After four weeks of playing large
GPP tournaments, I decided to focus on cash games and a few multipliers
on DraftKings for Week 5 of the NFL season. That decision proved
to be a wise one, as the selections I made on my tickets proved
to be good enough to win in a few head-to-head matchups, but I would
have come up well short of cashing in the pricey Millionaire Maker
contest.
The following is a review of a winning cash game ticket. As you
will see, I made some strong selections, a mistake spending nearly
a fifth of my budget on Le’Veon Bell, and my PPR lock tight
end Evan Engram was anything but a lock.
Quarterback: Dak
Prescott vs. Green Bay Fantasy Points: 30.74
Grade: A
In my preview piece, I wrote about the consistency Prescott has
shown this season with no less than 17 points per game while averaging
23 points over his last two contests. With a potent Green Bay
offense heading to Jerry’s World to take on the weak Dallas
secondary, it seemed pretty clear that Dak and the Boys would
need to put up at least three touchdowns to keep pace, and a full-blown
point scoring bonanza was not out of the question.
The prediction of a high scoring game came true, and Prescott
finished with 30.74 points on 25-of-36 passing for 251 yards and
three touchdowns. He also added 37 yards rushing and a late touchdown
on a well-executed read option.
In a classic case of chasing points, I went all in on Powell
this week after the veteran tailback scored 32 points at home
against Jacksonville in Week 4. A matchup against the Browns seemed
like an excellent chance for Powell to build upon his superb performance
and post a solid game against a Browns defense that is below-average
against the run. Instead, Powell managed just 7.3 points before
leaving with an injury.
The bonehead award of the day goes to Pittsburgh offensive coordinator
Todd Haley, who decided on a heavy pass-first attack against a
Jags defense that ranks No.1 against the pass while allowing the
most rushing yards to opposing backs on the year. It was a bizarre
move, especially considering the fact that he has Le’Veon
Bell at his disposal. Bell caught 10 passes for 46 yards to salvage
his day, but 19.3 points from an RB like Bell ($9,500) burned
me this week.
With a sub-7K salary fueled by average performances against elite
cornerbacks, Dez Bryant against the Packers was the No-Brainer
play of the week in all formats. I don’t usually stack players
in a head-to-head games for fear of an injury to one killing the
performance of the other, but I couldn’t resist going with
the Dak/Dez stack this week. Bryant scored and did give me 16
points, but I was disappointed that he only garnered eight targets
in a game with 66 combined points.
There is an annoying trend this season in the Arizona passing
offense that I should have predicted, as Jaron Brown followed
up his 12-target, 105 yard game against the 49ers with a 3/39/0
dud against the Eagles. Sure, it could be more of a game script
issue, but this is the third time this season that a Cardinal
wide receiver has posted a complete dud after a 100-yard breakout
game (J.J. Nelson Week 3 & Larry Fitzgerald Week 4).
With everyone and their mother predicting a monster game for
DeVante Parker, I went with the possession receiver Jarvis Landry
this week against the Titans. Landry did come through with a surprising
touchdown, but the fact that he only caught five passes for 44
yards was a letdown.
Death, taxes, and starting your tight end against the Browns
are three givens in life. ASJ has evolved into one of Josh McCown’s
favorite targets, and his $3,500 price tag made him one of the
best values in DFS Week 5. On a negative note, my opponent and
nearly 30% of all DK players were on the same play, so ASJ proved
to be a wash.
After 25 targets in his previous three games, Evan Engram managed
just four passes against the Chargers and failed to log a catch.
I need to review the game film to see what happened, but it is
a shock to me that he was not heavily used with Casey Hayward
outside on Beckham Jr. and injuries to all three starting Giants
wideouts.
D/ST: Jets Fantasy Points: 8
Grade: B
In a week in which the Jags scored ten gazillion points against
the Steelers, getting eight points from the Jets seems like a
letdown. But luckily my opponent started the Steelers defense
against me and not the Jags, making my eight-point game a solid
start compared to his five points from Pittsburgh.
