FanDuel Bargains: Week Seven
Some of my favorite bargains a week ago – like Matthew Stafford, Donte Moncrief, Allen Robinson, John Brown, Danny Amendola and Stefon Diggs (who was added in the comments section) – out played their FanDuel salaries and rewarded daily players handsomely. Unfortunately my favorite bargain of the week Eddie Lacy, was a colossal disappointment. Let’s make up for that bummer this week.
Keep in mind that these suggestions are made for GPP (Guaranteed Prize Pool) tournaments with more where players are looking for bargains to fill out their lineups after already inserting their “studs” for the week. Many of them are risky plays and shouldn’t necessarily be considered in head to head or 50/50 games.
Quarterback
Ryan Fitzpatrick, QB NYJ
Fitzpatrick ($7,100) isn’t especially talented and doesn’t have an especially good matchup on paper this week, but he has the potential to be a nice bargain under center nonetheless.
Playing the Patriots, who give up just over 250 passing yards and 1.5 touchdown passes per game, “Fitz-Magic” won’t be expected by many to have a big game and he may not for the first three quarters. But the over/under for this game is 48.5 and the Patriots are favored by nine points which means Vegas expects the Jets to be playing from behind. That means Fitzpatrick will likely have to sling it in garbage time against a prevent defense.
Coming off his best game of the year where he threw for 253 yards and a pair of scores while also adding 31 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground, I fully expect Fitzpatrick to have a nice follow up on Sunday in New England.
Landry Jones, QB PIT
After completing 8-of-12 passes for 168 yards and a pair of touchdowns in relief of Michael Vick last week, it appears that Jones ($6,000) is in line to get the start against the Chiefs this week (if Ben Roethlisberger is still on the shelf). If Jones is under center, that means the cheapest starting quarterback this week will be taking on the league’s worst defense when it comes to giving up fantasy points to quarterbacks. Sounds like a match made in GPP heaven.
Jones certainly carries risk but he showed last week that he’s willing to throw the ball up and give his playmaking receivers a chance to go get it which makes him a nice boom or bust play – especially considering he’s facing a defense that has allowed 24 pass plays of 20-plus yards and 14 touchdown passes which ranks 31st in the league.
Other Options: Blake Bortles ($7,300)and Nick Foles ($6,400)
Running Back
Todd Gurley, RB STL
Despite absolutely dominating over his last game and a half, Gurley ($7,400) still carries a relatively modest price tag on FanDuel. With 49 carries for 305 yards (6.2 yards per carry) over his last two games against decent defenses, he’s become St. Louis’ workhorse and now gets a tasty matchup against the Browns defense that is allowing a league worst 5.0 yards per rush and a massive 147 rushing yards per game to running backs which also ranks worst in the league.
Gurley may be highly owned this week but finding contrarian plays can be found elsewhere. He’s my favorite bargain in week seven and will be in most of my lineups.
Latavius Murray, RB OAK
Murray ($7,000) has struggled over the Raiders’ last couple weeks, running for just 88 yards on 28 carries (3.14 YPC) against the Bears and Broncos. This week though, he’s coming off the bye and faces a Chargers defense that is allowing opposing running backs to rush for 123.6 yards per game and seven total touchdowns to the position over the last four weeks.
Murray is a full-time running back and should be in line for 20-plus touches this week. He should eclipse 100-yards and is a good bet to find pay dirt.
Danny Woodhead, RB SD
After Melvin Gordon ($6,500) fumbled for the second time last week, he was benched in favor of Woodhead ($6,000) and head coach Mike McCoy didn’t seem pleased with his rookie running back after the game – perhaps to the point that he’ll have to work his way back into the San Diego rotation.
This week the Chargers will take on the Raiders, who haven’t been bad at stopping the run but have allowed more than six receptions per game to running backs. My gut tells me Woodhead gets at least that many looks in the passing game and approaches 15 touches this week. He’s also a good bet to find the end zone as he continues to be the preferred red zone back in San Diego.
Christine Michael, RB DAL
Do you still believe?
[inlinead]If you do – and you trust the Cowboys’ coaching staff when they say Michael ($5,600) will have an expanded role – he may be the ultimate boom-or-bust running back. Word out of Dallas is that Michael is taking a majority of the first team practice reps in the Cowboys’ backfield early this week so I’m on board.
Facing a Giants’ defense that has been about average at stopping opposing running backs, the matchup isn’t eye popping for Michael. But if the Cowboys actually spent the bye week correcting their porous running game and getting their excellent offensive line back to the level they were at a year ago, he might just be the ultimate bargain at such a low price.
Other Options: Lamar Miller ($6,700), Alfred Morris ($5,600)and Theo Riddick ($5,200)
Wide Receiver
Martavis Bryant, WR PIT
To be clear, I also consider Antonio Brown ($8,300) to have bargain potential because his price has dropped to the point that he’s now the sixth highest priced wide out despite being the best fantasy receiver in the galaxy. Plus, he shouldn’t have Michael Vick throwing to him anymore which can be nothing but good news.
If you want to take a Steelers receiver and you can’t afford Brown though, Bryant ($6,900) is a nice fall back. In his first action of the season last week against the Cardinals he caught six balls for 137 and two touchdowns. Six of those catches for 129 yards and both scores came after Jones took over for Vick. Needless to say, Bryant and Jones look to have chemistry.
This week Bryant and the Steelers will take on the Chiefs defense, who are worst in the league at containing opposing wide receivers. Kansas City is allowing 17.2 receptions for 228.6 yards and 2.2 touchdowns per game to wideouts, which all rank 32nd in the league.
To sum up, don’t hesitate to roster Pittsburgh’s receivers despite a third string quarterback potentially being under center this week. In fact, feel free to pair at least one of them up with said quarterback. I will.
John Brown, WR ARI
Torching the Steelers for 196 yards on 10 catches including two bombs of more than 40-yards, Brown ($6,700) was an excellent bargain last week. He’s equally as appealing this week against the Ravens.
Baltimore has struggled to stop opposing wide receivers, allowing 17 catches for 219 yards and 1.4 touchdowns per game to the position. They were beaten deep by both Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin a week ago and have given up a league high seven deep balls of 40-plus yards to opposing wideouts. Brown is a good bet to repeat his performance from a week ago on Monday night.
Brandin Cooks, WR NO
This one may seem crazy considering his struggles early in the year, but Cooks ($6,700) is a sneaky play this week against the Colts.
Indy has allowed big games to slot receivers throughout the season including Julian Edelman (6 catches/ 50 yards/ 1 touchdown), Allen Hurns (11/116/1), Kendall Wright (7/95/1) and Percy Harvin (5/79/1).
Rostering Cooks is incredibly risky considering he’s only had one quality game so far this year. With that said, he shouldn’t be highly owned and has a matchup that suggests he could have a nice afternoon in Indy on Sunday.
Stefon Diggs, WR MIN
Diggs ($5,800) was one of my favorite bargains a week ago and he looked great, catching seven passes for 129 yards in just his second career start. He and Teddy Bridgewater have shown chemistry in their limited time together and now there’s word coming out of Minnesota of the rookie potentially keeping the starting job even after Charles Johnson returns from injury.
Diggs and the Vikings will take on the Lions this week, who have struggled to slow down opposing passing games. Nobody should be surprised if he once again reaches 100 receiving yards and possibly finds the end zone for the first time in his career this week.
Other Options: Donte Moncrief ($6,500), Eric Decker ($6,200) and Jamison Crowder ($5,800)
Tight End
Antonio Gates, TE SD
The 35-year-old Gates ($5,800) has turned back the clock since returning from suspension, catching 18 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns over the last two weeks. This week’s matchup against the Raiders is as good as it will get as Oakland has allowed six touchdowns to tight ends in five games.
Other options: Charles Clay ($5,500) and Benjamin Watson ($5,300)
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