WEEK 18/Wildcard Weekend - FANTASYSCORE GPP OFFERINGS
FantasyScore is a USA Today Sports Media Group fantasy sports game that is powered by RealTime Fantasy Sports. It is a DFS site that can give you the excitement of playing fantasy football each week during the NFL season. FantasyScore offers Draft Leagues (Draft & Go) and Salary Cap leagues weekly during the NFL season.
In this feature we are going to look at the GPP contests and offer the top stacks, fades, and ownership projections for each upcoming week.
FantasyScore has a $1 First Down GPP this week with 600 total entries up for grabs and also a $5 TheHuddle.com GPP which has 300 entries for $1,350.00 total prizes. Also there is a $20 Go for 2 GPP that has a total of 70 entries available.
TOP STACKS
Pittsburgh Steelers -- QB Ben Roethlisberger ($8,500) and WR Antonio Brown ($9,500)
When you think of the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger this season you think of high scoring games and plenty of points through the air. Well that has not been the case so far this season for the Steelers in two games against the Bengals as Roethlisberger has only thrown 1 touchdown and has 4 interceptions in those two games. So just assuming that the Steelers have no running game as both their stud RBs have gone down with injury and now they are even going to be forced to throw the ball more and with that comes plenty of opportunity for Roethlisberger and Brown to connect down the field and in short yardage situations. Brown has been playing on another level once again this season as he posted a 136/1834/10 statline on 193 targets on the season. Look for a game where he sees 12-18 targets here and coming over that 100 yard total looks like an easy call but the price tag is a steep one to pay up for.
Houston Texans -- QB Brian Hoyer ($6,600) and WR DeAndre Hopkins ($9,200)
Brian Hoyer is one of the less expensive options at QB this week and he also comes at a low ownership rate in a plus matchup against the Chiefs secondary. When you pair him up with Hopkins the duo is much more affordable than that of Roethlisberger and Brown and it gives you almost as much chance to hit big as Hopkins has been known to blow up for big games with Hoyer under center this season. Hoyer has 19 touchdown passes in 12 games this season. His star WR DeAndre Hopkins has planted himself in the mix as one of the truely elite WRs this season and has a remarkable 111/1521/11 statline on 192 targets this season. With Brian Hoyer and a mix of other QBs throwing him the ball those numbers are fantastic and he could be in line for a big game as the team has been playing some great defense and will have the home crowd on their side this weekend. Hopkins has 22 catches for 300 yards and a touchdown over the final three weeks of the season.
Seattle Seahawks -- QB Russell Wilson ($8,900) and WR Doug Baldwin ($8,300)
Russell Wilson has turned his game up over the second half of the season and is rolling right into the playoffs with some confidence that has helped him over the past couple of years in the playoffs. In the last 7 games of the season Wilson has 25 total touchdowns and only scored less than 3 touchdowns once in that span. In his game against the Vikings already this season he completed 21 of 27 passes for 274 yards and 3 touchdown passes and added 51 more yards on the ground and his only rushing touchdown of the season. Over the last 8 games of the season Russell Wilson has been in love with Doug Baldwin as he has scored 12 touchdowns to him in that span alone. Baldwin and Wilson have been the hottest QB/WR duo over the second half of the season and seeing that carry over to the playoffs is something to look for this weekend. Baldwin's price of $8,300 is rather high and might scare some people off of him for the flashier names of Brown and Hopkins and it shows by the early ownership percentage as Baldwin is projected to be owned by less than 10% of the field.
VALUE STACKS
Green Bay Packers -- QB Aaron Rodgers ($7,900) and WR Randall Cobb ($6,200)
Aaron Rodgers may be having one of his tougher seasons this season and it all started with Jordy Nelson going down before the season even started. Rodgers has had to work for everything this season and throwing for 3,821 yards and 31 touchdowns may not look like the best numbers of his career but he continues to find ways to get his team into the endzone. When others are plugging in Roethlisberger and Wilson you might want to put some love over to Rodgers against a Washington defense that will give up points and touchdowns. Much like Rodgers, Randall Cobb's season has also been a bit of an up and down one and nothing was for free as he had to work for everything this year. Cobb quietly finished with a 79/829/6 statline and ended the season with 6 straight games without a touchdown. We all know the Packers have a little extra magic in them come playoff time and a Rodgers to Cobb connection might be a nice contraian move to the higher owned QB/WR stacks.
FADES
There are not many fades this week as there are only 4 games on the slate and with that almost everyone is in play especially in GPPs.
OWNERSHIP PERCENTAGE
FantasyScore gives away there ownership percentage stats before the contest begins so it gives you a good idea of what players will be higher owned and lower owned. I will give the top player owned at each position and will also include a key lower owned player.
HIGHEST OWNERSHIP
Quarterback
Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers (87,500) = 19.03%
Running Back
Jeremy Hill, Cincinnati Bengals ($6,900) = 29.03%
Wide Receiver
Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers ($9,500) = 48.71%
Tight End
Heath Miller, Pittsburgh Steelers ($3,900) = 33.55%
Defense and Special Teams
Green Bay Packers ($2,500) = 23.55%
LOW/VALUE OWNERSHIP
Quarterback
Brian Hoyer, Houston Texans ($6,600) = 3.87%
Running Back
Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings ($8,500) = 3.23%
Wide Receiver
Doug Baldwin, Seattle Seahawks ($8,300) = 9.35%
Tight End
Kyle Rudolph, Minnesota Vikings ($4,800) = 1.94%
Defense and Special Teams
Minnesota Vikings ($2,700) = 3.23%