Daily Fantasy Sports: Week 15 NFL Tips and Strategy

Before digging into the salaries and highlighting some of the top plays for this weekend on FantasyDraft, I’d like to touch on what happened there this past weekend. A couple hours before kickoff on Sunday, FantasyDraft began experiencing some serious issues, which pretty much prevented anyone from being able to use the site. Given that it was their official launch date, the timing was clearly very unfortunate for them and for their customers.

The fact of the matter is, these things happen. DraftKings experienced a crash this season. FanDuel experienced two. Both happened right before kickoff, when they were experiencing their highest traffic volume. To me, the only takeaway from these crashes is how the sites handled the situation. FantasyDraft handled it in a manner above and beyond what could have been expected of them. Not only did they pay out the more than $400,000 in guaranteed prizes, they also refunded any entry fee that did not finish in the Payout Zone in any guaranteed contest and that’s in addition to the awesome 100 percent double down bonus up to $600 that Card Player readers are eligible for. As a customer of the site, there’s not much more you can ask for.

I will definitely be back at it over at FantasyDraft this weekend, as the $25 buy-in Gunslinger, War Room and Ball Hawk contests are all sporting $50,000 guarantees with $12,500 in added money by FantasyDraft in each!

On that note, let’s look at some of the top plays and values at each position for this week.

Quarterback

Andrew Luck ($17,500) – Houston actually has a pretty good defense. However, Luck and the Colts just have so much volume in their passing game right now that the fantasy points seem to come every single week. Plus, they’re seven point favorites and home in their cozy dome where conditions are ripe for passing.

Ben Roethlisberger ($15,400) – Defending the pass boils down to two units on the defensive side; the pass rush, and the coverage. Atlanta, according to Pro Football Focus grading, has the third worst pass rush and third worst coverage in the league. Throw in the second highest total of the week at 54 and that this game is being played in a dome, and you’ve got my favorite quarterback play of the week in Big Ben.

Johnny Manziel ($8,900) – On Twitter, he’s affectionately known as Johnny F****n Football and this Sunday is finally going to be his shot to strut his stuff on the big stage. Manziel is a great athlete so some running yardage and possibly a touchdown on the ground is to be expected. He’s also got one of the most gifted receivers in the league in Josh Gordon to chuck it to. Cincinnati can be tough on defense, but Manziel is still worth a shot here.

Running Back

Le’Veon Bell ($14,900) – With FantasyDraft scoring, over the past three weeks Le’Veon Bell has accumulated 125.10 fantasy points. 125.10. In three weeks. That is completely absurd and puts me in the position of having to bring him up first. He also gets the same Atlanta defense that Roethlisberger gets. This is hands down the top running back of the week.

Fred Jackson ($11,900) and Toby Gerhart ($6,000) – I’m listing both of these running backs together because I think they could be useful for the same reason. Both of their respective teams are outmatched and I expect each to fall behind and begin having to throw the ball some. With the FantasyDraft PPR (Point Per Reception) scoring, each has a chance to catch five or six passes and provide some value that way. Gerhart’s price tag of $6,000 is the bare minimum because he is taking over for Denard Robinson, who is out for the year with a foot sprain.

Wide Receiver

Antonio Brown ($15,400) – Anyone notice a theme here? Yeah, I like the Pittsburgh offense a little this week. Brown is an absolute technician in between the lines, routinely putting a clown suit on opposing defensive backs. He catches everything, and throws in some touchdowns to boot. Fire him up.

T.Y. Hilton ($14,900) – I typically try to offer up a high end, mid range and cheap player at each position. But I’m giving you another stud at receiver this week because of the situation Hilton finds himself in. Over his career, Hilton has performed much better at home inside Lucas Oil Stadium. In addition, he has absolutely torched the Texans in his career, averaging 6.2 receptions for 122 yards and scoring six touchdowns in the five games he’s squared off with Houston.

Marquess Wilson ($6,000) – Confession: I am a sports geek. I would venture to guess that the overwhelming majority of sports fans have never heard of Marquess Wilson or didn’t know who he was until Brandon Marshall got hurt. Well that’s not the case for me. Prior to an injury that cost him a large chunk of this season, Wilson was on track to be the Bears’ third receiver behind Marshall and fellow stud Alshon Jeffery. Well now that Marshall is out for the season, the 6’4” Wilson will have his opportunity for a potent Bears offense squaring off against a bad Saints defense. Wilson will be on many of my DFS teams this week.

Tight End

Rob Gronkowski ($13,800) – GRONK! Nothing to say. Just do it.

Travis Kelce ($10,300) – The only reason I can mention him in good faith is that when people talk about him they compare Kelce to Gronk. Obviously nobody is Gronk, but this physical freak wearing #87 seems to be on course to become a poor man’s Gronk. And really, that’s about as big a compliment as you can get as a tight end.

Defenses

Depending on how much salary I have to play with, the defenses I’ll be using this week are the Seahawks, Lions, Ravens, Chiefs and Titans this week.

I’ll be giving FantasyDraft another shot this weekend. As I stated earlier, I think they handled the rough situation from last weekend better than anyone could have expected. And that’s not to mention the $37,500 in added money spread amongst their three biggest contests of the week.

Find me on Twitter @IanJ300 with any questions.

If you think you are ready to play, check out our Daily Fantasy Sports page. Card Player readers eligible for deposit bonuses of 100 percent on a number of the best DFS sites around.

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