NFL FanDuel Lineup Walkthrough - Week 14
Week 14 was one of tragedy. While people were off winning millions at the WFFC, I was sitting at home hoping to scrounge out a few head to head wins.
It’s been a very nice season overall, but this was by far my worst individual week. My DraftKings’ lineup didn’t fare any better than my FanDuel lineup, and since I hadn’t featured my FanDuel one in awhile, I figured why not. The worst part is that I can’t even blame the bad week on injuries. I managed to avoid Thomas Rawls and Andy Dalton in both of my cash game lineups. Let’s recap.
Ben Roethlisberger: $8,300
I narrowed my quarterback choices down to Roethlisberger and Russell Wilson. I chose the former because I expected game flow to be in his favor compared to Wilson. The Steelers were small underdogs, while the Seahawks were huge favorites. I also liked the fact that Roethlisberger was facing a banged up Bengals’ secondary. Ultimately, the Steelers got out to a lead and then Andy Dalton got hurt. The Steelers didn’t have to do much through the air after that.
Lesean McCoy: $7,900
There were so many reasons to like McCoy this week. He came into the week in great form, he had a nice matchup on paper, and he was facing his former team in his former home stadium. Even if you took the narrative out, he was still a strong play anyway that you could slice it up. McCoy had a decent game on the ground, but he failed to find the endzone.
Eddie Lacy: $6,200
The funny part about this pick is that when lineups locked on Sunday morning, Lacy was the one player that I was actually worried about. I originally had Shaun Draughn here, but once I saw the weather in Green Bay, I pivoted to Lacy. He is a great bad-weather running back and he had a great track record against the Cowboys. The Packers were also large favorites playing at home. Oddly enough, Lacy was the most productive player in my lineup.
Alshon Jeffery: $7,500
When I originally read Kevin Roth’s weather report (featured in the forums, BTW) on Thursday, I decided to fade Jeffery because the weather looked awful. A mix of heavy wind and rain is typically not great for a passing game. However, on Sunday morning, the outlook was better, so I decided to get Jeffery in my lineup. He was just too cheap on FanDuel and he has been terrific since coming back from injury.
Jarvis Landry: $7,100
We will have to wait and see if Landry will join most of my team in being a disappointment. He plays on Monday night against the Giants. Landry is a high-volume target receiver in a favorable matchup against the Giants in a game that could easily turn into a shootout. Even though he was coming off of a truly awful game, I like the spot against this Giants’ secondary.
Danny Amendola: $7,000
When I made this pick, I knew ahead of time that there was a good chance that Rob Gronkowski would be in the lineup. I was still willing to live with it though, because Julian Edelman was still out. Amendola basically stepped right into his role and has been a lock for double-digit targets since Edelman went down with an injury.
Greg Olsen: $6,600
Olsen wasn’t much more expensive than the other tight ends this week, so I decided to pay up at tight end. He didn’t have the best matchup in the world, but he had what I thought to be the highest floor of any player at the position. After he had three catches for 52 yards early in the first half, I was pumped. However, he didn’t do anything after that. He suffered a knee injury that kept him out of the game, but at that point he probably wasn’t going to see many targets anyway.
Connor Barth: $4,600
It was such a bad week that I couldn’t even get my kicker right. The Buccaneers had one of the highest team totals on the board this week and they were playing at home in a game where weather didn’t play any factor. Barth made one field goal, but missed another. He also had the game flow working against him, as they were playing from behind all game.
Chiefs D/ST: $4,800
The Chiefs’ defense was an easy play for me this week. As you probably know by now, I like to look for home favorites that have the ability to get after the quarterback. The Chiefs fit the bill this week against the Chargers, who continue to struggle offensively.