Finding Paydirt: Week 5
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! After racing past the quarter-pole of the NFL season last weekend, we are primed for the Week 5 slate. Last week, BroLantis was crowned as our first monthly champion and accordingly remains atop the overall leaderboard. However, with 13 weeks left in the NFL season, anything can happen. Twelve games are on tap for the DraftKings Main Slate. Who is going to score the touchdowns this week? Will anyone go for three? You tell me!
First-time reader? Welcome! Read through Finding Paydirt: 2019 Contest Guidelines for information about the contest and prizes. Ready? Let’s play.
That said, the time for Week 5 cuts is upon us.
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 | DeAndre Hopkins | Zach Ertz |
| Alvin Kamara | Julio Jones | Evan Engram |
| Dalvin Cook | Keenan Allen | Darren Waller |
| Ezekiel Elliott | Mike Evans | |
| David Johnson | Chris Godwin |
With that out of the way, here are my three touchdown picks for Week 5.
Sony Michel – RB – $5,500
Yuck. Sony Michel could not be more disappointing to roster in fantasy football each week. I drafted Michel thinking that a dominant Patriots team would certainly feature him to work the clock down against the opponents they bludgeon throughout the season. Not the case, thus far…
That said, Michel is still seeing a reasonable amount of volume. Sony averages 15.5 rushes per week against a defense that has allowed the fourth-most rushes per game (26.50) to the running back position. Michel also seems to be the guy when it counts most for running back scoring — receiving 69.23% of rushes inside of the ten-yard line thus far. With an offense like the Patriots, opportunities in the red zone occur far more frequently than for most other offenses.
Oversimplifying this matter, the Patriots are currently 15-point favorites on the road against the Redskins. I am not here to advocate for a side, a cover, and over or an under — but I feel pretty confident that Sony Michel will see multiple opportunities to score a touchdown this week. I don’t feel great about it but Michel is my guy this weekend.
Larry Fitzgerald – WR – $6,000
Age is only but a number with Larry Fitzgerald. The sure-fire, Hall of Fame receiver continues to be a productive cog in the high-paced Cardinal offense. This weekend, Larry’s colleagues are a bit hobbled — solidifying the workload that Fitzgerald has accumulated in the first four weeks.
The Cardinals are not pushing the ball down the field which only benefits the type of targets Fitzgerald sees each week. Fitzy’s target share rests at 22.4% for the season but both Christian Kirk and Damiere Byrd will not be appearing for the Cardinals. With regard to the red zone, Fitzgerald has been a force with three endzone targets already and six targets inside of the ten-yard line. The Bengals defense is very leaky and showed the various holes against a previously woeful Pittsburgh team on Monday night. With David Johnson cut from this week, I want a bit of exposure to the Cardinals total. Given the circumstances, that exposure needs to be Larry Fitzgerald.
Tyler Eifert – TE – $3,300
This should be a fun exercise. Let’s look at stat lines for the tight ends that played the Cardinals in the first four weeks.
Week 1 — T.J. Hockenson – 6 receptions, 131 yards, 1 TD
Week 2 — Mark Andrews – 8 receptions, 112 yards, 1 TD
Week 3 — Greg Olsen – 6 receptions, 75 yards, 2 TD
Week 4 — Will Dissly – 7 receptions, 57 yards, 1 TD
Eifert is not on my radar for cash games in DFS because of his reliance on touchdowns to put up a big score. However, he is absolutely in play for a touchdown or two this week. Eifert boasts two endzone targets thus far and a couple of targets within the ten. The Cardinals are the league’s biggest sieve for tight end scoring. Nothing has indicated that it might change anytime soon.
Thanks very much for taking the time to read through this week’s article. Be sure to tell me who you think will score a touchdown at each position in the comments section below. Also, give me a follow on Twitter to stay updated with the content I contribute to RotoGrinders throughout the football season. I will be back on Tuesday with a recap of Week 5 as well as a leaderboard update. Until then, good luck.
Image Credit: USA Today Sports Images