Mike’s FD Player Grid 10.25

Mike Johnson (MJohnson86) has racked up over $500,000 in DFS profit as an NFL tournament player with success in all styles of contests

Quarterback ::

• Drake Maye – This guy just keeps producing and this week, he gets a spot where he is likely going to have to do everything. All of his teammates are modestly priced.
• Jared Goff – The Commanders embarrassed Goff and the Lions in last season’s playoffs, and this is their chance to avenge that loss. We like touchdowns and the Lions could have a lot of them here.
• Jaxson Dart – Dart has 18+ fantasy points in every game this season despite only throwing for more than 202 yards once. This week, he gets a Bears defense allowing the most yards per play in the league.
• Marcus Mariota – The salary is just too appealing not to consider when we look at his rushing upside and potentially elevated passing attempts in this matchup.

Running Back::

The way this week sets up, I will likely be playing three running backs on every roster on Fanduel. For that reason, my RB player pool is a bit larger this week, with specific ways I will use certain players.

• Rico Dowdle – Elite matchup and game script as the Panthers are likely to be able to impose their will on the Saints. The backfield is officially his now, and it is hard to argue with 30+ points in all three of his starts.
• Quinshon Judkins – Facing a Jets defense that lost its two best players. They will still be giving maximum effort to win, but their talent level is getting very low. Judkins has a very clear path to ceiling and the game script seems to be in his favor.
• TreVeyon Henderson – Henderson logged a 75% snap share last week and should get the chance to do the same this week against the Bucs pass funnel defense that theoretically could play to his skill set (outside runs and screens/short passes). 

• With Conditions::
  • James Cook – Smashed the Dolphins the first time and set up for another solid game. Somewhat worried about the workload, will require Achane or Waddle on any Cook roster.
  • DET RBs – The Lions are probably going to score a ton of points here and their running backs are very involved. There aren’t many cheap options at the position, so Montgomery at $6,100 can really open things up. Meanwhile, Gibbs is priced closer to several RBs on Fanduel than he is on Draftkings, which actually makes him a little more accessible.
  • Derrick Henry – Henry has looked much better in recent weeks, and last week, Baltimore went pass-heavy near the goal line, resulting in no touchdowns for the “King”. That could even out this week in a game where Baltimore is projected for nearly four touchdowns. Probably won’t have much of him, but the lineups that do utilize him will also include Baltimore defense OR JJ McCarthy plus a pass catcher (a Henry explosion game will mean the Ravens are smashing and/or the Vikings are opening it up).
  • Kyren Williams – Elite game environment and modest price tag. Smashed the 49ers the first time around and no Fred Warner this time. Will require a 49ers pass catcher on any Kyren roster.
  • Christian McCaffrey – CMC is always a great “in a vacuum” option, but the salary this week is getting a little tougher to stomach in the half-PPR scoring. CMC can and still will probably have a very good game, but whether paying up for him makes sense will likely depend on how the other RBs on the slate do. There is a strong group of RBs in the $7k to $9.2k range and if 3 or 4 of them can score around 25 Fanduel points then paying up for CMC and his likely 25 to 30 points will prove sub-optimal. Including him here for context.
  • De’Von Achane – The matchup is terrific here and Achane’s ability as both a runner and receiver should be heavily utilized as the Dolphins work to keep pace with the Bills. Will use him on rosters with one of Josh Allen or James Cook.
  • Bears RB – D’Andre Swift is apparently back healthy after a full practice on Thursday, but a personal issue puts his status for Sunday in question now. The Giants run defense has been awful in recent weeks and the Bears running game has been dominant since their Week 5 bye. This article is posted on Friday evening, so we will have to wait to see how things play out. I fully expect the Bears backfield to produce a lot of points in this matchup, which means Monangai would be a smash play once again if Swift misses while both Monangai and Swift would be elite GPP options if he plays.

Wide Receiver ::