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Well, that was a weird week. Did we just have two Monday Night Football games and a week four bye? Why yes… yes we did. In all honesty, props to the NFL for getting that Chiefs vs. Patriots rescheduled for Monday night. That game certainly caused a good number of fantasy commissioners to scramble for backup plans and contingency scenarios. Now hopefully we will continue to get good news about the Titans containing the COVID outbreak that left us (read: me) without Derrick Henry last week. Regularly scheduled bye weeks are upon us, which means the pool of legitimate starting players is shrinking even more. Time to get to trading. Check out who we’re buying and selling after the first four weeks of the season.
For the ATS (against the spread) articles, I will provide analysis on three bets that I feel have the best chance at netting you a nice payday. Whether it be due to matchups, injuries, or other factors, these are the three bets I feel the most confident in placing. I will also make predictions on the rest of the week’s spreads. How about a little Thursday night action to get us started?
This weekly article is focused on identifying players who are owned in less than 40% of redraft leagues. These players are going to help your team win this week and every week to come! We are looking for guys you should be able to plug into your starting lineup without hesitation. If you’re the Nick Chubb owner, you definitely need to be reading this. D’Ernest Johnson is on just about every waiver wire and really showed he can produce in Chubb’s absence. Johnson took 13 carries for 95 yards and is surely in line for a similar workload going forward. Reports indicate Chubb’s MCL injury will keep him sidelined for several weeks so this isn’t just a one-week solution.
Upon completion of one-quarter of the NFL season, we have enough evidence to conclude who players are and how they fit into their respective defenses. Players who we know are good finally made good on their preseason promise. Bengals’ RB Joe Mixon and Broncos’ EDGE Bradley Chubb reminded us why we drafted them. On the other hand, we should accept that Cardinals’ RB Kenyan Drake and Raiders’ LB Cory Littleton won’t be the studs that fuel our rosters in 2020.
In this streaming article, I will provide you the best weekly options to stream quarterback, tight end, and D/ST. In each section, I’ll break down two streamers in detail, both of which will be under 50% owned, according to ESPN’s ownership percentage at the time of writing. Playing the matchups is a crucial feature of redraft fantasy football, and especially in a crazy 2020 season, active fantasy owners will have a massive advantage. I also want to provide added value for each type of streamer this season. I’ll highlight any players from 50-60% owned in each section if they’re superior options to both of my streaming candidates at that specific position. Those players are “probably owned,” but they could be out there in 10-team or shallower formats. I won’t offer analysis on these players, just the names and matchups.
If neither of my two suggested streamers is under 25% ownership percentage, I will give a “super-deep” option. That feature should help those owners playing in deeper leagues with few waiver-wire options. Like the “probably owned” players, I’ll list the players without analysis. I realize that all leagues are different, and I want to accommodate all of my readers.
In this article, I look at three player props that I feel have a strong chance of paying out. This article will run the gamut and will include bets such as ‘passing yard totals’, ‘first player to score’, and even ‘total tackles’ for those who love defense. In addition, I will also make one “Longshot Pick of the Week”. This pick will always feature a more difficult bet that has a greater than 2:1 payout. The odds may be tougher, but if you’re into some fun player props take a peek!
Unlike Week 3, there are a ton of high-priced QBs and RBs to sort through on this Week 4 slate. I’ll be breaking down all twelve matchups, sharing my thoughts on player prices* and stacking opportunities. As you read, please note that the player names in bold are what I consider my “core” players or guys that I’m sliding into a large percentage of my lineups. Oh, and if you’re new to DFS, you should check out my DFS Tips and Tricks article here.
*All player prices referenced are from FanDuel.
In Week 3, Valdes-Scantling did little with Davante Adams out. He only had one reception for five yards on four targets. However, we recently learned that teammate Allen Lazard will miss significant time with a core muscle injury. Therefore, Valdes-Scantling will be the Packers’ WR2 for the foreseeable future. Adams is also continuing to recover from a hamstring injury. While I expect Adams to return in Week 4 and play, hamstring injuries can reoccur at any time. In that event, Valdes-Scantling would inherit a massive target share, as the Packers have an extremely thin WR depth chart. As Lazard’s injury news came across recently, most waiver wires have already run for the week. Therefore, you might be able to sneak Valdes-Scantling onto your roster in free agency before he’s a popular claim next week.
Each and every week, I’ll be covering a handful of players that I believe will either exceed expectations or let your team down in a major way. Here’s who you should be looking at for Week 4. Minshew flopped against the Dolphins on Thursday Night Football, but I’m going back to the well in Week 4. He’s got a soft matchup against the Bengals, and the return of D.J. Chark should give the whole offense a boost.
The Tampa Bay defense went off on Sunday. On the road, albeit against the Broncos backup quarterback, the Buccaneers beat up Denver’s offense. On the day, the group tallied six sacks, two interceptions, a safety, and a blocked kick while surrendering only 10 points. IDP performers who produced include Shaquil Barrett, Antoine Winfield, Lavonte David, and Mike Edwards. Expect more from this group as Tom Brady and the Tampa offense will put them in a position to attack on a weekly basis.
Week three is when you know. If a guy has been bad for the first two weeks, it can be easy to chalk it up to small sample size. If a guy is bad for three straight games, you can’t pretend anymore. The story is the same with breakout players. Calvin Ridley, D.K. Metcalf, and James Robinson? Yeah, they’re for real. Joe Mixon and Carson Wentz? Time to move on. Now that you know, the next move is to adjust your expectations. Let go of whatever pre-draft notions you have and take an honest look at the players on your team. And then… get to dealing!
A great week as we went 2-1 on our in-depth picks and 11-5(!) overall! After some average 9-7 starts this was shot in the arm we were looking for. Our strategy of picking against the Jets continues to work to perfection and (spoiler alert) we’re going to roll with it again this week. Unfortunately, Biscuits could not keep her hot streak going and fell to 2-1 on the season. No worries though, she told me she already has her next pick locked and loaded!
This weekly article is focused on identifying players who are owned in less than 40% of redraft leagues. These players are going to help your team win this week and every week to come! We are looking for guys you should be able to plug into your starting lineup without hesitation. While there were still plenty of injuries around the league in Week 3, there should be much less waiver wire activity than last week as the player pool is beginning to dry up. But, we’ll continue to find you some opportunities to take advantage of!
Your author assumed responsibility for this weekly column midway through the 2019 season. Deep into a fantasy football season, the waiver wire is often simply a source for a line-up salve. I sought to recommend a player that could help a team survive and advance. I used immediate past production as an indicator of potential performance. I also considered scheme fit, match-up, game flow, snap counts, injuries, and returning players to make recommendations.
In this streaming article, I will provide you the best weekly options to stream quarterback, tight end, and D/ST. In each section, I’ll break down two streamers in detail, both of which will be under 50% owned, according to ESPN’s ownership percentage at the time of writing. Playing the matchups is a crucial feature of redraft fantasy football, and especially in a crazy 2020 season, active fantasy owners will have a massive advantage. I also want to provide added value for each type of streamer this season. I’ll highlight any players from 50-60% owned in each section if they’re superior options to both of my streaming candidates at that specific position. Those players are “probably owned,” but they could be out there in 10-team or shallower formats. I won’t offer analysis on these players, just the names and matchups.
If neither of my two suggested streamers is under 25% ownership percentage, I will give a “super-deep” option. That feature should help those owners playing in deeper leagues with few waiver-wire options. Like the “probably owned” players, I’ll list the players without analysis. I realize that all leagues are different, and I want to accommodate all of my readers.
I want to preface this article by saying that I will be using IDP123 scoring for reference in this article and future articles. It was created by Jordan Rains (@50shadesofdrunk on Twitter) to give us a more simplified and balanced system for IDP. We have standards on offense, why shouldn’t we have them on the defensive side as well. The scoring is easy as 123 though. One point for assisted tackles and quarterback hits. Two points for solo tackles and tackles for a loss. Three points for passes defended, forced fumbles, fumble recoveries, safeties, and blocked kicks. See easy as 123… We don’t want to forget the BIG PLAYS though, those are worth six points and include sacks, interceptions, defensive touchdowns. Now, enough of the soapbox, let’s get to the meat…the Nick Bosa injury.
In this article, I look at three player props that I feel have a strong chance of paying out. This article will run the gamut and will include bets such as ‘passing yard totals’, ‘first player to score’, and even ‘total tackles’ for those who love defense. In addition, I will also make one “Longshot Pick of the Week”. This pick will always feature a more difficult bet that has a greater than 2:1 payout. The odds may be tougher, but if you’re into some fun player props take a peek!
Building lineups on a slate without Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Michael Thomas, Davante Adams, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, or Mark Andrews feels incredibly strange. Despite the absence of those cap-hogging superstars, there are plenty of great options at each position in Week 3. I’ll be breaking down all thirteen matchups, sharing my thoughts on player prices* and stacking opportunities. As you read, please note that the player names in bold are what I consider my “core” players or guys that I’m sliding into a large percentage of my lineups. Oh, and if you’re new to DFS, you should check out my DFS Tips and Tricks article here.
*All player prices referenced are from FanDuel.
In this weekly article, I’m going to look ahead to the following week. I’ll point out a few players below 50% owned on ESPN who have strong matchups next week that you can pick up ahead of time to beat the waiver run. I’ll also try and get ahead of breakouts that could happen in the current week, as predicting breakouts is the best way to save your FAAB budget.
After two weeks @DFF_JoeMem is leading the pack at 2-0 and 65.7 points ahead of @BombadilFantasy who is currently in second place. Joe picked from the 10th spot in the draft. His strategy to fade quarterback and tight end in favor of loading up on top tier running backs and wide receivers the first five rounds has certainly paid off early on. Gardner Minshew has been getting the start for the “New York Joes” showing you just how easy it is to find a startable quarterback in 1QB leagues. He’s avoided the injury bug thus far so we’ll see how he fairs the rest of season.
Each and every week, I’ll be covering a handful of players that I believe will either exceed expectations or let your team down in a major way. Here’s who you should be looking at for Week 3. To start, I’ve determined that Gardner Minshew is good at football. He completed 95% of his passes in Week 1, and he’s thrown for 3 TDs in back-to-back games. Now he’s up against a Dolphins defense that just allowed Josh Allen to throw for over 400 yards and 4 TDs. Roll out Minshew as a QB1 this week.
A perfect 3-0 on our in-depth picks is overshadowed by one of the worst injury days I’ve ever witnessed watching the NFL. While I primarily write on sports betting, I am also an avid fantasy football player. So trust me Barkley and CMC owners, I feel you. This was brutal. Overall we again went 9-7-0 bringing our record to 18-14-0. I suppose a net positive is a good thing but I’m still eager to get that really good week!
Can we have a redo on week two? That was B-R-U-T-A-L! We lost Saquon and Courtland Sutton for the year, and CMC for weeks. Week one waiver wire darling Parris will miss time with a PCL injury. Will Fuller (of course) and Davante Adams are dealing with hamstring issues. Raheem Mostert took it 80 yards to the house with his first carry and then proceeded to sprain his MCL. Who did I miss? It seemed as if fantasy managers were taking one punch to the gut after another on Sunday. Whether or not you survived the injury onslaught in week two, your team could probably use some tinkering. Here are our favorite buys and sells of the week.