Alright; so, I’m still losing money these last few weeks but at least I’m not bleeding 5.2 units every Sunday any longer. My QB/TE stack last week sucked and I was fortunate that Marquise Brown caught a 3-yard touchdown pass because that’s the only thing he caught last week.
Gaskin was the worst running back of the week according to football outsiders, at least in terms of running and not receiving, and Tyler Boyd, my only good offensive pick, barely cracked the top 12 wide receivers in the Sunday main slate. I’ll take a pat on the back for a decent value defense pick.
I still managed to have a decent day all around thanks to some good picks outside of my value plays and a continued strategy of diversifying my lineups. So let’s get to round 9!
Ryan Tannehill, TEN QB - $7,400
There’re several great quarterback options this week. Matt Ryan has a plus matchup against Denver, Justin Herbert is a good player against the Raiders, Ben Roethlisberger faces the Cowboys, and all three of them are under $8,000 on FanDuel. Additionally, if you really want to save money, Drew Lock, Kirk Cousins, and Derek Carr are all start worthy this week.
But I really like Tannehill in Week 9. I understand the trepidation since Chicago is giving up the fifth fewest fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks, but Tannehill has been reliable all season.
The Bears have undoubtedly been weaker against the run than the pass, so I understand those who say this is going to be a game for King Henry. But coming off back to back losses, I think we see a little more aggressiveness from the Titans this week. I’d feel better if Adam Humphries (concussion) could still play this Sunday, but with A.J. Brown returning to a full practice designation on Friday and Corey Davis’s involvement of late, I really like Tannehill this week.
Justin Jackson, LAC RB - $5,900
The Raiders rank 28th against the run and Jackson has all the opportunity in the world right now to prove he belongs and has starting potential in the NFL.
Two years ago, I became a “Justin Jackson truther” when he was thrust into a significant role within the Chargers offense due to an injury that kept Melvin Gordon off the field for about a month late in the season. When Gordon was hurt last year, I thought Jackson would be the one to take over the backfield since he’d been more effective, and much more explosive, than Austin Ekeler during Gordon’s absence in 2018. Ekeler proved me dead wrong.
Jackson hasn’t look quite as explosive in any of his appearances since then, but now he’s coming off a strong performance against a good run defense in the Denver Broncos and averaged over 5 yards per carry. He’s also been involved in the passing game. He has yet to find the end zone this season, so why not this week? If he can punch one in, he should score 20 this week.
Jerry Jeudy, DEN WR - $5,700
I will most certainly have shares of JuJu Smith-Schuster, Chase Claypool, and Diontae Johnson this Sunday. The Steelers face the Cowboys and their receivers should have a field day. But that corps of wideouts is so freaking frustrating because you don’t know who’s going to hit when.
I have both Claypool and Johnson in my season-long league and have started the wrong one each of the past two weeks!
So get yourselves some shares of them, but my value play this week is Jeudy, who has a great matchup with the Falcons and an increased role in the offense as he and Drew Lock start to sync up.
Jeudy has had a lot of touch matchups this season, but has managed to do pretty well for himself, and he’s coming off his first game with double digit targets and his highest yardage total of his young career.
Hayden Hurst, ATL TE - $5,600
There’s plenty of viable options at tight end this week. Waller, Hockenson, and Fant are all under $6,800 and have good matchups. If you want to go contrarian, Jonnu Smith hasn’t had more than two receptions or four fantasy points in his last three games, but has a plus matchup against the Bears.
But Hurst has become a bigger part of the offense in Atlanta lately. He’s been targeted seven times in each of his last two games and has more than 50 receiving yards in his last three. A terrible game against Carolina notwithstanding, he’s been pretty darn good in the last 33 calendar days. A healthy wide receiver corps has helped open up the middle of the field for him and Matt Ryan is increasingly looking his direction.
Tennessee Titans - $3,800
If you can afford them, you’re going to want to use the Steelers as much as possible in DFS this weekend. The Cowboys are moving on to QB #4 for the season and the Steelers defense is amazing. But where you need some savings, the Titans are your best play against the Bears.
If you absolutely need another $100, go ahead and use the Texans against the Jaguars and their backup quarterback, but the Titans have the more talented defense right now and they’re playing to stop this two-week skid.
Contrarian Value Pick Adrian Peterson, DET RB - $5,300
Honestly, I don’t see a lot of good options this week who I expect will be heavily overlooked. Justin Jackson might be overlooked, but I think some people are taking notice after he’s had two strong games in three weeks.
But everybody is avoiding the Detroit backfield, and for good reason. D’Andre Swift had broken out as the lead back and then had a terrible game with six rushing attempts for one yard against Indy last week.
Now, I’m not saying Adrian Peterson is set to take back control of their backfield permanently. But this is a revenge game against the Minnesota Vikings, who rank 18th against fantasy running backs right now. So if you need to take a flier and save a bunch of money while doing it, why not look to AP?
Last Week’s Value Plays
Derek Carr 12.58 (1.72x $7,300 salary) [QB16 by value, QB17 by points]
Myles Gaskin 11.8 (2.07x $5,700 salary) [RB16 by value, RB19 by points]
Tyler Boyd 16.6 (2.59x $6,400 salary) [WR16 by value, WR12 by points]
Darren Waller 5.3 (0.77x $6,800 salary) [TE18 by value, TE14 by points]
New Orleans Saints 7.0 (1.94x $3,600 salary) [DEF5 by value, DEF6 by points]
Marquise Brown 6.8 (1.15x $5,900 salary) [WR39 by value, WR38 by points]
Week 8 Sunday Main results: 3-5 (-1.50 units)
2020 results: 21-46 (-15.83 units)
-Cory Puffett (@CoryPuffett)