Have you ever looked at a slate of NFL games and thought to yourself, “I want way too many guys, my player pool is too big”? If so, then this column is right up your alley. A savvy way to gain more exposure to more players is by playing them on either Fanduel or DraftKings, but not both. Our goal is to use them where they offer more value based on the salary structure on any given week of the NFL season. Let’s look at a handful of players that are viable options for this week and on what site they offer us more value.
QB
DraftKings –
Trevor Siemian is the 20th priced quarterback on DraftKings ($5,500) and the 16th priced quarterback on Fanduel ($7,400). On Fanduel, Siemian is priced right around names like Philip Rivers, Marcus Mariota, and Kirk Cousins (who are all home in Week 3). On DraftKings, Trevor is priced around less appealing names like Eli Manning, Andy Dalton, and a handful of guys who aren’t even playing right now.
While we don’t often like to take road quarterbacks, he is favored while traveling to Buffalo to play the weak and feeble Bills (I am a sad and sour member of the #BillsMafia). He is purely a GPP play, as it is still hard to trust him. But that is built into his price on DraftKings, and he has scored over 20 DraftKings points in both of the first two games.
What is extremely inviting is his number of red zone passing attempts, which shows the coaching staff is trusting him to make good decisions with the football. He currently has thrown 13 passes in the red one (4th highest in the NFL) which has helped make him the league leader in passing touchdowns with six.
Fanduel –
Philip Rivers is the 14th priced quarterback on Fanduel ($7,500) and 7th priced quarterback on DK ($6,400). His DraftKings price is almost unplayable while his Fanduel price left plenty of room for upside in Week 3.
In 2017, Rivers has the 7th most passing attempts through two games (72) and the 18th most red zone attempts (7). Five of those red zone attempts came in Week 2 against the Dolphins while only two of them were against the Broncos in Week 1.
He has only thrown one “interceptable” pass (which was picked off) but has four passing touchdowns and 304 air yards (7th most in the NFL). He’s heaving the ball all over the field and limiting errors while maximizing upside. He’s underpriced on Fanduel and at home against the Chiefs in Week 3.
He’s underpriced on Fanduel and at home against the Chiefs in Week 3. The DFS Army staff preaches to not touch a quarterback when playing their second game of the season against a divisional rival but in the first game their isn’t a negative correlation.
His ownership has been extremely low in both of the first two weeks while his production has surpassed seven of the quarterbacks priced ahead of him. This means his production price should make him the 7th priced quarterback on Fanduel, however, he’s a super value at 14th.
Thank you, for your delicious pricing in Week 2, Fanduel!
RB
DraftKings –
Ty Montgomery is the 7th priced running back on Fanduel ($7,200) and the 6th priced running back on DK ($6,900). He is basically a lock on both sites in cash games until his price rises to where it should be. However, he is a much better target on DK because of the full point per reception scoring format.
The Packers might be without Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb in Week 3. They should have a positive game script as they are favored by 10 points at home against the Bengals. Montgomery will likely receive 20-plus touches again and could soak up a few more check down targets out of the backfield.
Running back that are favored at home are the ideal place to start for cash games and Montgomery needs to be your RB1 on both sites for cash. I’ll dive into this in detail in Friday’s cash game article.
Fanduel –
James White is 28th in Fanduel pricing ($5,600) and 15th in DraftKings pricing ($5,400). He’s become a very important piece of the Patriots offense as they continue to lose offensive weapons.
The Patriots could conceivably be missing Malcolm Mitchell, Danny Amendola, Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, and Rex Burkhead. Chris Hogan was also limping through most of Week 2 after rolling his ankle in the first half. This means the only skill position players without a “Q” tag going into Week 3 will be, James White, Mike Gillislee, Dion Lewis, and Brandon Cooks.
James White was targeted eight times in Week 2, and that was with a perceived negative game script (Patriots ahead with three touchdown lead against the Saints. Which means in Week 3, as 13 point home favorites against the Texans, James White likely should receive close to double-digit targets and possibly more if Burkhead is out.
In 2017, James White has seven red zone touches (5th most in the NFL for running backs) and 13 targets (3rd most). He will not only be used out of the backfield for the passing game but if Burkhead is out then he’ll be used in the slot (which he was for a handful of snaps when Burkhead left the game).
He is a fantastic option on both sites this week, however, he is a much better play on Fanduel because of his low price tag.
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WR
DraftKings
Davante Adams is the 28th priced wide receiver on DraftKings ($5,600) and the 21st priced wide receiver on Fanduel ($6,800). The Packers might be without Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb in Week 3, which means targets might be funneled to Adams and Martellus Bennett.
In 2016, Adams finished with a 92% snap share (22nd best rate for WRs) and received 121 targets (20th best in NFL). He’s was in on 659 pass plays (5th most in NFL), and finished with 14 red zone receptions (4th best) and 12 total touchdowns (2nd best).
In Week 3, the Packers are 10-point home favorites against the Bengals. They likely won’t have to throw the ball 45 times to win this game but they won’t need to for Adams to outproduce his DraftKings price tag. With less passing options for Aaron Rodgers, Adams could possibly play the role as his primary target.
Fanduel
Chris Hogan is the 30th price wide receiver on Fanduel ($6,400) and the 20th priced wide receiver on DraftKings ($6,100). On Fanduel we are looking for touchdowns out of our wide receivers and his pricing play right into that strategy for Week 3.
As 13 point favorites against the visiting Houston Texans, the Patriots likely won’t have to pass the ball a ton to win this game. That said, this is a similar situation that we have with the Packers, as they won’t throw as much as they did in Week 2 but there are less passing options in Week 3. This means players like Davante Adams and Chris Hogan can grab a larger slice of the pie (even though it’s smaller this week).
In the first two weeks of the NFL season, Hogan has the fifth most yards after catch (64) in the NFL. In Week 2, he received two red zone targets and finished with one touchdown.
As long as Chris Hogan is active and not hobbled by his lower leg injury, he is a superb play at his current price tag.
You can find me on Twitter @DFSnDONUTS where I post my daily articles and enjoy interacting with my followers. best of luck in DFS this weekend and make sure to send me over any winning screenshots you may have had using my research!
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