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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 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. A short summary follows each respective table to fill in the gaps that led to the respective recommendations; that text represents only an overview of the methodology and rationale that goes into each recommendation. If you have questions about any of the recommendations or the process that led to them, please email me at john.lee@footballguys.com.

CASH GAMES

Quarterbacks: There's certainly merit to considering more expensive quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes II and Lamar Jackson for cash games this week, but each will cost you a sizeable premium over the options listed hereafter. With limited reliable value options, you are advised to go cheaper at quarterback with either Jalen Hurts or Drew Brees, both of whom are projected by Vegas oddsmakers to be playing from behind in contests with sizeable totals. Hurts, recommended here last week when he was only $5.1K, delivered 23.28 DK points largely due to his running prowess--the rookie ran for 108 yards on 18 carries, many of them designed, against a solid Saints defense. This week, Hurts gets the Cardinals' man-heavy defense, which plays to his physical attributes in a game with a 50-point Vegas total. Meanwhile, Drew Brees is offered at the same price against the Chiefs after surprisingly being announced as the team's starter on Friday. Brees is returning from 11 broken ribs and a punctured lung, but was reported to be 100% ready to play. It comes at an ideal time, as the Saints will need Brees' experience to keep pace with Patrick Mahomes II' electric offense. Brees should get plenty of opportunity to throw in this contest, although he will have to do without his best receiver, Michael Thomas, who will miss the game with an ankle injury. Nonetheless, Brees has made a career out of spreading the ball around to mediocre receivers and should be expected to do the same against a Chiefs defense that allowed 300+ passing yards to Teddy Bridgewater, Tom Brady, and Tua Tagovailoa over their previous 5 contests.

Running Backs: After destroying the Jaguars for 215 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns last weekend, Derrick Henry is offered up at $9.5K this week against the league's worst rush defense (Detroit). Henry looks to be a lock for 100 yards and a touchdown, but his $9.5K salary is a punch to the gut when you try to build out the rest of your lineup in cash game formats, which is why his name does not appear in the above table. Instead, Alvin Kamara (who can reasonably be paired with Drew Brees) becomes the top high-end play at the running back position due to the return of Drew Brees and the aforementioned absence of Michael Thomas. Kamara should have ample opportunity to compile significant fantasy production against the Chiefs in a pass-heavy gamescript. It would not be surprising to see Kamara finish this contest with 25 touches, and half of those through the air, at a reduced price tag that was predicated on Taysom Hill leading the Saints offense. In Los Angeles, Cam Akers appears to be taking over the bellcow responsibilities for the Rams after back-to-back 20-carry games against the Cardinals and Patriots. The rookie running back has out-touched Darrell Henderson and Malcolm Brown 53 to 11 over that time period and is delivering on expectations the Rams had when they drafted him in the second round earlier this year. As 17-point home favorites, Akers should be heavily used throughout this contest. Rounding things out, Ronald Jones II was placed on the COVID list on Wednesday, rendering him ineligible to play against the Falcons on Sunday. Enter Leonard Fournette, a healthy scratch last Sunday against the Falcons, but offered up at $4.5K this weekend against the Ravens. Some will be scared away from Fournette due to his recent lack of usage, but Bruce Arians is likely to plug him into the "Ronald Jones II" role in this offense and keep LeSean McCoy as a passing down back due to his age, size, and overall skillset. Fournette has not had the backfield to himself this season, so his floor and upside are sizeable when juxtaposed against his paltry $4.5K salary.

Wide Receivers: In the 4 games that Julio Jones has missed this season, Calvin Ridley has delivered solid fantasy production that includes 3x 100-yard receiving performances and another 6/50/1 stat line in a 43-6 blowout win with minimal second-half passing against the Raiders in Week #12. With Julio sidelined this weekend, Ridley is an attractive option to continue the trend against a Buccaneers defense that specializes in stopping the run (2nd DVOA rush defense). In Big D, Brandon Aiyuk looks to stay hot against the Cowboys' lackluster secondary; as fellow FootballGuy, Phil Alexander, pointed out during this week's episode of the PowerGrid, Aiyuk trails only Tyreek Hill and Davante Adams in fantasy points per game by wide receivers since Week #7. In the same price range as Aiyuk, Brandin Cooks makes a return after missing a week with multiple injuries (neck/foot) and should be heavily used in an implied pass-heavy gamescript against the Colts; Cooks was lurking in the shadows behind Will Fuller for most of the season, but will get the WR1 role for the last few weeks of 2020 and should steal production from Keke Coutee's recent uptick in fantasy relevance. Back to Dallas, all Cowboy receivers are affordably priced this weekend, but CeeDee Lamb tops the list because he should see overflow targets due to Richard Sherman locking down the left side of the field all afternoon; running out of the slot, Lamb should be consistently in the eyes of Andy Dalton and is priced fairly at only $4.5K. Lastly, TreQuan Smith will be one of the most popular cash game plays by the time lineups lock on Sunday because of the unexpected news that Michael Thomas will be sidelined with an ankle injury. Smith's usage will certainly benefit from redistribution of the nine targets per game that Thomas had been averaging and he cannot be ignored at his near-site-minimum $3.2K price tag.

Tight Ends: There is no need to spend much time justifying Travis Kelce for all game formats, but in case you have not been paying attention, Kelce enters this weekend with 6 consecutive 8-catch games and 100+ yards in 5 of those contests. He is Patrick Mahomes II' possession receiver and trails only Tyreek Hill in redzone targets (21 to 20); if you can afford him without having to sacrifice too much elsewhere, he is easily the best tight end option on this (or any) slate. If Kelce's salary is prohibitive for your build, Cole Kmet appears to be finishing out his rookie season in a positive trend; the second-round pick's snap counts have steadily increased since Week #10 and he is coming off back-to-back weeks with seven targets from Mitchell Trubisky. Kmet is nowhere near as exciting as Travis Kelce, but he comes at a $5K discount from Kelce and affords you the ability to avoid taking too many chances at other positions in your cash game lineup(s).

Team Defenses: While it was not intentional, a pair of defenses slated to face teams from the NFL East are recommended for cash games this Sunday. First, the Seahawks are the preferred play against Dwayne Haskins and the Football Team in Washington. Haskins has a target of Tips and Picks since coming into the league as a first-round pick last season; his inability to find the open receiver (59.6% career completion percentage) and propensity to throw the ball to the other team (10 career interceptions versus 11 career touchdowns) are the primary drivers of his appearance in this section. Meanwhile, the Seahawks defense has been feasting on poor quarterback play for the past 3 weeks--they have scored 12-, 9-, and 9-points respectively against the Jets, Giants, and Eagles. In Arizona, you can save a few dollars from Seattle and consider the Cardinals defense against Jalen Hurts making his second NFL start. Arizona is coming off an impressive 18-point performance against the Giants last week that was headlined by 8 sacks and 3 fumble recoveries. On a projected points-per-dollar basis, no team defense has a higher expectation than the Cardinals defense (2.89x) in Week #15.

TOURNAMENTS

Quarterbacks: Tucked away below the eye-candy level of Patrick Mahomes II and Lamar Jackson, but above the value options Jalen Hurts and Drew Brees, Deshaun Watson is an excellent option for tournaments on Sunday. Watson has scored rushing touchdowns twice across the past month and has surpassed 300-passing yards in 3 of 4 games in that same span. His best receiver (Brandin Cooks) returns from injury, as does David Johnson, which should force the defense to play a bit more honestly than they have had with Duke Johnson Jr struggling to fill David's shoes. In Atlanta, both quarterbacks are squarely in play for tournament formats. To be fair, Matt Ryan is a borderline cash game-viable option, but his performance last week (3 interceptions versus 1 touchdown) still lingers heavily. With the breadth of quality receivers in this game, the sizeable chance for a barnburner, and dome environment, both quarterbacks merit consideration at their respective percent-rostered numbers. Lastly, and a difficult trigger to pull, Sam Darnold gets one last shot in this column in 2020 because his receivers are cheaply priced and completely ignored by the masses; add in a gamescript that could see Darnold heave the ball 40 times, he is equally attractive as a contrarian tournament option at a sub-$5K price point.

• Sleeper: Since taking over as the starting quarterback a month ago, Andy Dalton has faced two solid defenses (Baltimore/Washington) and two average defenses (Minnesota/Cincinnati). Dalton posted an average of 14 and 19 points, respectively, in those matchups, the latter of which is fairly close to 4x value on his DraftKings salary in Week #15. The matchup against the 49ers is neither great nor terrible, as San Francisco has demonstrated flashes of each across this season. Dalton finds himself here largely because of his receivers, all of whom are cheaply priced and undervalued by the DFS community. 24 hours prior to lineup lock, all three of Dallas' wide receivers and Dalton Schultz are projected to be on fewer rosters than their likelihood to hit GPP value on their salaries. Collectively, this observation elevates Andy Dalton into deep sleeper territory, where he can act as a lineup differentiator in large-field tournaments like this weekend's $10-entry Millionaire Maker with 350K+ different rosters.
• Fade: The Baltimore Ravens are projected to score over 30 points against the Jaguars on Sunday and you can bet that Lamar Jackson will be the centerpiece of Baltimore's offense once again. Jackson exploded for 124 rushing yards against the Browns on Monday Night Football last week and is going to find himself on a lot of rosters this week, especially against a Jags defense that allowed 200+ rushing yards to Derrick Henry on 30% of rosters last weekend. Despite the plus matchup and Jackson's elite talent, he is a fade candidate this Sunday for a number of reasons: 1) The Jags may not be able to keep this game close, which could result in Lamar handing the ball to his running backs in the second half of the game, 2) Jackson's salary trails only Patrick Mahomes II ($7.9K) which means he needs to score ~ 30 DK points to justify his spot in your GPP roster, and 3) His WR1 (Marquise Brown) is still on the COVID list as this column is being written, which limits his viable stacking partners. Spend your salary elsewhere and let the fish chase the unlikely event that Jackson puts up another 100+ rushing yard performance just 6 days from the previous one.