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NFL Lineup Daily Fantasy Football Week 7 – Draftkings Cash and Gpp Plays

by Cesar Becerra 0 Comments

Week 7 is an interesting week that doesn’t feature many heavy favorites. The biggest favorite on the slate are the Dallas Cowboys against the San Francisco 49ers, and the spread is at 6. The big game that most people would like to target is the Falcons at Patriots. However, since Draftkings recently removed the Sunday Night Game off of the Main slate, that game is not available on unless you play the Thursday through Monday slate. Since this article is mainly driven on the DraftKings main slate, I will not be addressing plays from the Sunday Night Game.

For Sunday’s Main slate there are four games that have respectable game totals. The Saints (26.5) at Packers (21) lead the way with a 47.5 over/under followed by the the Rams (25) at Cardinals (21.75) with a 47 o/u. The Browns (20.5) at Titans (26) and the Cowboys (26.25) at 49ers (20.25) both have a total of 46.5. Outside of those games, Vegas sees a lot of cross off games like the Jets (17.75) at Dolphins (20.75), Vikings (22.75) at Ravens (17.25), and even Bears (17.75) at Seahawks (23). Each of these games has over/under of 41 points or less.

Quarterbacks

NFL Lineup Daily Fantasy Football Week 7 - Draftkings Cash and Gpp Plays

Tyrod Taylor (DK $5,100) – Taylor might be the highest owned quarterback this week. Taylor is coming off of a bye and is going up against the Bucs who rank 27th DVOA against the pass this season. This gamer currently doesn’t have a line because of the injury status of Jameis Winston, but this game should feature a fair amount of possessions with both teams ranked in the top 15 of the pace of play. Taylor always provides nice rushing upside. We’ve seen Taylor rush for more than seven attempts in all but one game this season. He has yet to find the end zone on the ground, but he could be in for some positive regression.

Dak Prescott (DK $7,300) – The top projected quarterback on the board according to our partner 4for4 projections is Dak. Unfortunately, he doesn’t come cheap as he’s the second highest priced QB on the slate behind Drew Brees. Dak is going up against the 49ers defense that ranked 32 DVOA against the pass, and the Cowboys are projected to score 26+ points. I think this game has some sneaky shootout potential with both defenses ranking in the bottom half of the league (DAL 22nd DVOA). I also think Dak will be a nice pivot off of Elliott who is the chalkier play in this game.

Ben Roethlisberger (DK $6,200) – I haven’t played Ben all year, and I’m pretty happy about that. A big reason why I don’t play Ben is because of his home and road splits. This week, Ben finds himself on the positive side of that splits at home against the Bengals. The Bengals are a far from ideal matchup as they rank 8th DVOA against the pass this season. But he had a nice bounce-back effort last week against the Chiefs after a performance that had him contemplating retirement against the Jags. Ben is a little risky due to his matchup and his performance this season. I just think he has so many talented weapons on his side that this offense has to get it rolling at some point. He’ll be low owned, and the game should stay close, so I like the game script for this matchup.

GPP Value Play

Brett Hundley (DK $5,100) – I keep seeing Hundley’s name on Twitter so it makes me think he won’t be as low owned as I expect but he’s a nice pivot from Taylor. Hundley didn’t look so great replacing Rodgers last week, but this week he gets a full week with the first-team offense. Hundley has been in the Packers organization for the last three season and has a good amount of weapons at his disposal. I expect Drew Brees and the Saints to light up the Packers, so that gives Hundley plenty of opportunity to throw the ball playing catchup. Hundley did rush for over 1,700 yards and 30 touchdowns at UCLA so he can make some plays with his feet. At 5.1K it doesn’t take much to hit value.

Cash Considerations:
D. Brees, D. Prescott, T. Taylor.

GPP:
B. Roethlisberger, B. Hundley, C. Palmer.

 

Running BacksNFL Lineup Daily Fantasy Football Week 7 - Draftkings Cash and Gpp Plays

Todd Gurley (DK $8,200) – Gurley leads all the running backs in terms of projected raw points. Yes, even over Bell, Elliott, and Fournette who are all priced higher than him. Each of those backs are in great spots as well, but the 4for4 projections as of Wednesday night has Gurley as the frontrunner. Gurley is in an ideal spot for a running back. He’s a home favorite on a team implied to score over 25 points and has received 30 targets this season. The concern is that he’s facing a Cardinals defense that ranks 2nd DVOA against the run.

Jay Ajayi (DK $6,200) – If we’re looking for highest projection of points per dollar, Ajayi leads the charge per the 4for4 projections. Ajayi is projected at over 18 points and with his 6.2k price tag he comes in at over 3x value. Ajayi is also in the same situation as Gurley as he’s a home favorite (-3) against the Jets who rank 21st DVOA against the run. I typically like to target running backs that have more targets upside, but Ajayi has seen some 10 targets the past four weeks. He’s playing on 72% of the snaps and has 88% of the rushing attempts. This game could be low scoring, and if the Dolphins are around their implied total, Ajayi figures to be the primary beneficiary.

Jerick McKinnon (DK $6,300) – We saw McKinnon go off last week for both rushing TD and receiving TD when he was chalk. This week his ownership should regress back down to average as he’s seen his price spike up over $1k. Mckinnon is a home favorite against the Ravens. The Ravens have one of the best passing defenses and have a modest rushing defense so their somewhat of a funnel defense. Baltimore ranks 17th DOVA against the run. If the Vikings are going to attack this Ravens defense, it’s going to have to do so on the ground since Diggs has not practiced and Keenum will be behind center. I’d lean Ajayi over Mckinnon if I had to choose between the two.

GPP Value Play

Alvin Kamara (DK $5,600) – Kamara disappointed some people last week after being out produced by Mark Ingram. Last week Kamara was out snapped 30:47 by Mark Ingram and only received 29% of the rushing attempts out of the Saints backfield. We knew going into last week that Ingram was still the early downs back and Kamara would get his opportunity during 3rd downs. Kamara caught all 4 of his targets last week but only produced 12 receiving yards. He’s still a talented back, and at 5.6K he’s still relatively cheap to garnish some GPP consideration.

Cash + GPP Plays:
Gurley, Bell, Ajayi, Fournette, Elliott, Ingram.

Gpp Plays:
McCoy, Hyde, McCaffrey, Kamara, McKinnon, Henry (if Murray is out Henry is a top play).

Wide Receivers

NFL Lineup Daily Fantasy Football Week 7 - Draftkings Cash and Gpp Plays

Aj Green (DK $8,300) – Currently the second highest priced wideout and the second highest projected receiver on our board, Aj Green is a great play this week. Since changing offensive coordinators, Green leads the team in targets with 33 (11/game) and has scored three straight weeks. Bill Lazor is making an effort to get the ball to Green, and he’s showing them why by posting up monster games. He’s priced up with Antonio Brown, but if you want to make a contrarian lineup, paying up for both of these receivers and finding value at running back is a good way to do so.

Dez Bryant (DK $7,800) – Dez and the Cowboys receivers are going up against the 49ers who rank dead last DVOA against opposing receivers this season. Bryant has a solid floor with over 11 projected targets according to 4for4. At $7,800 he’s the third highest priced receiver on the board and has the third highest projection of the week. I think this game could be a sneaky shootout and I think a Bryant/Dak stack could be a nice hedge from the Cowboys running game.

Devante Adams (DK $5,800) – Adams was Hundley’s favorite target last week after replacing Rodgers. Adams had a difficult matchup last week against Xavier Rhodes but still saw 10 targets from Hundley. He was able to produce 5 catches for 55 yards and a score with those Targets. This week he’s going up against a Saints defense that ranks 12th DVOA against receivers, but I see Adams getting an ample amount of targets in this one.

GPP Value Play

Bennie Fowler (DK $3,300) – Emmanuel Sanders is expected to miss this week, and Fowler figures to set into Sanders’ role. Fowler saw 8 targets from Siemian last week and played 75 % of the snaps. He only has 13 catches on the season, but most of his production has come from the slot. Now he should get some time as the 2nd receiver behind Thomas. Fowler did score twice against the Chargers in week 1, so there could be something he sees against this Charger defense.

Cash + GPP Plays:
Brown, Green, Bryant, Thomas, Fitzgerald, Landry, Baldwin, Adams, Garcon.

GPP Plays:
E. Decker, K. Benjamin, J. Nelson, K. Allen, R. Matthews, M. Lee, B. Fowler, R. Woods.

Tight End

NFL Lineup Daily Fantasy Football Week 7 - Draftkings Cash and Gpp Plays

Delanie Walker (DK $5,800) – Walker has had a down start to the season, yet to find the end zone. But what do I always say? Play tight ends against the Browns. This week Walker is that tight end. He is second on the team in targets only behind Rishard Matthews but is averaging 14% targets per snap. He is, however, the most expensive tight end on the board.

George Kittle (DK $3,600) – Kittle’s price is starting to rise against with his production the last two weeks. In the past two weeks, Kittle has had 17 targets and has caught 13 receptions for 128 yards and a touchdown. This week the 49ers will roll out rookie QB CJ Beathard who out of Iowa. Beathard and Kittle were teammates for four years in college. The rookie could lean on Kittle to move the ball. The Cowboys also rank 31st in DVOA against the tight ends this season.

GPP Value Play

Zach Miller (DK $3,200) – Miller has seen an uptick in production since the Bears made the movie to first-round draft pick Mitchell Trubisky. Miller has 5 receptions on 10 targets with Trubisky under center and has scored twice the past two weeks. Miller is a nice value play at this price.

Cash:
Kittle, ASJ, Witten, Graham.

GPP:
Walker, Engram, Miller, Kroft, Bennett, Fleener.

Defense
NFL Lineup Daily Fantasy Football Week 7 - Draftkings Cash and Gpp Plays

Rams (DK $2,600) – Defenses are so volatile I usually tend to look for the defense with the best value. The Rams rank third in our projected points per dollar scoring and are home favorites against the Cardinals. The Cardinals offense airs out the ball quite a bit and gives up a lot of sacks. The Rams front seven should be able to put pressure on Palmer and get a few sack in this game.






Daily Fantasy Football: NFL DFS Week 1 Cash and GPP Picks

by Cesar Becerra 0 Comments

Quarterbacks:

Daily Fantasy Football - Marcus Mariota - Lineuplab.com

Quarterback is the most underpriced position in both Draftkings and Fanduel. The main reason why the quarterback position is wildly underpriced is that there isn’t a large gap between the top scoring QB opposed to the 12th scoring QB. It also has to due in large part with the fact that their scoring is weighted lower than other positions. QB’s receive 4 points per touchdown and 1 point for every 25 yards gained. If you play on Draftkings they give a bonus for quarterbacks that throw over 300 yards. That may alter your decision making because it makes quarterbacks more reliant on touchdowns in FanDuel than in Draftkings. Now that we broke down the scoring discrepancies, let’s take a look at a few quarterbacks you should be targeting for both cash and gpp games.

Cash:

Marcus Mariota (DK $6,700, FD $7,700)
Mariota comes into week 1 as the consensus chalk quarterback. The 6th highest priced QB on DK and 7th highest priced QB on FD, Mariota won’t be heavily owned because of his bargain price. Instead, Mariota will likely be the highest owned QB in cash games because of his favorable Vegas totals. The Titans come into week one as a 3.5 point favorite against the Raiders in a game that features the highest over/under 50.5. This high over/under gives the Titans an implied total of 26.5 points, good enough for second on this slate only behind the Steelers. Quarterbacks with similar Vegas totals have gone on to perform well in the past. Mariota has had the best red zone touchdown efficiency rating since joining the league in 2015. When you add up all that and include that the Raiders had one of the worst secondaries in the league last season, you can see why Mariota is expected to be the highest owned quarterback.

GPP:

Russell Wilson (DK $ 6,900, FD $8,000)
After a let down 2016 season, Wilson finds himself looking to hit the refresh button. His fantasy production last season took a dip because he only rushed for 259 yards on the season with one rushing touchdown. It’s been heavily reported that Wilson changed his workout routine over the offseason and is looking to recapture his 2015 form this season. Well, week 1 is a nice opportunity for Wilson to put his new offseason regime to the test against the Packers. The Packers allowed the seventh-most fantasy points per game last season and did hardly anything to improve their secondary in the offseason. This game opened up with an over/under just under 50 but has since increased to 51, giving this game the highest over/under on the slate. The Seahawks are on road underdogs, and that generally isn’t a recipe for success, but the Packers secondary is bad enough for you to consider taking a flier on Wilson in tournaments.

Plays worth considering in Cash & GPP:

Matt Ryan (DK $6,900, FD $8,500) – The Falcons are tied for 1st on the slate for implied team points with 27.5. Matt Ryan is going up against a Bears defense that is significantly improved in the front seven and new offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian could look to air it out in their first game to get Falcon’s fans over their 28-3 blown Super Bowl win. However, Ryan does come with some red flags as he is playing on the road and there truly is no way of telling how the offense will function without Kyle Shanahan.

Ben Roethlisberger ($DK 7,300, FD $8,200) – Big Ben comes in with the same implied team total as the Falcons. He’s playing an abysmal Browns team and is an 8.5 point favorite. Ben will have his full assortment of weapons to his use with the return of LeVeon Bell and Martavis Bryant. The concern here is Ben’s home and road splits.

Running Backs

Daily Fantasy Football - Carlos Hyde - San Francisco 49ers

The running back position is almost always dominated by Le’Veon Bell (DK $9,800, FD $9,300) and David Johnson (DK $9,400, FD $9,400). This week is no different. Both are elite plays and expect to be the highest owned backs in this slate. Now the question is if you can play both of them. The answer is yes. There’s certainly enough value in other positions that allow you to make your lineup construction with these two elite backs. But if you have to choose one over the other I like Johnson over Bell because of the simple fact that the game has a closer spread and David Johnson plays for a Cardinal team that has fewer mouths to feed than the Steelers.

Chalk

Todd Gurley (DK $6,000, FD $7,300)
If you’re looking for a chalk alternative from the two safe, elite backs look no further than Todd Gurley. More of a value on Draftkings than Fanduel, Gurley comes into week 1 in an elite spot. The Rams are currently home favorite against the Andrew Luck-less Colts and have seen the Vegas line shift them from 3 point underdogs to 4 point favorites. With a poor offensive line and Jeff Fisher calling the plays last season, Gurley had a letdown year after being selected as the number 1 RB in most season-long drafts last season. This year the Rams have made some moves to improve their offensive line and also brought in Sean McVay to jumpstart their offense. Gurley should have an ample amount of opportunities to get to the 100 yard DK bonus and could even fall into the endzone.

GPP

Carlos Hyde (DK $4,600, FD $6,800)
If you’re looking for a cheap running back in your roster construction, Carlos Hyde is your answer. With Joe William landing on the IR and Tim Hightower being a surprise cut out of the 49ers camp, Hyde only has to share targets with undrafted rookie Matt Breida. Hyde should be a lock for 25 touches with Kyle Shanahan calling the plays now and his price on both sites could help open up salary in other roster spots.

 

Wide Receivers

Daily Fantasy Football - Amari Cooper - Lineuplab.com

Depending on lineup construction, wide receiver could be where you really differentiate yourself from the field. The top 3 studs are all in strong positions. Antonio Brown (DK $ 8,800, FD $9,100), Julio Jones (DK $8,500, FD $9,000), and AJ Green (DK $8,000, FD $ 8,400) are all in spots where we can see them have a big game. But let’s take an audible into some plays that people may be overlooking

Doug Baldwin (DK $6,700, FD $7,500)
I mentioned how the Seahawks passing offense was in a good spot against the Packers. The game flow looks to be in Baldwin’s favor as the Packers had the worst secondary in the league last season, and quite frankly their cornerbacks don’t scare any passing attack. Baldwin will face either Quinten Rollins, Davon House, or Damarious Randall neither was graded higher than top 50 of Pro Football Focus Cornerback Rankings.

Kendall Wright (DK $3,200, FD $5,200)
Kendall Wright looks poised to take advantage of a Bears receiving corp that is extremely depleted after losing Cameron Meredith for the season. Although Wright is not listed as the number two receiver behind Kevin White, Wright will be on the field in three wide receiver sets. That may sound concerning, but during preseason the first-team Bears offense ran three wide receiver sets 14 out of their 15 plays, so Wright is a sneaky cheap option to get some much volume. Wright was signed by the Bears after his previous work with offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains. Under Loggains, Wright saw and an average of 8.7 targets per game back in 2013. In a game that the Bears are heavy underdogs against the Falcons, the offense could be throwing the ball more than 40 times opening up cheap targets for Wright to snag.

Amari Cooper (DK $7,200, FD $7,600)
Amari Cooper should be another popular play. Playing in the game with the highest over/under on the slate, Cooper is going to have an ample of opportunities to bring in targets. The Titans last season ranked in the bottom of the league in points per game allowed to wide receiver, and with a duel of Cooper and Crabtree, the Raiders passing game could be in store for a big game.

Larry Fitzgerald (DK $5,900, FD $6,400)
Fitz is a veteran that could be heavily owned in this first few weeks. The one thing about the vet is that he has some drastic splits from the first half of the season and the second. Fitzgerald has averaged 13.9 points in the first 6 games of the season compared to 11.3 games in the second half. The Cardinals passing offense faces the Lions who were 32nd in DVOA.

** Fanduel only ** Terrelle Pryor (FD $6,200) is extremely underpriced in Fanduel. Although his preseason action with Kirk Cousins left a lot to be desired, Pryor should see a massive target amount.

Tight End

Daily Fantasy Football - Zach Ertz - Philadelphia Eagles

Drafting a tight end in DFS is often dependent on the site you play. In Draftkings touchdowns become less important than targets, while on Fanduel touchdowns valued higher than targets/receptions.

Chalk

Draftkings – Zach Ertz (DK $4,300, FD $6,100)
Ertz is the uber chalk on Draftkings. With the Eagles getting rid of Jordan Matthews and Alshon Jeffery expecting to be shadowed by Josh Norman, Ertz becomes the immediate beneficiary of targets from Carson Wentz. Ertz doesn’t have the touchdown upside that others like Jared Cook or Tyler Eifert may have, but his price and volume make him a nice cash play on Draftkings.

Fanduel – Tyler Eifert (DK $4,600, FD $6,100)
Eifert is an example of how site determines what would be the better player. With Green sucking up most of the targets, Eifert is left with minimal targets. Fortunately for Eifert, he scored on over 40% of his targets last season. Although that number is likely to regress, Eifert is at a good price for such a volatile position.

Defense

Daily Fantasy Football - Los Angeles Rams - Lineuplab.com

Los Angeles Rams (DK $3,200, FD $4,600)
The Rams’ defense is in a good spot as a 4 point home favorite against a team that doesn’t have their starting quarterback. The Colts could very much be a train wreck come Sunday, and although the Rams will likely be without their All-Pro Aaron Donald, their defense should be able to handle Scott Tolzien and Frank Gore.

Houston Texans (DK $3,800, FD 5,100)
The Texans are the chalkiest defense with the highest upside. Aside from the fact that they are with the most talented defense in a prime matchup, they get to face Blake Bortles. Bortles looked dreadful this preseason and last year ranked in the bottom-10 in interception rate (3.7%). They are the most expensive defensive option out of the other chalk defense.

 

 

Fantasy Football Season Preview: Quarterbacks

by Mike Barner 0 Comments

**Mike Barner**

The long journey through the NFL season is rapidly approaching, meaning it’s one of the most exciting times of the year: drafting your fantasy football team. While you need your players to stay healthy and have a little luck go your way, having a strong draft can go a long way to determining the fate of your season.

Lineup Lab is here to help you come away a winner. In the first of our season previews, we’ll break down the quarterback position. While it’s the most important position in the NFL, it’s not necessarily the most important position in fantasy football. If you don’t get one of the elite signal callers, a sound strategy is to wait until later in the draft as there is plenty of depth at the position.

Whether you want to swing for the fences and take your quarterback early or wait for a sleeper in the later rounds, we’ll examine some players to target and avoid as you navigate your way through your draft.

Fantasy Football Season Preview - Mike Glennon - Chicago Bears - Lineup Lab

Old Faces In New Places

Mike Glennon – Chicago Bears

Glennon joins the Bears after spending the first four seasons of his career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. With Jameis Winston at the helm, it was an easy decision for the Bucs to let Glennon leave in free agency. Glennon started 13 games during his rookie season in 2013 and posted a 59.4% completion percentage to go with 2,608 yards, 19 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He started five games in 2014, but has only appeared in two games the last two seasons.

Although Glennon signed a three-year deal with the Bears, they could get out of the deal after this season. It appears that could be a likely scenario as they just drafted Mitchell Trubisky with the second overall pick.

Glennon doesn’t have the best weapons around him to succeed this season. While Jordan Howard is an excellent running back, his receiving core leaves a lot to be desired. The Bears lost Alshon Jeffery to the Philadephia Eagles, which is a significant blow to the team. Although they brought in a big name in Victor Cruz, he is a much different player than Jeffery and his best days appear to be behind him.

That leaves Glennon’s top wideouts as the combination of Kevin White and Cameron Meredith. White was limited to four games last season and only averaged 46.8 yards in those games. Meredith had a breakout campaign in 2016 as he had 66 receptions, 888 yards and four touchdowns. Glennon has a solid tight end in Zach Miller to pair with White and Meredith, but none of the three players are elite targets.

Stay away from Glennon as not only does he have limited weapons, but there is a chance he could end up on the bench in favor of Trubisky at some point during the season.

Jay Cutler – Miami Dolphins

Cutler was ready to begin his career as a broadcaster until the Dolphins lost Ryan Tannehill for the season with a knee injury. Cutler was limited to only five games due to injury himself last season, but was struggling even when healthy as he had four touchdowns, five interceptions and a 33.2 QBR for the season. He had some strong campaigns early in his career, but has thrown for less than 20 touchdowns in four of his last six seasons.

Unlike Glennon, Cutler actually has some weapons in wide receivers Jarvis Landry and DeVante Parker. Although Landry only has eight total touchdowns in the last two seasons, he did record at least 94 receptions and 1,136 yards in both years. The Dolphins also brought in Julius Thomas at tight end, hoping to revive his career after two terrible seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Even with his struggles though, he did have nine total touchdowns in Jacksonville.

The Dolphins should be a run heavy offense behind Jay Ajayi, but Cutler has never been known to be a game manager. Even with several talented offensive players around him, Cutler is no longer a valuable fantasy option outside of two quarterback leagues.

Fantasy Football Season Preview - Russell Wilson - Seattle Seahawks - Lineuplab

Overrated Players

Russell Wilson – Seattle Seahawks

Don’t get me wrong, Wilson has put up some big numbers in his career. He finished 2016 with a career-high 4,219 passing yards to go along with 21 passing touchdowns, 259 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. Durability is a big part of his value as he has yet to miss a game in his career. He has also thrown nine interceptions or less in three of his five seasons in the league.

With that being said, he’s going too high in drafts. Last season, he finished 10th in the NFL in passing yards, 12th in passing yards per game and 17th in passing touchdowns. While he can add value in the running game, he only finished ninth in total rushing yards for a quarterback. To put that into perspective, he only had 52 more rushing yards and actually one less rushing touchdown than Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford.

Wilson is likely to be picked among the top five quarterbacks in many leagues, but his production doesn’t match that price. You’d be better off waiting a few rounds and picking up someone like Marcus Mariota of the Tennessee Titans or Jameis Winston of the Bucs as they could approach (if not exceed) Wilson’s production.

Ben Roethlisberger – Pittsburgh Steelers

Roethlisberger has put up some monster numbers in his career. He went through a stretch from 2009 through 2014 where he threw for at least 4,000 yards four times and averaged 25 passing touchdowns per season. The best season of his career was in 2014 when he threw for 4,952 yards to go along with 32 touchdowns and only nine interceptions. That’s elite production.

Big Ben also has elite weapons around him, led by Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell. Brown has at least 106 receptions and 1,284 receiving yards in each of the last three seasons while Bell is one of the premier pass catching running backs in the league.

However, Roethlisberger has regressed the last two seasons, mainly because of injuries. He appeared in 12 games in 2015 and 14 games in 2016. Even in games when he does take the field, he seems to be dealing with nagging injuries more often than not.

Another area of concern is his crazy home and road splits. In home games last season, Roethlisberger averaged 319 passing yards per game and posted 20 touchdowns to only five interceptions. On the road, he only averaged 238 passing yards per game while recording nine passing touchdowns and eight interceptions. When you look at his touchdowns and interceptions, it’s even more staggering when you consider he played eight road games last year and only six home games.

Is this a one-year fluke you ask? No, it’s certainly not. Although his passing yards per game were much closer (348 at home compared to 308 on the road) in 2015, his totals were still way off as he had 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions at home compared to only five touchdowns and nine interceptions on the road.

There is limited value in a quarterback who you can only start with confidence in half of his games. Let someone else take the risk.

Fantasy Football Season Preview - Jameis Winston - Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Lineuplab

Undervalued Players

Jameis Winston – Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Winston has had success in his young career as he has surpassed at least 4,000 passing yards in both seasons in the NFL. He has 50 touchdowns and 33 interceptions total while not missing a game so far.

Last season he threw for 4,090 yards, 28 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. His passing stats are impressive when you consider outside of star receiver Mike Evans, the offense was lacking talent. Evans had 96 receptions for 1,321 yards. The next highest totals were both posted by tight end Cameron Brate, who logged 57 receptions for 660 yards.

The Bucs have added some serious talent to their offense this season by bringing in wide receiver DeSean Jackson and drafting tight end O.J Howard. Jackson adds much-needed speed and has averaged at least 17.6 yards per catch in each of the last three seasons. Howard can help create some difficult match ups when paired with Brate on the field while also providing solid blocking.

This season is shaping up to be another big campaign for Winston. If you prefer to wait on a quarterback, Winston can be drafted long after the elite options are off the board, but could still post a top-10 season.

Carson Wentz – Philadelphia Eagles

Wentz had a respectable rookie season, throwing for 3,782 yards to go along with 16 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. He also added 150 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. While none of these numbers are eye-popping, take into consideration the talent he had around him. The team leader in both receptions (78) and receiving yards (816) was tight end Zach Ertz. Of their top four leaders in receptions, two were tight ends, one was a running back and only one was a wide receiver.

Although the Eagles traded away Jordan Matthews, they made significant upgrades at wide receiver by bringing in both Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith. Despite playing only 12 games last season, Jeffery still had more receiving yards (821) than anyone on the Eagles last year. Smith may not haul in a ton of catches, but he has averaged at least 16.8 yards per catch in four of his six seasons in the NFL.

With Ertz returning as well, Wentz has three legitimate options to throw to this season. The schedule also appears to be in Wentz’s favor this season as six of the Eagles 16 games come against teams who finished in the bottom nine of the NFL with regards to passing yards allowed last season. They also face only two teams who finished in the top five in passing yards allowed last season.

While he can be had in the later rounds of most drafts, Wentz has the potential to put up top-15 numbers at quarterback this season.

Fantasy Football Season Preview - Matt Ryan - Atlanta Falcons - Lineuplab

A Look At The Fantasy Playoff Schedule

Another key part of your research is to know who has favorable match ups during the fantasy football playoffs, generally weeks 15 and 16 in most leagues. Let’s dive in and see where you can gain that edge.

Favorable Schedules

Matt Ryan – Atlanta Falcons

Ryan has two road match ups in weeks 15 and 16, but they come against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Week 15) and the New Orleans Saints (Week 16). The Saints allowed the most passing yards in the NFL last season while the Bucs were one of 11 teams in the league to allow at least 4,000 passing yards. If you can make it to the playoffs, Ryan could help push you to a title.

Joe Flacco – Baltimore Ravens

Flacco also has an advantage in the fantasy playoffs as he faces the Cleveland Browns on the road in Week 15 and the Indianapolis Colts at home in Week 16. The Browns allowed 36 passing touchdowns last season, the most in the NFL. The Colts allowed 27 passing touchdowns of their own while also giving up 4,200 passing yards, which was good for sixth most in the league. You don’t want Flacco to be your starting QB for the entire season, but keep an eye on him when injuries mount at the end of the season and he gets this favorable schedule.

Difficult Schedules

Andrew Luck – Indianapolis Colts

Luck faces tough opponents as he gets the Denver Broncos at home in Week 15 and the Baltimore Ravens on the road in Week 16. The Broncos had the best pass defense in the NFL last season. They allowed a league-low 2,972 passing yards and had more interceptions (14) than passing touchdowns allowed (13). The Ravens were no slouch either as they tied for the league lead in interceptions (18) and finished in the top-nine in passing yards allowed. Luck could be in for some disappointing performances when it matters the most.

Kirk Cousins – Washington Redskins

Cousins is a trendy pick this season to outproduce his draft spot. While he might have a good season overall, the fantasy playoffs will be no picnic. Both games are at home, but he has to play the Arizona Cardinals in Week 15 and the Broncos in Week 16. I already detailed how deadly the Broncos’ defense is, but the Cardinals are very tough as well. They limited the opposition to only 210 passing yards per game and 21 touchdowns last season, both in the top-10 in the league. Of all the tough fantasy playoff schedules, Cousins may have the toughest.