Strategy

The notion that the highest priced player on the slate is a value sounds absurd on the surface. However, Davante Adams has crested 119 Air Yards in five out of his past six games and is averaging almost 150 Air Yards during this same time frame. Additionally, he has seen double digit targets in every game since week nine. This has resulted in four finishes as the WR6 or better. Adams is coming off a game in which he “disappointed” with only 10.1 fantasy points.  This week he can very easily do what Justin Jefferson did to the Patriots in week 12 and finish as the WR1 in fantasy on the week.

Like a phoenix Drake London rises from the… ok I’ll pump the brakes on this one because the the Falcons are still projected to be a uber run heavy offense even with newly installed rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder. However it is exciting to get excited about London! He last saw 12 targets and 196 Air Yards in week 13. It’s fun to think that this was a preview of what his post bye week rookie bump is going to look like. While Arthur Smith has destroyed the souls of fantasy gamers all season, I would be interested in having lots of exposure to London in DFS this week in the hopes his rookie season rises from the ashes of Arthur Smith’s prior play calling.

The Jaguars entered Week 14 allowing the 8th-most passing fantasy points to QBs. They have allowed at least 27 points in three of their last four games. Dallas has a high-powered offense that has scored at least 28 in each of their last six games. Expect Prescott to wheel and deal against a mediocre Jaguars defense.

Etienne has not had a top-36 finish his last three games, with three receptions in that time, all in Week 13. Trevor Lawrence is leading the offense with his arm with the run game not of much use. Etienne has flashed great fantasy production, but his recent struggles combined with a bad matchup have him on fantasy benches to start the playoffs.

This season, only nine teams have allowed more tight-end receptions than the Detroit Lions. Now entering an offensive game script with a 51.5-point Vegas total (the highest on the Sunday afternoon slate) and a revenge narrative against the team that just traded him, it’s no surprise that T.J. Hockenson’s over 4.5 receptions prop is juiced to -130 on sportsbooks.

It’s concerning that in his last three games that Mike Evans hasn’t topped 11 fantasy points despite facing young cornerbacks that rank outside the top-50 in the Cornerback Rankings. Evans has faced two top-10 cornerbacks this season, resulting in two of his three worst performances on the season.

Amari Cooper disappointed last week despite the highly anticipated return of Deshaun Watson. He posted only eight fantasy points on nine targets. However he led the Browns with 96 Air Yards.  He is clearly Watson’s primary pass catcher in this offense.  Look for Amari to bounce back this week against the Bengals. He can be rostered confidently in all formats.

D.J. Moore returns from bye as the Air Yards value play of the week! Perhaps the fourth time is a charm as Moore scored a season high 20.3 with the Panthers utilizing, Sam Darnold, their fourth quarterback this season. Since the trade of Christian McCaffrey, Moore is the focal point of the Panthers offense and sports a league leading 44.6-percent Air Yards share. Play him in all lineups this week.

We will work under the assumption Vegas is sharp about the 49ers playing from ahead in Week 13. This means San Francisco has to find scoring somehow and production from one of their many weapons, especially in the end zone. We’re choosing Kittle to do that for us because this season the Dolphins have allowed the No. 6-most receiving yards per game and third-most receiving touchdowns to tight ends.

In his last three games, Robert Woods has had 7, 7, and 6 targets. During this stretch, he managed a 6-69-0 stat line against Jaire Alexander and the Packers has SIX red zone targets total. Woods’ season has been a disaster as a whole, but that’s why he’s still available in 60-percent of Sleeper leagues.

Amari Cooper is this week’s Air Yards value play! Cooper has exceeded expectations this season finishing as a weekly WR1 almost 50-percent of the weeks in which he plays. He has seen 573 Air Yards through his past four games after seeing 245 Air Yards last week. While Deshaun Watson will be taking over for Jacoby Brissett as quarterback after returning from his suspension, Cooper’s stranglehold on the Browns’ receiving game should not be affected. Fire up Cooper without hesitation in DFS this week.

Rachaad White’s 3.6 true yards per carry is nothing to write home about, and that number is so low in part to how beat up the Bucs’ offensive line has been. But luckily, they get the Browns and the league’s worst run defense according to Football Outsiders’ run defense DVOA metric. White looks like an RB1 option this week if Fournette can’t go. Both would be RB2s in the event Fournette can go.

I sought a correlation between Bengals pass-catchers. My educated guess was Hayden Hurst would eat against a Steelers secondary that would primarily be focused on WR1 Tee Higgins. Instead, Higgins stomped all over the stat sheet in a 37-30 shootout with nine receptions on 13 targets for 148 yards. Hurst logged just two receptions on three targets for 28 yards. We paired this duo with a CeeDee Lamb alpha game, but the Cowboys ran all over the Vikings and didn’t need Lamb to take over to win 40-3. The third-year wideout finished with a season-low five targets, producing five receptions for 45 yards. Blah.