Cracking FanDuel: Week 5

Photo: USA Today Sports

Sunday Morning Update

Check back each Sunday morning for any updates and an update to the primary cash game lineup

No new updates today, while it has been intriguing to try to get Ezekiel Elliott into your lineup, for me, the sacrifice is simply too much this week.

The one player that I have become higher on this morning is Darius Slayton, not sure how to fit him into the lineup, and likely won't, but if you need savings he is an excellent cash game play.

• QB Lamar Jackson, BAL, $8,900
• RB Mike Davis, CAR, $6,800
• RB James Robinson, JAX, $6,600
• WR- Will Fuller, HOU, $6,600
• WR Terry McLaurin, WAS $6,300
• WR Robby Anderson, CAR, $6,200
• TE Travis Kelce, KC, $7,800
• Flex RB- Kareem Hunt, CLE, $7,000
• TD Dallas Cowboys, $3,500

NEW FEATURE THIS WEEK

This week, I added a feature that outlines the cash game plays that show all the players, h-value, and projections on our slight and highlighting the criteria with green being my favorite cash game plays and yellow being players who should still be within cash game consideration.

Let me know your thoughts on this one via email knotts@footballguys.com or via Twitter

SITUATIONS THAT STAND OUT TO THIS WEEK ON THE MAIN SLATE.

• • Kansas City (vs LAS) 33.75 points

  • Baltimore ( vs Cin) 31.75 points

  • Dallas (vs NYG) – 31.25 points

  • Houston (vs Jax)- 30 points

  • San Francisco (vs Mia)– 29.5 points

  • New Orleans (vs Det)- 29 points

• • Houston (vs Min)- 29 points

CASH GAME STRATEGY WEEK 5

Limited Player Pool

With two games off the slate (New England vs Denver and Buffalo vs Tennessee), the player pool is a bit limited this week. Ultimately, that means there will likely be more overlap this week than even in prior weeks, so you probably want to be careful as far as bankroll management goes. For example, if you had a good week last week, don't overexpose yourself by going bigger than normal.

So how do we approach a week with a limited player pool? The biggest advice here is to not over think it. Far too often people will over engineer their lineup to the point of being different and convince themselves that even though Player X is sub-optimal, if he goes off, then they'll win because other people will not have him. On a limited player pool week, the best way to approach this is much like it is every week. Put out your best lineup, let your opponents make the mistakes or sub-optimal plays as it'll work out in your favor over the long run.

Quarterback Position

The quarterback position will likely be the one of the key deciding factors in this week's contests. While there are some intriguing players that can save some salary in Daniel Jones, Gardner Minshew, and Teddy Bridgewater, this slate does not have enough top end stars where we need to go down that far. Spending up at quarterback is likely the way to go this week. The biggest question is Lamar Jackson who has dominated the Bengals as last year he ran for 65 yards and a touchdown and 152 yards and a touchdown in their two contests. The biggest question for Jackson is his health as he missed practice on Wednesday and Thursday, but said he is 100% healthy. The risk here is likely worth the reward as expect Jackson to be popular with a number of cheaper options at other positions.

Other players to be considered this week at the position are Kyler Murray who is never a bad option due to his upside rushing the ball, but the question there is whether the Jets can keep the game close enough with Joe Flacco starting at quarterback to have the upside you want out of Murray. The other potential option would be Dak Prescott who has been unbelievable as he threw for 502 yards last week. The one concern with Dak is that all of his recent success has been in games in which the Cowboys fell behind by more than 7 points and in the Falcons, and Browns case fell behind by more than 14 points. This is a week in which the Cowboys should not fall behind to the Giants, and may take a more conservative approach.

INJURY UNLOCKS OPPORTUNITY?

Julio Jones looks like he will miss this week with a hamstring injury which while on the surface seems great for Calvin Ridley, it may not be as we saw on Monday night where Jones left the game early and Ridley was held catchless. Ridley is priced up all the way at $8,300, which is likely too expensive this week to trust in cash. Olamide Zaccheaus has been great the last two weeks as he has 12 receptions including 8 last week without Jones. If you need salary relief, Zaccheaus could be that guy to provide it this week.

The Eagles continue to be banged up at the receiver position as DeSean Jackson will miss this game with a hamstring injury and while Alshon Jeffery appears to be getting close to returning in future weeks will not return this week. They likely will get J.J. Arcega-Whiteside back this week although he has not done much throughout his career to get excited about. This is likely an avoid situation altogether as Minkah Fitzpatrick will likely shadow Zach Ertz, but if there is a player who could see some production it would be Greg Ward Jr. who has 18 targets over the last two weeks.

KEY CASH CORE

James Robinson-$6,600

Before you look it up, ask yourself this question. Since Week 2, where does James Robinson rank in running backs for FanDuel points. Robinson currently ranks fourth in terms of FanDuel points since taking the job over in Week 2. He now faces a Houston Texans defense that has largely struggled against stopping the run as they have allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing running backs and are allowing a staggering 163 yards and 1.5 touchdowns per game. In their four games this season, the Texans have allowed three running backs to top 100 yards (Dalvin Cook, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and James Conner), and the only game that they did not allow 100 yards to a running back was against a Ravens team that ran for 176 yards between Mark Ingram, J.K. Dobbins, and Gus Edwards.

Robby Anderson- $6,200

Writing up Robby Anderson just feels strange as a cash game play as we have this perception that he is a deep threat big play receiver that we had seen over the last several seasons with the Jets. If there is a coach who knows how to use Anderson's talent it would be Matt Rhule who coached Anderson in college back at Temple and is showing that the two have a connection that is much more than just a deep play receiver. Anderson this year has 99 yards or more in three of his four contests and while he has only scored one touchdown so far this season is averaging 7 receptions per game. FanDuel has not yet reacted to his breakout season and his price remains far too low at just $6,200. This is a tremendous play against a Falcons team that has allowed the fourth-most receiving yards to wide receivers this season.

Mike Davis- $6,300

Mike Davis as a receiving back has far surpassed anyone's expectations in his time with Christian McCaffrey sidelined. While he has just 47 rushing yards on the season, Davis has 16 receptions in the last two games with the Panthers. The rushing stats should increase as Davis has faced two of the most difficult run defenses in the NFL in consecutive weeks in Tampa Bay and the Los Angeles Chargers. While the Arizona matchup is nothing special, even an average matchup to get a running back who is almost guaranteed to have 20 touches. If the receiving upside can continue, it is essentially starting with a free 4 points to start the day for Davis.

Travis Kelce- $7,800

This one is a little bit controversial, as on FanDuel this week expect George Kittle to be the most rostered player at the tight end position, but Kelce is the player that I want to target this week. The answer is really two-fold, first many people are going to be drawn to the 15 reception game that Kittle had last week, but that was largely propped up by C.J. Beathard just locking onto his former college teammate as he came in for the benched Nick Mullens last week. This week, the 49ers play a Miami team at home in which they may get out to a lead early which could limit Kittle's upside this week and Brian Flores comes from the Belichick lineage to take out the best player which in this case is Kittle.

Kelce is a player who is facing Las Vegas who historically has been one of the worst at stopping opposing tight ends. While their numbers may look great so far this season, don't be fooled as the Raiders have not faced an offense that features the tight end this season. Kelce averaged 98.5 yards in the two meetings last season including scoring a touchdown, and should be in a great spot this week as the Chiefs are the highest projected scoring offense on this slate.

LINEUPS

SAMPLE ROSTER 1 ($60K) – PRIMARY CASH- (DD PROJECTED POINTS = 139.2)

• QB Lamar Jackson, BAL, $8,900
• RB Mike Davis, CAR, $6,800
• RB James Robinson, JAX, $6,600
• WR- Will Fuller, HOU, $6,600
• WR Terry McLaurin, WAS $6,300
• WR Robby Anderson, CAR, $6,200
• TE Travis Kelce, KC, $7,800
• Flex RB- Kareem Hunt, CLE, $7,000
• TD Dallas Cowboys, $3,500

SAMPLE ROSTER 2 ($60K) – Houston Jacksonville Kansas City Stack(DD PROJECTED POINTS = 137.4)

• QB Deshaun Watson, Hou, $7,900
• RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, $7,900
• RB James Robinson, JAX, $6,600
• WR- Will Fuller, HOU, $6,600
• WR Terry McLaurin, WAS $6,300
• WR Robby Anderson, CAR, $6,200
• TE Travis Kelce, KC, $7,800
• Flex RB- Kareem Hunt, CLE, $7,000
• TD Dallas Cowboys, $3,500

SAMPLE ROSTER 3 ($60K) – Dallas NYG Game Stack(DD PROJECTED POINTS = 142.3)

• QB Daniel Jones, NYG, $7,000
• RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire, $7,900
• RB James Robinson, JAX, $6,600
• WR- Amari Cooper, DAL, $7,800
• WR Terry McLaurin, WAS $6,300
• WR Robby Anderson, CAR, $6,200
• TE Evan Engram, NYG, $5,500
• Flex RB- Ezekiel Elliott, DAL, $9,000
• TD Houston Texans, $3,700

NEW FEATURE: PLAYER POOL

Projected points are static as of Saturday morning and will not be updated throughout the weekend. Green means great cash game play, yellow means should be in consideration in cash game lineups.