Quarterback
Deshaun Watson- As the week has gone on, it’s become apparent to me that if I spend up on a Quarterback it’s going to be Deshaun Watson. As I covered in my game-by-game breakdown, Watson is top-three in fantasy scoring overall at his position this season, but priced as just the sixth option on this slate. The Denver Broncos have struggled defensively as of late due to injuries, allowing 17, 20 and 29 fantasy points to opposing QB’s over the last week, none of which carried as much upside as Watson does. He also hasn’t found the end zone since Week 6 on the ground, and seems overdue in that facet of the game. It doesn’t seem like people are going to be scared off of his matchup — he is projected as one of the highest-owned Quarterbacks on the slate, but I think it is warranted especially when factoring in price, and you should be able to fit him into your main build if you want on Sunday.
Note: I’m not including Hopkins or Fuller in the WR section, but both can be used to stack if you end up with Watson at QB.
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Ryan Tannehill- If I don’t feel comfortable getting up to Watson, I will drop down to Ryan Tannehill despite him playing on the road in Oakland. Tanny has averaged 22 fantasy points per game since taking over as the Titans starter, the Raiders are allowing fantasy points to opposing QB’s at a top-five rate in the NFL, and he’s actually shown some rushing upside recently which you know I love to target, not shocking seeing as he is a converted WR. I’ve relentlessly attacked the Oakland Raiders defense the last month or so and I don’t plan on stopping in Week 14.
Running Back
Christian McCaffrey- I had 100% Christian McCaffrey across all my teams last week, he “let us down” with 17 PPR points, and I will have 100% of him again this week. There’s a lot of value on this slate and it’s easy to fit him in, he still has the highest-floor among all skill position players and that still comes with a massive ceiling.
Derrick Henry- Henry is projecting for much less ownership than I thought he would initially this week, but I’m going to take a stand and choose to be overweight on him. Everyone that follows me knows I’m a huge Derrick Henry truther, and he’s gone absolutely beast mode over the last month with totals of 22, 36, 32 and 27 DraftKings points. The Raiders allow 20 fantasy points per game to opposing Running Backs this season, just outside the bottom-ten, but they have also been much worse defensively over the last few weeks while Henry has been getting better. Even with limited passing game involvement I think he can smash in this matchup — the Titans are favored — and this is a good way for me to get Titans exposure regardless if I choose Watson over Tannehill at QB.
Alvin Kamara- Kamara is the cover boy this week for a reason, because I think this is finally the week he puts up a huge score. The 49ers defense has struggled to stop the run since losing Kwon Alexander and Dee Ford, while Kamara is not only under-priced, he’s due for some extreme touchdown regression. He hasn’t scored since Week 3 despite seeing over 18 touches in the red-zone, and I feel really good about his floor at his price tag. He’s accounted for over 20% of the Saints targets since returning from injury, seeing totals of 10, 10, 9 and 8, so you’re essentially getting WR1 usage while also locking in double-digit carries? Sign me up.
Melvin Gordon- I don’t see myself playing Gordon this week, mainly because I really want to jam in the aforementioned three backs, but he is in play against the Jaguars who we have attacked on the ground each week over the last month. What was once a good defense has now coughed up the fifth-most rushing yards and sixth-most fantasy points to Running Backs. He hasn’t had the season he hoped for when holding out, but he has seen 20+ touches in three of his last four games, the outlier being a 17 touch game against the Chiefs. This is as good of a matchup as he can get, and he is affordably priced at just $6,400 on DraftKings. I prefer Leonard Fournette to him on FanDuel for just $200 more.
Note: Le’Veon Bell is questionable due to an illness this week, and if he was unable to go then Bilal Powell would be thrust into cash game consideration at his price.
Wide Receiver
Julian Edelman- Edelman is under-priced this week, and I would love to find a way to cram him into my main build. I broke down in my big article that people want to play Davante Adams and Michael Thomas for their target consistency week-to-week, but people seem to ignore that Edelman has logged double-digit targets in seven straight games. He also leads the NFL in red zone targets with 18, and Tom Brady should continue to lean on him with uncertainty throughout the rest of the Patriots receiving corps. This game features the highest O/U on the slate and I expect Edelman and his teammate James White to post big games on Sunday afternoon.
Jamison Crowder/Robby Anderson- Both of these guys have exceptional matchups against the Dolphins secondary, and I will consider both if they happen to fit into my cash game build. The Dolphins have struggled all season in the slot, a positive for Crowder and they have also struggled against the deep ball and allowing big plays, a positive for Anderson. I think if I were to choose one it would be Anderson due to the higher-ceiling, but both are strong plays and you can’t go wrong with either in all formats.
Mike Williams- Williams is still under-priced on all sites because he hasn’t scored a touchdown yet this season, something he exceeded expectations at last year, while the regression hit him right in the face, he could be due for some positive coming his way after not scoring for that long despite still being heavily involved in the offense. He’s gone for over 50 yards in each of his last four games, two of which were 100+ yard performances hinting that he might have a bit higher of a floor than we normally think of when it comes to a player like him. Furthermore he’s seen 11 targets inside the 20 this season, five of which came inside the 10, and hasn’t been able to find the end zone? That simply has to change soon, and we can hope it’s this week while he is still priced under $5,000 ($6,000 on FanDuel).
Larry Fitzgerald- I’ve targeted the Steelers in the slot in each of the last two weeks in this section, which has resulted in 23 points from Tyler Boyd and 13 points from Jarvis Landry. Christian Kirk is projected to be the highest-owned Cardinals receiver, but I like Fitzgerald more — he has continued to out-snap Kirk in the slot and could be used as a safety net for Kyler Murray this week with the Steelers ranking first overall in the league in QB pressures.
Parris Campbell- I dove into Campbell pretty heavily in my game-by-game breakdown this week, but it’s going to be hard for me not to consider him a cash game play on DraftKings at just $200 off the minimum price. Campbell is a 4.3 burner who was used as a receiver and out of the backfield in college at Ohio State, something the Colts replicated with him prior to him going down with a hand injury. Now that he’s back, but TY Hilton isn’t, I expect him to immediately step into an offense that is lacking play makers right now, in a matchup against the Buccaneers who have given up the most DraftKings points per game to receivers this season.
Tight End
Ian Thomas- Tight End is very simple for me in cash games this week, and it’s simply plugging in min-priced Ian Thomas in the absence of Greg Olsen. I’m not worried about the reports that the Panthers will use a “committee” approach here, we have seen Thomas produce in Olsen’s absence before and he is much more of a receiving threat than anyone behind him on the depth chart. He’s one of the most athletic Tight Ends in the NFL and I’m certainly willing to bet on his talent alone at that cheap of a price tag.
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Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
