DraftKings Sunday Games Roundtable - Week 15

This week's discussion focused on punt plays, candidates to receive the DraftKings performance bonuses for yardage, chalk plays, and tough issues facing elite wide receivers. It was a great session with the DraftKings staff and should give our readers plenty of insight heading into their contests their week.

Check out  full article here.

DraftKings Lineup Construction Week 14: Results

Last week on Saturday, I walked through a Cash Lineup Construction for DraftKings.com. I entered this lineup into an actual $1 Double-Up Cash game and was happy to see that it performed pretty well. Here are the results of that lineup

Last Minute Pivot

Here is the original lineup that I entered on Saturday:

But on Sunday morning. the Saints announced that Tim Hightower would receive the bulk of the carries and that C.J. Spiller would retain his 'change of pace' status. I wrote up a quick blog suggesting that people pivot from Spiller to Hightower since they were both just $3000.  That turned out to be a smart choice because Hightower had a significantly better statline:

Spiller - 3 Carries for 2 Yards, 3 Receptions for 7 Yards. 0 TDS.  3.9 Pts on DraftKings

Hightower - 28 Carries for 85 Yards, 1 Reception for 10 Yards. 1 TD. 16.5 Pts on DraftKings

With Hightower in the lineup for me, here is how it performed: 

This lineup finished with 164.38 points. Target Points for Cash games is 150 points (3X value of the 50,000 salary). The cash line for this particular Double-Up was 143.3 pts.

This lineup clearly had some over achieving players, but here's a little more detail into why it was successful.

Players that reached 3X value:

Wilson - 6300. Target 18.9 pts. Total 32.28 pts
Hightower - 3000. Target 9 pts. Total 16.5 pts
Beckham Jr - 9100. Target 27.3 pts. Total 38.6 pts
Marshall - 7600. Target 22.8 pts. Total 27.5 pts
49ers - 2100. Target 6.3 pts Total 8 pts.

Clearly Wilson was the big boost here. His 5 Passing TD performance this week pushed him up to 5x value. Wilson would have made a great GPP play as well this week. The pivot to Hightower was a big boost. If I'd have left Spiller in the lineup, I still would have beaten the 143.3 pay line, but watching the Sunday morning news and switching to Hightower really gave me a boost. The 49er defense wasn't anything special, but their super low price of 2100 made them still a good cash play against the Browns this week. Marshall and Beckham Jr. both had over 100 receiving yards this week and both reached the end zone.

Players that did not reach 3x value

Brown - 8900. Target 26.7 pts. Total 15.7 pts
Maclin - 5500. Target 16.5 pts. Total 12.6 pts
Draughn - 4800. Target 14.4 pts. Total 7.1 pts
ASJ - 2700. Target 8.1 pts. Total 6.1 pts

Brown was the biggest let down of this lineup, but part of that was due to the big lead that Pittsburgh built in the game against he Bengals and after Andy Dalton went down, he Steelers never looked back. Ben Roethlisberger didn't have a passing TD in the game and the Steelers still put 33 points on the board. The Kansas City - San Diego game turned into a snooze fest, and although Maclin had nine targets for the day, he only turned in six receptions for 68 yards. Draughn wasn't a sexy pick by any stretch, but he should have been able to reach his target 3x based on volume. The 49ers struggled the entire game against Cleveland this weekend, and Draughn was barely able to grind out a couple points. ASJ nearly reached value, turning his second 3 reception for 31 yard day. The game script indicated that he should have performed much better against a weak New Orleans defense, but the Saints jumped out early and held Tampa in check all day. Mike Evans finished with a nearly identical stat line (3 receptions, 39 yards) so I don't feel bad about this at all. Again, at 2700, ASJ didn't need much to come through.

Overall a solid Cash lineup. I don't regret any of the picks that I made. Games don't always follow the game script, but hopefully it works out where the players super cheap like ASJ or the 49er defense, or that the player still has a high enough floor to not be a total but like Antonio Brown.

Check back this Saturday for this week's DraftKings cash lineup.



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DraftKings Cash Lineup Construction Week 14

I'm going to try something new. I'm going to walk through a cash lineup construction process this morning and then evaluate it next week once it's played out. Footballguys.com has a great DraftKings Interactive Lineup Tool that you can use to construct your lineup before entering it, and I'm going to use that to help me this morning.

DEFENSE

I usually like to start with a value defense to give me the most flexibility. This week there are a couple good options. San Francisco (2100) is on the road at Cleveland. The Over/Under on this game is only 41. Johnny Manziel will be under center this week, and the 49ers have held Jay Cutler (202 Passing yards, 0 TDS, 1 Int) and Carson Palmer (271 passing yards, 0 Passing TDs, 1 Rushing TD) in check the last two weeks. They make a good value option defense in my eyes.

TE

I'm all over Austin Seferian-Jenkins this week at TE on DraftKings. He's only 2700 this week and the Saints are really weak against opposing TEs. He only need 4 receptions for 50 yards to reach 3X value and I think he should be able to do that no problem.

RB

Next I look at RB. With Mark Ingram on IR, C.J. Spiller is in line to see a lot more action this week. How much is still in question, because he's going to split time with Tim Hightower, but at just 3000 on DraftKings this week, he's in the same boat as ASJ. 4 Receptions for 50 total yards and he's at 3x value. I think Spiller is a slam dunk this week.

For RB2, I'm stacking Shaun Draughn with the 49er defense. Draughn is an incredibly boring choice as a fantasy player, but he's getting a lot of opportunities. 4800 is not as dirt cheap as Spiller, but it's still pretty reasonable given that Draughn is facing a Cleveland defense that's in the middle of the pack against opposing RBS. But Draughn has had five or more receptions in the last three games, and he's reaching 70-90 yards from scrimmage as well. That's pretty close to 3x value, and if he reaches the end zone, he will be worth it. This is more of a 'high floor' pick that you like in cash games than a 'big upside' pick.

After my first four picks, my lineup looks like this:

With 37400 remaining, I have a lot of flexibility to fill in my remaining positions.

QB

There are a couple options at QB, but with all the value that I've landed, I'm looking to get points here. Cam Newton is a great pick, but at 7500, he might be too expensive if I want to load up at WR this week. So I will insert Russell Wilson at 6300 instead. The Ravens are looking at rolling out Jimmy Clausen at QB this week and Clausen had just 63 passing yards against the Seahawks when he was with the Bears back in week 3. Wilson has a solid floor and the Seahawks should really run over the Ravens in this game. Maybe I should have considered the Seahawks defense as well?

WR 

On to WR. At this point I have a ton of leftover salary so the first two people that jump off the page for me are Odell Beckham Jr. and Antonio Brown. Beckham is on fire right now with more than 100 yards receiving in each of his last five games and six receiving TDs within that same span. He faces a weak Miami defense on Monday Night in a game that the Giants have to win. Brown has a tougher division matchup against the Bengals, but he has almost 600 receiving yards and 4 receiving TDS over the last four weeks. He's good for at least six receptions based on pure volume of targets and the Steelers look to him in the red zone. He also has the possibility of a return TD which can add another opportunity to score.

With 13100 left, the next guy that stands out to me is Brandon Marshall. He's had back to back 131 yard receiving games and had 3 TDS in the same span. He has at least 1 receiving TD in his last five games as well. This week the Jets face a Tennessee defense that is tough against the run but extremely vulnerable to the pass. The Jets will need to throw a ton in this game and Marshall will be a big beneficiary. At 7600, he makes a great 3rd WR.

FLEX

Sticking with WR for the flex position and with 5500 left, the name that jumps off the page is Jeremy Maclin. Maclin has been a target monster these last two weeks with 9 receptions in each game, and a combined 255 receiving yards and 3 receiving TDS. This week the Chiefs face the Chargers who have been vulnerable through the air at points this season. It's another case where a high-floor potential makes Maclin the perfect guy to insert in my offense for the final pick.

Since I have Beckham and Maclin in my lineup, I made sure to swap Beckham to the flex position. Since this is a cash lineup, I don't expect to make a late swap on Monday night, but if something comes up, it would be good to have the flexibility to insert anyone from that game into this position.

My final DraftKings cash lineup looks like this:

Now I don't expect that this lineup will be the top scoring lineup in the DraftKings Millionaire Maker GPP or anything, but I'm going to use this in my cash lineups this weeks to make sure my bankroll stays strong. 

Good Luck this weekend!

Follow @FBGWILL

DraftKings Week 14 Roundtable

This week's discussion focused on replacement running backs, budget quarterbacks, defense/special teams plays, and off-script games. It was a great session with the DraftKings staff and should give our readers plenty of insight heading into their Week 11 contests.

Some excerpts are below, and the full article is here.

Squeaky Wheel
We discussed the idea of playing Julio Jones this week despite his poor matchup due to his voicing his displeasure with the team's red zone game-planning.

Jeff Haseley: He might be a candidate to receive more red zone looks, but this isn't the best week to expect big things from Jones. In his last four games against Carolina, Jones has struggled to produce big numbers. Josh Norman's presence, especially recently, is a big reason for that. Norman hasn't shadowed many receivers this season, but he has focused his efforts on containing Jones in the past. There has been considerable hype from Panthers camp about Norman covering Jones. I'd venture a guess that Norman plays a lot of man coverage on Jones this week.

Jones vs. Carolina (Last Four Meetings)

2014
Week 17 - 4 recs, 58 yards
Week 11 - 6 recs, 59 yards

2013
No games vs. CAR (injury)

2012
Week 14 - 5 recs, 66 yards, 1 TD
Week 4 - 1 rec, 30 yards

Stacking in Cash Games
Here, we discussed a "game theory" question of whether stacking players on the same team was a beneficial strategy in the low-volatility world of cash game roster-building. Come for the discussion, stay for the coining of the term "Power Stack!"

Justin Howe: A cash stack is only viable if you're talking about a reliably high-usage and high-impact receiver. By that, I mean one who dominates targets and elevates his quarterback's game. Otherwise, you'll be moving away from the highly owned and high-floor options and banking on suboptimal outcomes -- the unexpected coming to life. And that's strictly a GPP principle, spending your QB and a WR slot on an under-the-radar combo with an outside chance of producing. In cash games, we need to be following the chalk (for the most part) and, more importantly, seeking floors, not ceilings.

[Stacking players like Kirk Cousins and Pierre Garcon is] a far cry from what Ryan calls a "Power Stack." Say you're stacking [Ben] Roethlisberger and [Antonio] Brown. Chasing their floors, we can reasonably expect something around 280 yards and 1.5 touchdowns from Roethlisberger (17.2 points) and six receptions, 80 yards line from Brown (14 points). Allow for even a slight increase from those low-ball numbers (in either yardage or touchdowns), and you're cashing easily on them.

GPP Pivots
In this question, I discussed another game theory/strategy topic but asked the gang to apply this week's players and prices to the situation. Generally, a good GPP strategy is to find the "chalk" player(s) and pivot to other more high-upside plays in their same price range. Will had some nice insight on the tight end position.

Will Grant: Scott Chandler was a big play at TE last week because Rob Gronkowski was out. Chandler had a decent week with 16 points including a touchdown, so his salary took a big jump from $2,500 to $3,800. That should get people to back off a bit, but he'll probably still see a high ownership percentage this week. Consider pivoting to Tampa Bay's Austin Seferian-Jenkins instead. He is back in the lineup now, and he had three catches for 31 yards last week. That kept his salary low at $2,700, but this week he's going against the Saints, who have given up playing defense this season. Opposing tight ends have been mauling them the last four weeks Greg Olsen scored 23.9 points last week; Ryan Griffin had 17.2 the week before; Jordan Reed had 17.9 before that; and Delanie Walker had 30.50 (along with teammate Anthony Fasano putting up 12.3) the week before that. At $2,700, Seferian-Jenkins has some big upside. He'll give you an extra $1,100 in salary over Chandler as well.

Dirt Cheap Quarterbacks
This question focused on Blaine Gabbert and Johnny Manziel in the San Francisco-Cleveland game. I asked the guys to discuss whether or not they would use either of those low-priced options to build up the rest of their lineups. And if not, I asked them to provide other low-priced alternatives.

John Mamula: I will have limited exposure to Manziel and Gabbert this weekend. The game total of 41 points is scaring me off of these offenses. I agree with Jeff that Taylor is in a good spot this weekend. But the low-priced quarterback that I am targeting is Jameis Winston ($5,500) vs. the Saints. The Bucs-Saints game has the highest projected game total of the week at 50.5 points. Winston is a couple of weeks removed from his five-touchdown performance vs. the Eagles. The Saints allowed five more passing touchdowns last week, which brings their season total up to a staggering 35 passing touchdowns allowed. To put that in perspective, the Eagles have allowed the second most passing touchdowns (28), and then it levels off with a few teams at 25 and 24 passing touchdowns allowed. Vegas is projecting this game to turn into a shootout, which provides Winston with a floor of two passing touchdowns. Barring injury, Winston will achieve 4x value this week on DraftKings.

For GPPs, I will still have about 60-70% exposure to West because I suspect he will be 40-50% owned; I always want to roster players I like at a rate higher than the masses while getting less exposure to players I dislike (when compared to global ownership percentages). If I am entering just one GPP lineup, I think you have to roster West and try to beat the field elsewhere because of his upside and likely ownership.

Enjoy the full article. It was a great week of discussion!  

Week 9 DraftKings Fantasy Roundtable

This week's discussion focused on replacement running backs, budget quarterbacks, defense/special teams plays, and off-script games. It was a great session with the DraftKings staff and should give our readers plenty of insight heading into their Week 9 contests.

Some excerpts are below, and the full article is here.

Williams a Lock?
This topic discussed DeAngelo Williams and if he represents a good value play at his $5,500 price tag.

Chris Feery: I agree with everyone so far. Williams is far from a lock this week and will probably be very highly-owned. Also, as the others have mentioned, the better approach to attacking the Raiders would be through the air, making Roethlisberger and company an appealing target. Will just mentioned a great alternative in Jeremy Langford at $4,000, and there are few others we can look at in the same price range as Williams. A little to the north on the salary scale, we have Doug Martin at $5,700. Martin was underwhelming last week, but prior to that he had scored 23+ points for three consecutive weeks. As a cheaper alternative, consider Danny Woodhead at $4,800. Woodhead is another player coming off of a down game, but could see a nice bump in opportunities as the Chargers sort through their injury issues. 

Budget QBs
This discussion centered around Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota as they are the next opponents for the New York Giants and New Orleans Saints, respectively. But the guys took this one in other directions and recommended other low-priced quarterbacks with better prospects this week.

John Lee: ...and this is why we play DFS! I agree with Dan that Carr is intriguing in the same price range as Winston and Mariota, but I am not fond of John's Fitzpatrick selection. Both will face suspect secondaries, but I suspect the Jets will try to protect Fitzpatrick and any chance they have at a wild-card bid this year; if he aggravates the thumb injury while sitting in the pocket looking for a receiver against the Jaguars, nobody is going to forgive first year head coach for allowing it to happen. Instead, I expect a run-first approach from the Jets, although I do agree it is a tough matchup against a very stout rush defense.

Defense Plays
This topic discussed team defenses for this week, particularly as compared to Atlanta, who gets to face a very weak San Francisco team starting Blaine Gabbert this week.

Dan Hindery: The choice of defense for Week 9 is going to be a tough one, and I do not know if a real consensus play will end up emerging by Sunday morning or if there will be a cluster of defenses all ranked similarly. My shortlist top-five for Week 9 includes:

New Orleans ($2,200) - Sure they just got torched for 49 points. But the Tennessee offense is a mess, and they are projected to score fewer than 20 points this week by Vegas. Perhaps it is a better GPP play than a cash game option, but the extra $1,000 or so in savings compared to the top defenses could really provide a boost to a cash game lineup as well. There is also an interesting precedent here; Houston got torched for 42 first half points in Week 7 and came back against Tennessee in Week 8 and held them to six points, notched seven sacks, and collected three turnovers.

New England ($3,300) - New England is favored by 14 points, which means Washington will almost certainly be playing from behind and forced to go pass-heavy. Kirk Cousins has been turnover-prone throughout his career. New England has been one of the better D/ST options all season with 26 sacks in seven games. But they have yet to score a touchdown, which is the only thing that has kept them from having a big week. At some point, they are due to find the end zone.

Off-Script Games
Here, we discussed how we use Vegas to help us project games but that they're sometimes wrong. We're trying to identify the Week 9 games that won't go according to script.

John Mamula: I was surprised to see the Vegas projection of 49 total points in the Chicago Bears-San Diego Chargers game. I see this game coming in about six or seven points fewer than what Vegas is projecting. I do not see either offense producing as they have done in the past without their key playmakers.

Philip Rivers is leading the league in passing with 2,695 passing yards and 336 passing yards per game this season. He has thrown for multiple touchdowns in every home game this season. However, Rivers has lost his number one passing target, Keenan Allen. Through eight games, Allen had 67 receptions for 725 yards. This loss will have an effect on the entire offense and limits Rivers' upside. On the other side of the field, the Chicago Bears will be without the centerpiece of their offense, Matt Forte. Alshon Jeffery should be held in check by up-and-coming cornerback, Jason Verrett.

Enjoy the full article. It was a great week of discussion!  

Week 7 Punt Plays

Every week John Lee and I (Jeff Pasquino) discuss our punt plays for DraftKings on The Audible to close out our weekly DFS DraftKings podcast.  These are players that we are looking at to fill in a last spot on our lineups that are relatively cheap.  We have all been there - we have only a few bucks left and 1-2 spots to go in our roster, and we need a good value play to fill in that gap.  The rules we play by are that the player must not cost more than $3,500.

So who made my short list for this week?  Well, I can only use one on the show - and I am not going to steal the thunder from our three picks that make the airwaves - but I will share a few guys that did not make it for the final cut.  Some of them look pretty solid this week, so give them a read and tell me what you think, either in the comments or on twitter (@JeffPasquino).  Here goes:

Theo Riddick, RB, Lions ($3,400) - Today's winner of the Last Man Standing award goes to Theo Riddick, the lone healthy back for Detroit that isn't physically hurting or suffering from fumblitis.  Riddick could easily get 10 carries and 4+ catches this week against the Vikings.  If he gets 60 yards, that's 10 points right there and an easy cash (3x) value.  That's his floor, folks.  A tournament upside is just one scoring play away.

Albert Wilson, WR, Chiefs ($3,000) - Wilson scored last week for Kansas City, which certainly improves his value (and makes him something of a unicorn for Kansas City, who never seem to be able to get a wide receiver to the end zone).  Now that Jeremy Maclin is recovering from a concussion, Wilson could see the most targets of any Chief wide receiver this week.

Darren McFadden, RB, Cowboys ($3,100) and Chrstine Michael, RB, Cowboys ($3,000) - Dallas is already talking about giving Michael more chances, and McFadden saw a ton of targets in Week 4 before the bye.  I expect Dallas to run a ton against the Giants, using the strength of the Cowboys with their offensive line to establish themselves early and get back towards the top of the woeful NFC East.  Both players should see enough touches to get 9-10 points quite easily, and a touchdown makes them hit tournament value with ease.

Monday - Thursday Slate

You will not find much discussions on the Mon - Thurs NFL slates around the Internet, for a number of reasons.  First, picking players from just two games is scary.  The way to take down a GPP on a two game slate is pretty simple - get everything right.  That's hard.  With more games in play, the room for error is much bigger.  Look no further than a DraftKings' weekly perfect lineup and compare it to the top scores on even the biggest GPPs and you will find that the winners were still about 20% or more lower than the perfect score.  On short slates, you need to be as close to perfection, if not 100% perfect, as possible.

Still, these can be some fun games to play, and that's what DFS is supposed to be about, right?  Watch the games with a chance to win some money, and if you don't, just say "Oh well, maybe next time."  That's the attitude you need here.

The other part that makes Monday - Thursday slates so difficult is that these games are three days apart, which feels like a lifetime.  Consider this week where Baltimore goes to Pittsburgh on Thursday.  We know that Michael Vick will be starting, but there are some other guys who are banged up (like Crockett Gillmore) and we are not certain about whether they will play on Thursday.  That highlights a great feature of DraftKings - the ability to make a late swap right up until a player's game kicks off.  You can put Gillmore in, for example, and then decide to use Heath Miller instead on Thursday or even Maxx Williams.  You have that choice.

Now, let's talk about Monday Night Football and Kansas City visiting Green Bay.  The simple recipe for the Chiefs is to run the ball as much as possible with Jamaal Charles ($7,400) (and a little of Knile Davis ($3,000)) and play keep away from Aaron Rodgers.  That might work for a while and keep Kansas City in the game until later in the contest, which is all you want to have Charles be productive and getting 20+ touches in this one.  Travis Kelce  ($5,000) is the the top target for Alex Smith ($6,000), and the big tight end could find the end zone in Lambeau Field.  Jeremy Maclin ($6,000) will have a hard time getting to value unless he gets to 100 yards, and I just do not see that happening.  I like using Kelce and Charles from this group, but Alex Smith and/or Maclin are tournament options.

Green Bay should have Eddie Lacy ($7,200) starting tonight instead of James Starks ($3,000), but I think this game comes down to Aaron Rodgers ($8,000) and his big arm.   Randall Cobb ($7,300) should see a lot of opportunity from the slot and I like him to be the leading receiver tonight, while James Jones ($4,800) has a better chance to score than Davante Adams ($5,000) who is also coming back from injury.  Rodgers and Cobb are my favorite plays, but either wide receiver is a viable tourney option as is TE Richard Rodgers ($2,500).

Now let's talk AFC North.  Baltimore, 0-3 for the first time with Joe Flacco and John Harbaugh, heads to Pittsburgh where the Steelers have to figure out what to do without Ben Roethlisberger on a short week.  Michael Vick ($5,000) will be your starter here, but the value of stud wide reciever Antonio Brown ($9.200) drops significantly, as does home run wideout Derrius Heyward-Bey ($3,600).  Markus Wheaton ($3,500) barely warrants any mention, but two players sure to be in the short passing game this week are running back Le'Veon Bell ($7,700) and TE Heath Miller ($3,700).  Vick will dump the ball into Bell's hands early and often, and Miller should have a good shot at reaching value against Baltimore's soft secondary, something Miller always seems to find a way to exploit in this rivalry.  My top picks for Pittsburgh are Bell and Miller, but if you need cap room, consider Vick, who makes a cheap tournament stack play with Antonio Brown.  I would really not go hard after any other wide reciever aside from Brown, but if you are looking to separate your lineups, Wheaten or Heyward-Bey are you choices.

The Ravens are desperate for a win.  DESPERATE.  Joe Flacco ($6,000) has so few options to move the ball, it is almost ridiculous.  After WR Steve Smith ($6,200), only five targets went to wide receivers last week.  Tight ends Crockett Gillmore ($3,500) and rookie Maxx Williams ($2,500) were featured more all over the field against Cincinnati, and Williams could be the guy if Gillmore is out (he missed all of the second half for reasons unknown).  The run game could be in play, but who do you trust?  Justin Forsett ($6,000) is not looking that great, and Lorenzo Taliaferro ($3,000) is not on the field enough, even if he does get a shot at a touchdown.  Flacco and Smith are the safe options, and then it is anyone's best guess.

As always, take it easy on short slates, but have some fun.  Enjoy the games for what they are - games with some chance at some nice upside.  Good luck.

Enter your Monday-Thursday teams here on DraftKings.

Weekly DraftKings Show on The Audible

Weekly DraftKings Show on The Audible

Check out the Week 2 FanDuel show on The Audible. Every Friday morning Cecil Lammey, Jeff Pasquino and John "tipandpick" Lee dig into the Vegas lines, cover the key cash game and GPP plays at all the major positions (and defense!) before looking at their punt plays for the week. 

Listen here or subscribe to The Audible on iTunes and never miss an episode.

Follow all your favorites on Twitter as well:

Follow @JeffPasquino

Follow @tipandpick

Follow @TheAudible

Week 2: Why I love Darren Sproles

As I start to build my Cash and GPP lineups for this weekend, I find that I'm leaning toward Darren Sproles a lot this week.

Here's a couple reasons why you should consider having him in your lineup.

Last Week's Performance. 

Sproles had only 5 rushing attempts, but converted them into 50 yards of rushing, compared with the 14 total yards from DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews combined. Sproles won't get many goal line carries, but he knows how to make the most of his limited touches.

Now add in the seven receptions on nine targets for 76 more yards and you can see he turned in a pretty solid day from a fantasy prospective. That gave him 19.6 points in DraftKings scoring system, for a very affordable $3500.

If you've read our Cracking DraftKings Strategy Guide, you know that to be a good Cash Game player (50/50, double ups), we're targeting a player that can reach 3x their salary in points. For a Tournament, we're looking for 4x or better. At 3500, Sproles only needs 10.5 points to be a 3x player. at 14 he's 4x and at 17.5 he's 5x or more. Last week Sproles didn't reach the end zone, but at 19.6 points, he was almost 6x his salary value.

The Monday Night Salary Exploit

In most cases, DraftKings needs to lock in the stating salary for the following week contests before the Monday Night game is finished. Since Sproles was playing in Monday Night of Week 1, his performance wasn't considered when his salary was set for Week 2. Savvy DraftKings players know this and look for value plays based on the Monday Night game. As expected, Sproles salary for this week is still only $3500 despite his big performance last week against Atlanta.

Week 2: Sproles vs. Dallas Cowboys

 Last week the Cowboys only gave up 99 yards rushing, but Shane Vereen also chipped in four receptions for another 46 yards. The Cowboys also controlled the clock for the game, allowing the Giants less than 23 minutes of offense. Those are similar stats to what the Eagles had against the Falcons, so any improvement on that means more opportunities for Sproles to touch the ball.

Vegas is expecting a high scoring game. The current Over/Under is 55.5 points, with the Eagles a 5 point favorite at home. This means the Eagles are protected to put up about 30 points in this game. The Cowboys are also without Dez Bryant this week, which will make it that much harder for them to move the ball. The more opportunities that the Eagles have to score, the more likely Sproles will be to reach his target value.

Currently, our projections at Footballguys.com have Sproles with four receptions and a combined 52 yards rushing and receiving. This puts him very close to 3x value already, not taking into account any potential TD scoring. He could easily exceed these if this turns into a high-scoring game.

Return TD Potential. 

Finally, Sproles is also Philadelphia's punt returner. While DraftKings doesn't award points for return yards, they do give 6 points for any punt return TD. (See Jarvis Landry's stat line from last week).

Sproles only had 2 punt return TDs last season, but that extra scoring opportunity only makes him that much more attractive.

A Note on GPP.

Sproles is no brainer in cash games. In GPP he represents excellent value as well, but he might also be in a lot of other lineups. Typically you target player that are not on a lot of other rosters, so this is something to consider before using Sproles in a tournament lineup. He has an excellent chance to reach the 4x or 5x value that you want, so if you decide to use him, make sure to target lesser owned players with your other roster spots.

Good Luck this weekend!


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