Cracking FanDuel: Week 16

Photo: USA Today Sports

Sunday Morning Update

The Browns will be missing Jarvis Landry, Rashard Higgins, Donovan Peoples-Jones, and KhaDarel Hodge due to Covid. This will leave the Browns with just Marvin Hall, Ja’Marcus Bradley and Derrick Willies as healthy wide receivers. Let’s look at the potential impact that this might have.

Nick Chubb- Chubb should see a lot of extra work as the Browns turn to more of a ground and pound type offense. The problem for Chubb continues to be the price, as he is just too expensive at $9,000 to be cash game viable on this slate. Chubb is an excellent cash + or GPP play this week.

Kareem Hunt- Hunt becomes extremely intriguing here. Hunt spent time as a slot wide receiver in the pre-season, so he could see some extra snaps in this one. The problem for Hunt is also the price. At $7,200 he is still more expensive than Austin Ekeler who is going to be the only guy in town in Los Angeles with Hunter Henry and Keenan Allen out.

Austin Hooper- The top receiving threat on the Browns this week should be tight end Austin Hooper who is in a tremendous spot this week as he is facing the Jets who are the worst team to opposing tight ends. At just $5,100, Hooper is a tremendous value and if there were other ways to spend our salary might be a strong cash game contender. However, the reason we are not going there is pretty simple. Travis Kelce is on this slate and Tyreek Hill is dealing with a hamstring injury that seems to be worse than what the industry had thought it would be as Hill will be “monitored” which is never a great sign.

All in all, there are some GPP plays and in a normal week, we likely would have one or two cash game plays, but expect this to be a low scoring game as the Jets defense continues to be underrated as we saw with them shutting down Cam Akers last week.

Other Injury news:

Tyreek Hill will be active, but will be “monitored”, this should increase the opportunities for Travis Kelce, but also increase the workload for both Demarcus Robinson and Mecole Hardman both who are tremendous GPP plays this week.

Keenan Allen is expected to miss this week, as we thought yesterday in the article.

Antonio Gibson is expected to play which should eliminate J.D. McKissic as a cash game consideration.

Lineup

The lineup has stayed the same, and the biggest worry here is no David Montgomery, but I contend that the floor is still too low for the running back even in a tremendous matchup. With the Bears having playoff aspirations, do they want to ride Montgomery hard again after a 32 carry performance, or do we see more of Cordarrelle Patterson especially if the Bears get up early. This may be a week where you consider splitting some of your action between the two lineups, especially if you're worried about Montgomery's upside. I'm personally willing to take the risk of the first roster that if Montgomery or Hurts have monster days than I'm likely to lose most of my entry fees.

SAMPLE ROSTER 1 ($60K) – PRIMARY CASH- (DD PROJECTED POINTS = 131.3)

• QB Patrick Mahomes II, KC, $9,400
• RB Austin Ekeler, LAC, $7,000
• RB Melvin Gordon, DEN, $6,400
• WR Russell Gage, ATL, $5,800
• WR Tee Higgins, CIN, $5,800
• WR Keke Coutee, HOU, $6,100
• TE Travis Kelce, KC, $8,500
• Flex RB J.K. Dobbins, BAL, $6,300
• TD Pittsburgh Steelers, $4,400

SAMPLE ROSTER 2 ($60K) – SECONDARY CASH Jalen Hurts-Chalk Lineup (DD PROJECTED POINTS = 133.9)

• QB Jalen Hurts, PHI, $8,200
• RB Austin Ekeler, LAC, $7,000
• RB Melvin Gordon, DEN, $6,400
• WR Keke Coutee, HOU, $6,100
• WR Tee Higgins, CIN, $5,800
• WR Russell Gage, ATL, $5,800
• TE Travis Kelce, KC, $8,500
• Flex RB David Montgomery, CHI, $7,800
• TD Kansas City, $4,100

SAMPLE ROSTER 3 ($60K) –FBG OPTIMAL LINEUP GPP LINEUP (DD PROJECTED POINTS = 137.0)- Updated

• QB Patrick Mahomes II, KC, $9,400
• RB David Montgomery, CHI, $7,800
• RB Melvin Gordon, DEN, $6,400
• WR Tee Higgins, CIN, $5,800
• WR Mike Williams, LAC, $5,700
• WR Calvin Ridley, ATL, $8,700
• TE Austin Hooper, CLE, $5,100
• Flex RB Austin Ekeler, LAC, $7,000
• TD Kansas City Chiefs

Saturday Night Update

The Browns might have a disastrous situation starting to develop. Jarvis Landry, Donovan Peoples-Jones, and Rashard Higgins have all been deemed close contact for Covid and are out. It remains to be seen if there are more players impacted here or not, but that is what we know as of now. If it is just those three, Austin Hooper gets a significant bump and becomes one of the top plays on this slate. Both running backs should also get a bump in Chubb and Hunt, although Chubb still is too expensive on FanDuel, but a great play on other sites.

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

• Kansas City (vs ATL) – 32 points
• Cleveland (at NY Jets) – 28 points
• Baltimore (vs NY Giants) – 27.5 points
• Chicago (at Jacksonville) – 27 points
• Houston (vs Cincinnati) – 27 points

RECAP OF LAST WEEK

Last week was one of the easier weeks we’ve had. With the Tony Pollard news, it forced Derrick Henry into the lineup which ended up working tremendously. With Jalen Hurts only being 25% rostered in cash games, it made for an easy week finishing in the top 5% of most contests.

CASH GAME STRATEGY WEEK 16- Limited Running Back Options

This week is shaping up to be one of the stranger weeks that I can remember. With no Dalvin Cook, Alvin Kamara, Derrick Henry, Aaron Jones, Josh Jacobs, the options are extremely limited. This week, we are looking at essentially the next tier down outside of Nick Chubb, but he is far too expensive on FanDuel to be in cash game consideration this week at $9,000. The key this week will be finding the mid-range players and spending up at other positions. The one concern with David Montgomery this week is whether it is point chasing after he had 32 carries last week. At $7,800, Montgomery has had only 11 carries in two of his last four games and seems to be alternating high volume and low volume games which is a concern.

INJURY UNLOCKS OPPORTUNITY?

Keenan Allen is questionable and Hunter Henry will miss this week leaving the Chargers incredibly thin at the receiving position. Expect a lot of work for Austin Ekeler (more on him later), and Jalen Guyton/Tyron Johnson both become intriguing this week.

Julio Jones will once again miss with a hamstring injury. Calvin Ridley once again becomes one of the top receivers on this slate. Russell Gage should also be considered as a cheaper value option even though his price is starting to rise.

Tyler Boyd will miss this week with a concussion. The Bengals are incredibly thin at the offensive positions, but are facing the Texans in what should be a great matchup. Tee Higgins is a strong cash game play, and Gio Bernard could be in cash game consideration.

Cam Akers is out with an ankle injury. This should open up plenty of opportunity for Darrell Henderson, but the problem is the matchup is incredibly difficult facing Seattle. If anything, it may help the receivers a little bit.

Phillip Lindsay is out with a hip injury. This opens the door for Melvin Gordon to see as much workload as he can handle. More on Gordon in the core section.

Antonio Gibson is questionable with a toe injury. If he is unable to go, J.D. McKissic becomes a great value play.

KEY CASH CORE

Patrick Mahomes II- $9,400

This one is a little bit controversial, as I fully expect Jalen Hurts to be the most popular play this week. However, Mahomes just feels like the better cash game play, and you could not ask for a better matchup for the superstar quarterback. Atlanta has allowed the most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks this season, as they have allowed an average of 303 passing yards per game, and eight quarterbacks have topped the 300-yard plateau. With no Clyde Edwards-Helaire this week, expect a heavy dose of passing from the Chiefs and the only question will be whether Atlanta’s offense can keep this game close enough, because if they do, 400 yards is not out of the question for Mahomes.

Melvin Gordon- $6,400

With no Phillip Lindsay this week, Melvin Gordon is elevated to the primary ball carrier. Gordon has been great this year averaging 4.7 yards-per-carry, but the issue has been the split with Lindsay. We have to go back to Week 4, which was the last time that Lindsay missed a game, and Gordon dominated as he had 23 carries against the Jets and is still the only running back to top 100 yards against their underrated run defense. The matchup is a good one for Gordon as the Chargers run defense has fallen apart over the second-half of the year allowing 4.7 yards per carry and 107 yards per game.

Steelers, $4,400

The Steelers are reeling after three consecutive losses, but there is still a lot to love about this defense. The Steelers lead the league in sacks with 47, and both of Indianapolis’ tackles are out in this game as Anthony Castonzo and Braden Smith will miss this game. The Colts on the season had been one of the best at giving up sacks as they have only allowed 16 sacks which is the second-fewest, but with both of their tackles out, this could lead to either more sack opportunities, or Rivers throwing the ball faster and potentially making some questionable decision making as he has done at times throughout his career.

LINEUPS

SAMPLE ROSTER 1 ($60K) – PRIMARY CASH- (DD PROJECTED POINTS = 130.3)

• QB Patrick Mahomes II, KC, $9,400
• RB Austin Ekeler, LAC, $7,000
• RB Melvin Gordon, DEN, $6,400
• WR Russell Gage, ATL, $5,800
• WR Tee Higgins, CIN, $5,800
• WR Keke Coutee, HOU, $6,100
• TE Travis Kelce, KC, $8,500
• Flex RB J.K. Dobbins, BAL, $6,300
• TD Pittsburgh Steelers, $4,400

SAMPLE ROSTER 2 ($60K) – SECONDARY CASH Jalen Hurts-Chalk Lineup (DD PROJECTED POINTS = 128.2)

• QB Jalen Hurts, PHI, $8,200
• RB Austin Ekeler, LAC, $7,000
• RB Melvin Gordon, DEN, $6,400
• WR Keke Coutee, HOU, $6,100
• WR Tee Higgins, CIN, $5,800
• WR Russell Gage, ATL, $5,800
• TE Travis Kelce, KC, $8,500
• Flex RB David Montgomery, CHI, $7,800
• TD Kansas City, $4,100

SAMPLE ROSTER 3 ($60K) –FBG OPTIMAL LINEUP GPP LINEUP (DD PROJECTED POINTS = 135.0)

• QB Jalen Hurts, PHI, $8,200
• RB J.D. McKissic, WAS, $5,800
• RB Melvin Gordon, DEN, $6,400
• WR Tee Higgins, CIN, $5,800
• WR Allen Robinson, CHI, $7,500
• WR Calvin Ridley, ATL, $8,700
• TE Logan Thomas, WAS, $6,000
• Flex RB Austin Ekeler, LAC, $7,000
• TD Houston Texans, $4,600

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.