Mike’s Player Grid 11.24

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

---

Welcome back to my (Mjohnson86) Player Grid. I am changing up the format of my Player Grid this year to be more direct about the players I like at each position and keep myself from casting too wide of a net. We have plenty of strategy talk and full game write-ups on every game here at OWS, this year I’m going to use this article to give direct answers on who I think the best tournament plays are each week. Also, note that just because a player isn’t on here doesn’t mean they are a bad play, I’m just intentionally trying to limit the players I list to about 3 QBs, 5 to 7 RBs, 6 to 8 WRs, and 2 or 3 TEs and that means that some plays don’t make the cut – we can’t play everyone. Feel free to drop me feedback in Discord or on Twitter about the new format and if you like this better or last year’s. Enjoy!!

This is a list of players that stand out to me at each position from using my “Checking the Boxes” criteria outlined in my course you can find in our Marketplace. This list is a starting point, from which I build out lineups using game theory and roster construction concepts with the mindset being to find the best plays with big ceilings. Low ownership is a bonus, but not a must. 

(Side note:: You’ll notice at the bottom of this article that Fanduel will have its own Player Grid this year)

Draftkings Player Grid

Quarterback ::

• Brock Purdy – The 49ers moved the ball at will last week, punting only once against the Bucs. This week they have another solid matchup against a Seahawks team they dropped 36 points on just a few weeks ago.
• Tua Tagovailoa – The Dolphins are in a great spot this week against the Raiders and they’ve been playing great football lately against much better defenses. Tua is affordable and this is about the cheapest we’ve ever been able to stack him with his WRs and likely at low ownership.
• Russell Wilson – The Steelers are likely to struggle running the ball against this Ravens defense and Wilson has a clear alpha WR in George Pickens and three “cheap with upside” options to stack him with in Calvin Austin, Pat Freiermuth, and Mike Williams. Stacking passing games against the Ravens has been fruitful all season.
• Salary Savers: Jameis Winston, Anthony Richardson, Drake Maye

Running Back :: 

• Christian McCaffrey – The best in the business is back in his full role. 
• De’Von Achane – Achane has not reached the 100-yard bonus yet this season, but is averaging 24.2 Draftkings points per game in the 5 games that Tua Tagovailoa has started – which is higher than any RB in the league this season.
• Alvin Kamara – Kamara averages nearly 10 points per game from just receiving and is facing a Browns defense ranked 25th in DVOA against opposing RBs. The Saints have a Week 12 bye and Kamara will have plenty of time to rest after he gets a massive workload as the Saints try to save their season.
• David Montgomery // Jahmyr Gibbs – The Lions have the highest implied team total on the slate and want to run the ball at a high rate. Detroit should have their way with the Jaguars and we have yet to see the running backs dominate the scoring in a Detroit blowout this year. 
• James Cook – The matchup doesn’t look great on paper. Cook’s usage doesn’t look great compared to other RBs on paper. This game is huge for the Bills, however, and Cook is trusted and versatile while the Bills WR/TE situation is murky. It would not surprise me if Cook handles 15 to 18 rushes and is targeted 6 to 8 times.
• Salary Savers: Audric Estime, Tyjae Spears

Wide Receiver :: 

---