Despite it being a very profitable DFS week for your ol’ pal Hotdog, I couldn’t help but desire to beat my head into a damn watching week 5 from start to finish.
I felt tilted all day.
No, not only because my favorite team, the Dallas Cowboys, took the pedal off the gas, threw a late INT for TD and lost another heartbreaker to the Packers.
But because the Steelers threw 50 times against one of the best secondaries in the NFL and Big Ben, for the first time ever, threw 5 INTs in one game.
The fact that it’s almost common knowledge, whether you look at stats or game film, that the Jags can’t stop the run. Meanwhile, the Steelers have the best uninjured RB in the league and let him catch 10 passes instead of controlling the clock, running the ball and keeping the turnovers at a minimum.
Also tilting? Losing OBJ for the season in multiple season-long leagues.
But what’s worse? The Giants’ lost Sterling Shepard, Brandon Marshall and Dwayne Harris. Marshall and Harris are out of the year.
And Evan Engram didn’t have one GD catch!
Charcandrick West – 2 catches, 2 TDs.
Cole Beasley – 2 Red Zone TDs
DeVante Parker – injured
Jay Cutler – still has a job even though he’s checked out.
Melvin Gordon, who I wrote up last week, but didn’t play enough (my fault), goes ham.
Tavon Austin got 9 rushes, Todd Gurley fails miserably.
I mean, this list is ridiculous and I know I am missing plenty more.
It’s football, I get it, but the past two weeks for injuries has been absolutely brutal. It makes Week 6 look ugly and I can’t say that I haven’t had a thought or two about how these injuries affect the quality of DFS play.
I hope we can avoid major injuries to the league’s superstars for a few weeks, or the rest of the season for that matter, because the product is going to suffer greatly.
And then people not affiliated with the NFL will take credit for a decline in ratings…
But I digress. It’s Week 6, there are plenty of byes, there are plenty of great players to choose from and some solid games to make DFS rosters from.
Before this weeks’ core picks, here’s this week’s rankings:
Quarterbacks
- Drew Brees
- Aaron Rodgers
- DeShaun Watson
- Matt Ryan
- Kirk Cousins
Running Backs
- Kareem Hunt
- Le’Veon Bell
- Todd Gurley
- Devonta Freeman
- Mark Ingram
Wide Receivers
- Julio Jones
- Antonio Brown
- DeAndre Hopkins
- Keenan Allen
- Larry Fitzgerald
Tight Ends
- Jordan Reed
- Rob Gronkowski
- Hunter Henry
- Travis Kelce
- Ryan Griffin
Defense/Special Teams
- Washington Redskins
- Baltimore Ravens
- Atlanta Falcons
- Arizona Cardinals
- Houston Texans
Top Stacks
- Matt Ryan/Devonta Freeman/Julio Jones
- DeShaun Watson/DeAndre Hopkins/Will Fuller
- Ben Roethlisberger/Le’Veon Bell/Antonio Brown
- Kareem Hunt/Tyreek Hill
- Kirk Cousins/Jordan Reed
- Derek Carr/MIchael Crabtree/Amari Cooper
- Philip Rivers/Melvin Gordon/Keenan Allen/Tyrell Williams
Top Narratives
- Tom Brady’s Shoulder
- Ben Roethlisberger coming off a 5 INT game
- Saints RB situation after trade of Adrian Peterson
- Carson Palmer and Cardinals playing at home
- Jets RB situation
- Drew Brees’ performances coming off a bye
- Redskins/Texans/Falcons/Patriots in potential blowout spots
- Eric Ebron squeaky wheel
Top Fades
- Leonard Fournette
- Tom Brady
- Le’Veon Bell
- Rob Gronkowki
- Mike Evans
- MIchael Thomas
- Jordy Nelson
- Stefon Diggs
- Case Keenum
- Chris Hogan
DeShaun Watson – QB – Houston Texans – $6,700
Analysis: Quarterback is tough this week. Watson has been fantastic and his price is starting to creep up there. I want to pay down at quarterback, but there just don’t seem like a ton of options I would be comfortable with. Watson is the perfect cash game play, facing one of the worst pass defenses in the league but one of the better run defenses. It’s hard to say what Cleveland can do with so little weapons, but Texans’ defense lost J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus last week, big blows to this squad. Watson is the perfect cash game play. He’s got the matchup, the rushing floor and a price that allows you to still fit in a lot of the higher-priced players you might like. I hope he is this good and doesn’t come back to Earth for one more week.
Mark Ingram – RB – New Orleans Saints – $4,400
Analysis: No Adrian Peterson, getting work out of the passing game, facing a team that could keep it close, and doesn’t have a rushing touchdown – that’s all things that favor Mark Ingram this week. He’s super cheap and so far has scored 10-11 DK points each week. It makes me nervous, but being a home favorite with a higher floor due to involvement in the passing game, and in a game that could see a lot of points scored, this play makes since (especially a pivot off of McGuire). With shadow coverage from Slay on Thomas, I like the other pass catchers for the Saints, Ingram included. Also, positive rushing touchdown regression should start coming into effect soon, too.
Julio Jones – WR – Atlanta Falcons – $8,300
Analysis: Julio is my No. 1 player on my board. Should Miami figure out how to play football on offense, this would absolutely be a smash spot for Julio. With a layover from the bye, Julio’s had a chance to heal various knicks and bruises, including his hit. Julio at $8,300 is a ridiculous price and feels like the spot last year when he went off for 300 receiving yards. My only issue here is blowout, but hopefully Jones is part of the reason why the Falcons blow out the Dolphins. And I will be standing around smoking a cigarette, too, a la Jay Cutler.
