Well, it’s week ninine of the fantasy football season. You realized that you’ve made a ton of errors in your awful teams and you hate yourself. It’s time to turn to daily fantasy football to get some good fuzzies and forget that you drafted Vance McDonald and Joe Mixon. This is a weird slate, with four teams on bye and the London game, there are only ten contests available for this one. Expect a lot of repeat offenders! Here are the week nine daily fantasy football dumpster dives for both Fan Duel and Draft Kings!
Daily Fantasy Football Dumpster Dive Fan Duel Quarterback:
Mitchell Trubisky at Philadelphia ($6,500)
It’s hard to get more dumpster-divey than the #19 QB by salary in a week where only twenty QBs are starting. I’m not going to sugar coat how bad Trubisky was last week… he stunk up the joint against a prolific Chargers defense that allows the sixteenth-fewest fantasy points per game to quarterbacks. However, Trubisky had two starts prior to that against New Orleans and Washington where he combined for 482 passing yards, five passing touchdowns, and a pick. Slotting Trubisky in here gives you more salary to spend elsewhere, and the matchup will allow him to not vomit all over himself. The Eagles allow the eighth-most fantasy points to QBs out of the teams on the slate and are #13 overall. The vulnerable Eagles secondary’s yielded two touchdowns to every QB this season but Luke Falk and Matthew Stafford. Hopefully, we can add Troobs to that list after this week.
Daily Fantasy Football Dumpster Dive Draft Kings Quarterback:
Ryan Fitzpatrick versus Miami ($4,800)
If you thought finding the #19 QB by salary in a week where only 20 QBs start was a feat, check out Ryan Fitzpatrick: he’s the #21 QB salary on Draft Kings, thanks to Cam Newton and Joe Flacco still having salaries despite having Hoof (Cam’s foot) and Mouth (Flacco slamming the Broncos leading to an IR stint) Disease. Ryan Fitzpatrick is a “fun” guy to start in DFS if your definition of “fun” is “watching the game through your fingers because you’re afraid of what might happen.” Fitzpatrick has a multi-TD upside in this game, mostly because the Jets have been an awful pass defense this year. Teams haven’t had to do a lot of passing on them during their mononucleosis-induced lull, but they’ve been successful when throwing on the Jets. NYJ has the #21 pass defense by DVOA, so Fitzy can take advantage of that matchup this week.
Daily Fantasy Football Dumpster Dive Fan Duel Running Back:
Jaylen Samuels versus Indianapolis ($5,000)
The thirty-third ranked running back this week is the fantasy football DFS free square. A “free square” is a player with a price so low ($500 over RB minimum) with such a great opportunity because the algorithms haven’t caught up yet. Last week it was Kenny Stills and we all know how well that worked out… well, actually, let’s not dwell on the past. No James Conner this weekend, and no Benny Snell means a lot of opportunity for Samuels. No coach gives his RB1 more 20+ touch opportunities than Mike Tomlin, and Samuels can take full advantage of that opportunity through the air. The Colts do a lot to stop running backs on the ground, but pass catchers have a modicum of success against them. At this price though, even if he bombs, you should still get good value out of Samuels.
Daily Fantasy Football Dumpster Dive Draft Kings Running Back:
Jaylen Samuels versus Indianapolis ($4,000)
Jaylen Samuels is the free square in Draft Kings, too. Granted, he’s not as great of value ($1,000 over minimum), but I am not going to much this up by getting cute and recommending Paul Perkins.
Daily Fantasy Football Dumpster Dive Fan Duel Wide Receiver:
Marvin Hall at Oakland ($4,900)
Demaryius Thomas ($4,800) is also a good play, but better suited for the PPR nature of Draft Kings. $400 over the minimum. Marvin Hall represents a pure GPP play, for all the reasons we outlined last week for Kenny Stills. Marvin Hall is the deep ball guy, but he’s only getting 1-2 passes a game. He’s doing that against a defense that allows 20+ and 40+ yard plays among the worst in the league at defending them. He’s a glory play but could be a boom play. If he makes you itchy, DT is the pivot at $100 less. I wanted to talk about Demaryius against the Dolphins, but the nature of his usage fits better with the PPR scoring in Draft Kings.
Daily Fantasy Football Dumpster Dive Draft Kings Wide Receiver:
Demaryius Thomas at Carolina ($3,800)
Demaryius Thomas sits at just $800 over the minimum wide receiver salary on Draft Kings, and he’s developing into a PPR receiver that you can plug into your lineup to get secure points. He’s averaging four catches for 53.5 yards over his last four games, getting just about seven targets a contest. He’s becoming Sam Darnold’s binky, and he can be the glue that helps your DFS cash lineups to get more high priced guys in at the top. There aren’t many better wide receiver matchups than the Dolphins. Since their week five bye, they’ve given up seven wide receiver touchdowns. In three games. That’s really bad. Four of those guys also kicked in at least 80 yards. While this is going to be a huge Robby Anderson game, DT can help you out in a pinch, especially in Draft Kings’ PPR format.
Daily Fantasy Football Dumpster Dive Fan Duel Tight End:
Cameron Brate at Seattle ($5,100)
There’s not a lot of dumpster dive worthy plays on Fan Duel this week. All the cheap guys are cheap for a really good reason (they freakin’ stink!). Cameron Brate isn’t the cheapest option out there, but no O.J. Howard and a good matchup tell me to lean towards Brate. The Seahawks allow the fifth-most fantasy points to tight ends this season. Total jamokes like Ricky Seals-Jones, Vance McDonald, and Gerald Everett have had a day (as the kids say) against the Seahawks. Brate will make that one more jamoke pulling it off.
Daily Fantasy Football Dumpster Dive Draft Kings Tight End:
Jack Doyle at Pittsburgh ($3,000)
There’s no T.Y. Hilton this week, and the Colts wide receiver corps desperately misses Devin Funchess. No, that’s not hyperbole, or a joke, or anything like that. The Colts wide receiver room is a mess, and there’s nowhere else that Jacoby “The Rake” Brissett can reliably go other than Nyheim Hines and Jack Doyle. Luckily for Brissett and Doyle, the Seahawks present the 5th-best TE matchup on the main slate.
Daily Fantasy Football Dumpster Dive Fan Duel D/ST:
Cleveland at Denver ($4,300)
Man, I don’t know how Cleveland doesn’t end this game without at least… six sacks? And three turnovers? Brandon Allen has the start, and he stinks out loud. The Broncos offensive line stinks out loud (top-five in sack rate allowed), and the Cleveland defense is really good (top-five in sack rate). It’s a match made in buzz saw heaven, and Baker Mayfield getting mad at a reporter seems to have clouded our judgment, and the pricing, with Cleveland. This is going to be a bloodbath.
Daily Fantasy Football Dumpster Dive Draft Kings D/ST
Pittsburgh at Indianapolis ($2,400)
The Steelers D/ST has put up five-straight 14+ fantasy point days, and are rolling as a D/ST. Minkah Fitzpatrick’s addition has brought them to the next level, as they have ten turnovers in their last three games. The Colts aren’t normally a good matchup for opposing D/STs (sixth-fewest fantasy points allowed), but the Steelers need to get some respect on their name when it comes to defensive scoring. The $2,400 price tag is straight disrespectful (cue the Colts dropping a 50 burger).
