FanDuel Studs and Duds of Week 9
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Welcome to the ninth edition of Studs & Duds! You may be familiar with The Fantasy Footballers’ Studs and Duds segment. This will take a closer look at who shined and who disappointed specifically in pricing and scoring the week before. If you’re new to DFS all together, read the The Beginner’s Guide To FanDuel DFS. First, we’ll take a look at the Expensive Studs; guys who were worth the big bucks. Second, the Value Studs; guys you got at a decent price, good value. Third, I’ll highlight the Super Bargain Studs; guys who were studs in a big way at little cost to you. Then, last and least, we’ll look at the Duds; guys who really disappointed relative to their cost.
All prices and point totals are from FanDuel.
Expensive Studs
WR DeMarco Murray vs SD, $8100, 17.5 pts.
-7 receptions, 29 receiving yards, 51 rushing yards, 1 TD
What more could you ask for from this guy? Murray has been one of the top fantasy options this year, only trailing David Johnson in running back fantasy points. In 9 games this season, Murray only has two games under 20 touches and in those two games, he still had 18 and 19 respectively. With the consistency and volume he’s shown, I wouldn’t ever hesitate to use him. Fellow RB Derrick Henry looks like he’ll miss a few weeks, giving Murray even more opportunities. I like him at $7400 this week against a surprisingly good Green Bay run defense.
WR Jordy Nelson vs IND, $8200, 18.9 pts.
-7 receptions, 94 receiving yards, 1 TD
After catching just 1 pass for 4 yards in Week 7, Nelson had his second straight week of 94 yards and a touchdown. He has been a red zone monster for the Green Bay Packers, catching 10 of his 19 red zone targets for 6 touchdowns. He may be 3rd on the team in receptions but he leads the team in targets, once again showing he’s Aaron Rodgers’ favorite pass catcher. The team will look to bounce back against a Tennessee Titans defense that surrendered over 476 yards of offense this week. His price of $7700 is low enough for me, however, my only worry is this game gets out of hand fast and if Nelson doesn’t get production early, he won’t be making it up in garbage time.
WR Antonio Brown vs BAL, $8700, 18 pts.
-7 receptions, 85 receiving yards, 1 TD
It took some time for Brown and Ben Roethlisberger to reconnect but once they did, it was as smooth as butter melting on a freshly baked biscuit. Now that Brown has his quarterback again, his high price tag shouldn’t scare you. He takes on the Dallas Cowboys who lost their starting safety and cornerback to injury last week. He should feast and will pay dividends on his $8600 price.
RB Melvin Gordon vs TEN, $7800, 34.1 pts.
-4 receptions, 65 receiving yards, 196 rushing yards, 1 TD
QB Aaron Rodgers vs IND, $9100, 26.18 pts.
-297 passing yards, 43 rushing yards, 3 passing TD, 1 INT
Value Studs
TE Jason Witten vs CLE, $5200, 23.4 pts.
-8 receptions, 134 receiving yards, 1 TD
What a day for the future Hall of Famer. Witten added 8 more receptions to his career total, putting him just 4 behind Andre Johnson for ninth all time. This is Witten’s only second game over 10 fantasy points. While the targets are there, his production hasn’t translated. With RB Ezekiel Elliott running wild every game, there aren’t many passing yards to go around. Last week it was Dez Bryant, this week it was Witten. While there should be a bunch of points scored this week against Pittsburgh, there are other tight ends I like who are cheaper than his $5400 salary.
WR Michael Thomas vs SF, $5800, 21.8 pts.
-5 receptions, 73 receiving yards, 2 TD
It’s really time to start considering Thomas in your FanDuel lineups every week. In his last 6 games, he only has one game under 9 fantasy points while averaging over 15 points per game. He is now the team leader in targets and receptions and tied in touchdowns. He is the team’s 1A receiver with Brandin Cooks as 1B. His price significantly jumped as expected but with that comes an extremely tough matchup against the Denver Broncos. At $6400 I’m much more excited for the future for Thomas than I am about him this week.
WR Rishard Matthews vs SD, $5400, 21.3 pts.
-6 receptions, 63 yards, 2 TD
Matthews had himself a day in the second quarter alone, catching both of his touchdowns before halftime. His performance added to the upward trend he’s been on, scoring double-digit fantasy points in 4 of his last 5 games. The common theme to his trend has been touchdowns, scoring one in each of those double-digit performances. The worry with Matthews is you never really know what Titan receiver will go off. We’ve seen Delanie Walker and Kendall Wright both lead the team in receiving as well. If he can be that number 1 receiver this week, I don’t hate him at $5800 as the team will most likely be playing catch up against the Green Bay Packers.
QB Marcus Mariota vs SD $7600, 25.92 pts.
-313 passing yards, 14 rushing yards 3 passing TD, 2 INT,
RB Latavius Murray vs DEN, $6000, 30.70 pts.
-1 receptions, 13 receiving yards, 114 rushing yards, 3 TD
QB Dak Prescott vs CLE, $7600, 23.8 pts.
-247 passing yards, 20 rushing yards, 3 passing TD
Super Bargain Studs
49ers Offense:
WR DuJuan Harris vs NO, $4500, 20.7 pts.
-5 receptions, 83 receiving yards, 59 rushing yards, 1 TD
TE Vance McDonald vs NO, $4500, 15.9 pts.
-3 receptions, 84 receiving yards, 1 TD
QB Colin Kaepernick vs NO, $7200, 22.22 pts.
-398 passing yards, 23 rushing yards, 1 INT
Unfortunately, you can explain the performance of the 49ers offense in two words; Saints defense. A team that’s put up 20 points just twice this season, had 20 by halftime on Sunday. In 49ers fashion, they then went on to score just 3 points in the second half. Aside from two long scoring plays from Harris and McDonald, the offense struggled once again and will continue to do so the rest of the season. There’s not another matchup I would feel comfortable using any 49ers except Carlos Hyde when he’s healthy. Kudos to anyone who took advantage this week but there won’t be another week like this.
RB Kapri Bibbs vs OAK, $4500, 14.5 pts.
-1 reception, 69 receiving yards, 11 rushing yards
Bibbs had just 3 touches on Sunday night but he made one of them count when he took a screen pass 69 yards to the house. In a night where most of the team’s offense looked dismal, Bibbs was the lone bright spot. The very next day head coach Gary Kubiak said that Bibbs deserves more touches. Remember all that stuff I said about the Saints defense just a second ago? Well, guess who Bibbs plays this week. At just $4600 this week, I like Bibbs as a dart play against the horrendous Saints defense.
RB Tim Hightower vs SF, $4500, 16.7 pts.
-1 reception, 15 receiving yards, 87 rushing yards, 1 TD
Duds
RB Devontae Booker vs OAK, $7000, 3.5 pts.
-1 reception, 8 receiving yards 22 rushing yards
Booker was a big part of the disappointing performance from the Broncos on Sunday night, gaining just 22 yards. While talk of Booker losing touches to Bibbs is something that should be on your radar, it’s not something I’m completely worried about. In Weeks 8 and 9, Booker had over 14 fantasy points and dominated touches 19-2 in his first start. He’s a tad risky at $7800 but I see him bouncing back this week.
WR Jarvis Landry vs NYJ, $7600, 4.8 pts.
-3 receptions, 33 receiving yards
If you thought Landry’s stat line was ugly, look at his quarterback’s. Ryan Tannehill threw for just 149 yards against a below-average New York Jets secondary. Landry is currently the 28th fantasy receiver this year. Once reason he might be so low is it seems he’s almost allergic to the end zone as he only has one score on the year. With a great matchup on Sunday, I’m very optimistic he can turn it around. I believe in his talent but don’t believe in his quarterback. However, at $900 cheaper this week, it’s a nice price to take a risk in a game where they’ll have to play catch up with the Chargers.
QB Derek Carr vs DEN, $7700, 7.6 pts.
-184 passing yards, 3 rushing yards
I hope you took everyone’s advice and didn’t play Carr in any of your lineups this week. Many thought this would be a tough matchup for the Raiders quarterback but it was quite the opposite as most of the game he just handed the ball to his running back. His 31 pass attempts were a season low and I don’t see this trend continuing. He’s playing at an MVP caliber level and is currently the number 5 quarterback in fantasy. The only matchup I’m worried about is at the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday Night Football but aside from that, I’d say send in the Carr any given week.
QB Andrew Luck vs GB, $8000, 12.7 pts.
-281 passing yards, 15 rushing yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
WR Julio Jones vs GB, $9200, 4.4 pts.
-3 receptions, 29 receiving yards
RB Terrance West vs PIT, $6400, 3.2 pts.
-1 receptions, 6 receiving yards, 21 rushing yards
QB Russell Wilson vs NO, $8200, 9.1 pts.
-253 passing yards, 11 rushing yards, 1 INT
WR Dez Bryant vs CLE, $7800, 2.4 pts.
-1 reception, 19 receiving yards
WR Marvin Jones vs MIN, $7200, 1 pt.
-1 reception, 5 receiving yards
The new prices are already out for Week 10!
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