DFS Alerts

Rob Gronkowski, Jonathan Cooper, Nate Solder reportedly did not travel with the Patriots on trip to Arizona

This doesn’t necessarily rule Gronk out, but it’s not a good sign for his availability against Arizona. If he’s unable to go – which appears likely at this point – Martellus Bennett will be one of the top TE plays on the slate, especially considering how cheap he is across the industry. The tight end spot is one place that Arizona’s defense has had some trouble over the last few seasons, so it wouldn’t be at all crazy to think he could be the Patriots most heavily utilized member of the passing attack. James White and the WRs would also benefit without Gronk in the lineup from a target standpoint.

Jay Ajayi (coach's decision) ruled out for Week 1

Jay Ajayi didn’t even travel with the team, so it’s possible he’s soured quickly on the new coaching staff. Kenyan Drake may have already passed him on the depth chart, but this is especially good news for Arian Foster, who should now be treated as a three-down back in Adam Gase’s system. It’s still not an ideal draw for Foster as he’ll face off with a tough Seattle defense, but he does have some GPP value given that he’s going to get any goal line work and should be involved in the team’s passing game. However, playing running backs who are touchdown underdogs on the road typically doesn’t fare all that well.

Golden Tate, Eric Ebron both listed as questionable

Tate has practiced fully each of the last two days and doesn’t appear to be in any real danger of sitting, but the NFL’s new rules with injury designations will make it a harder situation to break down. We still feel comfortable leaving him in lineups against a Colts secondary that will be without a few of it’s top corners, leaving them with only four healthy options, three of which weren’t with the team at the beginning of camp. Marvin Jones is going to be the more popular play of the two (and this news is only going to shoot his ownership even higher), but Tate is the preferred GPP play alongside Matthew Stafford. Eric Ebron has also been practicing lately and figures to be a good bet to suit up Sunday, and he’s also a potential GPP target in what should be one of the highest scoring contests of the weekend. His usage in the red-zone will rise without Calvin Johnson on the field.

Markus Wheaton misses practice again; status uncertain for Monday night

The Steelers #2 WR, Markus Wheaton, missed practice again and it appears unlikely that he will take the field for the Steelers in their Monday Night battle against the Redskins. Antonio Brown will still be the focal point but Wheaton being out will mean more targets for TE Jesse James, WR Eli Rogers (who is probably the biggest beneficiary if Wheaton sits), and could possibly lead to WR Sammie Coates getting involved as well. As we learn more of Wheaton’s status we’ll update you but for now the safe play is to assume he won’t play, especially if you are playing on sites that do not have late swap.

Jamaal Charles listed as doubtful for Sunday

Per Terez Paylor, Andy Reid has said that Charles isn’t likely to play on Sunday. When asked if Spencer Ware would be the starter and receive the bulk of the work, Reid replied “You could probably say that, yeah. But don’t hold me to that. Personnel groups.” It’s not necessarily a glowing report for Ware, although given the expected game flow and the fact that the Chiefs are one of the biggest home favorites on the board, it’s likely he’ll be the guy getting the bulk of the work. Charcandrick West makes for an interesting GPP pivot off Ware, although that’s about the only format he’s usable in. Ware is still playable in any format, although he carries more risk than he did a few days ago.

Some concern over Kevin White's availability for Week 1

It could be nothing but Kevin White has been unavailable to meet with the media for the past three days. He’s been dealing with an injury so there is some concern over whether he will be able to play or not. The team injury report that comes out later might help clear up the picture. It’s something to keep an eye on and we’ll update you as soon as we hear more definitive word on his status.

Even more reason to target the Lions passing game - Colts secondary short handed with Darius Butler ruled out

Vontae Davis had already been ruled out but Chuck Pagano announced that Darius Butler will also miss the team’s week 1 game leaving the Colts extremely short-handed in a game that has the highest total of the week (51.5). Three of the four CB’s the Colts will have active on Sunday were not even with the team at the beginning of camp – two having just been signed in the last week. The entire Lions passing game whether it be Matt Stafford, Marvin Jones, Golden Tate, Theo Riddick, and heck even old man Anquan Boldin have value in this game. They’ll come at high ownership but the likelihood of fantasy goodness is high.

Getting exposure to high total games with WR pivots

The two highest totals of the week belong to the Detroit-Indy game and the Oakland-New Orleans game and as you might expect a lot of talk centers around players in that game with WRs Marvin Jones (due to his increased role at a low price) and Amari Cooper (due to insane talent and expected increased red zone work) receiving a lot of hype. Jones is projected by Chris Gimino as the 2nd highest owned WR (behind only Julio Jones) at 22.55% while Cooper is projected as the 4th highest at 18.45%. One way to get exposure to these two games without riding the chalk that is Jones and Cooper is to target players on the same team that have close to the same upside. In this case it would be Michael Crabtree for the Raiders and Golden Tate for the Lions. Crabtree is cheaper than Cooper but dominated the red zone targets last season and will come at probably 5%+ lower ownership than Cooper. Tate might be more expensive than Jones but he’s still their #1 WR and will likely come in at nearly 10% lower ownership than Jones. You can also go ahead and do WR-WR stacks with these pairings to differentiate as well.

Russell Wilson being overlooked in juicy match up against Miami

Russell Wilson is currently the seventh rated QB in the Expert Consensus Rankings here on FanDuel despite being our third highest projected QB in terms of fantasy points scored (although to be fair he is 9th in Pts/$ projected value). While many expect the Seahawks to blow out their opponent, the Dolphins, as 10 point home favorites and have a heavy emphasis on the run game, the Seahawks are an efficient passing team that passed more than you might expect in the red zone last season (44 targets to their top 3 WR’s and top 2 TE’s last season). To get to that big lead they are likely going to throw the ball some and the Dolphins were 29th in pass defense DVOA last season. You’ll likely be able to get him at lower ownership (Chris Gimino has him projected at 5.2%) and he makes for an excellent stack with WR’s Doug Baldwin or Tyler Lockett.

Ryan Mathews in line for a big game

While most of the industry debates about the likes of Spencer Ware, Christine Michael, and Lamar Miller, the Eagles starting RB Ryan Mathews goes largely unnoticed in what could be one of the best match ups of the week for a RB. The Eagles are at home, 3 1/2 point favorites against a Browns team that was 26th in run defense DVOA last season. Add in that the Eagles are starting rookie QB, Carson Wentz and the probable game plan will be to run the ball as much as possible to minimize turnovers. All the stars are aligning for Mathews to have a big game and at just $5,700 on DraftKings and $6,100 on FanDuel he’s a very affordable option with upside.

Jeff Heuerman inactive for TNF

This was expected all along, and it will leave Virgil Green as the main TE for the Broncos. However, it’s not a great week to deploy him against a stout Carolina defense that features a bevy of talented linebackers. If you are playing Thursday contests, this game is best left untouched.

Michael Thomas added to the injury report, limited in Thursday's practice

Thomas is still expected to play in the season opener against the Raiders, but his status has become a bit more murky after he was only able to get a limited practice session in today. If he’s unable to play, Willie Snead would become a really solid punt play as the unquestioned #2 WR for Drew Brees. The Saints had the biggest home/road scoring differential in the league last season, and Brees has historically been much better in the Superdome, so this is going to be a week where you’ll want exposure to the Saints passing attack.

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Malcolm Mitchell looking unlikely for Sunday

Despite practicing on a limited basis this week, Mitchell appears unlikely to suit up against the Cardinals. He wasn’t going to play much of a role anyway with Julian Edelman, Danny Amendola and Chris Hogan ahead of him in the pecking order. This should lead to some extra snaps for Chris Hogan, but it doesn’t change much as far as the New England pass-catchers go.

Colts could be down to four healthy CBs this weekend, three of which weren't on the roster at start of training camp

Darius Butler, the Colts slot/nickel corner, did not practice today and hasn’t practiced since last week with an ankle injury. If he’s unable to go, the Colts could have just four healthy CBs, three of which weren’t even on the team’s roster heading into training camp. Antonio Cromartie is the most notable name of the group, but he clearly doesn’t have much left in the tank considering how long it took him to find a job. The scheme the Colts run is basically identical to what Cromartie ran last year which does work in his favor, but it’s not nearly enough to give us any pause when considering rostering the Lions passing attack (opposing QBs torched Cromartie for a 132.5 rating last season). Target the likes of Stafford, Jones and Tate confidently, with Anquan Boldin and Eric Ebron also in play for tournaments.