WEEK 6 - 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.
For Week 6 of the NFL season, FantasyScore is offering three big GPPs for buy-ins of $1, $5, and $10. The $1 GPP is limited to 1,000 total entries and pays the top 200 places, with $135 going to first place. The $5 and $10 GPPs are limited to 500 total entries, with both paying out the top 100 places. The top prize in the $5 contest is $450, while the top prize in the $10 contest is $1,700.
FantasyScore will also be hosting a $25,000 Football Championship for Week 16 for which you can qualify during Weeks 1-15 via satellite tournaments. There will be a total of 105 "golden tickets" available to be won via satellite contests from Weeks 1 to 15 and the Championship pays the top 20 winners, with $10,000 going to first place. In Week 6, FantasyScore will run a $20 satellite with 50 total entries, where 4 golden tickets will be awarded, and a $5 satellite with 170 entries, where the top 3 finishers will receive a golden ticket.
TOP STACKS
Arizona Cardinals -- QB Carson Palmer ($8,100) and WR Larry Fitzgerald ($7,800)
Carson Palmer has been rolling for the Cardinals through the teams first 5 games, as he has racked up 1,316 passing yards and 13 touchdown passes. Nearly half (6) of those touchdown passes have went to WR Larry Fitzgerald and in that time Fitzgerald has caught 35 receptions for 490 yards on 44 targets. Palmer to Fitzgerald is averaging 5 catches a game for nearly 100 yards and a touchdown and against a Steelers defense in what could end up being a higher scoring game you have to like the chances of Palmer and Fitzgerald continuing their success together.
Philadelphia Eagles -- QB Sam Bradford ($6,700) and WR Jordan Matthews ($6,000)
You don't really have to stack any particular WR with Sam Bradford as over the past 2 games Bradford has thrown 5 touchdown passes to 4 different receivers and Matthews was not one of them. Matthews has averaged over 300 yards passing in those past two games and has another great Monday Night matchup against the Giants this week in what could be a back and forth passing attack from both teams. Matthews only has a single touchdown on the season which came in Week 2 against the Cowboys in garbage time but he still remains the favorite target of Bradford as he has been targeted at least 7 times in each of the teams first 5 games. Matthews has 45 targets on the season for 30 receptions, 325 yards and a touchdown. The price for the MNF combo is reasonable at $12,700 and it comes with some upside.
New England Patriots -- QB Tom Brady ($8,800) and TE Rob Gronkowski ($8,100) or Julian Edelman ($8,200)
The Patriots have played 4 games so far this season and Tom Brady has been on a mission in those games completing 116 of 160 passes for 1,387 yards and 12 touchdowns (1 rushing) to go along with 0 interceptions. Brady's favorite targets are both Gronkowski and Edelman and they all come at a high price this week on the road against the Colts. Gronkowski has a 20/375/4 statline so far this season on 33 targets while Edelman has a 34/399/3 line on 47 targets. This game is shaping up to be one that the Patriots have no intentions of slowing the pace down and taking it easy on the Colts and should be a very high scoring affair and one that you want to have offensive players in from both teams. If you can afford the steep prices it is not a bad idea to stack all three players together as they make up the majority of the Patriots passing offense.
VALUE STACKS
Chicago Bears -- QB Jay Cutler ($6,000) and WR Marquess Wilson ($2,000)
Jay Cutler has put together back to back games of 250+ passing yards and 2 touchdowns. The Bears are on a two game winning streak and they are looking to push that number to three against the Division rival Detroit Lions this week. Cutler is only priced at $6,000 on FantasyScore and if you are looking to pair him up with another value, you have to consider WR Marquess Wilson at only $2,000. Wilson has had back to back strong games as one of Cutler's favorite targets posting lines of 6/80/0 and 6/85/1 in those two games with 17 targets total. If you are looking to pay up at the running back position this might be a combo that could help you do so.
Houston Texans -- Brian Hoyer ($4,500) and DeAndre Hopkins ($8,000)
Brian Hoyer is as cheap as they come at the QB position at only $4,500 and he actually draws a pretty good matchup against the Jaguars. Hoyer has 4 touchdowns over the past game and a half and has shown that he can move the ball for the Texans offense. Here is the added bonus kicker for Hoyer's cheap price, you can stack him with stud WR DeAndre Hopkins who is highly priced at $8,000 and the combo only ends up costing you a total of $12,500. The downfall on this combo is that it will be very highly owned as a lot of people will be chasing value of Hoyer and playing the sure thing at WR in Hopkins. Hopkins has been outstanding so far this season as he has seen 74 targets for 42 catches, 578 yards and 3 touchdowns. Hopkins has had 36 targets over the past two games that Hoyer has been under center so you have to like your chances of the two looking for each other all over the field come Sunday.
FADES
Based on price and matchups alone you are going to have some players that are highly owned in Week 6.
Quarterback -- Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks ($7,800)
The Seahawks haven't had the great start to the 2015 season that they were hoping for as it feels as if they have been treading water with a 2-3 record. This week they play the Panthers at home and might be in for a defensive battle back and forth and paying the high price of $7,800 for Wilson just doesn't seem to make much sense. Wilson has 6 touchdown passes in 5 games to go along with 3 interceptions but he has also failed to rush for a touchdown which is something he has done in the past to help his fantasy value. The game flow is not looking like it will benefit Wilson on Sunday and at the price he looks to be a solid fade.
Running Back -- Frank Gore, Indianapolis Colts ($5,500)
The Patriots are going to come out swinging on Sunday Night Football and if Gore can't get going in the first quarter it might be a long game for him as the Colts could be looking from playing from behind. Gore has just two games where he has rushed for over 57 yards (86 and 98) and those were the games where he also scored his touchdowns. You are going to want to targets the passing offense from both teams in this game and leave the running game on the bench.
Wide Receiver -- Travis Benjamin, Cleveland Browns ($4,500)
It is hard to argue the success of Travis Benjamin so far this season as he has caught 22 passes for 411 yards and 4 touchdowns on 39 targets. He has seen 32 targets alone over the last 3 weeks but things are going to get much harder this week as the Browns will face one of this seasons best defenses in the Denver Broncos. Look for Benjamin to get shut down early in the game and if he does make some plays it would only be at the end of the game in garbage time that he would do so. In this tough defensive matchup, Benjamin is an avoid for me.
Tight End -- Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs ($7,000)
After his huge Week 1 performance where he caught 6 passes for 106 yards and 2 touchdowns, Kelce has yet to find the endzone again and has slowed down along with the entire Chiefs offense. Kelce has 8 receptions for 84 yards over the past two games and for the $7,000 price this week he makes little sense in putting him on your roster.
Defense and Special Teams -- Tennessee Titans ($2,100)
The Titans defense has been better than expected so far this season and this weeks matchup against the Dolphins looks good on paper. The Dolphins have under performed all season and are coming off a bye week and a coaching change. The Dolphins are going to look to get the offense going in both the passing and running game and it might be a great time to exploit an over achieving Titans defense and do just that.
OWNERSHIP PERCENTAGE
FantasyScore just announced this week that they will share the percentage owned for all their contests going forward. Now we don't have to guess at which players will be highly owned or which players will be low owned as we will have the current percentage to go off of. I will list the top 3 players at each position below with their ownership percentages as of the time I write this article.
HIGHEST OWNERSHIP
Quarterback
Tom Brady, New England Patriots ($8,800) = 20.68%Brian Hoyer, Houston Texans ($4,500) = 13.13%Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals ($7,800) = 7.76%
Running Back
Dion Lewis, New England Patriots ($5,900) = 43.28%Arian Foster, Houston Texans ($7,000) = 27.72%Le'Veon Bell, Pittsburgh Steelers ($8,400) = 21.02%
Wide Receiver
DeAndre Hopkins, Houston Texans ($8,000) = 39.53%Allen Hurns, Jacksonville Jaguars ($4,100) = 30.02%Julian Edelman, New England Patriots ($8,200) = 25.74%
Tight End
Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers ($5,500) = 31.85%Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots ($8,100) = 17.79%Gary Barnidge, Cleveland Browns ($5,500) = 8.47%
Defense and Special Teams
Denver Broncos ($2,600) = 29.94%Washington ($1,200) = 12.27%New York Jets ($2,900) = 8.35%
LOW/VALUE OWNERSHIP
Quarterback
Kirk Cousins, Washington ($5,500) = 0.16%Michael Vick, Pittsburgh Steelers ($5,700) = 0.20%Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs ($6,000) = 0.28%
Running Back
Jonathan Stewart, Carolina Panthers ($5,300) = 0.08%Isaiah Crowell, Cleveland Browns ($4,800) = 0.52%Jeremy Hill, Cincinnati Bengals ($6,600) = 0.96%
Wide Receiver
Pierre Garcon, Washington ($5,900) = 0.88%Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers ($8,600) = 0.96%Jeremy Maclin, Kansas City Chiefs ($7,600) = 2.40%
Tight End
Jimmy Graham, Seattle Seahawks ($6,500) = 0.40%Charles Clay, Buffalo Bills ($6,300) = 0.56%Heath Miller, Pittsburgh Steelers ($3,300) = 0.88%
Defense and Special Teams
San Diego Chargers ($2,000) = 0.24%Kansas City Chiefs ($2,500) = 0.24%Buffalo Bills ($2,500) = 0.24% Follow @JamesBrimacombe