Draft Kings Strategy Week 12: 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 DraftKings that will let you splurge elsewhere. And remember, scoring is IMPORTANT. Here is DraftKings’ scoring system.
Quarterbacks
Jeff Driskel, Lions ($5,500): Driskel is not a great quarterback. He does, however, have an incredible matchup with week at Washington, where the Redskins just finished getting blowtorched by Sam Darnold. This Redskins team is a complete disaster, and they’re very badly equipped to keep up with receivers like Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones. Driskel should have a field day against these guys, and provide low-end QB1 value on a low-end QB2 price tag.
Chase Daniel, Bears ($5,000): Daniel has none of the rushing upside of Mitch Trubisky, but he does have the potential to throw catchable passes to Allen Robinson. We don’t know much about Daniel’s ceiling, because he’s played so little, but we also don’t know that he’s rat ass. Therefore, I’m willing to chuck him in a lineup or two at $5,000 against the Giants. If he can’t pass on this secondary, then we’ll know forever to leave Daniel off our rosters for good.
Mason Rudolph, Steelers ($5,500): I’m fairly certain that Mason Rudolph sucks. I’m also 100% sure that he is facing the Bengals this week, and that alone makes him a candidate to be started. I don’t think he has some 300+-yard, three touchdown masterpiece within his realm of possibilities, but I do think he could finish around the QB12. At this price, that is pretty great, and I also view his floor as significantly higher than Daniel’s.
Running Backs
Sony Michel, Patriots ($4,600): Michel is a weird RB, and you have to know when to use him. In the right matchup he’s borderline elite for fantasy purposes, and the Cowboys present a chance for him to deliver that kind of value for the price of a FLEX. The Cowboys have allowed a rushing touchdown in six of their 10 games this year, and allowed multiple rushing touchdowns in three games (vs. Miami, vs. Green Bay, vs. Detroit). For the season, Dallas entered Week 11 ranked 15th vs. the run by Football Outsiders, and that was before allowing 121 yards and two scores on the ground to Bo Scarborough of the Lions. Michel is a pure volume RB, and he should see plenty against a defense that’s allowed 100+ rushing yards seven times. Couple that with New England’s slumping passing game, and Michel should be an RB1.
Phillip Lindsay, Broncos ($5,200): The Broncos make me very angry sometimes. In Lindsay, they have a legitimately elite talent at RB, and while they did give him 16 carries last week, they get very cute around the goal line and create ways to give other people the chance to score. Unsurprisingly, most of those attempts failed. Against the Bills, Lindsay has a surprisingly soft opponent in front of him, and he should wreak havoc even without those goal line chances. Lindsay is capable of busting off big plays from anywhere, especially in plus matchups. I think that’s what we’re going to see in Week 12.
Nyheim Hines, Colts ($4,700): Hines is an interesting play this week, as the Colts backfield has become chaos with Marlon Mack out. It very well may be a three-headed monster, but we know that Hines is going to be in on passing downs. If he can get around 15 touches, he should be able to produce for fantasy owners against a Houston defense that came into Week 11 ranked 24th vs. RBs in the passing game. He has high upside, and with Mack gone, he’s a near-lock to not goose you.
Wide Receivers
Hunter Renfrow, Raiders ($4,500): Renfrow is emerging as Oakland’s most reliable target. He doesn’t have the upside of Tyrell Williams, or the size and explosiveness of TE Darren Waller, but he has averaged six targets over the last three games, and accompanied that with an 83.3% catch rate. That’s pretty nice volume entering a Week 12 game with the Jets, who are among the NFL’s worst pass defenses. Expect Renfrow to see around 8-10 targets this week and possibly score a TD.
Alex Erickson, Bengals ($4,000): There’s no sign of A.J. Green yet, and it’s unlikely that Auden Tate will be available after eating a concussion and cervical strain. So even though Erickson has put up zero receiving yards in back-to-back games, he could gash the Steelers this week if used out of the slot. Pittsburgh has been weirdly awful against slot receivers, despite improving dramatically on the whole since acquiring DB Minkah Fitzpatrick. They have the No. 3 overall defense per Football Outsiders, so it’s unlikely Cincy will be able to get Joe Mixon going. Erickson has the talent to go off – we’ve seen it in 2019 – and it’s very unlikely the Steelers are game planning against him. Erickson is a very sneaky buy.
Tight Ends
Evan Engram, Giants ($5,200): It’s very possible that Engram is not available this week, so be sure to monitor his progress from his foot sprain. But if Engram is ready to suit up, he’s always a bargain when he’s below the average cost. Outside of a bizarre no-show vs. Arizona, Engram has caught at least four passes in every game he’s played. His yardage has been underwhelming, but that’s partially due to Daniel Jones’ inexperience and a bad Giants offensive line. When he’s in sync, he turns in games like his 113-yard, one score performance vs. Tampa. And on a bad day he catches four or five passes for 50ish yards. He’s got one of the highest floors at the position, and TE1 upside in any given week.
Dallas Goedert, Eagles ($3,700): Goedert’s targets are above-average for the position, and while he is touchdown dependent, he’s scored a touchdown in three of his last four games. Zach Ertz is a problem for him, but the Eagles’ receiving corps is depleted and unreliable. He also gets to face the Seahawks, who rank just 23rd against the position. Don’t expect much yardage, but for this price tag he has unusual upside.