Mike’s Player Grid 17.24

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 ::

• Sam Darnold // Jordan Love – The slate’s premier game environment in a dome between two very good offenses.
• Mason Rudolph – The Jaguars have the worst pass defense in the league and Rudolph has clear top options to build rosters around. We have seen Jacksonville make many mediocre offenses look great this season and playing Rudolph with one or both of Ridley/Okonkwo leaves a ton of salary for you to attack the higher confidence spots on the slate.
• Baker Mayfield // Bryce Young – We saw this game produce GPP winning scores a few weeks ago and the Panthers offense has continued to improve since then. 
• Salary Savers: Joe Flacco, Mac Jones

Running Back :: 

• Bucky Irving – Elite matchup. Huge game/team total. Volume likely spiking. Reasonable salary.
• Tyjae Spears – Tony Pollard is not traveling for this game and Spears has been balling out recently. Great value and explosive skill set in a good matchup.
• Breece Hall – Buffalo gives up a ton of receptions to RBs and Hall is at a huge discount if his huge snap rate and touch share from last week continues.
• Aaron Jones – Dominating RB usage for an elite offense playing in the best game environment of the week.
• Saquon Barkley – Saquon is chasing history and the Eagles will lean on him without Hurts. Faces a Dallas defense ranked 29th in run defense DVOA.
• Jonathan Taylor – Smashed last week and could do it again this week against a downtrodden Giants defense. No Anthony Richardson to steal goal line touchdowns either.
• Jerome Ford – Should see 20+ touches at a modest salary and the Browns chances of leading this game increased with the news that Tua is unlikely to play.

Wide Receiver :: 

---