The NFL Field Report: Week 5

by Andrew Cook (louiescards) Last Updated 2015-10-13 19:55:15

The Field Report is designed to give you a look into the most popular plays from FanDuel’s Thursday Night action.

In order to truly separate your entry from the rest of the field, you need to create a very unique roster. In GPPs especially, playing along with the rest of your opponents won’t get you very far. The rules are much different in H2Hs and 50/50s, but in tournaments where you need to beat ALL of your opponents (e.g. major qualifiers), you need to take risks and use a player or two that you know will be lightly owned.

The percentages in the tables below come from the FanDuel $1 Dive, which has 4,597 entries. The listed players are ones that I have identified for a variety of reasons, but if you don’t see “your guy” here, post below in the comments and I will do my best to get you a percentage.

Quarterbacks

Brady coming off the bye week with a struggling Cowboys team is leading the way at quarterback this week. The spread at the position surprised me a bit with nine players between three and ten percent. Alex Smith is a player that I was very interested to see below five percent with a great matchup and low price point coming off of a 386-yard performance against the Bengals. If you are looking for a low owned option with solid potential then Sam Bradford is a guy I like to bust out with a big game this weekend for the Eagles.

Running Backs

The chalk is pretty clear this week in Le’Veon Bell and Devonta Freeman both coming in north of thirty percent owned. Todd Gurley is the man I want to keep an eye on with a solid price point and lower percentage than I anticipated given the game he had last weekend and the Packers softer run defense. I expect some of these percentages to shift with the news that Anthony Dixon might be starting this week for the Bills. One of the backs that could surprise is Carlos Hyde, who has not carried the rock as much with the 49ers falling behind early each week, which has drastically changed the outlook for the promising back.

Wide Receivers

A lot of what you would expect here at the top in Julian Edelman and Larry Fitzgerald, but it’s target monster Jeremy Maclin that the public appears to be catching on to that we should take note of. He has a solid price point in a great matchup against the poor Bears defense making him a very attractive option. There are a number of marquee options at WR at or under five percent this week which leads me to believe this will be the make or break position for a lot of cash games. Since I am a fan of a low owned Sam Bradford, it only makes sense that I also like his main target Jordan Matthews at a solid price and ownership combo.

Tight Ends

It is safe to say that Gates isn’t sneaking up on anyone this week with a twelve percent ownership mark. Gronk is the highest owned TE as usual and is always in play across all formats when you factor in an upside that is unmatched by his peers. I still think one of these weeks the Seahawks will realize that Jimmy Graham is now on the roster and will feature him, but the problem is I have no confidence that it will be this week. That lower ownership is certainly worth a flier in a huge entry tournament, though.

Kickers

Defenses