Identifying Trends for FanDuel - Week 12
Identifying trends is extremely important to daily fantasy football and online sports betting success. If you want to win your weekly contests and bets, you have to be proactive in identifying trends and figuring out how those trends influence the value of that player and his teammates.
This weekly article will attempt to help you in that process by highlighting a couple of players whose values may be trending up and a couple of players who are trending down.
Trending Up
D.J. Chark ($7,000)
D.J. Chark, doo doo doo doo doo doo / D.J. Chark, doo doo doo doo doo doo / D.J. Chark doo doo doo doo doo doo / D.J. Chark!
Now that you have the most annoying children’s song ever created stuck in your head, let’s chat a bit about D.J. Chark’s stock. Chark has been the Jaguars’ most talented receiver all season long but now may finally have a QB that can hit him downfield. With Nick Foles back under center in his first game since Week 1, he peppered Chark with 15 targets, 8 of which Chark caught for 104 yards and two touchdowns. Chark led all Week 11 pass-catchers with 218 air yards and led Jacksonville with a gaudy 32% target share.
Chark’s price tag is hardly discounted but he still has some Week 12 appeal against a Titans’ defense that is much better against the rush than the pass.
DeVante Parker ($6,000)
Similar to Chark, Parker has been a decent fantasy commodity for the majority of the season but has seen his production jump to another level recently with Preston Williams placed on IR. Since Williams hit the IR, Parker owns a 26% target share and a 43% market share of air yards. Over the last two weeks, Parker ranks 12th in air yards and has been a top 15 fantasy receiver.
Miami figures to continue to find themselves in negative game-scripts for the remainder of the season as they play from behind. Playing from behind has been good for the Dolphins’ passing volume as they own the 4th highest pass-rate in the league. It never feels comfortable rostering a player on one of the worst teams in the league but the reality is Parker should continue to have bankable volume moving forward.
Bo Scarbrough ($6,400)
It seems like a Detroit running back is listed in this article every week which should tell you something – tread carefully. Even with Ty Johnson active in Week 11, Bo Scarbrough started in Detroit’s backfield out of nowhere and led the team with 14 carries. Scarbrough didn’t do a ton with a backfield best 50% snap-rate but an early touchdown helped salvage his fantasy day.
While it’s probably in our best interest to avoid the Lions’ backfield in Week 12, they draw a salivating matchup against a Redskins defense that ranks 19th in rush-defense DVOA and has allowed the fifth-most fantasy points per game to the running back position this season. Head coach Matt Patricia is unlikely to tip his hand prior to Sunday’s contest but Scarbrough does possess some fantasy value if he’s expected to continue lead back duties.
Trending Down
Le’Veon Bell ($7,300)
Finding the end zone helped Le’Veon Bell salvage his fantasy value each of the last two weeks but recent playing trends are a major concern for the Jets’ running back. Bell was on the field for just 39-of-70 Week 11 offensive snaps which resulted in a season-low 55.8% snap-rate. In addition to Bell’s decreased snap-rate, his efficiency has been poor all season long averaging just 3.3 yards per carry. Bell may be able to keep his fantasy value afloat if he continues to see 20+ touches per game but that type of volume will be tough to sustain if a mid-50’s snap-rate becomes the norm.