For the uninitiated, playing daily games on DraftKings can be an enjoyable experience, but equally sobering is the fact that season-long knowledge does not always translate to success in the daily space. FootballGuys will bring you a series of value- and strategic-based selections from a number of seasoned daily veterans throughout the NFL season. Herein is another edition of “Tipandpick’s Tips and Picks,” where we will examine the salaries of players at each position on DraftKings and make value-based recommendations for both your cash games and tournaments.
Below you will find a list of recommended players for both formats. GPP players generally have high-upside, but are too risky for cash games; cash game players are consistent with high fantasy floors. In some instances, the value for a player is so strong, he may fall into both categories…let’s have a look.
TIPS...
In order to help you build winning rosters, let's walk through some of the observations that I have made while doing my research for DraftKings this week. As you build out your lineups on DraftKings, try to take into account the following commentary, which revolves around game strategy and how we will want to take advantage of what the masses are doing when they construct their own lineups.
CASH GAME TIPS
CHALK-TALK: If you played cash games last week, you know that you needed a roster of 170+ to win your 50/50's and double-ups, a number that is 15% higher than most 'normal' weeks. Looking back on Week #7, the reason that phenomenon occurred is because all the chalk hit; if you faded Spencer Ware to go with DeMarco Murray, you did fine...and vice-versa. The same held true at wide receiver, quarterback, and even tight end, which pushed the cutoff for cashing to ultra-high levels. Unfortunately, we could be looking at a similar situation this week with the loose pricing that seems to be pervading the industry (not just DraftKings) recently. The traditional goal of rostering a player who achieves 3x value on their salary is slowly evolving to ~ 3.2 because I count ten quarterbacks this week who are projected at 3x or better when using our interactive value charts. You are going to need to try to find that quarterback who reaches 4x value without sacrificing a scoring floor (my best predictions follow in the "Picks" selection below) and then supplement the remainder of your roster with similar plays. In fact, I would even go as far as suggesting that you construct your lineups with 160 points as the goal this week, just to ensure you are thinking about stability and upside as you build. The biggest chalk on the board will be Devontae Booker; just roster him and move on...he is this week's version of Jacquizz Rodgers, who was far too cheap for his role in last week's game against the Niners. The interesting roster spot in cash games this week will be tight end, where there are multiple cheap options that should reach 3x value (or better), but where there are also expensive options (Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham) who appear to be well-placed for big games themselves. A swing and a miss at $6K-$7K, however, can ruin your roster, which is why I am leaning towards going cheap at TE and spending up at other less volatile positions (i.e., QB, RB). As far as team defense goes, there really is no chalk this week if you are playing on Sunday-only slate because the Vikings play on Monday night and the Broncos have an intimidating matchup against the Chargers at home; I describe a few less-attractive, but acceptable, options later in the article.
HEDGE STRATEGIES: Like last week, I am going to recommend building multiple lineups to hedge from overlap scenarios. I think you should be safe owning Devontae Booker across 100% of your lineups, so go ahead and fill in that free space first. After that, I would recommend going with each of the three quarterbacks I mention in the article and building around them. If you go with Jameis Winston, it should not be too difficult to get Rob Gronkowski or Jimmy Graham into that same lineup; if you roll with Matt Ryan at $7.0K, go cheap at TE with Gary Barnidge or C.J. Fiedorowicz. By taking this approach, you should not be building 'bad' rosters because all of those players are projected to get you into the neighborhood of 150-160 points, which should be high enough to win your cash games the majority of the time. It will, however, hedge against chalky players having bad games due to unforeseen gamescripts and/or injuries, which is something you should always be thinking about with bankroll management.
GPP TIPS
Knowing what I have outlined above about some of the chalky plays (i.e., Devontae Booker), you can begin to strategize on how you will want to attack tournaments in Week #8.
ANTI-CHALK: After Week #7, ownership levels on names like Mike Evans, Spencer Ware, and T.Y. Hilton are going to approach 30+% in certain tournaments. If you are entering only a single lineup, my suggestion is to fade those names and look for upside elsewhere. The likelihood of all of the chalk players doing what they did last week is extremely unlikely, which means that going contrarian in GPP formats should pay dividends again this week, returning us to normalcy in the DFS world. As always, I have included a few of my favorites in the "Picks" section of this article, but it is, by no means, all-inclusive, as I have almost 100 names on the list of players I will be using for my multi-entry GPP contests this week. With that in mind, do not be afraid to go with your gut or your research if you think that you have found a hidden gem. There is one distinction that I would like to make here: You do not have to go contrarian at every lineup position to win GPP's--this is a beginner's mistake and one that you should conscientiously think about while building tournament lineups. For example, the likelihood of Devontae Booker achieving 4x (or more) value on his $3.7K salary is quite high, so fading him does not make a lot of sense; so roster him to keep up with the field and go contrarian elsewhere. Even in the biggest of tournaments, the winners often have only one or two players who could be characterized as highly 'contrarian.'
...AND PICKS
Let's take a deeper look into some of the players who I will be targeting for my cash game and tournament rosters this weekend. There is little difference in terms of strength of selection between those players who have text to justify their appearance in this article versus those in the "also eligible" section; all are strong plays in their respective categories, but time and space restrictions do not allow for expansive written summaries of every player listed.
CASH GAME PICKS
QUARTERBACKS
Matt Ryan (Cash and GPP formats, Salary: $7,000). The Packers will travel to Atlanta to take on the Falcons in their home stadium, where Matt Ryan has averaged 310.6 passing yards per game over the previous three seasons. Ryan should be in line for similar numbers against a Packers' secondary that has been lost without Sam Shields (concussion) and Casey Hayward (free agency); without Shields and Hayward, the Packers have yielded some big fantasy games to opposing quarterbacks this season, including a pair of 3-touchdown games to Dak Prescott and Matthew Stafford. Meanwhile, the Falcons' offense continues to roll, ranking second overall (FootballOutsiders' DVOA metric) and and first in points scored (32.7 per game). Some DFS players will dismiss Matt Ryan because two of his last three games resulted in sub 15-point performances, but those were games against the Broncos and Chargers, who boast the 2nd- and 6th-ranked DVOA pass defenses in the league, respectively. Ryan should not be ignored in this matchup, however, as the Falcons have the highest implied team total on the Week #8 slate and will be without Tevin Coleman, who represents one-half of their running game, which could result in a few more pass opportunities from Ryan in this high-scoring affair.
Jameis Winston (Cash and GPP formats, Salary: $5,800). It is a little disconcerting to think about rostering one of the league's least accurate quarterbacks, but Jameis Winston has a pristine matchup against the Oakland Raiders at home on Sunday. The Raiders field the 26th-ranked pass defense (DVOA) and have allowed a league-high 302.1 passing yards per game this season; in their seven games, they have allowed 15 or more fantasy points on five different occasions with the only exceptions being against Marcus Mariota and Alex Smith, two quarterbacks whose teams lack a passing attack. Winston will need to score a hair over 17 DraftKings points to justify his modest $5.8K salary, a number that he has hit in 50% of his games this season en route to a 19.5 point per game average. He should have success finding his favorite target, Mike Evans, who will look to exploit his plus matchup against Sean Smith and David Amerson, who have combined to allow almost 900 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns while in coverage this short season. Adam Humphries, who was on a roll prior to three tough personnel matchups, should also find space against D.J. Hayden, who is allowing almost 75% of passes to be completed while in coverage. In all, the fantasy outlook looks bright for Winston to hit 20+ points in this matchup, a number that approaches GPP value for his $5.8K salary.
Also eligible: Andrew Luck ($6,800)
RUNNING BACKS
Spencer Ware (Cash and GPP formats, Salary: $6,800). We now know that Jamaal Charles will miss this week's game with swelling in his knee, which means that Spencer Ware should see the majority of snaps out of the Chiefs' backfield again in a superior matchup against the Colts. Ware has played in 63.5% of the Chiefs' offensive snaps this season, but has outcarried the next closest running back by a 5:1 margin, not to mention the fact that he has been the best Chiefs' running back, as evidenced by his 5.2 yards per carry average. We should see Ware get 18-22 touches again this week against the Colts, who have allowed three consecutive 100+ yard rushers, resulting in the league's worst DVOA rush defense; Indy is allowing 4.7 yards per carry and has allowed four receiving touchdowns to opposing running backs (worst in NFL), which also adds some luster to Ware's fantasy potential because of his burgeoning role as a receiver out of the backfield (which resulted in a receiving touchdown last weekend). Simply put, this is a premier situation to roster a gamescript-independent, high-volume running back at a fair price in a game where scoring should come in droves; all the pieces are there for a high-floor, high-ceiling performance from Ware in this outing.
Devontae Booker (Cash and GPP formats, Salary: $3,700). This week's version of Jacquizz Rodgers, Devontae Booker is going to be 70% owned in cash games on DraftKings and you should be amongst that 70% of players. Booker inherited the RB1 role late this week when it was announced that C.J. Anderson would be placed on the injured reserve with a meniscus injury, thereby leaving a lot of work on the table for Booker, who was beginning to see an increased role in the offense anyhow. Over the previous three weeks, Booker had experienced an uptick in snaps (and touches), but was still firmly behind Anderson as the lead back in the Broncos' run-first offense. Now we should see Booker get 16-20 touches in his first NFL start against the Chargers, whose rush defense allows a middle-of-the-road 4.0 yards per carry, but has been very generous to running backs, allowing 32.0 DraftKings' points per game (2nd worst in NFL). Booker is a talented rookie out of Utah, who has an ability to run between the tackles and should be a long-term upgrade over C.J. Anderson, according fellow Footballguy, Devin Knotts, as discussed on this week's PowerGrid show. The foundation of successful cash game strategy is to roster volume for a fair price and Booker would appear to be the safest selection for those categories on DraftKings in Week #8.
Also eligible: Ezekiel Elliott ($7,200), Matt Asiata ($3,500)
WIDE RECEIVERS
Larry Fitzgerald (Cash and GPP formats, Salary: $7,500). With 70 targets on the season, only three other players (T.Y. Hilton, Antonio Brown, and Mike Evans) have received more attention from their respective quarterbacks than Larry Fitzgerald has garnered from Carson Palmer. This Sunday, Larry Fitzgerald will line up across from the Panthers' Robert McClain, who has allowed 75% of passes thrown into his coverage to be completed, including a pair of touchdowns, which ranks him amongst the bottom of the league in slot coverage. Furthermore, Carolina has allowed opposing WR1's to average 114.1 receiving yards per game, which is (by far) worst in the league. Meanwhile, Fitzgerald continues to be the sparkle in Carson Palmer's eye, having been targeted no less than seven times in any game this season and coming off a Monday Night Football game that saw him targeted 14 times. Having only scored in one of his past five games, this would appear to be a prime spot to see Fitzgerald thrive, get into the endzone, and score 20+ fantasy points to put him into contention for both cash game GPP formats.
Ty Montgomery (Primarily cash games, Salary: $5,300). Due to injuries suffered within the Packers' backfield (Eddie Lacy and James Starks), Ty Montgomery has gotten a lot of action in the Packers' offensive scheme over the past few weeks. Montgomery has lined up as a traditional running back, out of the shotgun, and as a receiver on the line of scrimmage, which has led to 32 touches over the past two weeks, a trend that should continue this week when the Packers take the field against the Falcons in Atlanta. Word out of Green Bay has suggested that the Packers will lean more heavily on Don Jackson and Knile Davis this week and while that is a reasonable expectation, Montgomery's role is gamescript-independent, meaning that he should still see 12-16 touches in this game, which puts him squarely into play at a modest $5.3K salary. If we consider that the Falcons have struggled against pass-catching running backs, there is even more allure to rostering Montgomery in this matchup because he has the best set of hands in the Green Bay backfield.
Also eligible: Julio Jones ($9,600), Mike Evans ($7,100), Adam Humphries ($3,000)
TIGHT ENDS
Gary Barnidge (Cash and GPP formats, Salary: $3,300). In nine career games with Josh McCown at quarterback, Gary Barnidge is averaging 17.1 DraftKings points; in his other 41 other games, Barnidge has scored an average of 5.8 points, nearly a 300% reduction in fantasy output without McCown on the field. Luckily for Barnidge (and the DFS-playing population), McCown is slated to return to lead the Browns' offense this Sunday after fracturing his collarbone back in Week #2. Playing for his seventh team in his 13th season, McCown has always had a penchant for throwing short passes, averaging only 6.74 yards per attempt, a number that would rank him near the bottom of the league in most years. His propensity to check down to receivers plays well in Barnidge's favor, as was already outlined with Barnidge's splits with and without McCown on the field. The Jets have allowed the 10th most points (13.1) to the tight end position this season and, outside of the Cardinals (who do not use the TE as part of their offensive scheme), every opposing TE has ended their game with at least eight fantasy points against them; assuming eight points is the fantasy floor for Barnidge and considering the strength of the Jets' rush defense (3rd via DVOA), we can safely assume that McCown will be looking in Barnidge's direction throughout this game, resulting in solid fantasy production from "Barnkowski" at a basement-level price point.
C.J. Fiedorowicz (Cash and GPP formats, Salary: $2,800). If you have the need to save even more salary from Gary Barnidge, dropping another $500 will get C.J. Fiedorowicz into your cash game lineups this weekend. While it feels somewhat strange to recommend somebody with 42 lifetime catches as a cash game play, Fiedorowicz is trending in the right direction within the Texans' offensive scheme and as a player, in general. Over his previous three games, Fiedorowicz has been targeted no less than seven times and finished those efforts with no less than 8.5 DraftKings points in each instance. If we were to assume that 8.5 points is Fiedorowicz' fantasy floor, we could safely slot him into our cash game lineups at only $2.8K, but that would not take into account his plus matchup against the Lions, who have allowed the third most fantasy points to the tight end position this season. In fact, six different tight ends have scored double-digit fantasy points against the Lions this year in only seven games. At 6'6", Fiedorowicz is easily the Texans' biggest redzone threat, keeping him in play as a potentially low-owned GPP play, too.
Also eligible: Kyle Rudolph ($3,500)
TEAM DEFENSES
Broncos (Cash and GPP formats, Salary: $3,700). The Denver Broncos continue to field one of the best defenses in the league. They boast a stellar secondary featuring Aqib Talib and Chris Harris that has them ranked second in the league in pass defense (DVOA) and they will face a pass-happy Chargers' team in Mile-High Stadium on Sunday, where the Broncos are allowing an average of 18 points per game to opposing offenses this season. The Chargers' best plan of attack will be to call Melvin Gordon's number often, as the Broncos can be beaten on the ground, but Gordon is averaging only 3.3 yards per carry this season, despite finding the endzone quite often (10 times); if Gordon continues to struggle to find room between the tackles, Philip Rivers will be asked to find the open receiver amongst that stellar secondary, which should result in sacks (and possible turnovers) for Denver, who leads the league in that category.
Patriots (Cash and GPP formats, Salary: $3,300). It is seldom advisable to recommend a visiting defense as a cash game play, but the Patriots might represent an exception to that rule this weekend. First, the Pats are the best-coached team in football and always enter a game fully prepared. Next, the Patriots will be looking to avenge a home shutout loss to the Bills in Week #4, when Jacoby Brissett was unable to lead them to a win. Perhaps most important is the fact that the Bills' offense is battered entering this game; LeSean McCoy will miss the game with a knee injury and Marquise Goodwin will also watch from the sidelines with a concussion, while Mike Gillislee and Charles Clay are both being asked to play after being limited at practice all week. That leaves a big burden on Tyrod Taylor and Robert Woods to best this Bill Belichick team that is entering Week #8 firing on all cylinders, a task that is probably too much given the personnel on the field for Buffalo on Sunday.
GPP PICKS
QUARTERBACKS
Drew Brees (Salary: $6,900). Death, taxes, and Drew Brees at home. Over the past five years, Brees has averaged almost 30 DraftKings' points per game versus only 23 points per game while on the road, a 30% uptick in production while playing in New Orleans. Just this season, Brees has played three games at home this season, where he has averaged a whopping 421.3 passing yards and 3.7 touchdowns per game. This week's opponent, however, is the Seattle Seahawks, who have allowed only 4 passing touchdowns all season (lowest in the NFL); that, along Seattle's defensive reputation, should be enough to drive down ownership on Brees to a point where he becomes an excellent GPP play. Lest we forget, though, that Matt Ryan had no problems picking apart this secondary a few weeks ago, when he compiled 335 passing yards and 3 touchdowns against the Kam Chancellor-less Seahawks' defense, a good measure for the upside that we could expect in this week's performance in New Orleans. DraftKings' dynamic opponent-based salary algorithm also has driven Brees' salary to a season-low watermark at only $6.9K, a number that could help generate 5x value if Brees has a typical Louisiana performance.
Ryan Fitzpatrick (Salary: $6,200). It will be interesting to see where ownership levels fall for Ryan Fitzpatrick on Sunday now that the veteran finds himself back under center after Geno Smith suffered a season-ending injury in his first start of the season last Sunday. Prior to that game, Fitzpatrick had earned himself a demotion via a 55% completion percentage and a 5:11 TD:INT ratio. After getting back on the field last weekend, Fitzpatrick went 9 for 14 for 120 yards and a touchdown against the Ravens, numbers that were more in line with his performance last season where he finished with a 60% completion percentage, 31 touchdowns (15 interceptions), and was the 12th highest-scoring fantasy quarterback on the season. His matchup this weekend could not be better; he will lead the Jets' offense against the Browns, who sport the league's 30th overall ranked defense (DVOA) and have allowed opposing quarterbacks to score 18 or more points in every game this season. If Fitzpatrick is going to get back on track this season, this would appear to be a prime spot to make it happen.
Also eligible: Aaron Rodgers ($7,500), Brock Osweiler ($5,400)
RUNNING BACKS
Matt Forte (Salary: $6,400). The Jets have a grand total of two wins this season...in those two victories, Matt Forte has thrived, rushing 30 times in each game and picking up 100 rushing yards on both occasions, not to mention an impressive five touchdowns. In those efforts, Forte averaged 33.7 fantasy points, which probably resembles the type of week he could have this week against the Cleveland Browns' college-level defense. The Browns field the 30th ranked DVOA rush defense, one that is yielding 4.7 yards per carry (30th in NFL) and nearly 140 rushing yards per game (31st in NFL). We already know that the Jets would like to ground the ball whenever possible, as long as Ryan Fitzpatrick is throwing multiple interceptions per game, so this would appear to be an ideal spot to 'ground and pound' the ball with Forte, something the Jets have done in both of their victories this season. In fairness, Bilal Powell is finally healthy after several weeks with turf toe, so Forte could lose some looks to him, but he should still see 18-22 touches in this game, which is plenty of time to do significant damage against this Browns' defensive unit. At $6.4K, you are going to want a two-touchdown game from Forte, which is certainly plausible because, after Brandon Marshall, the next-best scoring threat on the Jets is Quincy Enunwa.
Latavius Murray (Salary: $4,500). One of my favorite GPP plays on the week, I am relying on recency bias to make Latavius Murray the shark tournament play of Week #8. Whether or not Murray shines in his first start back from turf toe will rely on how much usage he receives out of the backfield; prior to his injury, Murray was averaging about a dozen touches per game, but was still putting up decent fantasy numbers to the tune of ~ 15 DraftKings points per game. While he was out, DeAndre Washington and Jalen Richard both saw time as the lead back and neither took the job from Murray; instead, we saw Murray return "for limited action" last Sunday against the Jaguars, a game where he enjoyed a season-high 20 touches on 47.5% of the Raiders' offensive snaps (and quietly scored two touchdowns). If Latavius is given a similar workload this Sunday against the Buccaneers, who have given up a rushing touchdown in every game since Week #1, he could be in store for a stellar fantasy day at extremely low ownership.
Also eligible: Christine Michael ($7,300), Jacquizz Rodgers ($5,800), LeGarrette Blount ($5,300)
WIDE RECEIVERS
DeAndre Hopkins (Salary: $7,400). With confirmation that Darius Slay's status for Week #8 is now listed as "out," we can feel fairly confident about the prospects of the Texans' passing game for the first time in recent memory. Brock Osweiler's performance and, by proxy, his receivers' fantasy output has been almost directly proportional to the caliber of his opponents; he has stumbled against the Chiefs, Patriots, Broncos, and Vikings, all of whom have solid defenses, but he has performed marginally well against the Colts, Titan, and Bears, whose defensive personnel are far worse than the aforementioned teams. This week, Osweiler will get his best matchup of the season against the Lions, who have the worst pass rush defense in the league, which has resulted in an average opposing QB rating of 117.3 (worst in the NFL). FootballOutsiders' DVOA metric ranks the Lions as the league's worst pass defense, not a ringing endorsement entering this game, particularly if we remind ourselves that Darius Slay is ProFootballFocus' 11th best coverage cornerback this season; without Slay in shadow coverage, DeAndre Hopkins will have his way with replacement Johnson Bademosi, who will not be able to keep up with Hopkins' skill set on Sunday. One more reason to like Hopkins' upside in this game is the fact that Lamar Miller is battling a shoulder issue that has kept him limited in practice this week; this could be an ideal spot to limit Miller, mix in Alfred Blue for a few carries, and lean heavily on Osweiler to beat up on this dreadful secondary.
Dez Bryant (Salary: $7,100). The Cowboys will play host to their NFC East rival, the Philadelphia Eagles, in a matchup that will either result in a two-game lead for the Cowboys or a tie for first-place. There is little doubt that the Cowboys will ask Ezekiel Elliott to lead the charge against the Birds, who boast FootballOutsiders' #1-ranked DVOA pass defense; that said, Dez Bryant presents a personnel matchup problem for the Eagles, as they will have to run out Nolan Carroll and Leodis McKelvin, both of whom rank amongst the bottom of the league in coverage; Bryant will run at least half of his routes against Carroll, who is currently ranked 105th out of 115 qualifying cornerbacks and is allowing the 4th highest number of yards per reception (17.3), a clear indication that he has difficulties covering big-play receivers like Bryant. The other half of Bryant's routes will be run against McKelvin, who has been battling hamstring issues all season, which could hurt him if Bryant decides to try to stretch the field with his 4.5 40-yard speed. Meanwhile, Bryant has been itching to get back on the field after suffering a knee injury back in Week #3; since then, Dallas has rattled off three consecutive wins, but Bryant's return to the team should add another dimension to this offense, a dimension that always bring two-touchdown upside.
Also eligible: Brandon Marshall ($7,800), Doug Baldwin ($6,900), Randall Cobb ($6,400), Tyrell Williams ($4,700), Quincy Enunwa ($4,700).
TIGHT ENDS
Rob Gronkowski (Salary: $7,000). It is always difficult to predict the fantasy output of a Patriot player not named Tom Brady because of how Bill Belichick schemes against opposing defenses, but this looks to be a week where we might be able to predict some higher usage for Rob Gronkowski. There are several reasons for why this might be the case: First, Martellus Bennett was limited in practice on Wednesday and Thursday before missing practice entirely on Friday, a trend that tends to result in the player not being active on Sunday; Pats' beat reporter, Mike Reiss, has stated Bennett will play a normal role, but given his limited participation leading up to this week, there is cause to believe the Black Unicorn could be very limited on Sunday. Next, Julian Edelman is going to have his hands full out of the slot against emerging star coverage cornerback, Nickell Robey-Coleman, who has not allowed a touchdown all season and is yielding less than 30 receiving yards per game while in coverage. Outside of Bennett and Edelman, Brady's most talented (and biggest) receiver is Rob Gronkowski, who was seven yards away from his first career back-to-back-to-back 100-yard performance last weekend. If we ponder the Patriots' 27-point implied team total and try to predict who is going to score, the most obvious answer is Gronkowski, which makes him a premier GPP play from a position where 20+ fantasy points rarely occurs.
Jimmy Graham (Salary: $6,100). If you read Footballguy Will Grant's weekly feature, Narrative Street, you would already know that Jimmy Graham will make his first appearance in New Orleans this weekend since being traded to Seattle at the end of 2014. Graham is an intriguing tournament play because of his redzone prowess and his ascending role in the Seahawks' offense over their past four games, where he has collected 36 targets from Russell Wilson, easily tops on the team. It appears that the Seahawks have finally integrated his talent into their offensive gameplan, which was a season too late for many fantasy owners expecting an extension of his dominance in Seattle last season. Nonetheless, Graham has arrived and is an elite GPP play because 70K+ fans will be rooting for him on Sunday despite the fact that he plays for the opposite team; you can expect Russell Wilson to continue looking in his direction, particularly in the redzone, and it will surprise nobody if we see highlights of Graham slam-dunking the football over the New Orleans' goalposts just one more time this Sunday.
Also eligible: Travis Kelce (Salary: $4,900).
DEFENSES
Eagles (Salary: $3,200). The Eagles have looked like a legit defense most of the season, but faltered in Week #7 against the Redskins, which had many of us scratching our heads about which Eagles' defense we should expect to see from week-to-week. The Birds will fly to Dallas to take on the Cowboys in an NFC East showdown with early playoff implications in front of a national television audience on Sunday night. The Cowboys, of course, boast one of the best offensive lines in the game and will look to beat the Eagles with Ezekiel Elliott, but if they fall behind early, the Eagles, who are third in the league in sacks, could get after rookie Dak Prescott, which is something he has not yet experience in his young NFL career. Some will point towards the Cowboys playing at home at 4-point favorites, but the Cowboys' woes playing at AT&T Stadium are well-documented. With double-digit scores in every game except for one this season, the Eagles are a borderline cash game defense who are squarely in play in tournament formats.
Panthers (Salary: $2,900). A GPP defense is ideally a low-owned defense with double-digit scoring upside. The Carolina Panthers could fit that description this weekend when they take on the Arizona Cardinals at home. The Panthers should be rested and well-prepared off their bye week, while the Cardinals are arguably in a diametrically-opposed situation coming off 75-minutes of hard-nosed football against the Seahawks on Monday night. The Cardinals had the ball for 46+ minutes in that game, but were only able to muster a pair of field goals against the Seahawks; their offensive personnel could be fatigued coming off a 95-play game and traveling cross-country for an early 1 PM (EST) start. If we add in prep time for each defensive unit, a huge boost has to be given to Carolina at home, despite their struggles to this point in the season. At only $2.9K, they represent an excellent high-upside defense on a week where team defense options are limited.
Also eligible: Jets ($3,400), Colts (Salary: $2,200).
