DFS Alerts
Gronkowski goes on the flight to Houston
This could be the Patriots making Rob Gronkowski a game-time decision as he would have been ruled out had he not traveled to Houston. Gronkowski is fantasy’s #1 scoring TE and is questionable for Week 14 with a knee injury. Brady’s favorite target in all areas of the field, Gronk provides a huge boost to the Patriots offense when he is on the field. We will have to hope for some clarity on the situation before the Patriots’ late 8:30 pm start time, making Scott Chandler’s situation a bit murky also. Rob Gronkowski has been a target hog with with no less than 5 receptions in every game this season and only 3 and 2 single-digit fantasy output games all season in Fan Duel and Draft Kings respectively. Houston’s defense is 12th in Notorous’ Schedule-Adjusted Defense vs. Position Rankings (DvP), though we have seen both New England Tight Ends have good days against “tough” defenses. With Gronk injured in Week 12, Chandler has had targets of 11 and 7 the last 2 weeks with touchdowns in both games, though his catch rate has been a bit lackluster with 5 catches in Week 12 and 4 catches in Week 13. We will keep an eye out for any reports on both Chandler – who is also questionable with a knee injury, though expected to play – and Gronkowski.
As reported by: Ian Rapoport Other tagged players: Scott Chandler
With Leonard Hankerson out, Jacob Tamme is in consideration
Last week the Atlanta Falcons put Leonard Hankerson on season-ending IR because of a hamstring injury. Without Hankerson on the field, TE Jacob Tamme sees by far the biggest boost as another option for Matt Ryan. In the six games Hankerson has missed, Tamme has gone 8-94-0, 3-36-0, 10-103-1, 6-61-0, 5-69-0, and 3-26-0 last week vs. the Bucs. While that last stat line isn’t all that impressive, other than Julio Jones (8 receptions) no other receiver had more than 3 receptions. Devonta Freeman had a team-high 10 receptions because of several designed screens and dump-offs out of the backfield. This week should hopefully be a little different as Tamme is still the second most targeted “receiver” on the team. Although the matchup with the Panthers looks intimidating, with top cornerback Josh Norman likely reducing the number of targets to Jones, Tamme will look for a good amount of targets vs. a team that is actually middle of the road vs. opposing TEs.
Seahawks DST to beat Jimmy Clausen again?
9 of 17 for 63 yards passing, 0 touchdowns and 0 interceptions with a QBR of 21.9 and a Rating of 61.6. These were Jimmy Clausen’s numbers in Week 3 to go along with 5 three-and-outs out of their 9 possessions. Now Clausen finds himself in position to start for the Baltimore Ravens with Matt Schaub (chest, shoulder) listed as questionable and expected to be a game-time decision after not practicing all week. Schaub being out may actually be a downgrade to the Seahawks’ match up with his uncanny ability to throw pick-6’s to opposing defenses. Using our Schedule-Adjusted Defense vs. Position Rankings (DvP) from the “NFL First Look” article posted each week, we can see that the Seahawks are 9th against QB’s, 6th against RB’s and 7th against WR’s when strength of schedule is taken into account. Their weak spot has been the TE spot, where they rank 31st. The raw numbers for Fan Duel and Draft Kings fantasy points against allowed is even more impressive, allowing 66.19 FPTS and 78.32 FPTS against per game, respectively. If Sherman shadows the Ravens’ top receiver Kamar Aiken, Sherman should have no problems shutting him down, nor should the Seattle defense as a whole against the Ravens’ depleted receiving corps. Fire up the Seahawks as a high-end fantasy option this week in both cash/head-to-head games and GPP tournaments no matter whether they face an inept Jimmy Clausen or the pick-6 machine, Matt Schaub.
As reported by: ESPN Other tagged players: Jimmy Clausen, Matt Schaub, Kamar Aiken Jordan Matthews questionable for Week 14
Jordan Matthews has been added to the Eagles’ Week 14 injury report, being listed as questionable with a back issue. Matthews is coming off touchdowns in back-to-back games for the first time this season. Matthews targets earlier in the season were on the consistent side of things with his first 8 games having target totals of 13, 9, 8, 8, 7, 11, 7 and 12. That number has fallen in recent weeks with target totals in his last 4 games of 5, 4, 5 and 6. Matthews has also battled drops much of the season, but the Eagles WR’s have a nice match up against the Bills this week. The Bills rank 7th in Defensive points allowed to WR’s on the season at 39.92 FPTS per game, allowing an average of 25 targets, 15 receptions, 176 yards and 1 touchdown per game using Draft Kings’ PPR stats. In terms of Fan Duel statistics, the Bills rank 5th in DEF points allowed to opposing WR’s on the season at 33.21 FTPS per game. If Matthews were to miss the game, the Eagles’ pass game may be best avoided and the Eagles may look to rely on their RB options more to pick up some of the passing game slack with Darren Sproles showing some life in his legs still at age 32.
As reported by: Jason LaCanfora Big Ben Roethlisberger has a high ceiling despite the matchup
Don’t let the Cincinnati Bengals’ DvP rating vs. quarterbacks fool you because this week the secondary will likely be pretty banged up. Top corner Adam “Pacman” Jones is doubtful, opposite corner Leon Hall is questionable, and safety George Iloka is questionable as well. Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers will head into Cincinnati coming fresh off of a 45-point performance last week against Indianapolis. Roethlisberger has actually only played six full games this season and if you take the average of those six games, Roethlisberger is averaging a whopping 29.32FPPG, a full 2.5 points higher than second highest Tom Brady. Roethlisberger has been elite this year when him and all of his weapons were healthy, and they should be able to take advantage of a weakened Bengals’ secondary this weekend. Antonio Brown is also an elite pick this weekend likely running routes against an underwhelming Dre Kirkpatrick, and a Roethlisberger/Brown stack would make for a great play on Sunday.
Karlos Williams out Week 14
Karlos Williams will be out again for Week 14 against the Eagles, as expected. Williams did not practice this week and will miss another game on Sunday. LeSean McCoy will be nearly guaranteed 20 or more touches in this game against his old team and former coach, whom McCoy still holds a clear grudge against, making it well known this week that he is still unhappy with his former coach Chip Kelly. The “revenge game” narrative is active and running with LeSean McCoy this week and he finds himself with a nice match up as well against an Eagles team surrendering big fantasy points to opposing offenses both on the ground and through the air. By Draft Kings’ metrics, the Eagles defense is surrendering 24.72 FPTS to RB’s per game this season with an average of 110 rushing yards and 5 receptions to go along with 3 Red Zone rushing opportunities and 1 Red Zone receiving opportunity per game. Using Fan Duel’s metrics, the Eagles defense is surrendering 21.51 FPTS to RB’s per game. Look for McCoy to get plenty of touches and keep up his work out of the backfield catching balls also – last week (Week 13) against Houston was the first time McCoy has not caught a pass in a game this season. McCoy is averaging 4.1 targets per game (targets on the year week-to-week: 4, 3, 3, 4, 4, 2, 5, 10, 5, 1). McCoy has also cleared 100 total yards in all of his last 6 games.
As reported by: Joe Buscaglia Other tagged players: LeSean McCoy Cecil Shorts is a GPP contrarian target Sunday
The Houston Texans play the New England Patriots Sunday night in what has the potential to be a decently high-scoring game. The Patriots love to take away the opposing team’s number one weapon and for the Texans that is undoubtedly DeAndre Hopkins. Although Hopkins sometimes seems matchup-proof, if the Patriots did succeed in neutralizing him then Cecil Shorts could be in for a big game this week. The battle for WR2 between Shorts and Nate Washington was won by Washington earlier in the year but it has seemed to be Shorts as of late averaging 14FPPG over the last three games. Shorts or Washington could be the beneficiary of the neutralization of Hopkins (that in itself will be a tough task), but Shorts will likely be covered by Justin Coleman in the slot and should have the advantage over the rookie cornerback. Hopkins is still possibly a GPP target vs. a Patriots team that is middle of the road vs. opposing WRs, but there are several other options in that price range that make more sense this week. If Hopkins is shut down this week, Shorts will likely see the biggest boost in targets.
Sammy Watkins is a GPP option Sunday
The Bills matchup with the Eagles this Sunday in a game with one of the highest over/unders of the weekend. Chip Kelly and the Eagles let up 45 points to the Lions including 3 TDs from Calvin Johnson on Thanksgiving Day, then went out last week and beat the Patriots. We are not sure what to expect from the Eagles this week but it we are guessing it will be the Eagles we saw on Thanksgiving Day. The Patriots have really been hit hard with injuries and are really depleted in the WR category. Sammy Watkins is normally a good GPP target to start with because of his big-play ability, and it remains the same this week vs. the Eagles who allow the most points to opposing receivers than any team in the league (over 35FPPG). Sammy Watkins has been hot the last 2 games going for 6-158-2 two weeks ago and 3-109-1 last week. This is another great spot for Watkins to have a big game this week and a Tyrod Taylor/Watkins stack is viable. A lot of people will be on Lesean McCoy and he is a great play as well, but a Taylor/Watkins stack is a great contrarian play this week as well.
Rob Gronkowski upgraded to questionable
It now looks like Gronk may have a decent shot to suit up on Sunday night. We’d still expect him to take another week to rest, but he’s practiced in a limited capacity in each of the last two days which at least leaves the door open for a Sunday night return. Scott Chandler is also listed as questionable, but we’re more confident that he’ll take the field. Chandler would remain an elite value target at TE if Gronk sits, but would not be playable otherwise. If Gronk is active, he’ll be an intriguing tournament target on late-swap sites, but it’ll be really hard to feel comfortable rostering him on non late-swap sites unless his prognosis improves by Sunday morning, which seems unlikely. At this point, Danny Amendola remains the most appealing target in the New England passing game. He’ll have the best match-up in the secondary (both of Houston’s outside CBs have played well this season, while slot man Kareem Jackson has had major issues in coverage) and is a very solid bet for double-digit targets.
As reported by: Jeff Howe Other tagged players: Scott Chandler
Ronnie Hillman to start at RB vs. Oakland
With C.J. Anderson very questionable to play, Ronnie Hillman will again draw the start at running back for the Broncos. There was some talk that Juwan Thompson may end up starting which would have made this backfield even more of a mess, but it appears Thompson will just act in a complementary role behind Hillman. If Anderson is ruled out, Hillman is a very solid GPP target with the Broncos being much more run-heavy since the QB struggles began. After starting the season as one of the league’s tougher draws for RBs, Oakland has now allowed the 12th most FPs to the position. Hillman has averaged just shy of 19 touches per game over his last three contests, and Anderson has made an appearance in all three games, so he’d be a very good bet to exceed 20 touches with Anderson out.
As reported by: Mike Klis on Twitter Stevie Johnson, Dontrelle Inman officially out vs. KC
Both Stevie Johnson and Dontrelle Inman will be inactive Sunday against the Chiefs, leaving the Chargers passing game very thin. Philip Rivers wasn’t in a good spot originally, but now with Malcom Floyd, Javontee Herndon and Vincent Brown as his only healthy WRs, it may be a very long day for Rivers. Expect Antonio Gates to be the most heavily targeted member of the passing game, but Kansas City has stifled opposing TEs this season and Gates turned in his worst performance of the season (one catch for six yards) when these teams met earlier this year. Malcom Floyd is worth a look in tournaments as he’ll act as the top wideout, and he does possess some deep ball upside which is a plus against the Chiefs. The big takeaway here is that the Kansas City D/ST unit is an elite play in all formats.
As reported by: Michael Gehlken on Twitter Other tagged players: Dontrelle Inman, Malcom Floyd Brandin Cooks (concussion) practices Friday, probable for Sunday
It appears that Cooks being listed with a concussion was precautionary, as he’s through the protocol within 24 hours and looks very likely to suit up against Tampa Bay. Considering Cooks was listed with a concussion mid-week, this whole situation is irregular but it’s great news for anyone hoping to have a piece of the Saints passing game this week. Per PFF, Cooks will run most of his routes against Jude Adjei-Barimah, who grades out very poorly in coverage and doesn’t have the straight line speed to keep up with Cooks. Despite the concussion label, Cooks is a very strong GPP target this week. Tampa Bay boasts a much tougher run defense and the Saints will be without their lead rusher in Mark Ingram, so the passing game will be the Saints best shot at putting points on the board. After a slow start to the season, Cooks has really turned it on of late, scoring six touchdowns over his last five games. He’s averaging just north of eight targets per game this season but should at the very least match that number on Sunday.
As reported by: Mike Triplett Tyler Eifert probable to play on Sunday
The Bengals are listing their star TE as probable to play this weekend against the Pittsburgh Steelers who are vulnerable to the pass (#21 in TE DvP). Eifert leads the league in TD’s and is always a high upside play. This is a slight hit to the value of A.J. Green who would have likely received more red zone looks if Eifert had sat.
As reported by: Adam Schefter on Twitter
C.J. Anderson tries to practice, status doesn't look good for this week
The Broncos RB attempted to practice today but after a test took off his pad shell and helmet leaving his status up in the air for this weekend’s game against the Raiders. Ronnie Hillman should get the bulk of the work for the Broncos against a Raiders team that is #24 in RB DvP and is an excellent medium priced option for GPP’s.
As reported by: Mike Klis Heath Miller looks likely to play this week
The Steelers tight end was a full participant in practice today and appears likely to play this weekend against the Bengals. This is good news for the Steelers pass game as one area where the Bengals are a little suspect is to TE’s where they rank #16 in TE DvP. The last time the Steelers played the Bengals a little more than a month ago, Miller put up a 13 catch, 105 yard performance.
As reported by: Aditi Kinkhabwala on Twitter