Fan Duel Strategy Week 8: 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 FanDuel that will let you splurge elsewhere. And remember, scoring is IMPORTANT. Here is FanDuel’s scoring system.
The bargains are listed in the order I like them.
Quarterbacks
Mitch Trubisky, Bears ($6,700): Trubisky is not a good quarterback. He is, however, a volatile fantasy producer prone to explosively excellent outbursts when the matchup is right. This week, the matchup is right. The Chargers have the fourth-worst pass defense in football per Football Outsiders, and these are the kinds of teams where Trubisky finds his big numbers. In 2018 he lit up the Buccaneers for 354 yards and six touchdowns. He blasted the Dolphins for 316 yards and three scores, then whacked Detroit for 355 yards and three touchdowns. Without S Derwin James, the Chargers have been that kind of defense, and Trubisky offers a very nice value at this price with high-end upside. Also, don’t discount his upside as a rusher. He ain’t Lamar Jackson, but he is a weapon for Chicago on the ground, especially near the goal line.
Running Backs
Tevin Coleman, 49ers ($6,200): Coleman has a sneaky good matchup this week against the Panthers, who quietly have slipped to 30th against the run according to Football Outsiders. Carolina can get after the passer and limit receivers, but they’re prone to being gashed. That’s good news for the 49ers, who boast a bulldozing offensive line, and a RB who has taken charge of the backfield. Coleman’s workload has increased from 16 to 18 to 20 over the past three weeks, and with that kind of volume, touchdowns aren’t far behind. This is a promising matchup, with RB1 upside at a FLEX price.
Ty Johnson, Lions ($5,200): Rolling with Johnson is a bit of a leap of faith, but for at least one week Johnson is going to be a clear lead back. J.D. McKissic has proven over time he can’t handle a big workload, so that’ll fall to Johnson, who is extremely fast and has one of the great cake matchups of 2019 in the Giants. Big Blue surprisingly ranks 14th in the NFL against the run, but that doesn’t mean they don’t surrender points to opposing RBs. They are 29th vs. the position in the passing game and that’s an area where Johnson can be utilized. There’s a wide range of outcomes possible in this one, but at the price he’s appealing.
David Montgomery, Bears ($5,700): Most fantasy owners are ready to leave Montgomery for dead, especially after receiving two carries for six yards last week. Me, I say zag where the whole world is zigging. The Bears understand that they can’t have Trubisky throwing 54 times. That’s a completely absurd number of pass attempts for someone as mediocre as him, and it’s a trend that will be corrected this week. The matchup is good too, as the Chargers rank just 24th vs. the run. This is a nice bounce back opportunity for Chicago, and especially for Montgomery.
Wide Receivers
Julian Edelman, Patriots ($6,600): Edelman’s price is so good this week it’s almost fishy. He’s Tom Brady’s favorite receiver, and he’s seen six or more targets in all but one of New England’s games this year. While he has only two touchdowns, Edelman has proven he can put up plenty of points without crossing the goal line. He’s also got a tremendous matchup vs. Cleveland, who are terrible at defending slot receivers. The addition of Mohamed Sanu doesn’t scare me one bit, and definitely not in his first week. This is not Antonio Brown; Edelman is still firmly entrenched as Brady’s leading man.
Curtis Samuel, Panthers ($5,800): Samuel is a nice play against a strong 49ers defense that has become elite unconventionally. While San Fran is among the best in the league at limiting output from the slot, tight end and running back positions, they are middling when it comes to slowing down No. 1 and No. 2 receivers. Both Samuel and D.J. Moore are reasonably priced, so both are nice plays, but I prefer Samuel’s, on paper, slightly better matchup.
John Brown, Bills ($5,900): Brown has been shockingly consistent as the No. 1 receiver for the Bills, and, even more impressively, healthy. Expect the good times to keep rolling against the Eagles, whose secondary has been cut to ribbons by everyone except Luke Falk. Brown hasn’t gone below 50 yards receiving in a single game this year, so you know what the floor is. He’s only gone for more than 100 yards once, in Week 1, so the floor and ceiling probably aren’t too far apart. With that said, at this WR3 price, he could deliver high-end WR2 or even low-end WR1 production.
Tight Ends
Evan Engram, Giants ($6,300): Engram’s no-show against Arizona, the worst defense in football vs. TEs, was inexplicable. Forget about it, and rely on the knowledge that Engram is the fifth-most targeted tight end in football and had recorded six or more receptions in four of his previous five games. Detroit ranks in the bottom third of the league vs. the position, so Engram is locked and loaded for a rebound performance.
Gerald Everett, Rams ($6,000): Everett is a similar option to Engram if you need to shave a few hundred dollars and are willing to assume a bit more risk. Everett is a similar style tight end, but he has much more competition for targets. Everett deals with Todd Gurley, Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods and Brandin Cooks. He’s still seen double-digit targets in two of his last three games -- a testament to his talent – but he was targeted four or fewer times in his first three games of the year. The upside is about the same as Engram’s, but the floor is way lower.
Vance McDonald, Steelers ($5,300): Mason Rudolph has cleared concussion protocol, so if he suits up then the Steelers passing game should see a bit of a boost. That makes McDonald very playable, as they take on the Dolphins, a.k.a. the second-worst defense against tight ends in the NFL. This matchup, plus McDonald’s ability to make big plays after the catch, have me eyeing him as a phenomenal bargain.