Hello fellow Fantasy Football Fanatics! We're almost 3/4 of the way through the season, and it's almost time for the annual Thanksgiving/Pro Football Festival - where has the year gone?!! As usual, thanks for checking in with me to see how a fellow beginner at Daily Fantasy Football is faring during 2014.
Last week, I had an acceptable outing, but I would have done better if I hadn't gotten overconfident about the Broncos... I mean, Denver on turf in a dome vs. a dysfunctional team like the Rams...who had just flip-flopped starting quarterbacks again...what could possibly go wrong? One Julius Thomas ankle injury and a defensive collapse later, I wiped out in my tournament entries (0-5) and went 10-5 in 50/50 leagues, for an overall of 10-10 last week. The BIG DENVER lineup I was so happy with before the games got played was my worst entry (by far) all weekend - see below.
However, all was not lost as I also liked Josh McCown/Mike Evans at Washington enough to create two versions of a lineup built around those two guys (and they won seven 50/50's collectively, without losing any). Also, Aaron Rodgers/Jordy Nelson/Randall Cobb played up to expectations and carried all their 50/50's - so I can't complain about week 11 too much. I just need to remember to not get too enamored of any one lineup when it comes to the big tournament entries. I guess that is a LESSON I learned in Week 11 (though really I should have known better). Sigh... those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it.
Heading into Week 12, I've been monitoring Giovani Bernard's return from his hip injury (as Jeremy Hill has been huge for my DFS entries at FanDuel for weeks now), and to do this I (as always) rely on Clayton Gray's Players in the News, and it occurred to me that I haven't spotlighted this critical Footballguys.com publication yet this year. Suffice it to say that if you have a concern over any NFL player who is working through an injury or off-field situation, this is a must-read for your reference. I habitually read it every day throughout the NFL season - it is part of my daily routine and I would suggest that it become a habit for any serious fantasy football player.
As I have mentioned previously, I write the weekly rushing and passing matchups around here- one of my guideposts for DFS at FanDuel is to only consider players that do not have tough or bad matchups heading into Week 11. Looking at the matchups this week, two of the most favorable pairings I see are:
1. DAL Rushing Attack at NYG D: The Giants' rush D is currently dead last in the NFL averaging 145.0 yards allowed per game, with a league-worst 13 rushing scores handed out to date. DeMarco Murray is one of the best running backs in league this year behind a great offensive line. Enough said.
2. IND Passing Attack vs. JAX D: The Colts scored 44 on Jacksonville the last time they squared off (in Jacksonville) with 385 net yards passing and four passing scores. This time, they'll all be in Lucas Oil Stadium, and Jacksonville's D hasn't improved in the interim - the Colts should be in 'bombs away' mode again this week.
As I will be taking breaking news and updated injury reports into consideration while crafting my Week 12 DFS squads right up until kickoff on Sunday (I am putting my own money on the line here, after all), I will post my Week 12 results and lineups in next week's edition of Old Dog Learns New Tricks. I hope that you, the reader, will check back in to see how a fellow DFS beginner fared in the 12th week of the 2014 season, along with sharing some thoughts about DFS in Week 13.
Also, I hope that YOU win all YOUR leagues this week! Good Luck!
Roster 1
| Position | Player Name | Salary | % Owned | Points |
| QB | Josh McCown | $7,000 | 4 | 20.32 |
| RB | Mark Ingram | $8,000 | 25 | 13.2 |
| RB | Eddie Lacy | $8,200 | 5 | 24.9 |
| WR | Mike Evans | $7,500 | 14 | 36.4 |
| WR | Jordan Matthews | $5,500 | 24 | 19.2 |
| WR | Marques Colston | $6,100 | 3 | 7.6 |
| TE | Julius Thomas | $7,500 | 10 | 1.3 |
| K | Adam Vinatieri | $4,900 | 22 | 10 |
| D | Denver Broncos | $5,200 | 30 | 3 |
Roster 1B
| Position | Player Name | Salary | % Owned | Points |
| QB | Josh McCown | $7,000 | 2 | 20.32 |
| RB | Eddie Lacy | $8,200 | 5 | 24.9 |
| RB | Mark Ingram | $8,000 | 23 | 13.2 |
| WR | Mike Evans | $7,500 | 5 | 36.4 |
| WR | Martavis Bryant | $7,000 | 11 | 2.1 |
| WR | Andre Holmes | $6,300 | 1 | 2.9 |
| TE | Travis Kelce | $5,900 | 11 | 3.2 |
| K | Adam Vinatieri | $4,900 | 17 | 10 |
| D | Denver D | $5,200 | 24 | 3 |
Roster 2
| Position | Player Name | Salary | % Owned | Points |
| QB | Aaron Rodgers | $10,100 | 9.2 | 28.84 |
| RB | Jeremy Hill | $6,500 | 18.9 | 17 |
| RB | Jonathan Stewart | $5,100 | 2.6 | 5.4 |
| WR | Jordy Nelson | $8,900 | 15.5 | 18.9 |
| WR | Randall Cobb | $8,700 | 4.2 | 17.9 |
| WR | Vincent Jackson | $6,500 | 4 | 5.8 |
| TE | Coby Fleener | $5,000 | 3.2 | 17.9 |
| K | Nick Novak | $4,500 | 29.3 | 9 |
| D | New Orleans Saints | $4,700 | 9 | 1 |
Roster 3
| Position | Player Name | Salary | % Owned | Points |
| QB | Peyton Manning | $10,400 | 7.5 | 17.46 |
| RB | LeSean McCoy | $7,700 | 6.2 | 11.1 |
| RB | Ryan Mathews | $6,200 | 7 | 8 |
| WR | Demaryius Thomas | $9,100 | 9.5 | 13.8 |
| WR | Andre Roberts | $4,800 | 0.3 | 3.1 |
| WR | Brice Butler | $5,100 | 0.1 | 2 |
| TE | Julius Thomas | $7,500 | 7.3 | 1.3 |
| K | Ryan Succop | $4,500 | 1.5 | 6 |
| D | New Orleans Saints | $4,700 | 6.5 | 1 |