Fantasy football advice: FanDuel lineup tips and strategies for Week 16

Allow, for a moment, the most tortured baseball analogy from an ignorant-at-best baseball fan. We focus heavily on stacking the top of the order; in our eyes, your three and four hitters need to perform above and beyond to propel the rest of the team. Occasionally, this strategy ignores the importance of the back end of your squad.

My most successful squad last week -- mainly due to Odell Beckham Jr. turning the Washington secondary into the children on the playground dream in Terminator 2 -- enjoyed a combined 56.1 points from my WR3, TE, K, and DEF against a total salary of $20,600. Finding value with these players not only helps your bottom line; it lets you stock up at other premium positions.

This week, we’ll look to find another set of glue guys.

WR- Donte Moncrief, $5,900 @DAL

At the time of writing, it looks like T.Y. Hilton will be missing the week’s clash against Dallas, with Reggie Wayne also a huge question mark. These injuries open the door for Donte Moncrief, the exciting but woefully inconsistent rookie wideout fresh off a goose-egg last week. Starting Moncrief is a great example of taking advantage of FanDuel’s recency bias; his prior big games are unconsidered in his low salary, and his burgeoning opportunity this week leaves his as an invaluable WR3. As with any WR in this range, Moncrief does carry a certain level of risk; the occasionally reanimated corpse of Hakeem Nicks appears ever so often, the Ghost of Super Bowls past, to steal production and touchdowns from the rookie.

At first glance, the matchup seems daunting. Dallas has allowed the seventh fewest points to WRs over the course of the season, buoyed by Orlando Scandrick’s solid season and an offense predicated on ground and pound. However, over the last four games, the Cowboys have allowed solid production to WR1s: Jeremy Maclin posted four catches for 98 yards last week and eight catches for 108 yards on Thanksgiving, while Alshon Jeffrey managed six catches for 95 yards and a score. Odell Beckham Jr. enjoyed 10 catches for 146 yards and two scores.

Moncrief may not be in the class of those elite WRs, but with Hilton and Wayne struggling with their health, his usage numbers look to skyrocket this week. For $5,900, he’s a solid choice for your WR3.

TE- Dwayne Allen, $5,400 @DAL

Take all your thoughts on Moncrief and modify them slightly for Dwayne Allen, my favorite choice among the second tier of tight ends this week. Allen has been a solid red zone threat this year, scoring a touchdown in eight of his 12 games. In the four games without a score, he struggled to produce any redeemable numbers, going for 0, 6.4, 0, and 1 points, respectively.

Using Allen is predicated on betting that he’ll score, and I feel that this week has a better than usual chance at producing that result. We covered Wayne and Hilton’s injury concerns; Andrew Luck freeing up some targets is always useful for fantasy purposes. We should also consider the matchup, as Dallas gives up the most fantasy points to the tight end this season. Allen certainly carries a great deal of risk, but his lower salary and increased usage project nicely for our purposes.

RB- Lamar Miller, $6,300 vs MIN

For most of the 2014 season, Lamar Miller’s toughest matchup has been Joe Philbin. Stubbornly insistent on limiting Miller’s touches, Philbin has yet to provide the workload that Miller’s efficient and consistent production warrants. He sees some of his snaps lost to the ineffective Daniel Thomas and is never given enough touches to truly put his work on the game.

Even with this workload restriction, Miller looks like great value at $6,300. Over the last five weeks, Miller has averaged 10.2 points while only seeing around 14 carries a game. With the Vikings having a surprisingly stout pass defense, look to Miami to attack them on the ground. You can’t bet on Miller having 30 touches, but a double-digit game is easily in sight. Fire him up as a cheap RB2 and enjoy the high floor.

DEF- Miami Dolphins, $4,800 vs MIN

In the rough and tumble tier of sub-$5,000 defenses, Miami looks like the best play of the week. The Dolphins defense enjoyed elite production during the middle of the season, consistently scoring at least eight with a few games of 20+. Their salary is reduced this week due to the damage done by three tough games against the Patriots, Ravens, and Broncos -- allowing -2, 2, and -1 points, respectively. However, they look to rebound against the mediocre-at-best Vikings’ offense, which allows a decent 14th-most points to defenses this season. Employing the Dolphins is a bit risky -- they end up around eight far too often to expect greatness -- but getting 10 points from a cheaper defense hits a solid floor and saves you $300-400 dollars for the remainder of your team.