Each week here at RotoBaller, we provide the subscribers of our DFS Lineup Picks of the Week Newsletter with some of the highest quality advice for salary cap fantasy football for DFS weekly league sites. We also have lots of great DFS analysis weekly, so be sure to check back.
Why We Love Daily League Fantasy Football
It's time for Week 13 already and some of us luckier RotoBallers are primed and ready for the fantasy football playoffs. Unfortunately, along with the winners are also some less fortunate season long losers. Are you one of those people whose fantasy football team is just about out of it for the 2014 NFL season? Perhaps you were not that happy with the team you originally drafted this year in fantasy football? Or maybe you are a frustrated Ahmad Bradshaw, Ben Tate, Nick Foles, Giovani Bernard or Frank Gore owner (just to mention a few on the vast list of disappointments). Is your fantasy team already eliminated or on its way to being officially out of contention? If any of those words resonate deep inside of you, and you don't feel like waiting another 9-10 full months to play again, then we have the perfect new tasty treat to feed your fantasy football appetite.
The weekly formats of DFS fantasy football is just what the doctor ordered. Draft a new team each week, and battle it out against your friends or as many opponents as you please. It's my favorite way to supplement my fantasy football teams, and plug-and-play guys that I wish I owned in my leagues on a weekly basis. After all there's nothing like owning Peyton Manning or Andrew Luck for one week, when you missed out on them in all of your season-long fantasy football leagues.
Looking for An Edge?
If you play salary cap leagues on any of the leading DFS sites, then our expert picks can give you the edge you need to win. Each week we analyze the player matchups, and the associated pricing across the sites to identify the sleepers and value picks to put together a winning lineup. With each newsletter, you will receive our well-researched weekly picks for each position, with both a “Strong Play” and a “Value Play”, and we will also include two or three budget buster tournament plays for each position. All in all, you will be receiving a minimum of 12 of our expertly hand-picked recommendations for your gaming pleasure!
We’ve reprinted some of RotoBaller’s lineup picks from last week’s subscribers-only exclusive newsletter to give you an idea of the DFS analysis that we put forward each and every week. As you can see below, our experts had some sweet recommendations for Week 12, so hopefully you got in on the action! And if not, no worries, there’s still plenty of time for Week 13 and beyond.
A Recap of Some DFS Lineup Picks from Week 12
QB - Tony Romo - Tony Romo is back fresher than he's been all season following the Cowboys Week 11 bye. This all comes in perfect time for fantasy football owners and DFS hopefuls because America's quarterback gets to face the division rival New Jersey Giants.
The junky G-men are allowing an average of 18.9 fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks, good for 7th worst in the NFL. To make the case even better, Pro Football Focus ranks the veteran as the 8th best quarterback in 2014. That ranks one slot ahead of Peyton Manning in case you were wondering, so basically don't even flinch about using one of the top quarterbacks in the league against one of the worst pass coverage units in Week 12 of DFS action.
Result: 275 passing yards, 4 TD - BULLSEYE
QB - Josh McCown - The veteran backup journeyman quarterback is not our desired quarterbacking option for most weeks, but Week 12 is shaping up to be a great DFS value play week for Josh McCown.
Facing his former team on the road should not be the toughest task ever considering McCown's familiarity with the stadium's winter time conditions. Furthermore the Bears are the worst team in the NFL against fantasy quarterbacks, allowing an average of 21.39 points per contest.
You can call this a revenge game if he goes bonkers, or just rely on good old fashioned research and analysis, because Josh McCown, mostly due to his various offensive receiving weapons, projects out to be a top 7 fantasy quarterback for Week 12. We suggest you get some tournament or cash game exposure to this pretty safe and undervalued DFS asset.
Result: 341 passing yards, 1 TD, 2 INT - HIT
WR (Strong) - Josh Gordon - In case you didn't get the memo, Week 12 of the 2014 NFL season was renamed "Josh Gordon Week" and will forever be known as such. With everyone's favorite over-achieving pothead coming back for the last 5 games of the 2014 season, there is more hype building than Obama's first successful election campaign.
Besides our deep and ambiguously strange love for this man, we urge you to consider the following factors if you want an undervalued WR1 and don't feel like paying for the big guns. A) The Atlanta Falcons are the 8th worst defense versus fantasy wide receivers, allowing an average of 25.5 points per game to the opposition. B) Josh Gordon went absolutely bananas last season when he returned from his suspension; meaning the team was desperate to feed this explosive playmaker the pigskin. This will most likely be the case again as the Browns are in a playoff run and need his talents.
If you're trying to get really cute in a tournament, then feel free to pair Brian "Football" Hoyer and Josh Gordon as a tandem that can certainly go bonkers versus a super weak Tampa Bay Bucs team secondary in Week 12.
WR (Value) - Torrey Smith - While he was rather worthless for the first few weeks of the 2014 season, Torrey Smith has quietly been a stud for past 7 contests averaging a very respectable 11.8 DFS points. Although the production and targets have steadily risen, the down field threat's price tag has stayed remarkably lower than some of his WR2 peers.
In Week 12, the former Super Bowl star gets to face the horrific Saints defense that's allowing an average of 25.52 fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers. With his targets average on the rise, as evidenced by the 15 he's received over the past 2 contests, we absolutely love this undervalued DFS stud for a breakout performance in Week 12. Get him into your mix as a WR2-WR3 and don't overlook his upside potential in what is sure to be an indoor shootout in New Orleans.
Result: 5 receptions, 98 receiving yards - HIT
WR (Budget Buster) - Kenny Stills - With rookie stud Brandin Cooks out of the way for the rest of the 2014 regular season, the next man up on the depth chart is the explosive second year wide receiver, Kenny Stills. Each and every week, you will need either a budget busting wide receiver or running back to ease the salary cap pressures of designing your DFS lineups and for Week 12, we believe New Orleans' best option to score will put our analytical skills to the test.
The Baltimore Ravens no longer have their best cornerback Jimmy Smith who is on IR, and come into Week 12 allowing 26.22 fantasy points per game to opposing wide receivers. That's good for 5th worst in the NFL thus far and things only seem to be getting worse in Week 12 as the Saints normally produce better offensive numbers at home. If you need to save some shekels as you crunch your DFS lineups, don't forget about the most explosive wide receiver in the Saints and Drew Brees' arsenal.
Result: 8 receptions, 98 receiving yards - BULLSEYE
RB (Strong) - LeSean McCoy - The former number one fantasy pick comes into Week 12 of DFS play. That's great news for fantasy owners who want to keep going back to the player who has some of the most upside in the entire league.
Facing the extremely porous Titans defense in Week 12 means we will hopefully see a multiple score, multi-reception game from the extremely versatile running back. It's clear that Darren Sproles has vultured some of Shady's potential offensive production, but the Titans allow an average of 23.19 points per game to fantasy running backs. That leaves enough room for LeSean to get his touches and still leave room for his little brother Darren to have some fun too.
High scoring performances from DFS running backs on DFS sites have been hard to come by thus far in 2014, so when you consider that LeSean can breakout for a 20+ point game any given contest, you have to think long and hard about not running him out there again in a very favorable matchup versus the Tennessee Titans in Week 12.
Result: 1 reception, 1 receiving yard, 130 rushing yards, 1 TD - BULLSEYE
RB (Value) - Rashad Jennings - We told you he wasn't going to quite live up to the expected potential in his return to action in Week 11 and we were pretty much right. The thing is, we are here in Week 12 to tell you with no uncertainty that we love this big bodied running back's chances to get back to DFS glory versus the division rival Cowboys.
Although Dallas has a marginal run defense that allows an average of 17.65 points per game to fantasy running back, the real reason we foresee a big day for Jennings is because there will most likely be a lot of passing targets headed his way. In Week 11 Rashad received 7 targets from Eli Manning and we project about the same for Week 12's potential shootout in the Garden State.
Get this stable and secure running back into your RB2 mix if you need some serious upside for either a cash game or large field tournament.
Result: 8 receptions, 68 receiving yards, 52 rushing yards - BULLSEYE
Tim Wright - We all know Rob Gronkowski is the main man in New England, but if you want to be surprising and go a bit contrarian with your DFS budget buster, we suggest you have a look at the Patriots TE2 who often lines up as a wide receiver.
Wright's targets vary and fluctuate week to week making him an impossible lock to recommend, but we think Week 12 shows plenty of potential against an Eagles team allowing the most points per game to fantasy wide receivers (28.08). Use this risky tournament buster at your own risk if you are the kind of person that likes high risk and high reward.
Result: 5 receptions, 36 receiving yards, 2 TD - BULLSEYE
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