The perfect team is an early look at some matchups to consider for the week 9 DFS slate. This is my attempt to get a head start on some plays that are going to be talked about throughout the fantasy football week.
QB: Teddy Bridgewater—5,900: My theory of wanting to go as cheap as possible at QB worked this past week, just not the way I expected it would. Ben Roethlisberger put up a monster game and propelled many to fantasy glory. I picked Bridgewater last week and he absolutely helped—-even if it was only 14 Fan Duel points, it was 14 points that only cost me 5,900 and allowed me to spend money elsewhere on players that blew up. I’m sticking with the same theory this week—Teddy returns home, coming off of an encouraging game vs the Bucs to face the even worse Redskins who will be without pass rushing Brian Orakpo. I think Teddy has a 15 point floor this week as the offense continues to get more in-sync with each other.
RB: Ronnie Hillman—7,200: Hillman was on the verge of a historic fantasy week, but had two touchdowns called back and two touchdowns he ran to the 5 yard line and run in by Juwan “Vulture” Thompson. Hillman looks really good and the Patriots big weakness is through the middle. Better yet, his pass-catching ability will help keep him in the mix, even if this game turns into a shootout.
RB: Lamar Miller—7,300: I’m calling a big week for Miller. He’s been very consistent as the focal point of the Dolphins offense, but he just seems like he is sitting on a huge breakout week. The Dolphins are going to need him as they return home to take on the Chargers. The Chargers have been fairly susceptible to the run recently and are dealing with some big injuries. Miller leads the Dolphins in touches, is active in the passing game and gets all the red zone work—he’s a stud and is waiting to have his breakout game to show the world what he’s got.
WR: Antonio Brown—-9,000: This is a coin flip between Brown and Dez Bryant. Both have great matchups and are in a similar salary range. I’m going to roll with Brown because he appears to be matchup-proof and situation-proof….This all depends on Dez’s performance tonight so stay tuned. The Steelers have to get Brown the ball to win, the Cowboys aren’t quite as dependent with Dez…..It should be noted, Dez has a very favorable matchup with the Cards—The Cards are impossible to run on, but have been easier to attack through the air with the deep ball. I think both have big weeks, but I’m going to stick with Antonio Brown who appears to have an 18 point floor right now.
WR: Keenan Allen—6,700: Was Thursday Night Football a trend of mirage for Keenan Allen? Either way it appears he is still very good at football and an active part of the San Diego passing attack. Look, I love Allen and will go down swinging with him—but he’s a machine and at 6,700, I’m not sure you’re going to get a higher upside game out of anyone else in this price range.
WR: TY Hilton—8,100: I love TY Hilton always. It’s not the easiest matchup, but at the same time not really an overly difficult one either—on the road at NY Giants is sort of a neutral matchup for wide receivers but that doesn’t matter to me. The Colts are an offensive machine and play at a pace that invites a high scoring, lots of possessions type of football game that fantasy owners love. In a way I think Hilton and the Packers WR are two of the best options for fantasy as their QB’s are locked in on them and they have big play ability. I think Hilton, both because of his talent and his QB, is pretty much matchup proof at this point.
TE: Travis Kelce—5,400: It’s going to be really hard to not choose Gronk this week, Gronk is the king and if you can work him into your lineups I will highly recommend that….But TE is a position where you can get some cheap depth at and this week you go Travis Kelce taking on the NY Jets who are an extremely TE friendly team. Kelce has a legit 20 point game in him this week, and that might be worth passing on Gronk.
K: Cody Parkey—5,000: One trait I’m liking about kickers is getting kickers on teams that run a lot of plays and are generally in the red zone. The Eagles have so many possessions and have a pretty efficient offense, but the bonus is they aren’t so efficient that they are always getting touchdowns either, plus they go on the road to Houston who is a reasonable defense…I could see a lot of field goals for Parkey this week.
DST: Chiefs—5,300: Chiefs take on the Jets….at home….Anything else you need to know?
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