EHafner's Lineup Walkthrough: NFL Week 5
Column Description: Each week EHafner will be breaking down the players he used for his actual lineup (for NFL Thursdays). In addition he’ll be breaking down other picks he considered using that week. This will allow you to follow along with his picks as Sunday’s games unfold, and get in the mind of one of Daily Fantasy’s best! He’ll be rotating the site and game-type each week in his column in order to cover both Head-to-Heads and GPPs across all of the major sites! Here are EHafner’s picks for this week on DraftStreet Head-to-Heads, let him know you’re rooting along with him in the comments below!
Quarterback
Aaron Rodgers – Aaron’s my stud QB on DraftStreet this week. He’s playing at home and coming off a bye. The Lions are pretty good on offense this year so I’m thinking this one should be a shootout.
Russell Wilson – Russell presents solid value this week coming in at 11k. He’s been scrambling a good amount and I don’t think the Colts are anything special on defense. I usually don’t take Russell on the road and this is admittedly one of my least favorite picks.
Other QBs I Liked This Week
Peyton Manning – He’s the #1 QB on the board, but I think Rodgers is 1A this week. Dallas has an elite pass rusher in DeMarcus Ware and Peyton lost his stud left tackle for the season. The backup could get exposed here.
Sam Bradford – I’m not a big Sam Bradford fan but the Jaguars are a great matchup. They’re bad on defense and worse on offense. The Jaguars getting Blackmon back and Wilson being 1k cheaper factored into Sam being off my roster.
Running Back
Jamaal Charles – I think Jamaal Charles is matchup proof for the most part. If the Chiefs have trouble running with him Alex will throw to him, and vice versa. Love his talent and workload.
DeMarco Murray – I usually don’t like taking running backs who are on teams that are heavy underdogs. Heavy underdogs usually abandon the run too early in the game to make their RB viable. DeMarco is a great receiver out of the backfield though, and Dallas’s offense should put up a bunch of points this week in a fast-paced shootout.
Other RBs I Liked This Week
David Wilson – Whoever’s playing the Eagles is always on my radar. Wilson has been getting more touches week by week and I think this is a good spot for the breakout we’ve all been waiting for.
Wide Receiver
Jeremy Kerley – Before I set my lineups I like to go to rotoworld for injury news. I found that Santonio Holmes was out for sure, and that Stephen Hill was questionable. The Jets are big underdogs so Geno should be throwing a lot in this one, and Kerley is the only viable option left.
Mike Wallace – Part of the reason I like to go stars and scrubs on DraftStreet is because you’ll see guys like Mike Wallace who are in the 3-7k range. Mike Wallace has elite talent and is a great value even with the shoddy chemistry he has with Tannehill.
Other WRs I Liked This Week
Roddy White – It’s not if, but when will Roddy become the best value at WR on DraftStreet. He saw a yearlong high of nine targets vs. the Patriots last week, so pulling the trigger on him at 5k was enticing. I think he’ll be a great play in Week 7 coming off a bye.
Tight End
Jimmy Graham – Jimmy had a 100 yard, 2 TD performance last week, and his price actually went down on DraftStreet this week. Shows you how sick he’s been. I found enough value at the other positions to get him in.
Other TE I Liked This Week
Brent Celek – Brent’s been my play at TE on DraftStreet for a few weeks. I thought he’d be the 10-15th best TE considering Maclin’s injury. He hasn’t quite gotten there and his price went up about ~50% this week, so I decided to go cheap elsewhere.
Flex
Rashad Jennings – This was a bit of a gamble on my part, but the injury news I read sounded promising. McFadden’s out, Reece is hurt, and Pryor’s coming back. I believe having a running QB like Pryor come back helps Jennings. Pryor presents a threat to the defense that should help loosen things up for him.
Chris Johnson – I’m hoping that having Fitzpatrick at QB will add some value to Chris Johnson this week. With Locker at QB, CJ wasn’t getting anything in the passing game. I’m hoping Fitzpatrick dumps a few off to Chris this week to go along with the usual 20 carries. 6k is a great price for a player getting that kind of work.
Other Flex I Liked This Week
Alshon Jeffery – Had his best game as a pro last week and he’s still pretty cheap. They’re matched up with the Saints this week, and they’ll likely need to score a bunch to keep up. I’ve been high on the Saints defense all year so I ultimately stayed away even though I think the value is there.Lamar Miller – I watched the Miami – New Orleans game pretty closely, and came away impressed with Lamar’s ability. I weighed Lamar-Chiefs vs. Rashad-Rams in my head for a while.Defense/ST
Rams – The Rams get Blaine Gabbert and the Jags at home this week. The fact that the Rams have looked horrible on run defense gave me cause for pause, but ultimately I figured they’ll stack the box and force Gabbert to beat them, which I don’t believe he can.
Other D/ST I Liked This Week
Chiefs – The Chiefs are my favorite NFL team so I follow them closely. They have tons of talent and could be the best defense in the league. If the Titans didn’t have a capable backup QB in Fitzpatrick I would’ve jumped all over this.