Daily Fantasy Football Best Bargains 2021: Week 7 Top DFS Values on FanDuel and DraftKings
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 and DraftKings that will let you splurge elsewhere. And remember, scoring is IMPORTANT. Here are Fanduel’s and DraftKings’ scoring systems.
Quarterbacks
Justin Fields, Bears ($6,500/$5,300): There’s no sugarcoating it, with so many teams on bye, this isn’t the week to bargain hunt at QB. I struggled to find anyone that is really offering a lot of value on the cheap, but if you can tolerate risk, Fields has upside. He is facing a banged up Bucs’ secondary that just lost Richard Sherman, is brutal against the run, and has a high-scoring offense that forces pass-heavy game scripts. And while Fields has proven he’s extremely raw as a passer, and not ideal to capitalize on this matchup, he ran six times for 43 yards last week. If the Bears unleash him as a rusher, he can make up for his low passing yardage, and potentially open up plays in the passing game.
Running Backs
D’Ernest Johnson, Browns ($5,700/$4,800): Johnson is a play based purely on opportunity. Cleveland is a low-volume passing offense with an injured QB, and Johnson is the clear leader of the rushing work with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt both out of action. Denver presents a favorable matchup – 21st Rush DVOA – that will meet with 20+ rushing attempts for Johnson, so even though I think he’s nothing special as a talent, his opportunity makes him close to a must-play.
Chase Edmonds, Cardinals ($6,200/$5,600): Houston has the league’s fourth-worst run defense, so both Cardinals RBs are in play. Edmonds has been the more consistently productive of the two on the season, however, and he is $300 cheaper than James Conner this week, who is more reliant on touchdowns. While this matchup looks tasty for a Conner TD or two, Edmonds has the ability to score from distance, is guaranteed to contribute as a receiver, and could just score a TD on his own. In a plush matchup, I’m rolling with the less expensive, more secure option.
Michael Carter, Jets ($5,600/$4,800): Carter doesn’t have a very high ceiling, but he has seen double-digit carries in three of five games for the Jets, and three targets in four straight. He has also scored touchdowns in back-to-back tilts. The Patriots defense surprisingly has the second-worst DVOA vs. opposing RBs in the passing game, and allows 41 yards per game in that area, so Carter could be a floor-raiser for your lineup at a very good cost.
Wide Receivers
Odell Beckham Jr., Browns ($6,100/$5,000): Beckham’s numbers have been underwhelming this season, but a breakout game could happen vs. Denver. While Case Keenum is suboptimal, he still has to throw sometimes, and Beckham has seen seven or more targets in three of his last four games, while also having long play opportunities that were simply missed by an injured Baker Mayfield. Denver currently has the worst DVOA vs. No. 1 receivers, which Beckham clearly is on this team, and it’s a primetime Thursday game. He could rock the Broncos for multiple scores.
Jaylen Waddle, Dolphins ($5,900/$5,600): Waddle is becoming a target hound for the Dolphins, and while most of his opportunities are close to the line of scrimmage, and force him to make plays after the catch, he’s good enough to do it! Yardage totals limit his ceiling because of the nature of these targets, but Tua Tagovailoa looked his way 10 times vs. a bad Jaguars D, and he scored two touchdowns. He has a similar outlook vs. the Falcons this week, and I’d expect him to score again.
Sterling Shepard, Giants ($6,500/): Shepard hasn’t always been great when he’s the clear lead receiver, but you can bank on targets being there for him. The matchup vs. Carolina isn’t awesome on the surface, but the Panthers actually rank just 30th in DVOA vs. No. 1 receivers, which meshes well with the potential to be hyper targeted. Now, Daniel Jones targets aren’t always the most valuable, but at this price it’s reasonable to use Shepard and count on him to not sink your lineup.
Tight Ends
Dallas Goedert, Eagles ($5,900/): Goedert’s outlook has changed for the better with the Zach Ertz to Arizona trade. Goedert is a talented pass-catcher who was ceding a ton of opportunity to Ertz; now, he is a talented pass-catcher who can make plays in short yardage or down the field, and in an offense where he could easily be the top target. There are no dominant wide receivers on this team, so even though Jalen Hurts is not one to support a bunch of receiving options, he can support one. If there is one Eagles pass-catcher to utilize, my money’s on Goedert.
Hunter Henry, Patriots ($5,700/): Stay in the flames! Henry only saw two targets last week, an alarming decrease in a good matchup after seeing five or more in three straight games, but he did score a TD in his third consecutive game. Henry has become a trusted red zone target for Mac Jones, he’s running more routes than Jonnu Smith, and the Jets allow the sixth-most yards per game to the position (74.3).
C.J. Uzomah, Bengals ($5,200/): Baltimore shockingly allows the most points per game (9.4) to the TE position, which means Uzomah has high upside at very low cost. Know that this is a big risk; unlike other bargains where I tout their unlikelihood of destroying your week, Uzomah most definitely can. He has seen three or fewer targets in all but one game this year, and that was vs. the Jaguars. This play is purely based on Baltimore’s struggles vs. the position, not how the Bengals deploy him. On the flip side, he has scored three touchdowns in his last three games, so it’s not crazy to think he can produce int his one.