It’s time to find the best steals for your best daily fantasy football roster.
Winning the weekly games in DFS requires finding the best steals, so we’re giving away the best bargains for week 6 in the NFL season.
Quarterback
Last week: Sam Bradford, 17.62 points
This week: Ryan Fitzpatrick, New York Jets, $31
This season has been all about the no-name quarterbacks rising toward the top of the fantasy football quarterback leaderboard.
Josh McCown, Tyrod Taylor, Blake Bortles, Derek Carr, Andy Dalton, Kirk Cousins, Alex Smith, etc., etc., etc., have all been toward the top in a particular week this season.
Now’s the time for Fitzpatrick.
He’s been the model of consistency, as far as fantasy football stats go. He has scored between 13 and 17 points each week. The leash isn’t long for him to throw often, but he’s found the endzone seven times this season.
His biggest issue has ben interceptions, where he’s thrown six this season, with three coming in the teams’ only loss against Philadelphia.
In daily fantasy football, owners have to take chances, and while this is a chance, we believe there is some merit behind Fitzpatrick.
The Jets are well rested and coming off of a bye. The Washington Redskins have played in two hard-fought games, and are coming off a loss in overtime on a pick-six. This also is the second consecutive road game for the Redskins.
Washington has been a good defense against the pass and run, but the Redskins have been better against the run so far this season (other than last week against Atlanta).
The Jets will try to run this game, too, but we’re anticipating Washington to stop the run, while giving way to Fitzpatrick to try to beat them. And in this game, we’re going with Fitzpatrick.
Running Back
Last week: Justin Forsett, 23.00 points (3rd best among RBs)
This week: Lamar Miller, Miami Dolphins, $21
We’ve dismissed Miller this season, based purely on Miami’s insistence on throwing the ball on every down.
Now, with a new coach, we’re back on the Miller bandwagon.
Head coach Dan Campbell has already said this week that he wants to run the football. Most of the time, we don’t believe coaches. But just look at him. Does he look like a guy who likes to only throw the ball?
The Dolphins have been one of the worst rushing teams in the NFL and the worst against the rush. We anticipate that will change after the bye week, and DFS owners can get Miller as the 15th-most expensive option in DFS leagues.
Wide receiver
Last week: Anquan Boldin, 16.70 points (8th-best among WRs)
This week: Anquan Boldin…again, $15
Valued at so low still in DFS leagues, we’re going back to the well with Boldin.
We’re not expecting Boldin to have a top-tier fantasy season, but this week, much like last week, offers a good matchup.
The Ravens secondary is atrocious. Baltimore has been the worst defense against the pass since week 2 in the NFL, and the 49ers were able to move the ball effectively with the pass agains the New York Giants leaky secondary.
As long as San Francisco sticks with the passing game, Boldin should get the majority of the looks. San Francisco wide receiver Torrey Smith can stretch the field, but Boldin is the best option to feature the most targets and get red zone looks.
With a price this small (Boldin is the 41st wide receiver down the chart as far as price) making him a great steal for what his value can be for week 6.
Tight end
Last week: Owen Daniels, 0 points
This week: Kyle Rudolph, Minnesota Vikings, $16
We went to the well one too many weeks last week with Owen Daniels. We’ve been exposing the Oakland Raiders’ defense with tight ends all season, and we anticipated Daniels to have a big day against Oakland.
We wrongly assumed that Peyton Manning could do much in the passing game anymore, so we’ll try not to make that mistake again.
This week, we’re going with a bit of a flier with Rudolph, especially since we can get him $18 cheaper than the most expensive option at tight end. It’s been a disappointing season for Rudolph, with no games in double digits in fantasy, and only one touchdown.
But with Kansas City’s lack of ability in the secondary and its bottom-10 rank against opposing tight ends, we’re going with Rudolph. Kansas City has allowed the most touchdowns through the air this season in the NFL, and with the Vikings dealing with several injuries in the wide receiver position, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater will have to throw to somebody.
That somebody should be Rudolph. Expect more targets and production this week from the Vikings tight end.
Flex
Last week: T.J. Yeldon, 12.30 points
This week: Charcandrick West, Kansas City Chiefs, $10
Last week’s number for Yeldon could have been much higher had he not left with injury. His status for this week also should be a concern for Yeldon owners and he should be avoid in DFS leagues.
This week’s Flex option is all about the value. West is the cheapest option available at the Flex position, since everyone on a roster is worth at least $10.
We understand that West will likely share carries with Knile Davis, but West outcarried him more than 3-to-1 when Jamaal Charles left last week’s game due to injury.
The Chiefs still have to run the ball to set up the pass, so we anticipate plenty of touches for West. And with this value, you can’t pass up West.
Defense
Last week: Detroit Lions, -2.00
This week: Miami Dolphins, $10
Call us crazy, but we’re buying into the Miami Dolphins for at least this week.
The Dolphins are the cheapest option among defenses in DFS at $10, and with a matchup against struggling Tennessee, which saw its offense struggle last week and week 2.
The Dolphins have been the worst team against the run in the NFL so far this season, but we’re not as worried about that number, considering the Titans are relying on a running back by committee approach that hasn’t worked consistently this year.
We’re bombed last week with the Lions, but this week, we’re feeling good about the Dolphins’ resurrection.
