A couple of teams that need a lot of breaks to go on a playoff run face off for Monday Night Football. Nevertheless, the game’s spread is small. So, it could be entertaining, despite neither the Seahawks nor the Football Team being contenders. Of course, one way to add excitement to this contest is to have some daily fantasy action. Thus, I breakdown my favorite single-game slate players from both teams in this piece.
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Game: Seattle Seahawks at Washington Football Team
Spread: SEA -1.0 Points
Over/Under: 46.5 Points
A couple of teams that need a lot of breaks to go on a playoff run face off for Monday Night Football. Nevertheless, the game’s spread is small. So, it could be entertaining, despite neither the Seahawks nor the Football Team being contenders. Of course, one way to add excitement to this contest is to have some daily fantasy action. Thus, I breakdown my favorite single-game slate players from both teams in this piece.
Create Optimal FanDuel lineups using our DFS Lineup Optimizer tool
Game: Seattle Seahawks at Washington Football Team
Spread: SEA -1.0 Points
Over/Under: 46.5 Points
Seahawks Analysis: I'm honed in on a tight cluster of players from the Seahawks. Notably, I'm fading their running-back-by-committee backfield. According to our snap counts, last week, Alex Collins and DeeJay Dallas co-led the backfield in playing time (37%). It's a messy situation compounded by being ineffective and facing a bad matchup. So, I'm comfortable fading it.
Thus, I'm putting all of my eggs in Seattle's passing game basket. Unfortunately, Russell Wilson has struggled mightily in two games back from finger surgery. Nevertheless, maybe another week removed from the surgery will provide better results. If nothing else, he has a mouthwatering matchup. According to Football Outsiders, the Football Team is 30th in pass defense Defense-adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA). However, since Russ hasn't been cooking gourmet meals lately, fading him and attacking Washington's suspect defense with Seattle's pass-catchers instead is a viable maneuver.
Tyler Lockett and D.K. Metcalf are the runaway top two options in Seattle's passing game. According to Sports Info Solutions, Lockett has tallied a 26.4% target share, and Metcalf has garnered a 27.1% target share this year. Lockett is averaging 4.7 receptions and 71.7 receiving yards per game with three touchdowns. Meanwhile, Metcalf is averaging 4.6 receptions and 63.7 receiving yards per game with eight touchdowns. If picking between the two, I lean toward Metcalf. According to Pro Football Focus, he has an average depth of target of 12.5 yards downfield. Comparatively, Lockett's average depth of target is deeper at 14.7 yards downfield. According to Sharp Football Stats, Washington has allowed the 12th-lowest average explosive pass rate (eight percent). Thus, I prefer the wideout who's targeted a bit shorter.
Gerald Everett is also a fantastic matchup-driven selection with an average depth of target of only 4.1 yards. The athletic tight end does an excellent job of breaking tackles and gaining yards after the catch. Finally, D'Wayne Eskridge is a speculative dart throw. The Seahawks spent a second-round pick on him in this year's draft, and they desperately need others to step up in the passing game.
Football Team Analysis: The Football Team is getting Logan Thomas and Curtis Samuel back from injury this week. Unfortunately, they'll reportedly be on snap-count limitations. So, I can't justify using them. Instead, they enhance the outlook for Taylor Heinicke and muddy the playing time and target distribution for the ancillary pass-catchers. According to Pro-Football-Reference, as a starter, Heinicke is averaging 252.0 passing yards and 28.8 rushing yards per game, making him a genuine dual-threat quarterback. Further, he has a matchup made for success, as Seattle is 25th in pass defense DVOA.
Terry McLaurin is obviously his top option in the passing game. McLaurin is tied for sixth in target share (27.7%), and he's third in Intended Air Yards (1,168). He's parlaying his tantalizing usage into 5.4 receptions and 73.5 receiving yards per game, tacking on five touchdowns for good measure.
The only pass-catching options I have a moderate interest in behind McLaurin for the football team are running back J.D. McKissic and DeAndre Carter. According to Pro Football Focus, McKissic is fourth on the Football Team in routes (203). He's averaging 3.8 receptions and 37.1 receiving yards per game, chipping in with 4.4 rush attempts and 18.2 rushing yards per game. However, he's game-script dependent, and I expect Washington to beat the visiting Seahawks. As a result, I'm not crazy about using him.
As for Carter, he's quietly caught a touchdown in three straight games. In that three-game stretch, he's been third in routes (74) and receptions (eight), tied for second in targets (14), and second in receiving yards (129). As a result, I believe he will retain a role in the offense, even with Samuel returning at wideout.
Finally, I voiced my belief Washington would win. So, with that in mind, the game script will be favorable for Antonio Gibson if my expectations come to fruition. Washington has won back-to-back games, allowing Gibson to tote the rock 43 times for 159 yards and two touchdowns in the process. In Washington's wins this year, the second-year back averages 17.5 rush attempts for 72.8 yards per game with three touchdowns. Unfortunately, he's not heavily involved in the passing game. Nevertheless, he's caught two passes or more in eight of 10 games.
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Josh Shepardson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Josh, check out his archive and follow him @BChad50.