Mike’s Player Grid 8.24

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 ::

• Jameis Winston – Eat that W, baby. So easy to stack Winston with his own receivers as well as Baltimore pieces. He should have to throw the ball often and Baltimore’s secondary has had a lot of issues this season. Get ready for a roller coaster if you play him, though. It’s probably best to just check the box score afterward.
• Joe Burrow – The Bengals have scored 20 offensive touchdowns this season and Burrow has accounted for 15 of them. This game profiles very similarly to the Ravens game earlier this year when Burrow broke the slate.
• Aaron Rodgers – Play him with Breece Hall and soak up all of the Jets touchdowns and offensive production in a game where they could easily score four or five touchdowns. (Don’t you ruin this for me, Braelon Allen!)
• Salary Savers: Gardner Minshew, Trevor Lawrence, Drake Maye

Running Back :: 

• Breece Hall – One of the top plays on the slate, regardless of position. Talented/explosive, 80%+ snap share in both games under Todd Downing, involved in the passing game, weak opponent, team likely to aggressively pursue points.
• De’Von Achane – After two games this season with Tua Tagovailoa at QB, Achane was the RB2 in fantasy. Tua is back. Achane is healthy. The matchup is ripe. And his salary is only $6,200.
• D’Andre Swift – Over 20 DK points in three straight games without hitting the 100-yard bonus or scoring more than one touchdown. A dual-threat RB who can hit big plays on the ground or through the air.
• Kenneth Walker – The Bills run defense is very beatable already and they have now lost one of their starting linebackers, Terrel Bernard. Walker was under the weather in Atlanta last week but has a chance to blow the top off this matchup.
• Saquon Barkley – There is a lot of value available on this slate and Barkley is likely to go overlooked due to the depth of the RB position this week. Saquon is the engine to this offense, however, and in the two games where the Eagles scored over 21 points this season, he is averaging 33 Draftkings points.
• Joe Mixon – 29+ Draftkings points in all three non-injury games he has played this year.
• Salary Savers: Not this week. Probably not a week to “pay down” at the RB position due to the depth of the position and the high ceilings available that you’d have to dodge.

Wide Receiver :: 

---