I really should start writing this article before I do the DFS challenge in the Football Absurdity Podcast (wherever you can find podcasts!). I would do that if I was a smart man, but I guess I am not a smart man. Except when it comes to jumping into a big ol’ pile of trash and coming out with something good. Or at least something that you can plug into your fantasy football DFS lineup and blame me for if it doesn’t turn out well. Here are the week five daily fantasy football dumpster dives for both Fan Duel and Draft Kings!
Daily Fantasy Football Dumpster Dive Fan Duel Quarterback:
Chase Daniel at Oakland (in London) ($6,400)
For quarterbacks actually playing this week, it gets exceptionally bleak after Chase Daniel. Only Washington’s Cerberus of Suck, Matt Barkley and Luke Falk sit between him and oblivion. That means he’s effectively the lowest-priced quarterback worth owning this week. He pulled off going from clipboard holder to QB to the tune of just 195 passing yards and a touchdown last week. This week, he travels to London to take on the Raiders, who give up the seventh-most fantasy football points to QBs, including three touchdowns to Jacoby Brissett last week. The Raiders have yielded nine passing touchdowns in four games this season, and Kirk Cousins is the only QB to not surpass 260 passing yards against them.
Daily Fantasy Football Dumpster Dive Draft Kings Quarterback:
Kyle Allen versus Jacksonville ($5,100)
The loss of Jalen Ramsey to… Jalen Ramsey things… has decimated the Jacksonville defense, which was already suspect after a disastrous 2018 campaign. They’ve let opposing fantasy football QBs style all over them, with only Deshaun Watson failing to hit at least 18.6 fantasy points. This list includes Joe Flacco and Marcus Mariota, people, so this is not a drill. Kyle Allen ended up getting a bad matchup last week against the Texans but still managed to complete over 70% of his passes for the second-straight game. His average depth of target was much less, but that’s how he will succeed. Lots of dinks, and even more dunks. With Christian McCaffrey, Curtis Samuel, D.J. Moore and Greg Olsen to do the hard work, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Kyle Allen return to his multiple touchdown ways this week.
Daily Fantasy Football Dumpster Dive Fan Duel Running Back:
Jaylen Samuels versus Baltimore ($5,000)
It’s been open season for running backs on the Baltimore run defense over the last couple of weeks. They bottled up Kenyan Drake (lol) in week one, and stopped David Johnson in week two. After that, it’s been a deluge of fantasy football points from running backs. Four running backs in the last two games have at least 12.4 fantasy points against the Ravens. They did this by yielding SIX (!) running back touchdowns in these two games. This might not be your daddy’s Ravens defense anymore, which is sad. Jaylen Samuels and James Conner turned into a two-man wrecking crew on Monday Night Football, as the Steelers tried to make sure that Mason Rudolph didn’t cost them the game. It’s likely that the Steelers go back to that formula since it was literally a winning one. Samuels had a wild usage profile, as the Steelers repeatedly went to the wildcat. I doubt he repeats his ten carry, eight target, three pass usage line, but he should get plenty of opportunities to produce.
Daily Fantasy Football Dumpster Dive Draft Kings Running Back:
Chase Edmonds at Cincinnati ($3,700)
Much like Tony Pollard against the Dolphins, and Troymaine Pope against… the Dolphins, Chase Edmonds gets the nod for “well, one guy can’t do it all.” Through four games, seven running backs have at least 14 fantasy football points against a dreadful Bengals run defense. Things didn’t get any better last week, as James Conner and Jaylen Samuels both tallied over 22 fantasy points against this Bengals defense. Obviously, this makes this a David Johnson week, but less obvious is using the backup. Edmonds has gotten limited run this season but averages six yards per touch. If he ends up with fifteen touches in a blowout? Now you’re making a stew, baby.
Daily Fantasy Football Dumpster Dive Fan Duel Wide Receiver:
Phillip Dorsett at Washington ($5,400)
As I said would happen before last weekend on the Football Absurdity Podcast (wherever you find podcasts!), Phillip Dorsett absolutely cratered against an extremely strong Bills pass defense last week, pulling in just two catches for ten yards. The important part? He had nine targets. This makes sixteen targets in the post-Antonio Brown Era (two games) for Dorsett. Washington gives up the second-most fantasy points to wide receivers, with speedsters absolutely torching them. DeSean Jackson, Devin Smith, and Taylor Gabriel combined for 303 yards and SIX TOUCHDOWNS.
Daily Fantasy Football Dumpster Dive Draft Kings Wide Receiver:
Adam Humphries versus Buffalo ($3,800)
On the surface, Adam Humphries has a true dumpster fire of a matchup. Just an absolute stinker. The Buffalo Bills allow the fifth-fewest fantasy football points to wide receivers. BUT! They do this by limiting the deep threat options and the shifty guys and letting the possession receivers chew them up underneath. Jamison Crowder caught 14 balls for just 99 yards. Bennie Fowler and Cody Latimer combined for eight catches for 81 yards. Tyler Boyd went 6/67. They keep balls in front of them but give up a decent number of receptions to WRs. In steps Liddle’ Adam Humphries to this situation. Humphries had just three targets last week as the offense was clicking with A.J. Brown and Corey Davis, but this week will be more like the 7-20 slobber knocker from two games ago when Humphries had nine targets. He’s a PPR-only play, which makes DK’s full-PPR format more enticing for Humphries.
Daily Fantasy Football Dumpster Dive Fan Duel Tight End:
Tyler Eifert versus Arizona ($4,600)
The Cardinals are on pace to give up 23.78 fantasy points per game to tight ends on the season in half-PPR leagues. That comes out to 380.48 fantasy points for an entire season. That is more than TE1 in 2018, Travis Kelce, plus TE6 in 2018, Austin Hooper… combined. That’s just 0.27 fantasy points per game less than 2017 TE1 Travis Kelce + 2017 TE2 Rob Gronkowski combined. Eifert is only $4,600 and effectively gets all the Cincy TE targets. Don’t overthink this one.
Daily Fantasy Football Dumpster Dive Draft Kings Tight End:
Dawson Knox at Tennessee ($3,100)
The twenty-third most expensive tight end slides into a decent situation for full-PPR. It’s going to be Matt Barkley or Josh Allen desperately trying to not die as the Titans pass rush collapses the offensive line. That has worked out well for opposing tight ends against Tennessee, as only the dynamic duo of James O’Shaughnessy and Geoff Swaim failed to get into double-digit fantasy points against them. Though if JOS had two more yards, every single team would have a double-digit fantasy TE against the Titans. I am fully aware of the Rookie Tight End Curse. I won’t shut up about it, to be honest. That having been said, Dawson Knox has six catches and 134 yards (and a score) over the last two games. You could do a lot worse in PPR if you need a floor in a cash game punt play.
Daily Fantasy Football Dumpster Dive Fan Duel D/ST:
Houston Texans versus Atlanta ($4,300)
This is one of those situations where looking at the two sites and determining who you will play where makes a lot of sense. On Fan Duel, Houston is the eleventh-highest main slate defense. Not exactly a dumpster dive, but the cheapest defense you can feel okay playing. On Draft Kings, they’re tied for the fith-highest defense. The Falcons are a mess, with Matt Ryan leading the league in interceptions (well, he’s behind Jared Goff now, but Goff had the TNF contest to take the lead). Their ten sacks allowed ranks tied for thirteenth, but five of those came last week as the offensive line continues to erode. They’re also liable to drop a dud, as they’ve failed to reach 14 points in half their contests this year.
Daily Fantasy Football Dumpster Dive Draft Kings D/ST
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans ($2,200)
The Buccaneers are likely getting suppressed here due to the offense giving them a massive lead last week, which led to them playing prevent and giving up a ton of yards and touchdowns to Jared Goff and the Rams. Let’s dissect how that actually happened, though? The Buccaneers sacked Jared Goff twice, picked him off three times, recovered a fumble, and had a defensive TD. That was their second TD of the year and their fourth-straight game with a fumble recovery. This is a good defensive unit, at least for fantasy football purposes. Now, they play a team with a solid offensive line and a quarterback who does not really give up the football with Teddy Bridgewater. However, we saw last week how things could go wrong for Bridgewater. The Saints offense managed just four field goals, Bridgewater went down five times and threw a pick. The Buccaneers are the third-lowest priced Draft Kings D/ST this week and have scored the fourth-most fantasy points per week through four games.
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(Header Image Source: https://live.staticflickr.com/2662/4013883239_58498797b9_k.jpg by Jennifer Snyder, on Flickr under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)
