NFL FanDuel Lineup Walkthrough - Week 16
Week 16 was full of ups and downs. I ended up having a great week on FanDuel and a lousy week on DraftKings. That’s what can happen when you try to diversify your lineups. Although, the week could have been awful all around had a not taken a few different players on the two different sites. Like many, I had a Steelers’ stack (excluding DeAngelo Williams) on DraftKings. Obviously, that lineup didn’t fare too well.
Rather than having to read my rant on the Steelers, I figured I would feature my FanDuel lineup instead.
Blake Bortles: $8,200
There were two quarterbacks on my radar this week. Touts on most sites (including myself) loved either Ben Roethlisberger or Blake Bortles in cash games. Both had terrific matchups against two of the worst pass defenses in the NFL. I decided to go with Bortles on FanDuel, because he was cheaper compared to Roethlisberger than he was on DraftKings. The matchup was obviously in his favor. The Saints are ranked dead last against the pass and have set an NFL record for touchdown passes allowed.
David Johnson: $7,300
Johnson is quickly turning into a superstar in the NFL. If he can keep this run going through the playoffs, he will become a household name, outside of those of us that play fantasy football. He has great speed, great power, and he can make people miss. I would have paid $8,500 for him this week against the Packers in a game where the Cardinals were expected to be ahead. Johnson had a nice game, but only saw one touch in the second half. The Cardinals had this game in hand early.
DeAngelo Williams: $7,400
The question that I commonly ask people when it comes to Williams is “would you pay that price for Le’Veon Bell in this matchup?” The answer is always “of course.” Williams has been producing at a near-Bell level since the superstar running back went down with his injury. Even though the matchup against the Ravens didn’t appear great on paper, the Steelers were large favorites and Williams is heavily involved in the passing game. My one regret this week was not using Williams on both FanDuel and DraftKings.
Allen Hurns: $7,100
When leagues locked on Sunday morning, I couldn’t believe how low Hurns’ ownership was. Allen Robinson is the more popular receiver of the two, but the gap in ownership shouldn’t have been that wide. The Saints are obviously an awful pass defense, but particularly in the middle of the field. Robinson was expected to match up against Delvin Breaux quite a bit, which made Hurns the better play in my eyes. In the end, you couldn’t have gone wrong with either player, but Hurns had an extra touchdown.
Antonio Brown: $9,300
You know it’s a strange week when Brown is your lowest scoring position player. Brown was the chalk play of the week at receiver and for good reason. He was coming off of a monster game against a stout Broncos’ secondary and he drew a favorable matchup against a Ravens’ secondary that has been burned all season long. Brown’s day could have been much better. He had a touchdown that was reviewed and reversed and another long catch where he just failed to get two feet in.
Kamar Aiken: $6,600
Even though I didn’t love the idea of Ryan Malett throwing him the ball, Aiken was an obvious play for me this week. He has played well since taking over as the number one wideout in the Ravens’ offense and this was a game where Baltimore was expected to be playing from behind. He was basically a lock to see double-digit targets with the hope for some garbage time production. Obviously, the game didn’t go as scripted, but Aiken still had a nice outing.
Zach Miller: $5,600
It was a good week to save at tight end. There weren’t any obvious plays at the top and the mid-range options weren’t that great either. There were two tight ends on my radar – Zach Miller and Will Tye. I did the same thing as I did with my quarterbacks and split the two between my FanDuel and DraftKings lineups. Miller was in a great spot this week, as Alshon Jeffery was ruled out. He also had a nice matchup against Lovie Smith’s Cover-2 defense.
Matt Prater: $4,500
There isn’t a ton of strategy behind this pick. The Lions were favored, they had a fairly high team total, and they were playing indoors. It was a good spot for a kicker, especially at minimum salary.
Titans D/ST: $4,000
This was one of the only busts in my FanDuel lineup. Vegas was expecting the Texans/Titans game to be close and low-scoring and since the Titans were playing at home, I didn’t mind taking a chance on them. Unfortunately, I forgot that Brandon Weeden swapped places with Aaron Rodgers before Sunday’s games.