Writing on Wednesdays can be dangerous sometimes and it left us without a wide receiver last week. The good news is that we hit on pretty much everyone else, with Kendrick Bourne, Zach Ertz, J.K. Dobbins and David Johnson all being great values. We’re going to look to build off of that momentum with the regular season winding down, so, let’s get into this slate!
If you have any comments or questions, reach me on Twitter @Bartilottajoel.
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Saturday Slate
We get three games for the Saturday slate and we’ll go over each one individually.
The first matchup features the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions. The only Detroit player that’s trustworthy is Marvin Jones but he could be without Matthew Stafford. The running game for Tampa is the best option on the board, with Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones both in play. If Jones is out again, don’t fade Fournette. The Buccaneers D/ST is a great value as well.
The second matchup gives us the Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers. Kyler Murray and DeAndre Hopkins are obviously the best plays out there while Kendrick Bourne and Jeff Wilson are the Niners’ best options.
The Saturday slate is capped off with the Las Vegas Raiders hosting the Miami Dolphins. The Vegas run defense is what we want to exploit, with Salvon Ahmed and Miles Gaskin both in play. In terms of the Raiders, Josh Jacobs and Darren Waller are their top options, with Henry Ruggs and Nelson Agholor being decent values. Keep an eye on the Derek Carr injury as well, as that could open up things for Marcus Mariota.
Sunday Slate
Quarterback of the Week
Jalen Hurts (PHI) $7,000 at DAL
I hate to buy into the hype train so early but it’s hard to fade Hurts in such a tasty matchup after such a sparkling debut. Let’s start by talking about his opposition, with Dallas sitting 31st in total defense. Opposing quarterbacks have been obliterating them all season long and one has to believe Hurts will do just that after dropping 40.8 DK points in his starting debut on Sunday. He did that damage with his dual-threat ways and that only adds to his floor at this friendly $7K price tag.
Patrick Mahomes is the highest-priced player on the slate but he’s worth every dollar against one of the worst secondaries in football.
Cash Game Running Back
David Johnson (HOU) $6,100 vs. CIN
Johnson was our cash game option last week but after his stellar performance in Week 15, he’s going to be more of a cash-game player this week. The reason for that is because he’ll be used in a lot more lineups and rightfully so. What we really like is the fact that DJ has finally become the focal point of the passing game, recording 11 catches for 106 receiving yards on Sunday. That led to 27.2 DraftKings points which is truly miraculous since he didn’t score a touchdown or run the ball well. He could do both of those things well against the Bengals, with Cincy sitting 27th in rushing yards allowed and 25th in yards per carry surrendered.
David Montgomery is one of the hottest players in the league and should keep rolling against a dreadful Jaguars defense.
GPP Running Back
Giovani Bernard (CIN) $4,800 at HOU
Bernard has been very frustrating for fantasy owners at times this season but that has lowered his price tag to a point we can’t fade. Not only is he a great receiving option out of the backfield, Gio also saw 25 carries on Monday Night. That tied his season-high with 23 DK points and he could definitely duplicate that total against a defense like Houston. The Texans currently allow the most fantasy points in the league to opposing running backs, allowing at least 119 rushing yards in four-straight fixtures.
Frank Gore just got 23 carries last week and that alone makes him a GPP option at just $4,200.
Cash Game Wide Receiver
Tyreek Hill (KC) $9,000 vs. ATL
This play really doesn’t need a whole lot of explanation. Hill is probably the best wide receiver in fantasy right now and he gets to face the 32nd-ranked Falcons secondary. That’d be good for any wideout but we’re talking about a guy who’s averaging 23.4 DraftKings points per game for the year. He’s been even better recently, scoring at least 15 DK points in eight-straight games while averaging an absurd 28.5 fantasy points per game in that span. Don’t fade this guy no matter the cost.
Jarvis Landry has a target share near 30 percent since Odell Beckham got injured and could continue his recent success against a bad Jets team.
GPP Wide Receiver
Amari Cooper (DAL) $5,700 vs. PHI
A lot of people have written off Cooper because of the quarterback troubles in Dallas but he’s quietly having a really nice season. Averaging 15.7 DK points is impressive enough but he had at least 13 fantasy points in five-straight before a stinker on Sunday. That terrible game lowered his price below $6K though and that makes Cooper one of the best values out there. The matchup is fantastic too, with Philly missing most of their secondary due to injury which was evident by the 406 yards allowed to Kyler Murray on Sunday.
If we like Hurts, we have to like Jalen Reagor as his top target.
Tight End of the Week
Zach Ertz (PHI) $3,100 at DAL
We actually went with Ertz last week at $3,400 and he provided us with 69 receiving yards in one of his best games of the season. What we really like is that he played over 70 percent of the team snaps for the second-straight week, receiving seven targets as well. He actually had at least five targets in each of his first six games before getting injured and it’s crazy to think that his price dropped after 69 yards on Sunday. In any case, Ertz is way too cheap and he might have an even better matchup here against a dreadful Dallas defense.
Travis Kelce is about $3,000 more than any tight end but rightfully so.
D/ST of the Week
Cincinatti Bengals $2,300 at HOU
This is a pretty risky pick but anyone who watched this team on Monday knows that this is not a bad unit. The $2,300 price tag indicates that it is but forcing Pittsburgh into three turnovers and holding them to 170 passing yards is an impressive feat. The offense they face this week is much worse than the Steelers too, with Deshaun Watson running for his life on every play. That’s evident when you see that teams have 16 sacks and five fumble recoveries against Houston over the last three weeks. Man, that’s terrible!
If you can pay up, Baltimore is an easy pick against the New York Giants.
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Joel Bartilotta is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Joel, check out his archive and follow him @Bartilottajoel.
