I have a very interesting story to tell you, the readers. Picture this: Myself, good ol’ Zach, sitting on his couch, cursing Drew Brees. “Why is he cursing Drew Brees?”, asks you. Good question. Yes, I played Drew Brees, and yes, I loved that decision. However, out of the 8 tournaments I played last Sunday, Brees was only in 1 of those lineups. I was really high on Jay Cutler and Joe Flacco, and they did alright (19.54 and 22.60 pts), but they did not have Drew Brees-type games last week. So there I was, Monday morning, convincing myself that I should no longer write for Razzball anymore, and I should just spend the rest of my days rewinding old DVD’s. I had spent nearly $55 on entry fees for tournaments, and I was struggling, only winning $12. But then something happened. Graham Gano happened. 3/3 on FG’s and 2/3 on XP’s. On Tuesday morning, I opened up the FanDuel app, and I yelled, “YES!”, as I realized I still had the willingness to fight. $75 had been won. Thank you Graham Gano (And Jonathan Stewart).
Join myself, Jay, and your fellow readers in a special Razzball-only Contest! Buy-in is just $5.00 and the top-12 finishers in a 55-team league are all part of the prize pool! Sign up here!
Week 8 Review
What a week, just like every week. During every week from now on when I look back at the previous week, I will review our Razzball.com’s Fanduel League, where blewis555 took down the top prize of $60. Congratulations to you, fine sir/ma’am. Let’s analyze his/her’s 1st-place lineup that scored 171.04 pts.
Drew Brees (47.54 pts) – Once-in-a-lifetime-opportunity. He took advantage of a very weak secondary to score 7 TD’s. The main reason why he was able to sling the ball so much was due to the poor Saints’s D, which led to Eli Manning throwing the ball a ton too.
Devonta Freeman (16.1 pts) – Some people were off of him due to a decline in TD-scoring production, but Freeman looked like a good play. You can live with 16.1 pts, but I’m confident in saying that blewis555 wanted more out of Freeman.
Todd Gurley (22.1 pts)Â – Chalk play of the week came correct.
Stefon Diggs (18.5 pts)Â – #2 Chalk play of the week came correct.
Ted Ginn Jr. (7 pts)Â – I’m not going to say, “What was he thinking?!?!” because it was a good contrarian option this week. Ginn wasn’t going to face Vontae Davis, and the entire Colts secondary is awful, so why not highlight the #1 WR option? Unfortunately it didn’t work out.
Alshon Jeffery (22.6 pts)Â – I wrote about him last week (I’m pretty sure I did), and he did in fact exploit the matchup against Vikings CB Xavier Rhodes.
Benjamin Watson (25.2 pts)Â – Great stacking with Brees. Job. Well. Done.
Alright, now that’s over, let’s get into Week 9…
Week 9 Preview
Quarterbacks
Tom Brady, NE ($9,500)Â – The Patriots come into this week’s game vs Washington as the highest home-favorites, sitting at 33 total team points, with the total O/U at 55 total points between the two teams. Brady is the best Fanduel player this year, scoring an average of 26.77 points per year. The Pats’ offense is the best in the league right now, and proves no match for the weak defense of the ‘Skins.
Kirk Cousins, WAS ($6,600)Â – Staying in the same game, I like Cousins for many reasons. The total O/U of the game is at 55 points, and I highly doubt that the Patriots will beat Washington 55-0. Blowout games can result in some garbage-time production. Also, the Patriots secondary ranks 20th in the NFL, giving up an average of 17.5 points per game to QB’s. Even if Cousins finishes with 17.5 points (and I don’t think he will), that is enough to return value at his. sub-7k price.
Ben Roethlisberger, PIT ($8,300)Â – With HB Le’Veon Bell out for the rest of the year, Big Ben will throw the ball more and more (regardless of DeAngelo’s production) now that he can. The total O/U for the Pit-Oak game currently sits at a hearty 48 total points, with enough of that to go to Pittsburgh’s side. Oakland’s secondary ranks 25th in the NFL, with their run D the main focus. Roethlisberger should fire on all cylinders.
Running Backs
Devonta Freeman, ATL ($8,900) – The San Francisco 49ers are the worst team in football. That should be enough to start Freeman, but let me get into the specifics. Even without scoring TD’s in the past couple of weeks, Freeman still scores an average of 23.28 points per game. The Atlanta Falcons are the biggest road favorites this week, with the game’s total O/U sitting at 44.5, with the Falcons at a team total of 25.75 points. Finally, the Niners are the 3rd-worst defense against the run, giving up an average of 22.6 points-per-game. Freeman should be the top play this week at the position (and not DeAngelo Williams, a.k.a BUST ALERT)
Jeremy Langford, CHI ($6,400) – The San Diego rush defense is the worst in the league, giving up an average of 24.3 points-per-game to backs. According to Beat Writer Jeff Dickerson:
San Diego is the perfect opponent for RB Jeremy Langford. With Langford’s role about to increase in the aftermath of Matt Forte’s knee injury, the rookie will go up against the Chargers’ 27th-ranked rushing defense (124.4) on Monday night. San Diego has allowed four tailbacks to rush for more than 100 yards through eight games — James Starks, Le’Veon Bell, Adrian Peterson and Giovani Bernard. The Bears have gone out of their way to publicly praise Langford this week, despite the rookie playing just 73 snaps in seven games. Offensive coordinator Adam Gase begins installing the game plan for San Diego on Thursday. It would be a surprise if Langford carries the ball fewer than 20 times on Monday in Southern California.
Also, Langford checked in at only 8.60% owned on the Thu Fanduel Slates, translating to low-owned % on Sunday.
Doug Martin, TB ($7,100)Â – The New York Football Giants give up an average 21.3 points per game to the Running Back position, and Martin should look to exploit behind a (somewhat) good O-Line. My claim as a solid player this year in DFS at the beginning of this year looks to be true, as we are seeing the Rookie version of Doug Martin this year. Should have a good game this week.
Wide Receivers
Antonio Brown, PIT ($8,700)Â – With Le’Veon Bell out for the year, the new main man in the offense is Mr. Antonio Brown. With Roethlisberger as his QB this year he was been unstoppable, but his numbers are skewed because he has been thrown to from Michael Vick and Landry Jones. But this now changes, and the volume (a key stat in DFS) will never be higher as it is right now. The Raiders’ secondary is weak, and there is a high O/U this week, so I would fire Brown in all lineups this week.
Dorial Green-Beckham, TEN ($4,900)Â – So many good things are going for DGB. Marcus Mariota is under center once again, Kendall Wright is sidelined with an injury, and the Saints’ secondary is being taught by Rob Ryan (to give you an idea). Also, interim Head Coach Mike Mularkey indicated on Wednesday that Green-Beckham will get more playing time.
Alshon Jeffery, CHI ($7,900)Â – Still way too cheap. 67% of the games started by Alshon has resulted in either a TD or 100+ receiving yards, and Jeffery accounts for 45% of the team’s targets, so the consistency and volume is definitely there. Pair that with a matchup against a secondary who gives up an average of 19.1 points per game, and all of these numbers indicate a good game this week on Prime-Time.
Tight Ends
*If Austin Seferian-Jenkins plays, he is a fantastic play this week against NYG. He may not play, however.
Rob Gronkowski, NE ($8,500)Â – I could tell you the stats that you already know, but Gronk is Gronk, and when he is playing he is a must-play in all formats.
Heath Miller, PIT ($5,800)Â – Oakland lacks the LB’s necessary to cover TE’s, giving up an average of 13.2 points to the TE position, the worst in the NFL. Miller is a reliable target for Big Ben, and should see necessary volume and production with Le’Veon Bell out for the year.
Kicker and Defense & Special Teams
Chris Boswell, PIT ($4,500)Â
Stephen Gostkowski, NE ($5,200)Â
New York Jets D/ST ($4,700)
New Orleans Saints D/ST ($4,200)Â
Well, that’s it for me. Good luck to everyone this week! Hopefully I will cash in this Week’s Razzball.com Fanduel Contest. If not, let’s hope Graham Gano has some more FG’s in him.
You Can Follow Zach On Twitter @ohuhave12.
