Finding Paydirt: Week 13
Touchdowns, while extremely variant, make or break daily fantasy success and swing thousands of dollars every Sunday. Every weekend, players wait anxiously for the players on their roster to find paydirt. The purpose of the contest is to provide an opportunity for the RotoGrinders community to come together and have fun as we spend much of our time during the week stressing over the construction of our weekly lineups. Did I mention there will be prizes? Let’s have some fun!
Happy Black Friday, Grinders. Hopefully, your holiday was filled with family, fun, and enough five-minute bathroom breaks to consider optimal late-swap and showdown strategies. Due to the busy holiday weekend, this is going to move directly to the point. We are starting anew this weekend and only have five slates left this season. All five slates will be part of our final T-shirt contest. 1010mg has taken the last two down. Will we finally have a new winner? There is only one way to find out.
First-time reader? Welcome! Read through Finding Paydirt: 2019 Contest Guidelines for information about the contest and prizes. Ready? Let’s play.
Let’s make some cuts.
The Cut List
Simply put, to compete in this contest you must pick a running back, wide receiver, and tight end to score a touchdown on Sunday. The player must be on the DraftKings Main Slate and cannot be any of the players below. These players are the top five at both RB and WR and the top three at TE — I nix them hoping to make the contest more interesting.
| Running Back | Wide Receiver | Tight End |
| Christian McCaffrey | Tyreek Hill | Travis Kelce |
| Nick Chubb | Chris Godwin | Zach Ertz |
| Derrick Henry | Cooper Kupp | George Kittle |
| Leonard Fournette | Davante Adams | |
| Saquon Barkley | Mike Evans |
Conspicuous by their absence are several players who took care of business on Thanksgiving or will play in primetime. Ezekiel Elliott, Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara, and others are not available. The tight end list seems to have returned to the default studs we began the season with. Saquon Barkley is really, really close to being available as he just snuck on the list this week.
Let’s get to my Week 13 picks.
Todd Gurley – RB – $6,500
Todd Gurley should be pretty fresh. Only carrying the ball five times because of the immediate beatdown the Ravens put upon the Rams, Gurley should see more work in what might be the only remaining pivotal game for the Rams. The Cardinals are about as friendly as a defensive matchup as we can expect for a running back and Gurley sees enough volume in the scoring area to warrant a selection in this tier.
Gurley has north of 57% of the rushing attempts inside the ten-yard line for the Rams this season. His 74.6% snap-share is pretty big considering the concern about his knees. Simply put, last year’s fantasy dynamo receives more than enough opportunity to convert a touchdown or two.
DJ Chark – WR – $6,600
I swear I am not being lazy with my next two picks. Instead, I am proving that we need really short memories in this fantasy game. Last week, DeDe Westbrook saw the lion’s share of the targets for Jacksonville while DJ only saw six. Per GridironIq this is the best fantasy matchup for wide receivers. A bulk of those fantasy points come through touchdowns and DJ Chark could easily bounce back in Week 13.
Chark’s 12 endzone targets represent 46.2% of the Jaguars’ total as he has established himself this season as the scoring weapon for Jacksonville. The Buccaneers have entered into many a shootout this season. If this game goes crazy, Chark will find paydirt.
Ryan Griffin – TE – $4,300
I don’t need or want a short memory for this pick. Ryan Griffin came through for me last week and the most elaborate and obnoxious play call I have ever seen from inside the two or three-yard line. The Jets, certainly in range for a Le’Veon Bell rushing touchdown, decided to run a gimmicky screen to the recently extended Ryan Griffin for a walk-in touchdown. The play did look beautiful — albeit unnecessary — and if Adam Gase will go through that much trouble to get him the ball… I want another piece.
The scripted play was Griffin’s sixth red zone target. Against the Bengals, I assume Griffin will say one or two more looks in the scoring area. Griffin scores again this week.
Thanks for checking out this week’s article. Leave your touchdown picks in the comments for a chance at winning monthly and seasonal prizes.
Image Credit: USA Today Sports Images