Week 5 provided some of the highest FanDuel scores we’ve seen in a while, but Week 6 might challenge for the title.
There aren’t a ton of close games this weekend, so there are no obvious game stacks, but there are a ton of great teams in great spots, which means great players are about to go off.
This smells like a chalk week, but you still have to find some contrarian plays. Below are some possible strategies for you to employ for Week 6 FanDuel GPPs.
(For the FanDuel cash game guide, click here)
Quarterback
Quarterbacks I like in FanDuel tournaments this week:
- Tom Brady ($9,500)
- Drew Brees ($8,600)
- Matthew Stafford ($8,500)
- Matt Ryan ($8,100)
- Deshaun Watson ($7,900)
- Kirk Cousins ($7,800)
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As you can see, I’m an advocate of paying up for quarterbacks this week.
Brady might be my favorite GPP play of the week. He’s wildly expensive, which will keep people off of him, and he has a massive Q-tag with a shoulder injury this week, which will keep even more people off of him. And the Jets are somehow 3-2, tied with the Pats in the AFC East. But this is still Tom Brady, and this is still the Jets.
Drew Brees is at home in the game with the highest over/under of the week (50). He’s always in play for tournaments with those factors. Across the field from him will be Matthew Stafford. I love Stafford as a low-owned play off of Brees, who will assuredly be higher-owned, given that Brees is only $100 more.
Matt Ryan is in a smash spot as massive 12.5-point home favorite against the putrid Dolphins. My only concern here is that the Dolphins simply won’t be able to keep the game close, and Ryan could end up only really throwing in the first half. Still, the potential for a quick explosion of points is high here.
Watson is most definitely going to be the chalk, but you can’t really fault the community after Watson has repeatedly hit his impressive ceiling, and now he draws the Browns. If I’m building just one tournament lineup, Watson will not be the quarterback. He’s not a bad play (obviously), but you won’t be differentiating yourself with Watson.
One player I love to move to instead of Watson is Cousins, who is only $100 cheaper and draws a beautiful matchup against the cross-country tripping 49ers. Cousins has hit 20-plus FanDuel points in two straight games.
Running back
Running backs I like in FanDuel tournaments this week:
- Kareem Hunt ($9,300)
- Le’Veon Bell ($9,000)
- Leonard Fournette ($8,600)
- Todd Gurley ($8,400)
- Ty Montgomery ($7,200)
- Lamar Miller ($6,800)
- Mike Gillislee ($6,200)
- Mark Ingram ($5,900)
- Javorius Allen ($5,800)
- Jerick McKinnon ($5,600)
- Samaje Perine ($4,900)
The expensive guys are all viable this week thanks to their ready access to high ceiling, but I could see guys like Hunt and Gurley go under-owned this week after disappointing in Week 5. (Hunt’s “disappointing” Week 5 still saw his touch the ball 32 times and gain over 100 rushing yards for the fourth time in five games, for what it’s worth. He just had two touchdowns vultured.)
Montgomery would be an extremely risky play, but that’s kind of the point of GPPs. Remember, this is a guy the Packers gave a position-high 205 snaps to from Weeks 1-3. I’m not convinced he’s now a backup to Aaron Jones. Maybe I’m wrong, but Montgomery will be virtually unowned this week.
Miller is a disgusting play, but he’s an obvious leverage option against all of the Deshaun Watson-DeAndre Hopkins stacks we’re going to see this week. If you like contrarian lineups, Miller has to be included. He does have 15-plus touches in every game this year and has displayed a high ceiling (27.1 FanDuel point in Week 4).
Gillislee is now a fantasy afterthought after scoring four times in the first two weeks but producing basically the same amount of fantasy points in the (26.1) in the last four games combined than he did in the first game alone (22.5). But as nearly 10-point favorites against the Jets, who have given up the fifth-most fantasy points to running backs, Gillislee has to be considered for FanDuel GPPs.
Ingram and McKinnon are going to be chalky plays after seeing their opportunity potential jump this week while staying low on salary. Baltimore’s Allen is primed for a heavy workload in Week 6 and has shown 25-plus touch upside. He’s a good play as a 6.5-point home favorite and a nice GPP stack option with Baltimore’s defense.
Another player primed for a heavy workload but extremely low ownership is Perine, who is also blessed with a $4,900 price tag. Perine has 20-plus touches in two of three games this year, and while he’s been flat-out bad with those touches, he gets another chance this week against the 49ers, who have given up the third-most points to the position.
Wide receiver
Wide receivers I like in FanDuel tournaments this week:
- Antonio Brown ($9,200)
- Michael Thomas ($8,500)
- Julio Jones ($8,400)
- DeAndre Hopkins ($8,000)
- Brandin Cooks ($7,900)
- Chris Hogan ($7,500)
- Davante Adams ($7,200)
- Terrelle Pryor ($6,800)
- DeSean Jackson ($6,400)
- John Brown ($6,300)
- Will Fuller ($6,000)
- Taylor Gabriel ($5,800)
- Kenny Stills ($4,800)
Brown and Jones could go absolutely off this week, as they both has primo individual WR-CB matchups. Meanwhile, Thomas is a personal favorite of mine in GPPs this week to stack with Drew Brees. I think a ton of people will be on Mark Ingram, so this is a nice leverage stack. It seem like the kind of play that will seem obvious after the week.
Hopkins might be the highest-owned wideout of the week, and it’s easy to see why. His 60 targets and 35 receptions rank second in the NFL, and his five touchdowns are tied for first. But he’s going to be highly owned and will be a popular stack with Watson.
Just $100 cheaper is Cooks, who will likely draw shadow coverage from Morris Claiborne, but it’s not a matchup that particularly scares me. Cooks (4.33) is significantly faster than Claiborne (4.50), and he’s a great threat for a long touchdown this week if the Jets do decide to roll with one-on-one coverage all day.
Adams will be running free in Minnesota’s secondary this week against the burnable Trae Waynes, who has given up 1.93 yards per covered snap, fifth-most in the NFL. Aaron Rodgers is still clearly comfortable tossing Adams the ball in the end zone, which raises his ceiling to GPP-acceptable levels.
Pryor has been a dud with the Redskins so far, but he’s a nice contrarian stack with Cousins this week. I think plenty of people will go with Naked Cousins this week (ha) because Pryor hasn’t delivered, but he has a good chance this weekend against San Francisco’s Dontae Johnson, who has given up a league-worst 2.05 yards per route covered.
I think more people will pick up on this prior to Sunday, so it might not be that great of a leverage play, but Taylor Gabriel is primed for an increased roll with Mohamed Sanu banged up. Gabriel was a home-run hitter last year, but he has just 10 catches so far in 2017. Even so, he displayed his potential in Week 3 by posting a 5-79-1 line on just 52.9 percent of Atlanta’s snaps.
Tight end
Tight ends I like in FanDuel tournaments this week:
- Rob Gronkowski ($8,000)
- Travis Kelce ($7,200)
- Jordan Reed ($6,500)
- Austin Seferian-Jenkins ($5,600)
- Hunter Henry ($5,400)
- George Kittle ($5,300)
- Evan Engram ($5,300)
This is the week to pounce on either Gronkowski or Kelce. Gronkowski missed a nationally televised game and still has the Q-tag. Kelce left early from a nationally televised game and still has the Q-tag. Both are expensive. Both will be lower-owned than usual as a result of all of this.
Reed is actually a fade for me in cash games, but he’s a viable tournament option. Few tight ends possess his ceiling, which is all that really matters in GPPs.
“ASJ” hit pay dirt as the chalk last week, and he’s a good bet to score again in Week 6 against a Pats squad that has given up four touchdowns to tight ends in five games.
Henry’s usage is on the rise, with snap rates of: 39.7 – 56.9 – 56.2 – 60.7 – 75.6 to begin the season. He ran a season-high 33 pass routes last week and parlayed that into three catches for 42 yards and a score. He now has a score in two straight weeks and this week gets the Raiders, who have given up two scores to tight ends over the past three weeks.
I explain my reasoning for Kittle and Engram in the PPO breakouts piece as well.
This is a week where my cash game tight ends are actually going to look pretty similar to my tournament tight ends. I’m going to be doing everything I can to get Gronkowski and Kelce into lineups, though, since this might be their lowest ownership week for a while.
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