WR – 18th, 24.5    TE – 27th, 9.5 

If Melvin Gordon is out, I will be playing all the Justin Jackson. He generated 82 yards on just nine touches and looked utterly fantastic. One would think he has to get more touches this week after Austin Ekeler had a mediocre game and head coach Anthony Lynn seemingly agrees as well –

"“He’s wearing down a little bit. He’s a core special teams guy for us and he’s played a lot of running back for us. So he’s a little tired. You might see Justin (Jackson) play a little bit more, you might see (Detrez) Newsome play some this week.”"

That sounds a whole lot like Jackson should get at least 10-12 carries and against the worst run defense in the league, that’s plenty to be able to play him at a sub-$4,000 price. Coming off a spectacular game of his own, Keenan Allen is simply far too cheap and has hit at least 17.7 DK points since the bye week. I don’t think the Bengals will cover him with a linebacker(unlike some certain teams, looking at you Pittsburgh) but it also doesn’t really matter. The Bengals are a terrible defense, a bad team without star players and headed cross-country. I think a stack of Philip Rivers, Allen and Jackson is well within play here.

Cash Plays – Jackson, Allen, Rivers

GPP Plays – Mike Williams, Tyrell Williams, Ekeler

Chargers Defensive Ranks 

QB – 5th, 15.4    RB – 16th, 19.1   9th, 20.9    TE – 10th, 6.1 

The Bengals are a pretty easy offense to get away from on this slate and I’m likely to follow suit. Sure, Joe Mixon and Tyler Boyd are nice GPP targets because the offense has to flow through someone. If the Chargers score a boatload of points as expected, they may see some nice garbage time stats. They should be very low owned as well, adding to the GPP appeal. The one skill player I would have zero interest in is C.J. Uzomah. Unless they’re the cream of the crop, I don’t target tight ends against Derwin James for any reason, let alone at Uzomah’s price. LA has allowed the 10th fewest points to TE and James is a major reason for that. The Uzomah/Jeff Driskel connection is not likely to buck that trend. I very quiet option could be John Ross. In the three games A.J Green had missed, he totaled 20 targets and scored in all three. There’s sneaky potential here this week as well.

Cash Plays – None

GPP Plays – Boyd, Mixon, Ross

NFL DFS – Eagles at Cowboys

Eagles Defensive Ranks 

QB – 23rd, 18.6   RB – 14th, 18.0   WR – 28th, 26.4   TE – 4th, 4.8 

On the Dallas side of the ball, the players you want are pretty clear-cut. Ezekiel Elliott will always be one of the top running backs on the board, the price is more than fair and he already tagged the Philly defense for 39.7 DK points in Philly earlier this year. You know that you’re getting an easy 20+ touches for the price. The passing game is little interesting as well, since the Eagles have allowed the seventh most passing yards. Amari Cooper has averaged eight targets a game in his five games with the Cowboys and has found the end zone three times. It’s almost like….he’s a good receiver and the Raiders just stink.

I don’t know if I feel the need to pair him with Dak Prescott since quarterback is so loaded but Dak has been producing better as of late. The rub is when Dak has put some of his bigger totals up, it’s because he’s been running more or scoring on the ground. A very sneaky GPP play could be Michael Gallup. His targets have increased by one for three weeks and in a great matchup, he could have a blow up game. It has to help the rookie that Cooper is going to see the bulk of the defensive attention. The third round pick has plenty of potential but likely wasn’t ready to be the man in the offense.

Cash Plays – Elliott, Cooper, Prescott

GPP Plays – Gallup

Cowboys Defensive Ranks 

QB – 9th, 16.0   RB – 5th, 14.8    WR – 2nd, 18.2   TE –  19th, 8.5 

I have to be honest, I’m a little skittish with the Eagles this week. They’ve been a very average unit compared to the expectations for them. Carson Wentz had a nice game on Monday night and is under $5,500 which is so tempting. I think it’s still wise to tread lightly as the Dallas defense has shown that it is one of the league’s stingier units. Only six teams have given up fewer passing yards than the Dallas defense so far this year. Pairing him is probably just using Zach Ertz and moving on. Ertz has had one game all season under 9.8 DK points all season and he scorched the Dallas defense for a 40+ point performance the first game.

I wouldn’t expect that outcome again but Ertz has a super safe floor built-in every week. The receivers are hard to predict with the involvement of Golden Tate. He had a great fantasy game last week but only was on the field for 48 percent of the snaps. That’s not something I feel comfortable going after. Alshon Jeffery has been MIA for weeks now and I’ll pass on him with Byron Jones on the other side. Josh Adams remains a very solid mid-range option. He’s carried the ball at least 20 times the past two games and has 10 red zone rushes in the same time frame. I wouldn’t expect Darren Sproles to bite into the workload very much at just a 12 percent snap rate.

Cash Plays – Ertz, Adams

GPP Plays – Wentz, Tate

NFL DFS – Lions at Cardinals

Lions Defensive Ranks 

QB – 19th, 18.3   RB – 23rd, 22.3    WR – 20th, 24.8   TE – 15th, 6.8 

You can very easily make the argument that this is the worst game on the slate and I’m not going to say differently. For the Cardinals, the only play you can really consider is David Johnson. I’m not particularly interested after watching Chase Edmunds get three red zone chances compared to two for Johnson last week. If Johnson isn’t being used in the red zone, there’s no reason for him to be in your lineup. Some folks may head to Larry Fitzgerald now that the targets will be even more concentrated towards him with Christian Kirk on the injured reserve. My issue with that line of thinking is I’m not sure Fitzgerald is at the point where he can still carry the passing game. I’m leaning towards no and I will have virtually no exposure to Arizona on this slate.

Cash Plays – None

GPP Plays – Johnson, Fitzgerald, Cardinals D/ST

Cardinals Defensive Ranks 

QB – 3rd, 15.3   RB – 31st, 25.5    WR – 11th, 22.4  T E – 7th, 5.8 

The Lions are also not one of my favorite teams to target but I will point out they have a couple of value plays that make some sense. Let’s say you don’t want to eat the chalky cheap running backs but want a leverage play in that exact same price range. I present to you the old war-horse LeGarrette Blount. With Kerryon Johnson out, Blount has recorded 16 and 19 carries. He absolutely needs to score to be worth playing but he’s getting a defense that is giving up 140 yards on the ground per game and have let running backs score 15 rushing touchdowns. If there’s ever a reason to use Blount, it could be this.

Additionally, spending up for multiple running backs might be a little against the grain this week but that means you need cheap receiver help. Well, Bruce Ellington is here to help you out. The smart money is Kenny Golladay sees the bulk of Patrick Peterson, leaving Ellington to the softer part of the defense. Since arriving in Detroit, he’s recorded 26 targets over the course of three games and has hit at least 9.0 DK points in every single one of those contests. He’s an excellent DK player and a prime source of salary relief again.

Cash Plays – None

GPP Plays – Golladay, Ellington, Blount

NFL DFS – Steelers at Raiders

Steelers Defensive Ranks 

QB – 24th, 18.8    RB – 9th, 16.8    WR – 14th, 23.5    TE – 20th, 8.5 

The Raiders actually gave the Chiefs a run for their money last week and will try to play spoiler again this week. Using the Raiders is iffy at best but if you want to run it back if playing Steelers, perhaps you take a stab at Jared Cook or maybe Jordy Nelson. Cook is at a price that kind of makes my skin crawl but he does lead the team with a 19 percent target share. Nelson is coming off a weirdly productive game after being a ghost for almost two full months prior.

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It’s hard to get on board with these plays due to the ineptitude of the Raiders offense, which came into last week in the bottom five in scoring. I’m less likely to use a running back because they signed C.J. Anderson….for some reason. I guess when you have a you 27-year-old running back with over 800 touches on the market, you have to bring him in to see what he can do.

Cash Plays – None

GPP Plays – Cook, Nelson, Marcell Ateman

Radiers Defensive Ranks 

QB – 25th, 20.0    RB – 27th, 22.8    WR – 15th, 23.9    TE – 32nd, 11.8 

We have hit our chalkiest part of the day with a running back by the name of Jaylen Samuels. At least DK didn’t make the same mistake as Yahoo did and leave him tight end eligible(yes, I’m aware that Samuels played a tight end hybrid spot in college but there was no chance of that in the NFL) but Samuels will be chalk nonetheless. He’s attached to an offense that is scoring 28.8 points a game, fourth in the NFL. Even though I’m eating the chalk in cash, I think there’s a very real chance he busts a little bit. Pittsburgh is already talking about a committee approach and I would be very surprised to see Samuels get more than 10-12 touches. Stevan Ridley is an ultimate leverage play if he winds up getting the touchdown(s) that folks assume Samuels will score.

The likely path is Ben Roethlisberger throws the ball 40+ times. Pittsburgh already leads the NFL in passing attempts by 28 and it seems likely that they add to that lead this week. Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster are both worthwhile spends with their target share, talent and opportunity. After seeing Travis Kelce wreck the Oakland defense, Vance McDonald may not be the worst tight end option either. It’s not his fault Derwin James is a better football player.

Cash Plays – Samuels, Brown, Roethlisberger, Smith-Schuster

GPP Plays – Steelers D/ST, McDonald, Ridley

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