By Carey Stevenson
QB: Desmond Ridder at Falcons DraftKings salary: 4,800
RB: Isiah Pacheco DraftKings salary: 6,200
RB: Kyren Williams at Arizona DraftKings salary: 6,600
WR: Mike Evans at Indianapolis DraftKings salary: 7,400
WR: Drake London vs. New Orleans DraftKings salary: 5,000
WR: Rashid Shaheed at Atlanta DraftKings salary: 4,300
TE: Taysom Hill at Atlanta DraftKings salary: 5,000
FLEX: Michael Pittman vs. Tampa Bay DraftKings salary: 6,800
DST: Steelers DST vs. Cincinnati DraftKings salary: 3,700
Reasoning: I felt like i had to go through this slate with gloves because of the amount of games i just didn’t want to touch…many will congregate around Jags/Texans and Bills/Eagles, and rightfully so, but you could get analysis of those games anywhere…You know how i get down though, so ride with me on this scenic route.
Falcons/Saints features a bunch of fantasy relevant plays and interesting opportunities in a dome game where both defenses are in the bottom 10 in sack percentage. Derek Carr doesn’t offer enough upside run this from the Saints side while Desmond Ridder’s price, rushing upside and likely lower rostership make him a very interesting boom/bust play in large field. The Saints are a one of the man heavy defense and have given up the 3rd most rushing yards to QB this year. Ridder averaged 3 designed rush attempts during his last 3 starts per fantasylife.com and has 4 rushing scores on the season. In that same 3 game sample, Drake London had target shares of 25%, 27% and 27% and gets a Marshon Lattimore free matchup. I thought briefly about double stacking but i just wasn’t compelled enough with Kyle Pitts’ opportunity to go away from one of my run backs…
Taysom Hill took a step back last week usage wise but it wasn’t a big one and it probably had more to do with their 24-3 deficit then anything else. While he only had one carry he was still involved in the passing game with 4 targets. With Michael Thomas now on IR i expect Taysom to jump right back into usage that will have analysts propping him back up as a top 8 TE option the rest of the way.
Because we’re pivoting away from Bijan Robinson in this lineup i felt like i needed a bit more of reinforcements on the New Orleans side to pump up Ridder’s amount of drop backs. Rashid Rasheed’s playing time started to trend down in recent weeks but with Michael Thomas leaving the Saints last game due to injury, Shaheed jumped back up to 81% of routes. At price he offers upside in a zone heavy matchup.
The Chiefs have underwhelmed a bit from a point scoring aspect but they are in a nice bounce back spot versus a Raiders defense that will likely be without their one difference maker on that side of the ball in Maxx Crosby. Isiah Pacheco has dominated the RB carries for majority of the season so i love tapping to that on offenses we expect to score but with 3rd down back Jerick McKinnon slated to miss this game, his upside hits a little different. McKinnon essentially plays every long and down and distance snap, so while it would be too much to ask for Pacheco to absorb all of that too…he should absorb some of it, raising his ppr appeal.
Kyren Williams is a bit of a leap of faith but we’re seeing more and more that RBs are walking right back into lead roles after extended absences. The combination of Royce Freeman/Darrell Henderson did nothing to convince the Rams coaching they have the room to wait so even if he doesn’t have the full on bellcow role he had before he went down, I expect him to get plenty of touch opportunities versus a Cardinals defense that gives up the 3rd most DK points per game to RBs.
My first instinct when i paid down at QB was to go all the way up WR. I’ll probably do that in some different variations but for this build i decided to skinny stack my other favorite sleeper game with 2 of the best WR plays on the slate. Evans and Pittman have the matchups, target shares, big play potential and injuries to opposing secondary starters.
On defense the Steelers will probably be 5th or 6th on the totem pole as far as popularity but they are going up against a backup QB who averaged 4.9 yards per attempt in his relief duty last week and will be without Tee Higgins. Seems like a strong pivot to make to me.
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