Draft Kings Week 14: Best Bargains At Each Position
The best way to cash on weekly fantasy football sites is to load up on as many stars with good matchups as possible. Due to budget restraints, however, fantasy players must sacrifice other positions to nab the stars they want.
Here, you'll find the top bargains at each position on Draft Kings that will let you splurge elsewhere. And remember, scoring is IMPORTANT. Here is Draft Kings’ scoring system.
The bargains are listed in the order I like them.
Quarterbacks
Jimmy Garoppolo, 49ers ($5,500): Garoppolo has finally played a full game for the 49ers, and he looked better than the stats show. However, the stats weren’t terrible! He did not throw for any touchdowns, but he did rack up 267 yards on 37 pass attempts. This week he gets the Texans, who rank similarly to the Bears, but have a glaring weakness against No. 1 WRs. San Francisco’s WR1, Marquise Goodwin, is a speed demon who can exploit that hole, and help Garoppolo have a big week in the process.
Eli Manning, Giants ($4,800): Manning is back under center for Big Blue, in what could be something of a last hurrah for him against a hated division rival (Cowboys). Manning has been bad this year, suffering from a lack of receivers and a truly terrible offensive line all year. The Cowboys’ defense is soft, however, and the Giants’ crowd is going to be as raucous a group of fans can be when their squad is 2-10. I am envisioning a 250-yard, two-touchdown performance from Eli against soft opposition as he prepares to cede work to rookie Davis Webb down the stretch.
Blaine Gabbert, Cardinals ($4,800): Gabbert has been shockingly competent filling in for Carson Palmer, to the point where he’s interesting vs. bad defenses. Tennessee is just 25th vs. the pass per FootballOutsiders.com, and with 30+ attempts in all of Gabbert’s starts, the Cardinals clearly are comfortable letting him air it out to Larry Fitzgerald. He definitely won’t win you your week, but at this price tag he can be good enough.
Running Backs
Alfred Morris, Cowboys ($5,500): Morris was looking completely shot until last week, when he piled up 127 yards and a touchdown in a huge game vs. the Redskins. Morris isn’t even 50 percent of Ezekiel Elliott, but with LT Tyron Smith back he’s an above-average fantasy option. His situation, and his cake matchup vs. the Giants, make Morris a highly appealing RB at this price tag.
Kenyan Drake, Dolphins ($5,400): Drake, the more talented of the RB duo in Miami, was the only show in town last week with Damien Williams out. Not surprisingly, Drake went buckwild, despite facing a high-end rushing defense in Denver. Drake rushed for 120 yards, compiled 141 yards in total, and found the end zone. He’s an explosive back, and the Patriots, his Monday Night Football opponent, rank dead last vs. the run per Football Outsiders. I’ll be a little less optimistic about Drake if Williams plays Monday, but he should’ve done enough by now to at least get the better portion of the work split.
Frank Gore, Colts ($3,900): Old man Gore’s age is finally showing, but he continues to at least see double-digit carries each week. That’ll be all he needs to be productive this week, as the Bills and their 29th-ranked rushing defense. The Bills could be without Tyrod Taylor, which means this could wind up being a run-heavy slugfest, which certainly favors leaning on Gore.
Wide Receivers
Sterling Shepard, Giants ($5,300): Shepard is on the injury report, so definitely monitor the situation, but if he plays Sunday he will be Manning’s sole reliable option in the WR corps against a flat-out bad pass defense. Shepard has had some big games with Manning in 2017 despite the Giants’ myriad struggles; this week Shepard could do serious damage.
Mike Wallace, Ravens ($4,400): Wallace is up against the Steelers, and it might be strange for me to recommend a hit-or-miss receiver vs. a solid defense like Pittsburgh’s. But the Steelers are just so-so vs. No. 2 receivers (23rd), and Wallace has been targeted 19 times in the last two games, catching 10 passes for 164 yards. Wallace is a big play guy, with a QB (Joe Flacco) who at this point only seems capable of connecting on deep balls. If Baltimore manages any offense against the Black & Yellow, it’ll likely be through the air with Wallace doing the work.
Chad Hansen, Jets ($3,000): This is a longshot, but why not? The Broncos rank dead last in the NFL against “other” wide receivers, and since Josh McCown has been able to produce each week, he’s going to throw to someone. Hansen hasn’t done anything of note this year, but he has been seeing the field more and more as the season progresses. A matchup as favorable as this could lead to a breakout performance. And hey, if he totally busts out, it was only $3,000.
Tight Ends
Jimmy Graham, Seahawks ($5,000): I’m not sure why Graham is only $5,000, but fire him up even if the Jaguars have the top-ranked pass defense in football. They haven’t faced many offenses as explosive as Seattle’s, they are mediocre vs. TEs (15th), and Graham has scored at least once in four straight games, and in five of Seattle’s last six. Stud.
Charles Clay, Bills ($3,100): Clay has been a big disappointment since returning from injury, but he remains involved in the Bills’ offense, and his matchup with the Lions is about as good as a matchup can get. If Clay’s going to perform, it’ll be in the red zone vs. the Lions. He’s currently cheap enough to vastly outperform his price, which is more than you can say for most tight ends regardless of the cost.
Jesse James, Steelers ($2,900): James’ targets fluctuate pretty wildly, but Ben Roethlisberger is smart. He knows the Ravens are absolute trash when it comes to keeping tight ends out of the end zone, and that’s what James is. He’s not super talented, but he’s capable, and occasionally very involved; just two weeks ago he was targeted eight times and scored a TD.