Month: October 2022

QB: Andy Dalton vs. Las Vegas DraftKings salary: 5,500

RB: Tony Pollard vs. Chicago DraftKings salary: 6,100

RB: Miles Sanders vs. Pittsburgh DraftKings salary: 6,600

WR: Chris Olave vs. Las Vegas DraftKings salary: 6,000

WR: Davante Adams at New Orleans DraftKings salary: 8,600

WR: Wan’Dale Robinson at Seattle DraftKings salary: 4,700

TE: Juwan Johnson vs. Las Vegas DraftKings salary: 3,200

Flex: Tyler Lockett vs. New York (Giants) DraftKings salary: 6,500

DST: Lions Def vs. Miami DraftKings salary: 2,300

Reasoning: The iffyness of this QB slate has led me to a play that will certainly test my standing with the fantasy football gods. The biggest barrier to playing Andy Dalton is well, Andy Dalton. We are talking about a QB who did just throw 2 pick sixes a week ago. There is also the baller blocker or all baller blockers in Taysom Hill looming as well. You may wonder why i’d want to subject my nerves to this but hey, I’m a Ravens fan so i’m used to it.

Joking aside, this is a great matchup. The Raiders are near the bottom of the league in most pass defense metrics and have a middling at best pass rush. Chris Olave is an obvious stacking partner and will be on my short list of plays. Correlating my TE play with my QB is always something I’m looking to do. Davante Adams I like as a run back and maybe his price causes his rostership to fall under the radar. Marshon Lattimore being out gives this a nice extra boost.

At RB I’m riding the wave with Tony Pollard…he’s just too good a play in too good of a matchup. The hope here is that Miles Sanders can match him at much lower rostership.

The Wan’Dale – Lockett skinny stack is one I love. They both have great matchups and should easily sport high end target shares.

The Lions defense play is just an attempt to get different and try to side swipe the folks playing Tua, Tyreek and Mostert. If you don’t feel as froggy, the Panthers defense fits but Mariota is perpetually low on pass attempts so the sacks and picks will be harder to come by.

QB: Tom Brady at Carolina DraftKings salary: 6,300

RB: Joe Mixon vs. Atlanta DraftKings salary: 7,000

RB: Ken Walker at Los Angeles (Chargers) DraftKings salary: 5,800

WR: Mike Evans at Carolina DraftKings salary: 6,900

WR: CeeDee Lamb vs. Detroit DraftKings salary: 6,800

WR: Amon Ra St. Brown at Dallas DraftKings salary: 7,100

TE: Cade Otton at Carolina DraftKings salary: 2,700

Flex: Garrett Wilson at Denver DraftKings salary: 4,500

DST: Giants Def at Jacksonville DraftKings salary: 2,900

Reasoning: This week I struggled to find ways to get different in the ways I’m accustomed. There aren’t a lot of cheaper WRs to feel great about and while I do have some I’m intrigued by and will play on Sunday, I didn’t want to give you guys and gals shaky plays.

One of the easy under the radar plays to get to this week is Tom Brady. The Bucs disappointed in a prime blow up spot last week, something that will leave a sour taste in people’s mouth but I’m always looking to cash in when people let emotion overtake logic. Mike Evans’ TD upside is always high and Cade Otton is a cheap full time piece of an offense that should score plenty. I’ll play a variations of this lineup with Godwin and Fournette mixed in. Your eyes aren’t deceiving you, I will not stain my lineup with any Panthers run backs (At least not publicly).

Once I pick a QB, I’m on my Silky Johnson to every other QB on the slate. Not only am I hating, I’m building that hate into my lineups. Joe Burrow is shaping up as a popular play this week so I love getting leverage on him by playing Joe Mixon.

The CeeDee Lamb-Amon Ra St. Brown skinny stack should be a popular one so I opted to go with D’Andre Swift instead. With the Cowboys monstrous pass rush, the safest way to attack them is via the short pass or the run, Swift checks both those boxes.

In another attempt to get different I went RB in the flex with Ken Walker. I love him this week going up against a Chargers defense that still has not interest in playing the run. He’ll get healthy looks versus that 2 high defense and he played enough on passing downs to not be the zero people have assumed he’d be.

Wink Martindale versus a young QB is a matchup I’ve attacked in the past. Trevor Lawrence has been inpatient as a thrower this season and will see tons of blitzes and exotic looks in this game. In 6 games played, T-Law has thrown 4 picks and lost 4 fumbles.

Update: Due to D’Andre Swift being unlikely to play. I’ve made the following pivots.

D’Andre Swift and Alec Pierce out

Amon Ra St. Brown and Garrett Wilson in

I keep the Dallas-Detroit skinny stack going. I thought about going to Jamaal Williams here but wasn’t crazy about the wide receivers I was landing on either from a rostership or upside standpoint. ASB will pick up even more short area targets sans Swift.

Garrett Wilson is one of the shaky plays I referenced above but Swift’s absence pushes me in that direction. He’ll play more with Elijah Moore on pto and Patrick Surtain will probably play more snaps lined up on Corey Davis? We’ve seen Wilson flash on multiple occasions this season and his talent is significant enough to rise above tricky circumstances.

QB: Lamar Jackson at New York (Giants) DraftKings salary: 8,100

RB: Joe Mixon at New Orleans DraftKings salary: 6,900

RB: Rhamondre Stevenson at Cleveland DraftKings salary: 6,000

WR: Mike Evans at Pittsburgh DraftKings salary: 7,000

WR: George Pickens vs. Tampa Bay DraftKings salary: 4,600

WR: Marquez Callaway vs. Cincinnati DraftKings salary: 3,900

TE: David Njoku vs. New England DraftKings salary: 4,000

FLEX: Mark Andrews at New York (Giants) DraftKings salary: 7,000

DST: Falcons Def vs. San Francisco DraftKings salary: 2,500

Reasoning: Similar to previous weeks i tried to find the higher end QB whose falling under the radar from a rostership perspective. One difference is I opted not to run back my Lamar-Andrews stack. Barkley would have been an obvious one but that trio would have been a lot of salary to use on any game, let alone one I don’t think will absolutely shoot out. Wan’dale at 3,600 was a consideration but talk of him being eased in squashed that.

Rhamondre is a no brainer lock for me this week and the Njoku fits on the cheap and starts a matchy matchy feel to the lineup.

Playing two of the popular RBs is certainly doable but challenges my general sensibilities. I opted to chase Joe Mixon’a plus usage in hopes of a multiple TD day. Marquez Callaway burned me before but I’m back on the train as a cheap run back for the ultra thin Saints receiver group.

Evans and Pickens round out my first week of school outfits-esque approach of matching skinny stacks throughout. We know what Evans ceiling is and while Pickens doesn’t have the same matchup, the attempts should be plentiful and Kenny Pickett has already shown a willingness to give him chances to win on the boundary. Chunk plays have a chance to follow.

The Falcons defense was honestly just hey, I got 2,500 left. SF controlling the game with their run game and defense is the likely course of action here but offensive line injuries and a bad throw or 2 from Jimmy G could get us there .

I’ll likely have a variation of this lineup with Jamarr Chase instead of Mixon and another one of the cheap RBs. I’m not crazy about the cheaper WRs this week but I found 2 that fit this build. At that same time, it’s hard to ignore the projection differences compared to say an Eno Benjamin (cap tip to TJ Hernandez). Something to keep in mind when you’re building.

QB: Justin Herbert at Cleveland DraftKings Salary: 7,100

RB: Kareem Hunt vs. Los Angeles (Chargers) DraftKings Salary: 6,000

RB: Derrick Henry at Washington DraftKings Salary: 8,200

WR: Mike Williams at Cleveland DraftKings Salary: 7,100

WR: Chris Godwin vs. Atlanta DraftKings Salary: 5,900

WR: Tyler Lockett at New Orleans DraftKings Salary: 5,600

TE: Gerald Everett at Cleveland DraftKings Salary: 4,200

Flex: Marquez Callaway vs. Seattle DraftKings Salary: 3,300

DST: Panthers Def vs. San Francisco DraftKings Salary: 2,600

Reasoning: Lately i’ve been trying to zero in on whoever the lowest rostered pay up QB. This week I think that will be Justin Herbert. Further removed from that rib injury and facing off with an underachieving Browns defense, I like his chances at the 300 yard bonus. Mike Williams upside (and downside) always creates intrigue and Gerald Everett has carved out a solid role and red zone role amongst the grenades that are 2022 Tight Ends. Running it back with Kareem Hunt serves dual purpose. He’ll be on the field ahead of Nick Chubb in negative game scripts but he also has double digit rush attempts in every game this season against a Chargers defense that is just as unenthused about playing the run as they were last year (5.4 yards per carry allowed).

Trying my hand that this is a Derrick Henry week. Long starved for pass game involvement, Henry has 11 targets in the last 2 games. The offensive line and weapons are eroding around him but Henry is one of those outliers that bend logic…the passing game involvement makes the floor safer and the price isn’t a overly prohibitive one, especially for his upside.

Because of my investment in Herbert I really wanted to steer clear of Bucs-Falcons in this lineup…but a another investment, one of the redraft variety was too strong to ignore. I drafted Chris Godwin in every league i’m in so for me not to play him at 5900 would be criminal. He’d be a good play at 7,000.

Eurostepping around the popular games gave me a little trouble trying to find a secondary stack but I landed on Callaway-Lockett. Seattle’s defense has been flammable and Callaway literally played all the snaps last week with Michael Thomas out. DK Metcalf will be locked into a rematch Marcus Lattimore (provided Lattimore doesn’t feel inspired by Draymond and swings on DK again)…leaving Lockett with the more advantageous matchup for the surprisingly faster paced Seahawks offense.

The Cowboys defense at 2500 would slide right in here. I just couldn’t bring myself to plug in what is likely to be the slates most popular defense so I pivoted to the Panthers, albeit with minimal confidence outside of just getting different. The Panthers have been ok versus the run and will be at home. The 49ers will be on their 3rd left tackle and haven’t exactly lit the world on fire offensively. A random pick or fumble 6 from Jimmy G wouldn’t surprise me at all.

QB: Marcus Mariota vs. Cleveland DraftKings salary: 5,600

RB: Saquon Barkley vs. Chicago DraftKings salary: 8,000

RB: Aaron Jones vs. New England DraftKings salary: 7,500

WR: Drake London vs. Cleveland DraftKings salary: 6,100

WR: Amari Cooper at Atlanta DraftKings salary: 6,300

WR: Diontae Johnson vs. New York (Jets) DraftKings salary: 6,000

TE: Cole Kmet at New York (Giants) DraftKings salary: 3,200

Flex: Rashaad Penny at Detroit DraftKings salary: 4,900

DST: Seahawks Def at Detroit DraftKings salary: 2,400

Reasoning: This is a hard week for primary stacks. The obvious options are popular and expensive, not the combo we look for in DFS. I settled in on a Mariota led primary stack. I like the rushing upside and with Myles Garrett rules out and Jadaveon Clowney potentially to follow, this underachieving Browns defense feels like one to pick on. I usually double stack but opted not to here, with Mariota becoming more popular I think Kyle Pitts will be frequently stacked with him. I’m not certain the Falcons have figured this Kyle Pitts conundrum out so I’m going with just Drake London with the Amari Cooper run back. Mariota’s rushing upside gives me more ease at going with just the single stack.

Went with the double pay up-ish approach at RB in an attempt to zig off the Jamaal Williams/Khalil Herbert builds. Barkley will be popular I’m sure but Aaron Jones is flying way under the radar but his profile this week is as strong as any RB as a big favorite with pass game and red zone involvement.

Went with Diontae Johnson as a one off versus a Jets defense that has given up big plays to WRs every week and a pass rush that has underachieved. Johnson’s volume has remained strong sans Roethlisberger while his targets 15+ yards downfield are up.

For those of you who put your phone or laptop in a washing machine after seeing my TE play, I get it. The Bears simply haven’t thrown enough to play any pass catcher with confidence but with no Ryan Griffin the snaps and routes have been climbing for Kmet. Correlating him with what i’m hoping is a Saquon blow up game and I’ll take my chances that the Bears finally generate a respectable enough pass catcher performance at super low rostership. It‘s also leverage on Herbert.

Closing the lineup out with a double pivot on Jamaal Williams and the Lions passing game. Rashaad Penny has a good price and matchup and should get ample opportunities if this game stays close. Injuries will help those odds as the Lions will be without D’andre Swift and Amon-Ra St. Brown. We really betting on Jared Goff holding up that 26 point team total without those 2? Also, shout out to TJ Hernandez for the contrarian idea of going 3 RBs this week.