Week 6 FanDuel Values
This week we once again are finding value in some backup players who are either being thrust into starting roles or are suddenly getting more work due to solid play.
It’s been a weird year for fantasy football so far, with so many star players either injured or underperforming. That makes picking these diamonds in the rough week in and week out even more important if you want to win some cash.
That said, let’s dive into who I think are solid, cheap options for this week’s FanDuel lineups.
Quarterback
Gardiner Minshew - (Indianapolis Colts - $6500)
The stache is back! Gardiner Minshew takes over for the injured Anthony Richardson and faces a Jacksonville team that has been middle of the pack so far this season.
Richardson and the Colts were able to put up 21 when these two teams met in Week One, and I expect Minshew to throw a lot in this one.
Jacksonville has been a little better lately, beating Atlanta and Buffalo, but both games were in London where Jacksonville has fared well.
Either way, Minshew has proven he can play Quarterback in the past, is going up against a meh defense, and may have to throw if they can’t stop the Jacksonville offense.
Running Back
Chuba Hubbard – Carolina Panthers ($5500)
One of the cheapest “starters” this week is Carolina’s Chuba Hubbard, who has seen his usage increase the last few weeks. Miles Sanders, who started as the main guy, has been largely inefficient.
Now Hubbard hasn’t been a ton better, rushing 23 times for 76 yards and catching only three passes over the last two games. Still, rumors are swirling that Hubbard could be taking over sooner rather than later, and this week is a decent one to see that happen.
The Panthers take on the Dolphins, who haven’t really been great defensively this season, so he should see more room than the previous two weeks. I like him as a potential cheap RB that has a solid chance to at least score a touchdown this weekend.
Kendre Miller – New Orleans Saints ($4700)
Coming in at only $4700, Kendre Miller could perhaps be the steal of DFS. Now he obviously is firmly planted behind Alvin Kamara, but it seems the Saints are willing to use the rookie more now that he is healthy.
With Jamaal Williams out for at least this week still, Miller should be the number two. The Saints also released Tony Jones Jr, proving Miller will be a part of this team moving forward.
Miller rushed 12 times for 37 yards and caught all four of his targets for 53 yards against the Patriots last week. Now a lot of that could have come in garbage time because the Saints were beating the stuffing out of the Patriots, but it still proved he is a dual threat back who should see meaningful time spelling Kamara moving forward.
Jordan Mason – San Francisco 49ers ($5500)
This one is more of a wait and see, but if the right things happen, Jordan Mason could be a great DFS play.
We saw what happened to the Cleveland defense without a Quarterback, so if Deshaun Watson sits again, it shouldn’t matter that the Browns have been great at stopping Running Backs.
The 49er offense is too good to really be stopped (at least for now), and McCaffery can only do so much. If the 49ers get up big, we should see a ton of backup Running Back opportunities.
Now Mitchell has been injured and is Questionable for this weekend, so you also have to wait to see if he is active or not. If he is, it could make the situation a bit murky because he could be slowly worked in.
Best case scenario, both Watson for Cleveland and Mitchell from San Franciso miss the game and Mason then becomes a solid play. And so far half of that has come true, as Watson is expected to miss yet again.
Wide Receiver
KJ Osborn – Minnesota Vikings ($6200)
Supposedly KJ Osborn will be playing the “Justin Jefferson role” instead of just moving up the depth chart, so he becomes a very intriguing option this week as the cheaper of the two Viking Receivers.
Osborn has flashed in the past as the WR3 on the Vikings, but never really took off even with the departure of Adam Thielen. But he gets a heck of a great matchup against the Bears’ defense. I keep predicting shootouts that don’t really happen, but come on this one has to be a big scoring affair. Two horrible defenses with relatively ok offenses in a division matchup?
Play Osborn this week, because if he does go off he won’t be this cheap moving forward.
Darnell Mooney – Chicago Bears ($5800)
Darnell Mooney has always been more of a deep threat, and thanks to DJ Moore he might actually get that chance again.
Mooney was targeted four times in Chicago’s beatdown of Washington on Thursday night, but failed to bring any in for a catch. This week he faces the Viking defense, one of the worst in the NFL so far this season.
If the Chicago offense and Justin Fields have actually turned it around, Mooney’s day should be coming soon. Moore and Tight End Cole Kmet can only catch so many passes, and if Mooney can beat coverage once or twice, it’ll be more than enough to score well for DFS.
Josh Downs – Indianapolis Colts ($5600)
We are going to dip back into Josh Downs this week, mostly because the last game he played with Gardiner Minshew he was targeted 12 times. He caught eight passes for only 57 yards in that game, but that was against Baltimore.
This time they get Jacksonville, who is ranked 27th against the pass. He did catch three passes for 30 yards in that first meeting, so he has some history going into this matchup. As I mentioned above, this game could be a decent offensive game, so hopefully we see a lot of passing.
If you want to spend cheaply for a QB/WR stack, this one is an intriguing one. That said, I don’t know how many DFS players want to stack Minshew/Downs over others.
Tight End
Jonnu Smith – Atlanta Falcons ($5000)
Tight End options really aren’t great this week, so I went with Jonnu Smith, who has somehow become the TE1 in Atlanta (sorry to all you Pitts owners).
Smith now has 20 targets in three games, with his biggest last weekend against Jacksonville. Smith caught six passes for 95 yards, and seems to be the main pass catcher in Atlanta, as we all predicted.
The Falcons take on the Texans this weekend, who can put up big yards and big points. If Atlanta gets down early, they will need to throw. Maybe Smith can score a touchdown this time, but either way he should be good for 10 fantasy points.
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