FanDuel strategy, Week 10: Undervalued players

Pour one out for your sullen Jets fans, as Rex Ryan emerged victorious in the Sam Smith-fueled ex-girlfriend battle of the Meadowlands. Watching Rex clumsily celebrate and outfox himself into no timeouts or challenges was a full sojourn down Sad Jets Memory Lane, and the game itself unfolded in an ugly and unwatchable disaster.

Unwatchable disaster also fits the fantasy landscape of Week 9. Among the overpriced options called out in this space, Andrew Luck came in at QB10, T.Y. Hilton at WR29, and Jason Witten at TE17. Our caution against Adrian Peterson proved misguided, while value plays like Tyrod Taylor and Julian Edelman didn’t return full dividends.

For Week 10, we’re tinkering with our system and reworking our logic slightly. Previous weeks had focused on points allowed per position, averaging that across the board and then applying the multiplier to average points per game by that player. Results had been solid but unspectacular, and we are nothing if not impatient DFS players.

This week, instead of listing two options per position, we’re going to create lineups incorporating our cheaper plays. Each lineup will represent a positional difference, highlighting the strategy behind each value play. We’ll compare results next week to determine if this is a more successful path toward sweet, sweet money. These moves will be riskier than in previous weeks.

Undervalued Quarterback: Kirk Cousins $6500 vs. New Orleans

Undervalued Wide Receiver: DeSean Jackson $6000 vs. New Orleans

Cousins has been brutal for the majority of this season, averaging only 15.1 points per game and boasting only two 20+ point games. Yet, if there is any time, or any defense, or any miracle that would induce solid production, it is this week. Captain Kirk and his merry band of Purple Nurples welcome the Saints, a defense freshly scorched by Marcus Mariota and Eli Manning and boasting the absolute worst passing defense, as per DVOA. With the ground game struggling in Washington and the secondary non-existent in New Orleans, Cousins’ has the best shot so far this season to produce a winner.

We focus on the same game to find our cheap wide receiver. Injured all year and ineffective last week, DeSean Jackson is incredibly inexpensive, especially for the nominal WR1. His scary low floor will frighten most users, but for our high upside, pants-ruining risk move this week, we can fire up this stack and hope that Jackson explodes.

With these two players as the foundation of our squad, we can really invest in marquee options to surround the rest of the team. Expensive but enticing options like Todd Gurley against the Bears’ run defense or Allen Robinson against the burnable Ravens can be paired for this lineup. Employing the Washington duo gets you a squad like this:

Undervalued RB: James Starks vs. Detroit $6000

Undervalued TE: Crockett Gillmore vs. Jacksonville $5000

For running back and tight end, we’re fully embracing the thrill of risk and abandoning all confidence. At RB we’ve highlighted James Starks, who has fully supplanted Eddie Lacy as the lead back for Green Bay and produced accordingly. Excluding the total offensive collapse in Denver, Starks has gone over 21 points twice in the last three weeks. He faces a Detroit defense that leads the league in apathy and flimsy rush defense. Starks’ current price reflects a timeshare that looks more and more one-sided, along with a hint of preseason hype for Lacy. Fire him up as your cheap running back.

At tight end, we’re looking to find the lucky recipient of Joe Flacco’s 50/50 passes now that Demigod Steve Smith has unfortunately been ruled out for the year. Crockett Gilmore has the usual scary floor for non-elite tight end options, but the upside and expected usage are enough to quell the nausea. He faces a beatable Jacksonville defense thoroughly mediocre at stopping the pass, ranked 29 in passing DVOA. I expect high target totals and a great shot at red zone production.

These two options let you fully embrace a Packers beatdown, affording you the usage of Aaron Rodgers and Randall Cobb to complete the Green Bay attack. We also add DeAngelo Williams—capable of torching the Cleveland defense—and an elite defense option in the Broncos. We finish the lineup with ODB and our cheap WR play in DeSean.