DraftKings Fantasy Grout: Week 2
They say a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, but that’s not always the case.
Take that email chain with your buddies for instance, the one that started out with someone calling out a fantasy league-mate for offering a trade that included a kicker. Then, that dovetailed into another friend bringing up that after-the-bars-on-Halloween story, the one you all swore you’d never bring up again (but that everyone has told at least 100 times). That night you’ve called the most epic of your college career. Then, another chum throws up a Letterman-style Top Ten list of ‘Most Embarrassing Citations’ the group has received, with public urination prominently involved. Yet another college friend brings up all potential illegitimate children you all might have fathered, punctuated with this picture:
That’s a pretty good email chain. During that email chain though, your one sorta-college buddy added a story where a couple of you got into a half-assed fight with some frat guys. There wasn’t much to it, and he really just said “douche” a lot*. That was a terrible email, but that link in the string of emails didn’t really bring down an otherwise amazing email chain.
Let’s be honest about “douche”. It was trendy at one time, but was it ever really that clever? Nowadays, it’s still a “go to” for many, even though calling someone “douche” is basically a full-fledged confession of your own douchery. Also, if you made a Venn diagram consisting of a Red Circle that represents those that un-ironically say “douche” and a Yellow Circle representing the Legion of Dumb, your Venn diagram would just be an Orange Circle.
The point is that a chain isn’t always limited in strength to that of its weakest link. In DFS though, that IS very much the case. One weak link can cause the chain to break, just when you thought you were pulling in that big prize pool on the other end of it. Your studs have high floors, but between them, the goop that holds your lineup together, those guys don’t. And that’s why you’ve got to be all the more diligent analyzing and selecting them. They, the Fantasy Grout.
Quarterback
At the sub-$6,600 price point that we established for QBs, DraftKings is more generous this week. It numbered 11 last week, including late add, Derek Anderson, and we saw mostly 2 and few 3 PT/$K guys in the group. This week, we’ve got 14, nearly half of the league. Choices, choices.
Josh McCown v STL – $5,700: While his name is on the marque, this pick is about everything but him. The Rams just finished giving up 68% passing, 170 yards, and 2 touchdowns, on a tidy 25 attempts, to Just-A-Guy Matt Cassel, and now they are without a key piece to their defensive line, Chris Long. McCown, like in his Bears days, deploys three skyscrapers catching passes, and two of them, Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans, can turn any pass into a house call. As long as they can keep him upright, I could see many games for McCown with stats similar to those Bears days. This week, two plays alone will get you to the 2 PT/$K level, and the remainder of his plays will take you to infinity PT/$K and beyond.
Left in the Bucket:
Joe Flacco v PIT – $6,400
Running Back
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down DraftKings. The season is young. We’ve got plenty of time. There’s no reason for you to be just giving it up on Week 2. Plus, what will your friends think of you? It’s not a good look, wearing your running back prices that low. Here’s what I’m going to do. I’ll lower my threshold as well, from $6,000 down to $5,500. How does that sound, baby? Great. Now, let’s go throw some darts.”
Shonn Greene v DAL – $3,300: Sometimes you puff out your chest, lift up your chin slightly and click a player into your lineup proudly. Then, there’s the times you start Shonn Greene. He’s unlikely to catch many passes, and reaching 100 yards is possible, but a long shot. He’ll need to score to get to >3 PT/$K. Then again, when you see “Dallas” on the matchup line, starting him is almost a muscle reflex. The Cowboys are without Sean Lee, DeMarcus Ware, Orlando Scandrick, Anthony Spencer, Charles Haley and Deion Sanders, and Henry Melton is limited. You remember that shopping cart with the mannequin hand that Tony Dungy said would be a productive Fantasy Tight End in a Peyton Manning offense? The Cowboys just claimed it off of waivers to play D-Line.
Pierre Thomas at CLE – $5,200: Sure, last week the man with the French name … gave up … a few goal line scores to Mark Ingram and Khiry Robinson. Still, of his 13 touches, 3 were in red zone and on one of them, he … surrendered … just a yard short of the goal. Even without the score, his 89 total yards and 6 receptions last week would have been just short of 3 PT/$K this week. Oh, and his opponent this week gave up 197 total yards, including 6 receptions and a touchdown, to Le’Veon “New Meaning to ‘Super Bowl’” Bell last week, and those totals are … high. (Sometimes, I’m just amusing myself.)
Fred Jackson v MIA – $4,000: Last week, F-Jax was 3 yards shy of 2 TDs, and he stiff-armed Chris Conte so hard that it prompted his mom to write a strongly worded note to Commissioner Goodell about “That Bully Fred Jackson.” After all of that, his price DROPPED by $400. The partial workload is still there. The receptions too. And the goal-line work. Not only am I running him back this week, but I’m officially dubbing him Bully Jackson for the life of this column. Oh, and this isn’t the last time I’m going back to well this week either…
Left in the Bucket:
- Darren Sproles at IND – $5,100
- Mark Ingram at CLE – $4,500
Wide Receiver:
Based on last week’s data, the wide receiver position was more consistent AND had a higher ceiling than the running back position down at the grimiest of the Grout levels ($5,000 or below). Maybe that’s the reason DraftKings became all loosey-goosey with the running back pricing. Still, if this trend continues for a couple more weeks, you’re very likely to see a fourth wide receiver join the Gang, and if it provides an excuse to not to roster Shonn Greene, we will all be better for it.
Mike Evans v STL – $4,000: One of the skyscrapers from above. I am in the camp that Evans is already better than Jackson. I see McCown not feeling near the pressure Carolina applied last week, allowing Evans to get deep. Or he’ll just catch a 13 foot high jump ball in end zone. Or both. Mmmmmm, both!
Also, I’m going to come clean. For no reason at all, I had always envisioned Mike Evans looking like Adam Morrison, the basketball player from Gonzaga, right down to that creepy still-can’t-grow-a-mustache, mustache. When I found out he didn’t have that mustache, and that he wasn’t even white at all, it suffices to say I bumped him up my ranks. There, conscience clean.
Justin Hunter v DAL – $4,200: Thank goodness Locker and Hunter couldn’t quite connect on a couple of those deep balls last week. It pushed his “Blow-Up Game” back one week, so I could get him out of the bucket and onto Gang Grout for the explosion. Then, as he leaves the Grout price range for the rest of the year, I’m going to throw him a “Going Away” party. At that party, I will get drunk, bawl my eyes out and beg him not to leave. And, frankly, I’m okay with that.
John Brown at NYG – $3,000: MIN WR OF THE WEEK, AGAIN! Hey DK, if Einstein defined Insanity as “doing the same thing and expecting different results,” then you must be CRAZY for John Brown. Still minimum priced? If run-of-the-mill Calvin Johnson can get deep on this Giants secondary, obviously Pittsburgh State’s finest, John Brown can! He got a quarter of Carson Palmer’s wide receiver targets last week, and you know it won’t be long before Palmer will be throwing into coverage down the field again. Also, “John Brown” sounds like either A) the name of the lead character from a John Grisham type-novel or B) the name of the most boring person in the world. Nothing in between.
Left in the Bucket:
Marquis Lee at WAS – $4,300
Dwayne Bowe at DEN – $4,500
Kenbrell Thompkins at MIN – $3,700
Brian Quick at TB – $4,800
Tight End:
There are so many great value tight ends available on DraftKings right now that we are going to hurt Jimmy Graham’s feelings. First they take his dunking over the goal posts away, then Julius Thomas takes away the top price slot Graham’s occupied for the better part of a year, and now no one wants to pay his salary anyway. Then again, he lives in a city that’s got shrimp gumbo and hand grenades, plus a shiny new contract to wipe his tears with, so I think he’ll be okay.
Jason Witten at TEN – $3,800: Hidden underneath his sorry 2 for 16 performance last week were 6 targets, and his opponent this week, Tennessee, gave up nearly 50 yards to Travis Kelce on limited snaps and a score to Anthony Fasano. Also, with our Grout tight end, we’re doing this thing where we pick old, once great guys, succeed, and dash the hopes of the sleeper tight end behind him. Gavin Escobar, you’re up!
Left in the Bucket:
Charles Clay at BUF – $3,200
Antonio Brown at PIT – $7,600: Not in the correct price range? Not even a tight end you say? How else was I going to wedge this picture into the article?
