Sentences starting similarly! Titillating titles! Alliteration abounds!
Okay, I won’t keep that up forever. But, alas, this is our last time together this year in FanDuel land. I know, I’m tearing up, too. Hopefully you’ve made some money, or at least had some fun. And barring that, maybe you’ve developed a pathological hatred of my picks that will finally get you to see that doctor you were thinking of calling. Any way I can help. So I’ll give it one last go – with the players I think you should target on FanDuel in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
Quarterbacks: Tom Brady. I’ll be honest, I think all the values pretty much suck at QB this week. Peyton Manning at $8,900 is the closest thing you get to a value, since he does have the potential to put up the most points of anybody this week. But if I’m going to be forced to spend more on a signal caller than I want to this week (and I am), then I’m going to take the guy who’s at the top of the food chain – and that’s Brady. The wonderful thing about Brady is that he’s blowout-proof. Even ahead 35-0, Brady will have the green light to gun for the end zone. That’s some added equity you can take to the bank, even if it does mean sacrificing one of the other picks I’m making here.
Running Backs: Knowshon Moreno, Michael Turner. Moreno to me is a slam-dunk against a Ravens rush defense that has failed to impress over the course of the entire season. Are there some worries about the Baltimore defense finally being healthy? Sure. But there’s also a chance this game is an embarrassment and Moreno is toting the rock for the entire second half. As for Turner, all you need is for him to punch in one cheap touchdown and tack on 30 or 40 yards to be profitable at his low price. Even against the Seahawks’ defense, that seems perfectly plausible.
Wide Receivers: Eric Decker, Roddy White, Anquan Boldin. Yeah, my theme here seems to be “take the second-fiddle guys.” At least for Decker, I don’t have a great reason for that other than “Somebody is going to catch a lot of balls from Peyton, Decker’s the cheaper option, and I just have a gut feeling he’s the man.” You can certainly listen to your own gut, but I’d recommend at least one Denver wideout in your lineup. White is your standard boom-bust play. He’s either going to get you 100+ yards and a score, or he’s going to give you about three total points. Given the high variance with a low-number of games this weekend, I want to take the upside play whenever I can. Torrey Smith might have a back problem (well he does have one – he’s on the injury report – it’s just a matter of how severe it is), which makes Boldin the top target for a Ravens team you have to assume will be throwing the ball a lot in the second half. After his performance last week, it’s surely safe to give him a look at what amounts to a continued discount.
Tight Ends: Jermichael Finley. I feel about the same about the tight end situation as I do the quarterback one: I’m not thrilled with the value anywhere. So instead I’ll make another upside play and hope that the recent encouraging results from Finley can at least net him a score this weekend.
Kickers: Stephen Gostkowski. The best kicker is the cheapest. Try explaining that one.
Defense: Atlanta Falcons. Were it not for Robert Griffin III’s knee giving out and gifting Seattle a late touchdown, we’re looking at a two-touchdown effort on the road from the Seattle offense. That seems about right, given their struggles away from home this year. Unless Matt Ryan gets destroyed in the first quarter, a solid performance from his defense should make the value worth it.
