Finding Paydirt: Week 14
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 Friday, Grinders! Week 14 is upon us without any bye weeks or holiday slates to get in the way. The DraftKings Main Slate has thirteen games with plenty of options for scores. The Week 13 Results finally saw a crack in 1010mg’s armor but nobody was able to make a dent in his lead. Will Week 14 bring a drastic change to the standings? Will anyone score a bunch of touchdowns? 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 | Michael Thomas | Travis Kelce |
| Dalvin Cook | Tyreek Hill | Austin Hooper |
| Derrick Henry | Davante Adams | George Kittle |
| Nick Chubb | Stefon Diggs | |
| Leonard Fournette | Julio Jones |
The cut list loses the likes of Saquon Barkley, Ezekiel Elliott, and Cooper Kupp this week because of night games. Otherwise, the stars are more plentiful in Week 14 — providing far more options for contestants. Touchdowns should be up this week. Let’s see if this plays out.
Let’s get to my Week 14 picks.
Melvin Gordon – RB – $6,400
I still find myself flabbergasted upon seeing the price attached to the name of Melvin Gordon. After an ill-advised holdout, the once-workhorse back is in a time-share with his explosive teammate, Austin Ekeler. That said Gordon is still seeing plenty of opportunities when they count — in close.
Gordon has eight endzone targets in 2019 — one less than Austin Ekeler despite the missed time. With regard to rushing opportunities, the total is extremely lopsided in Gordon’s favor. Melvin boasts north of 70% of the rushing attempts inside the ten-yard line to complement his massive rushing share. Last week, Gordon saw 20 rushes while Ekeler saw nine.
The Jaguars are a beatable defense in 2019 — allowing the eighth-worst fantasy points per game to opposing backfields. Twelve touchdowns are credited to the Jaguars rushing defense this season with an additional three touchdowns through the air to halfbacks. The matchup is pretty good and Gordon will be pretty sneaky in this cluster. MGIII for two sneak touchdowns this week.
DeAndre Hopkins – WR – $7,400
Last year, I lived by a code that forced me to play DeAndre Hopkins whenever he was available due to pricing. I see no reason to change that rule in 2019.
Hopkins is available due to the influx of talent onto the slate with byes and Thanksgiving in the rear-view mirror. The Texans also have played their fair-share of primetime games this season with an additional game overseas. Well, this week Hopkins is available at home in the friendly confines of a dome.
Hopkins carries a healthy 34.8% endzone target share for the Texans to accompany his 31.4% target share. Hopkins is targeted so often that the poor matchup against the Broncos is completely irrelevant to me. Picking a wide receiver not named Nuk Hopkins for a touchdown this week seems like a losing strategy. I want to start winning. Give me the matchup-agnostic Hopkins to put a couple on the board on Sunday.
Jack Doyle – TE – $4,600
Without Eric Ebron and with the Colts’ offense in flux, Jack Doyle represents a cuddly blanket for Jacoby Brisset. Targeted 11 times in Week 13, Doyle should be a featured piece of the Colts’ offense.
The Tampa Bay passing defense is one of the worst in the NFL while suffocating opposing rushing offenses. The “funnel” moniker seems pretty appropriate as the Buccaneers have allowed the most fantasy points per game to wide receivers and fifth-worst against tight ends (15.71). Seven touchdowns are not quite “flow chart” worthy but represent the third-worst total in the NFL.
Doyle will be on the field for almost the entire game — 98.4% of snap last week — and should see his share of high-value opportunities. With three endzone targets already, Jack might be in for more action with no Eric Ebron to siphon away red-zone targets. Doyle feels like the top available tight end pick for a touchdown.
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