sports

By Carey Stevenson

QB: Matthew Stafford at New York (Giants) DraftKings salary: 6,600

RB: Devin Singletary at Houston DraftKings salary: 5,600

RB: Kyren Williams at New York (Giants) DraftKings salary: 8,300

WR: Deandre Hopkins at Houston DraftKings salary: 6,000

WR: Puka Nacua at New York (Giants) DraftKings salary: 7,900

WR: Darius Slayton vs. Los Angeles (Rams) DraftKings salary: 3,400

TE: Noah Fant vs. Pittsburgh DraftKings salary: 2,700

FLEX: Chris Olave at Tampa Bay DraftKings salary: 6,800

DST: Panthers D/ST at Jacksonville DraftKings salary: 2,700

Reasoning: The offenses to invest most in on this slate are pretty clear…49ers, Eagles and Rams. Of this trio, the group falling most under the radar is the Rams passing game…so here we are. With Demarcus Robinson playing essentially every snap and Tyler Higbee playing just enough to be a contrarian add on, there’s a couple different ways to try to play this to go solely thru Stafford’s arm, but the matchup is so good for Kyren and if anybody is going to have a true ceiling game on this team…Kyren is probably your first guess. His double digit target share in 7 games this season doesn’t rule out him and Stafford hooking up for a score. Puka’s higher aDot and target share versus the blitz gave him the coin flip edge over Cooper Kupp in this lineup but i’ll certainly be running variations of this with Kupp in instead. Darius Slayton is an cost effective runback whose ceiling is raised with vertical pusher, Tyrod Taylor taking over at QB.

I’m still trying to decide how much CJ Stroud i want to play this week but regardless where that lands, one of my favorite skinny stacks will be Devin Singletary or Nico Collins with Deandre Hopkins. Over the last 3 games, Singletary has taken back a decisive share of the RB carries and the offensive environment gets a huge boost with Stroud back under center. The matchup isn’t the road block it used to be as the Titans run defense has got from stout to just middling over the course of the season. Singletary is one of my favorite players on the slate, regardless of position. The last time we saw this Texans defense they were getting rocked by Amari Cooper for 265 yards receiving. Dhop isn’t what he was in Houston but he’s still a catch point maestro whose adept at finding the holes in zone. The hope here is that Stroud’s return creates ample scoring chances and forces Will Levis into “DHop down there somewhere” mode.

Another one of my favs this week is Chris Olave. No matter where he lines up on Sunday he’ll have an advantage but he spends 38% of his snaps in the slot, a spot that has been a cash machine versus this Bucs defense.

Fant as a TE play was one i kinda just stumbled into today during prep. He’s coming off season high’s in route participation the last 2 weeks and while he got blanked on the scoreboard versus a Titans defense that gives up the least amount of targets and DK points to TE’s…he get’s middling TE matchup versus the Steelers that could be softer with Pittsburgh having injuries down the spine of their defense as ILB Elandon Roberts and both safeties, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Trenton Thompson all slated to miss this game. The Steelers rush is still formidable & DK will have to tussle w/standout rookie Joey Porter Jr, factors that could funnel a couple more targets to Fant. This game is probably isn’t going to be all that fantasy friendly but at just $2,700 i could see him turning 5 or 6 targets into a useful score at low rostership.

The Panthers D/ST fell on their face last week but that won’t stop me from going back this week. Their pass defense remains very good but their run defense can’t hold water. It felt like Aaron Jones had 70 yards on the ground before Scott Hanson got comfortable in his chair on redzone. This week they get a backup QB and while Travis Etienne is very dangerous, his offensive line has been a danger to his rushing production. Etienne hasn’t crossed 80 yards rushing since week 5 and only has 2 such games all season. At just $2,700, the Panthers will come in handy with all these good expensive plays.

By Carey Stevenson

QB: Nick Mullens vs. Detroit DraftKings salary: 5,300

RB: Devon Achane vs. Dallas DraftKings salary: 7,100

RB: Chuba Hubbard vs. Green Bay DraftKings salary: 5,700

WR: Jordan Addison vs. Detroit DraftKings salary: 6,000

WR: DK Metcalf at Tennessee DraftKings salary: 6,700

WR: Jameson Williams at Minnesota DraftKings salary: 3,700

TE: TJ Hockenson vs. Detroit DraftKings salary: 5,800

FLEX: DJ Moore vs. Arizona DraftKings salary: 6,900

DST: Panthers D/ST vs. Green Bay DraftKings salary: 2,400

Reasoning: If you told me before the season that i would be trotting out some of the QB plays that i have in recent weeks I’d tell that i lost my mind, but here we are. Injuries combined with the statistical underachieving of some of the top QBs has opened up more options into the “sure, why not?” territory. Nick Mullens falls squarely into the category and i love his surrounding’s this week. He’s playing for one of the better play callers in the NFL, has a very good group of weapons at his disposal, will be in a game that should be played at an elevated pace and has good odds to be the highest scoring game on the slate. Now because of the reasons i laid out, Mullens figures to be popular so my first risk taking step here is to stack him without Justin Jefferson. Jordan Addison’s big play ceiling combined with the likelihood that Hockenson falls under the radar with Trey McBride and David Njoku’s recent hot streaks gives me comfort that this combo won’t be landed on often. Jameson Williams is coming off a season high 72% of routes per fantasylife.com and makes for an obvious cheap attachment game.

I alluded to it on twitter earlier this week so i had to stay on brand and run my favorite skinny stack of the week here. Chuba Hubbard and Panthers D/ST just makes so much sense and fit so cozy in a lot of builds to save money and get different. The obvious concern here for Chuba is high end ceiling but he’s a price pivot to Ty Chandler, will get volume regardless how the game goes and has a good matchup versus a exploitable Packers run defense. And then we have an underpriced Carolina D/ST led by stud DC Ejiro Evero. Shout out to Jeff Haseley who pointed out that the Panthers have yet to allow a 300 yard passer this season, rank 3rd in total defense and pass defense and have held 8 QB’s below 200 yards passing. Now they have been vulnerable on the ground and we’ll need to reconcile that but an up and down Packers offense going on the road, likely without Christian Watson and Luke Musgrave and possibly without Jayden Reed and AJ Dillion doesn’t sound like one i need to be overly concerned with. Overall the hope is that by sprinkling the Panthers defense on like garnish, we get a few more carries from Chuba as the Panthers offense plays keep away, with one (fingers crossed) or more (hey, it is almost Christmas) of those carries landing in the end zone.

Before i prep for slates i try to compile a list of the highest ceiling plays at each position. After I’ve done my research i go back and try to poke holes in those players cases and see who makes it thru. Devon Achane made it thru and I’m shocked he hasn’t for more people. His opportunity has moved that far off of where it was when he was breaking fantasy pre injury. He still looks just as explosive, the Dolphins run rate has climbed and it’s no reason to think that won’t at least stabilize considering what happened to the Cowboys run defense last week and the presence of their monstrous pass rush. Achane can get it done on the ground or via the quick passing game with the health of the Dolphins offensive line being a concern. As we’ve seen with him, it doesn’t take 20 touches for him to get where he needs to and love landing on such a high ceiling at low rostership.

My first inclination with my last 2 spots was to find another skinny stack but i opted to just go with plays i liked the most. DK Metcalf and DJ Moore landed on that ceiling list with Devon Achane this week. Both have good matchups, target shares and the ability to put up a score that make them essential. While they both will be played i don’t think either reaches problematic levels of rostership.