GPP QBs-
Philip Rivers – I think the Chargers are in for a big game against the Jets this week and there should be plenty of points to go around. I am high on Gordon, Allen, and Gates this week so I have to like Rivers as well. The Chargers are 1 game behind the Chiefs in their division so they definitely need a win here so I don’t expect them to let off the pedal if they have a large lead. I think Rivers has one of the highest ceilings this week and if you want to get risky in a GPP you can go with a Chargers onslaught and pair Rivers with Gordon, Allen, Gates, and the Chargers DST. I rarely go with the onslaught approach but if they blow the Jets out 40-0 then you’ll definitely be sitting pretty at the top of a GPP if you get it right.
Alex Smith – I think most of the ownership this week will go to Newton, Brady, Wilson, and then Brees. Alex Smith is stuck up there with all of those guys salary wise so I don’t see many people clicking on his name. The Chiefs are in a great spot this week against Miami and Smith is always under owned in tournaments. I think pivoting from those other QBs to Smith here could separate you from the field if he does go off. You also get the sneaky upside of his rushing yards and he could rush one in at the goal line as well. I like pairing Smith with Kelce and if you want to bring it back with a player on the other side I think Landry is a solid option.
Matthew Stafford – Stafford has been pretty solid all year long and he always seems to be under owned. Last week it looked like the Bengals just gave up for the season and the Lions need a win here so I imagine they will come out strong and try to get off to an early lead and put this Bengals team one step closer to vacation. The Lions don’t have much of a rushing game to speak of and Stafford has lots of weapons he can throw to in the passing game. Even if the Lions get off to an early lead they don’t have a work horse RB to milk the clock so I would expect a lot of short dump offs to pad Stafford’s stats. I think we could see Stafford around 5% owned this week and if he dropped 30+ points I would not be shocked at all. I think you can stack any of his weapons with him, my favorites being Tate and Ebron. If you want to bring it back on the other side AJ Green will be another under owned guy who could have a massive game.
Honorable Mentions- Jared Goff, Drew Brees, Blake Bortles
GPP RBs-
Alvin Kamara – See my cash game article… But I can’t leave his name off this one because I am so high on him this week in all formats.
James White – The Patriots will be without Rex Burkhead this week and I think that James White will be back to the passing role option that he was earlier in the season. I wouldn’t expect many carries, I would guess 3-5 but it’s the potential receiving targets that make me like White this week. I think we could see him get up to 10 targets and if he can turn those into a decent game then his price tag of 4.1k shouldn’t be too hard to outperform. Even if Mike Gillislee does come back this week I don’t expect him to eat into White role much if at all.
Jordan Howard – I think the Bears will be playing from ahead in this game and that makes me like Howard a decent amount this week. He is the type of RB who can carry the ball 30 times in a game if needed and he has a sneaky high ceiling for a guy who doesn’t get many receiving targets. I think you can get Howard at a low ownership this week and I think he could go over 100 yards with a TD or two against this terrible Browns team. I like stacking Howard with the Bears DST in tournaments in case the D shuts down Kizer and then Howard can milk the clock in the 4th quarter.
Leonard Fournette – I think Fournette is a very strong tournament play this week because I think the players around his salary are more likely to be picked than he is. I think he could run all over this poor SF defense and if he scored 2-3 TDs I would not be shocked. Most people will be cautious of paying up for Fournette because he is coming off an injury and that is why it is the perfect time to use him in GPPs. You want to get on the guy the week he blows up, not the week after when he garners a much higher ownership percentage. I think Fournette will get his normal large load of carries this week and he has the talent to turn those into huge fantasy numbers.
Honorable Mentions- Jonathan Stewart, Dion Lewis, Theo Riddick
GPP WRs-
Julio Jones – JULIO MFing JONES!! I know that’s not his middle name but man it sounds good doesn’t it? That gets screamed in my house every time he scores a TD because I have a rule for myself that if Julio is on the slate than I will have no less than 30% of him in my lineups. Every single week I will have at least 30% and I think I will have closer to 50-60% this week. Julio not practicing this week should scare a lot of the public off of him and onto Keenan Allen. This makes Julio the perfect GPP pivot this week because he has the talent to go OFF on any CB in the league. I expect Allen to be the chalk play here so if you can get Julio at a lower ownership % any week, especially in a dome, I think it’s the perfect opportunity to capitalize on. Now if you can’t tell, I am a little biased towards Julio but it’s because he has won me a lot of money so he will be in my GPP articles more often than not. I also like plugging Kamara into my Julio lineups and hoping for a shootout in that game.
Golden Tate – As I mentioned with Stafford, I think this Bengals team is done. They have checked out and are ready to relax on a beach somewhere. The Lions need a win here so I think Stafford will be looking at Tate often whether they are in the lead or somehow down on the scoreboard. I would expect Tate to see around 10 targets in this game and he hasn’t reached the 100 yard bonus in the previous 6 games so I think he is due here. According to Pro Football Focus, Tate has the #1 best WR/CB matchup of any receiver on the slate this week going against KeiVarae Russell so I would look to exploit that and get a big game from Tate here at a decently low ownership percentage. I like stacking him with Stafford and if you want to bring it back with AJ Green I think he is a very talented low owned play you can use as well in GPPs.
Dede Westbrook – Dede burned everyone last week. For most people that just leaves such a bad taste in their mouth that they refuse to go back to a person that just burned them. That is my favorite situation to capitalize on with a talented player in a good spot. I was one of the people who was burned last week but if they had a rematch this week I would still be on him so I am trusting that the process was right and it was just an off game. This week we can get Westbrook at a much lower ownership because not only did he burn everyone but DraftKings raised his price a good amount so that will keep people away as well. I am going to have heavy exposure to Dede this weekend in tournaments and I think he will light this SF defense up. Look for Dede to get the 100 yard bonus this week and I think he finds the end zone as well.
Honorable Mentions- Brandin Cooks, Robert Woods, Doug Baldwin
GPP TEs-
Travis Kelce – Kelce is my favorite GPP play this week aside from the TE’s in my cash game article. I think Kelce has a great chance to be the top scoring TE on this slate and I think you can get him at a much lower ownership that Gronk, not to mention he is $500 cheaper on DK. Kelce gets a ridiculous amount of targets for a TE and he is able to reach the 100 yard bonus a good amount of the time. He is Alex Smith’s favorite target and for good reason. I think the common trend for most players is to pay down at TE and pay up at the skill positions. That is why paying up for Kelce makes perfect sense this week in GPPs. You differentiate your lineup and you get basically WR talent in your TE spot. I think Kelce finds the end zone at least once this week and he should get at ~10 targets to turn into some big time points.
Jimmy Graham – Along with Wilson, Graham burned a lot of people last week which will keep his ownership down this week. He is coming off four pretty terrible games so I don’t see many people at all wanting to click his name here. I think we are in for a shootout with the Seahawks and Cowboys and if that is the case Graham should have a large role in the game plan. Graham is 4.7k this week on DraftKings and we have not seen him priced that low since week 8. I like to capitalize on talented players when their price tag is at the lowest point and I think this is a good spot to do that with Jimmy. You can pair him with Wilson and bring it back with Zeke if you want to hope for the shootout and get points from multiple places in this game.
See my cash game article for the other TE’s I like, they are solid GPP plays as well.
Honorable Mentions- Austin Hooper, Rob Gronkowski, Delanie Walker
GPP DSTs-
Jaguars- The Jags defense has been pretty amazing this year. They always gain a decent amount of ownership because of the crazy ceiling they can provide but I think all of the Garoppolo talk will drive their ownership down a bit this week. I don’t think Garoppolo is the next Brady so I wouldn’t be afraid of paying up for the Jags in this spot. The Jags DST have scored over 20 fantasy points on four separate occasions this year and if that happened again this week it wouldn’t be that crazy. If they can see that high ceiling of over 20 points this week then it will be hard to win a GPP without them.
Patriots- I think most people would prefer to have offensive players from the Pats this week so going to their DST in GPPs could be a good move to make your lineup different. The Bills do not have a ton of offensive weapons I am worried about so as long as the Pats can keep Shady in check then I don’t see many points being scored against them. The Pats DST has scored 9 or more fantasy points in 5 of their last 7 games so if you can get that from them again this week then you are sitting pretty assuming the rest of your team does well also.
Redskins- I don’t love the Redskins defense but I think they are in play here just because the Broncos offense is that bad. I don’t care who starts at QB for Denver, they should give Washington plenty of opportunities for turnovers whoever they decide to put back there. I don’t like a single Bronco this week in my lineups so for that reason I think taking a few shots at the Redskins DST could work out in GPP formats.
See my cash game article for other plays I like. I always think cash game plays are the best plays so I don’t avoid them in GPPs. I like to make cash lineups and just add a few GPP plays to them for a lot of my GPP teams so the players I mentioned for cash are not cash only plays, but they tend to come with higher ownership in GPPs which is what we like to avoid.
Good luck this week and I hope to see some DFS Army members at the top of leaderboards!