WEEK 7 - 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 7 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 7, 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
Indianapolis Colts -- QB Andrew Luck ($7,900) and WR T.Y. Hilton ($6,900) or WR Donte Moncrief ($6,400)
Andrew Luck returned in Week 6 against Tom Brady and the Patriots and though he lost the game he looked good in the passing game and set himself up for a huge game this week against the awful New Orleans Saints defense. Luck has played 4 games so far in 2015 and is averaging just over 250 passing yards a game and 2 touchdowns. Luck is an elite quarterback with 300+ yards and 3+ touchdown games on the horizon. He reached those numbers against the Patriots (312 passing yards, 3 touchdowns) last week and surely can do the same this week against the Saints. Both wide receiver options in T.Y. Hilton and Donte Moncrief have to be in play here. Hilton finally caught his first touchdown of the season last week but even still he has been seeing nearly 10 targets a game on the season. Through six games he has 33 receptions for 456 yards and a touchdowns on 59 targets. While Hilton has been seeing a high target percentage it has been Donte Moncrief who has been also seeing plenty with 49 targets on the season for 30/347/4 stat line. The interesting stat for the Luck/Moncrief stack is that all 4 of Moncrief's touchdowns have each come in the games that Andrew Luck has been healthy and playing. It will be hard to keep Luck and Moncrief from not finding the endzone this week for the 5th time.
Arizona Cardinals -- QB Carson Palmer ($8,100) and WR Larry Fitzgerald ($7,800) or WR John Brown ($5,200)
Carson Palmer continues to put up huge numbers as he has 1,737 passing yards on the season with 14 passing touchdowns. Out of the 6 games so far this season he has thrown at least 2 touchdowns in 4 of them, as the other 2 games he only threw 1 in each but he also passed for 352 and 421 yards in those two games. He has a great trio of WRs to throw the ball to with Larry Fitzgerald, John Brown, and Michael Floyd. You can almost just take your pick as each of the three look to be in great spots. Fitzgerald is the highest priced out of the bunch but he also has the best numbers on the season with 43 recepetions for 583 yards and 6 touchdowns. Fitzgerald is making the most out of his 54 targets as he has caught at least 5 passes in each of the six games he has played in. John Brown comes at a discount price of $5,200 and is coming off his best performance of the season with 14 targets for 10 receptions and 196 yards.
San Diego Chargers -- QB Philip Rivers ($7,900) and TE Antonio Gates ($6,500)
Philip Rivers has opened up the season in gunslinger mode as he has a league high 2,117 passing yards (on pace for 6,351), and 12 touchdowns. He only has two games in which he threw for under 358 yards and now with his trusted target TE Antonio Gates back on the field he has another weapon to get the ball to. Gates is back from suspension and in the two games back he has 27 targets from Rivers for 18 receptions 187 yards and 2 touchdowns. To make the numbers even look better the Chargers play the Raiders this week and the Raiders are the worst team out there for covering the tight end position. Gates has popped up on the injury report this week so it might be in your best interest to keep an eye on his status leading up to Sunday morning.
VALUE STACKS
Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- QB Jameis Winston ($5,900) and WR Mike Evans ($6,600)
Jameis Winston has had an up and down rookie season so far through 5 games as he has 7 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. That being said Winston also added a touchdown on the ground and is only improving as each game passes and this week with a matchup against Washington he looks to be in line to have his best game of his young career. He has passed for a touchdown in every game he has played and has 3 out of 5 games where he has a pair of touchdowns. The one thing holding Winston back is the early season injury to Mike Evans that has hampered the chemistry between the two. The Buccaneers are coming off a bye week and Evans should benefit from the extra week off and hopefully the two can connect for Evans first touchdown of the season. Evans has played 4 games this season and has been targeted 33 times for 13 receptions for 174 yards.
Houston Texans -- Brian Hoyer ($5,000) and DeAndre Hopkins ($8,900)
Brian Hoyer and DeAndre Hopkins have had a nice connection over the past 3 games as Hoyer has targeted Hopkins 51 times in that span for 30 receptions, 474 yards and 2 touchdowns. Hopkins numbers are out of this world so far in 2015 as he has seen a total of 89 targets, 52 receptions, 726 yards, and 5 touchdowns. Witht he discounted price on Hoyer $5,000 it makes it easier to spend up and get Hopkins at $8,900.
FADES
Quarterback -- Joe Flacco, Baltimore Ravens ($6,500)
Usually I like to target quarterbacks on Monday Night Football but this week with the Ravens playing a tough Cardinals defense I think it is better to lay off of my exposure to the entire Baltimore Ravens team. Flacco has had an up and down season so far with 1,605 passing yards, 8 touchdown passes, 7 interceptions, and 2 rushing touchdowns. Flacco has 3 games where he threw for under 210 yards and the other 3 games he has thrown for 343 yards or more. I think it is safe to bet that this will be one of the game that comes in under 210 passing yards.
Running Back -- Dion Lewis, New England Patriots ($6,700)
LaGarrette Blount was the running back for the Patriots last week and that left Lewis on the outside looking in. Lewis has been a pleasant surprise for the Patriots this season as he scored touchdowns in 3 straight games before last weeks dud against the Colts. With Lewis' price on the high end $6,700 there are plenty of other options you have to consider at running back over him now that Blount is receiving a lot more touches in the offense.
Wide Receiver -- Golden Tate, Detroit Lions ($5,700)
Golden Tate finally had his first touchdown of the season on a play that looked to be not so certain. Now with Stafford having a big game with Calvin Johnson, Tate's value might take a hit. Tate has averaged 5 catches and 50 yards a game so far but really lacks the touchdown upside at his current $5,700 price.
Tight End -- Jason Witten, Dallas Cowboys ($6,200)
It is hard to trust anyone in the Cowboys passing offense right now with their quarterback situation. Witten's price is high at $6,200 and might be justified if Tony Romo was throwing him the ball but with Matt Cassel set to take over at the position I think you can get a lot more for your salary dollars from better matchups for other tight ends this week.
Defense and Special Teams -- Miami Dolphins ($1,600)
The Dolphins are coming off a big performance against the Titans as they totally dominated the game from the defensive side of the ball. Fast forward a week and now a matchup against the Texans and DeAndre Hopkins you have to think that there will be some points scored in this game. The price is right for the Dolphins at $1,600 but they are also currently the highest owned defense on FantasyScore so it might be a nice time to fade them.
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
Brian Hoyer, Houston Texans ($5,000) = 16.44%Carson Palmer, Arizona Cardinals ($8,100) = 14.25%Landry Jones, Pittsburgh Steelers ($4,600) = 11.74%
Running Back
Devonta Freeman, Atlanta Falcons ($8,700) = 47.34%Todd Gurley, St. Louis Rams ($7,500) = 38.41%Latavius Murray, Oakland Raiders ($5,700) = 19.21%
Wide Receiver
Stefon Diggs, Minnesota Vikings (3,000) = 47.34%DeAndre Hopkins, Houston Texans ($8,900) = 35.70%John Brown, Arizona Cardinals ($5,200) = 30.27%
Tight End
Antonio Gates, San Diego Chargers ($6,500) = 37.84%Benjamin Watson, New Orleans Saints ($2,700) = 19.21%Greg Olsen, Carolina Panthers ($6,800) = 9.45%
Defense and Special Teams
Miami Dolphins ($1,600) = 20.56%St.Louis Rams ($2,400) = 15.08%Atlanta Falcons ($2,000) = 11.27%
LOW/VALUE OWNERSHIP
Quarterback
Teddy Bridgewater, Minnesota Vikings ($5,900) = 0.36%Sam Bradford, Philadelphia Eagles ($6,700) = 0.22%Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs ($6,000) = 0.18%
Running Back
Ameer Abdullah, Detroit Lions ($2,900) = 1.67%Justin Forsett, Baltimore Ravens ($7,000) = 1.81%DeMarco Murray, Philadelphia Eagles ($7,200) = 2.46%
Wide Receiver
Mike Wallace, Minnesota Vikings ($5,200) = 0.69%Jordan Matthews, Philadelphia Eagles ($6,000) = 1.20%Brandin Cooks, New Orleans Saints ($6,400) = 1.20%
Tight End
Dion Sims, Miami Dolphins ($1,700) = 0.29%Zach Ertz, Philadelphia Eagles ($4,700) = 0.40%Larry Donnell, New York Giants ($4,900) = 0.65%
Defense and Special Teams
Tennessee Titans ($1,800) = 0.14%Detroit Lions ($2,400) = 0.25%New York Jets ($2,800) = 0.36% Follow @JamesBrimacombe