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. The format will vary slightly from JM’s Player Grid, as we each see things slightly differently and play in slightly different contests, but should complement his thoughts and content very well for those looking to build their lineups for the week. The format of this article will likely evolve as the season progresses but should provide a lot of value. 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 (which we will also touch on) with the mindset being to find the best plays with big ceilings. Low ownership is a bonus, but not a must. This section will focus primarily on three positions – running back, tight end, and defense – as the other two positions (quarterback and wide receiver) tend to have more dependent tendencies which I try to attack from other angles (which we will get into in the other sections). I like all of these plays on all sites unless otherwise noted:
Kamara appears to be back at full strength after being a late scratch for the Saints game in London last week with a rib issue. Kamara’s salary is the lowest we’ve seen in years and with Michael Thomas ruled out once again this week we could see a vintage performance from Kamara. His biggest backfield competition is Mark Ingram, who last week split work with practice squad call-up Latavius Murray – a sure sign that the Saints aren’t very confident in Ingram. Meanwhile, the Seahawks, have given up big games to Jamaal
Similar to Kamara, Cook is at home in a great matchup and has a much lower price tag than we’ve seen in recent years. Cook has been splitting some time with Alexander Mattison, but is still a strong bet for 20+ touches each week as long as his health holds up. Cook only has one touchdown and zero 100-yard rushing games this season, both of which I expect to change this week.
Wilson is still priced relatively low and should see around 20 opportunities to touch the ball this week in a good matchup where the 49ers may try to limit the usage of Deebo Samuel.
Penny had a monster game in Week 4 while splitting work with Kenneth Walker. Walker then popped up on the injury report Thursday with a shoulder issue and his status is now in question. In theory, this is a tough matchup, but if Walker is out then Penny is underpriced by about $2k on Draftkings and $1k on Fanduel. Going back to last season, Penny has five games where he handled 16 or more carries. In those games, he has scored eight touchdowns and has had AT LEAST 135 rushing yards in every game. Even if Walker is cleared, his murky late-week status and lack of practice time would likely lead to a reduced role that would boost Penny’s outlook without the spike in ownership.
Allgeier is a rare RB who has a salary under $5k and we can expect to touch the ball 15+ times. The Falcons running game has been great this year and the Bucs run defense has been disappointing. The Falcons should be running the ball often early in the game and if they fall behind, Allgeier should see most of the running back work in the passing game as last week he ran 8 routes compared to only 1 for Caleb Huntley.
SIDE NOTES::
Permanent Price Bump coming at the end of Week 2!
Lock in the lower price for life!
