Daily Fantasy Football: Week Fourteen at Yahoo
By Raju Byfield
Rizzla discusses his week fourteen Yahoo Daily Fantasy Football: NFL Yahoo Cup Daily Fantasy Football lineup.
Daily Fantasy Football: Week Fourteen
With season long fantasy football leagues now in playoff mode there are millions of fantasy owners now looking to get their fantasy fix via daily fantasy sports contests making identifying top plays and values now more paramount than ever.
As mentioned last week Yahoo has weekly free contests that award real cash and can easily be accessed using your existing yahoo fantasy sports profile. As we do every week we will use Yahoo pricing and format to help you start your NFL DFS research!
As is often the case I like to start the week reflecting on my lineup transgressions from my week thirteen plays. My most glaring blunders last week included plugging in Cameron Brate, Emmanuel Sanders and JuJu Smith-Schuster.
Cameron Brate was a massive disappointment against one of the leakiest defenses in the league when it comes to stopping tight ends and managed a paltry three receptions for 36 yards on six targets. The main lesson learned here is that Brate has a much lower floor than originally anticipated even when it comes to great matchups.
Emmanuel Sanders was another disappointment after posting a meager four receptions for nineteen yards in week thirteen. Sanders saw 40 percent of his snaps in the slot last weekend but ceded twelve snaps to Daesean Hamilton while seeing only sixteen himself. The slot usage here would be major concern going forward if Sanders was not lost for the season with a ruptured achilles.
JuJu Smith-Schuster on the other hand stood by and watched teammate Antonio Brown explode against the Chargers while he managed just 49 yards on six receptions. Desmond King had a rock solid game on defense and held JuJu in check despite the talented receiver seeing nine targets come his way. JuJu remains an elite weekly option but will continue to have peaks and valleys. The main lesson learned here was that targeting JuJu in plus slot matchups seems to be the more prudent option.
For this week’s NFL Yahoo Cup free roll I followed my usual strategy of filling defense, tight end and quarterback first by identifying the best potential values and then doing the same for both running back and receiver.
Daily Fantasy Football: Week Fourteen at Yahoo
Matt Ryan ($31 Salary; 14th salary rank; 9th personal rank)
Matt Ryan looks to have a plus matchup this week despite facing off against a Green Bay Packers defense giving up the twelfth fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. In a contest with a 50.5 over/under we can expect some offensive fireworks and with the Falcons ground game struggling we can expect the majority, if not all, of the Falcons touchdowns to come through the air. Digging into the Packers numbers reveals that excluding the week one version of Mitch Trubisky (when he was struggling and had yet to enter the QB1 conversation) the Packers have surrendered 321.75 passing yards and three touchdowns per game to the QB1’s they have faced this season.
In fact the Packers have seen 12 of the 19 touchdowns they have given up this season come against the four QB1’s they have faced. All in all, when salary is included Matt Ryan looks to be one of the biggest values of the week at the QB position and as any reader of this weekly column would know by now, a value QB allows one to ‘stud out’ other portions of our DFS lineups.
Christian McCaffrey ($38 Salary; 2nd salary rank; 1st personal rank)
My top ranked running back for week fourteen, Christian McCaffrey has a wonderful matchup against a Cleveland Browns defense surrendering the seventh most fantasy points to enemy running backs. The Browns are giving up the fifth most rushing yards at 113.4 rushing yards per game and one touchdown to go with 5.1 receptions and 52.3 receiving yards, numbers that should delight any DFS owner looking to plug in the league’s number two workhorse in terms of opportunity share.
To further cement Run CMC’s upside in this contest let’s take a look at the total yard from scrimmage lines of the six RB1’s the Browns have faced this season: 36-192-2; 19-99-0; 20-150-3; 29-212-2; 18-141-3 and 21-155-0. McCaffrey has been the hottest running back in football since week eight and by all accounts will have another scorching performance this week in Cleveland.
Justin Jackson ($16 Salary; 32nd salary rank; 19th personal rank)
Currently my 19th overall running back for week fourteen, Justin Jackson faces off against a Cincinnati Bengals defense allowing the most fantasy points to opposing running backs. Jackson will rise up our rankings when and if Melvin Gordon is officially ruled out, but even if he plays Jackson should see a larger workload, especially in the second half when the Bolts will ostensibly look to rest and protect Gordon if he does indeed play. Jackson had a mini coming out party in the second half of the Sunday nighter between the Chargers and the Steelers and is expected to receive the bulk of the carries this weekend.
The Bengals are hemorrhaging 126 rushing yards, 1.1 rushing touchdowns, 5.5 receptions, 53.1 receiving yards and 0.5 touchdowns per game to running back position; numbers that should get anyone’s juices flowing. Jackson looks like a strong, upside RB2 this week regardless of whether or not Gordon suits up and should be employed if you are looking for a low cost, high upside option with a great matchup at running back for week fourteen.
Daily Fantasy Football: Week Fourteen at Yahoo
DJ Moore ($19 Salary; 29th salary rank; 20th personal rank)
Impressive rookie receiver DJ Moore has a date with a Cleveland Browns defense relinquishing the thirteenth most fantasy points to enemy wideouts, in what should for the most part be a plus matchup. Moore will have tough time when matched up on outside against the stingy Denzel Ward but will have a much easier time in the slot against Briean Boddy-Calhoun where Moore saw 42 percent of his snaps last week.
Currently my twentieth overall wideout for week fourteen, Moore will look to take advantage of a Browns secondary allowing 14.3 receptions, 179.3 receiving yards (sixth most) and a touchdown per game to the wide receiver position. In a contest that should be tighter than the casual fan may suspect, there is a small two point spread due to the Panthers struggling as of late and playing on the road in Cleveland where the Browns have had much more success offensively. This potential game script should allow the dynamic rookie receiver to stay involved in the gameplan both through the air and out of the backfield on sweeps.
Adam Humphries ($22 Salary; 20th salary rank; 19th personal rank)
The surging Adam Humphries has a tasty matchup this week against a New Orleans Saints defense giving up the most fantasy points to opposing wide receivers. The Saints have surrendered a massive (albeit game script aided) 15.8 receptions, 221 receiving yards and 1.4 touchdowns per game to the wide receiver position and are expected to surrender another massive outing to the position against one of the league’s most prolific offenses (tenth most points per game at 26.5).
Humphries himself has a cupcake matchup versus PJ Williams in the slot, a struggling corner who has allowed a 71 percent catch rate on the season. Humphries has shined this season in plus matchups and this week should be more of the same especially with DeSean Jackson sidelined. Solidifying Humphries as a plus play this weekend is the fact that the Saints relinquished a massive 417 yard, four touchdown performance to the Bucs in week one suggesting that a fantasy point bonanza could be on the way for the Bucs receivers.
Brandin Cooks ($24 Salary; 14th salary rank; 14th personal rank)
My fourteenth overall wideout for this week, Brandin Cooks squares off against a Chicago Bears defense allowing the sixteenth most fantasy points to enemy wide receivers. The Bears have allowed 14.3 receptions, 175.9 receiving yards (seventh most) and 1.0 touchdowns per game to the wide receiver position on the season suggesting that there should be plenty of opportunity for Cooks to have a big game.
The Bears have allowed a cool 6.3 receptions and 79 yards per game to the WR1 types they have faced this season which lends credence to the thought that Cooks may have an inefficient night against corner Prince Amukamara who has allowed a respectable 65 percent catch rate so far this year. Cooks should still find his way to over 100 receiving yards due to target volume and looks like a great value play this weekend in a game that the Rams may go more pass heavy than usual in due to the Bears ferocious front seven.
Daily Fantasy Football: Week Fourteen at Yahoo
Eric Ebron ($24 salary; 3rd salary rank; 4th personal rank)
My fourth overall tight end for week fourteen, Eric Ebron has a plus matchup this week against a Houston Texans defense giving up the tenth most fantasy points to opposing tight ends. The Texans have allowed 5.4 receptions, 64.1 yards and 0.5 touchdowns per game to the tight end position on the season but that number jumps to six receptions, 81.5 yards and a touchdown to when facing TE1’s.
Ebron saw a massive ten targets in the Colts-Texans week four meeting, corralling five of them for 40 yards and a touchdown and should be in line for a similar workload this week. Eric Ebronleads all tight ends with a massive 40.5 percent end zone target share (15 targets), numbers that when juxtaposed against the Texans weakness against tight ends make Ebron a threat to find the end zone multiple times in this contest.
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Jeff Wilson Jr. ($12 Salary; 47th salary rank; 21st personal rank)
One of this week’s hottest pickups, Jeff Wilson Jr. squares off against a formidable Denver Broncos defense allowing the sixteenth fewest fantasy points to opposing running backs but the seventh most rushing yards at 109.8 per game to go with five receptions for 44.6 receiving yards.
When Matt Breida got hurt last week Wilson Jr. took over as the lead back and managed 4.1 yards per tote on 15 carries while piling up a saliva inducing eight receptions for 73 yards. Wilson is a solid schematic fit in San Francisco and should have a big day as he looks to operate as the 49ers workhorse with Breida out and Morris no longer in the 49ers long term plans. Wilson is likely to be one of the hottest plays of the week at his bargain level salary and looks like a tremendous value given his $12 price tag and volume based upside.
Los Angeles Chargers ($14 Salary)
Despite squaring off against a Cincinnati Bengals defense allowing the twelfth fewest fantasy points to enemy defensive/special teams units the Los Angeles Chargers remain one of the top values of the week. Opting to plug in the Chargers is more about the defensive upside with Joey Bosa back as opposed to the Bengals fantasy points allowed.
With Jeff Driskel starting the Chargers have a higher floor than they would with Andy Dalton under center and look like the top cost based value this week at the position coming off of two solid eight point performances that consisted of at least a sack and a pick in both games.
NFL DFS Week 14 Game by Game Breakdown. dark. Next
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