Notes

Taysom Hill is the biggest topic this week. It’s reported that he will be the starting and ONLY QB this Sunday for the Saints. Did I mention they are playing the Atlanta Falcons?? Here’s the deal though, Fanduel has him listed as a tight end and if you’re playing fanduel this week he is an absolute must play. He will be 90% owned and that’s fine, let that 10% of idiots get cute on this one. Tight end is not a good position this week and most projections have Hill scoring nearly 20 points. He’s also under $5k over there and I honestly don’t know if I’ve ever seen more of a MUST PLAY in DFS. As for DK he’s $4,800 and listed at QB. He’s a fine play over there because of his rushing upside and rushing touchdown upside. I’m a fan of this play over there but it’s by no means a must play on DraftKings. I honestly might fade just because of ownership.  

Top Plays

Alex Smith- I can’t believe I’ve got a quarterback in my top plays. I really can’t believe I’m writing about Alex Smith playing football either. He threw the ball 55 times last week. 55!! He’s thrown for over 300 yards in both games and has a fantastic matchup with the Bengals on Sunday. His lack of touchdowns isn’t concerning to me with this kind of volume and you know ownership will be non existent with Hill a few hundred cheaper.

I want to mention a few things before we dive into positions. Football isn’t as big on stacking as it is in baseball, but it’s still a very good idea to use correlations in your builds. Very rarely do I not pair my QB with one of his Wide Receivers. If Drew Brees is going to throw 5 touchdowns tomorrow then it’s almost pointless to have him without Michael Thomas who will likely catch some of them, right? Same goes with running backs and team defenses. They correlate well because Nick Chubb could see extra carries with a lead. When that happens it keeps the Browns offense on the field and the opposing offense off of it. At the same time it forces the other teams offense to become one dimensional and throw the ball every play. This opens up opportunities for sacks, fumbles, and interceptions which gives your defense points. Always think of matchups, but never forget game scripts and the correlations that will likely occur because of those matchups. 

Favorite stacks-

Saints/ Falcons game stack

Chargers

Washington/ Cincinnati game

QB- This is often the hardest position to get right but I take a different approach here. Most people tend to look at this position first because it’s at the top of the roster, I do the opposite. I find the receivers I’m in love with and I see what I can fit at this position. I basically take the same approach as season long leagues where I refuse to draft a QB early. In my season long league I’ve went back to back years drafting Patrick Mahomes, then Lamar Jackson, both with my very last pick of the draft. I honestly carry this approach with correlation to my receivers in mind when I build lineups in daily fantasy.

Alex Smith- see above

Justin Herbert- Struggled a little last week but a date with the Jets can fix anything. One of my favorite plays. 

Lamar Jackson- Perhaps the biggest bust of 2020 thus far but he’s still been more than serviceable in DFS. He’s the most expensive option and probably popular but this is a great spot for the Baltimore offense at home against the Titans defense.  I’m very encouraged by his increase in rushing attempts since the bye week as well. 

RB- 

Mike Davis- Here we go again, this time he’s priced like normal though. Davis really let us down last week priced at 4K and as the lead back. Ideally the matchup wasn’t great but the workload should have still paid him off. This week is different. First off, I expect that most people won’t go back to him, second he has a great matchup with Detroit, and my favorite reason is that PJ Walker is starting at quarterback for the Panthers. The best friend to a QB is his running game and I see a big role for Mike Davis this week to ease the XFL qb into the mix.

Nyheim Hines- we haven’t seen an effective Colts running back for most of this season but Hines really shined last Thursday night against the Titans. He led the team in carries and snaps for running backs and added 2 touchdowns with 5 catches. It’s a risk play because you never know what the Colts will do but at some point they have to go with what’s working as they push for a playoff spot. He’s still dirt cheap and if the Colts do decide to go with a heavy dose of all that’s been working then Hines will pay off with ease. 

Dalvin Cook & Alvin Kamara- These are obviously great plays if you can afford them. Both are heavily involved more than any other running backs in the league. They aren’t must plays in my eyes but they are a great place to start. 

Other plays- Nick Chubb, Derrick Henry, Duke Johnson, Giovani Bernard

WR- Like season long leagues, wide receiver is just deeper with opportunity than any other position so I typically don’t spend up like crazy here. At the same time, some matchups just can’t be ignored.

Terry McLaurin- I write up Alex Smith and his matchup so it makes sense id want his best target option as well. The Bengals defense is just BAD and I really see a pass heavy game with points scored back and forth.

Diontae Johnson- We need to stop ignoring that this guy sees 10+ targets in majority of games that he’s healthy. He’s seen 10+ in 5 games this year and he’s only played in 8. He also left two of those three games without 10 targets due to injury. Jacksonville is a team to target in the pass game and Johnson is the most attractive from this Steelers group. 

Jakobi Meyers- Cam Newton and the Patriots have exactly one player who seems to be good and that’s Jakobi Meyers. Jakobi has seen 6+ targets in every game since he got the call and has seen 10+ in 2 of those 4 games. He’s still priced like a nobody and Houston is a train wreck on the defensive side of the ball. 

Marvin Jones- Kenny Galloday was out last week and Jones saw 10 targets. Now Danny Amendola is ruled out this week on top of Kenny. This might be a lock at his price but he will be popular. 

Fade- Devonta Adams- The Colts make a point to shut down the #1 receiver on opposing teams. Adam’s is a different beast and that may not work but this defense is still very good and if he’s popular I would definitely stay away and hope the Colts continue to lock down the go to receiver. 

Other options- Adam Thielen, Jarvis Landry, Julio Jones, Keenan Allen, Michael Thomas

TE- Such an important position each week since you only get one. You have to hit here, so I typically do spend up for my Kittle, Ertz, Kelce type tight ends on most of these slates. 

Logan Thomas- I mentioned that Alex Smith threw the ball 55 times last week. Well, Logan Thomas ran 57 routes. 57!! That’s 20 more routes ran than any other tight end last week. He’s also $3,300 👀

Austin Hooper- Aside from a bad weather game last week that limited the passing attack for Cleveland, and an injury that kept him out for 2 weeks... Hooper saw 6, 10 and 7 targets in his previous 3 games. The good news is that all 3 of those games were with Odell Beckham still on the field. At the end of the day, there’s more targets available for Hooper with no OBJ, the matchup with the Eagles is elite, and his price and ownership are appealing for a guy that really has slate breaking potential. 

Mark Andrew’s- I hate that I’m even writing him up because he’s going to be super chalk on this slate but he’s a great pair with Lamar if you go that route at QB. He’s definitely the highest ceiling tight end option on this slate and it’s really not close. 

Team Defense- I hate this position, it’s honestly a crap shoot for who’s going to return a punt for a touchdown or create a pick 6. I’ll give you my favorites without much to say here but I’m a firm believer in choosing my defense last and hoping I have enough money to get a good one rather than a shot in the dark... at the same time I’ll gladly take a shot in the dark before I sacrifice a good player. 

Steelers 

Browns 

Dolphins