The DraftKings Week 5 Value Plays were rather unspectacular. Joe Flacco, Frank Gore, and Jesse James were duds while a couple of Browns (Duke Johnson and Ricardo Louis) along with the Eagles D/ST made for strong value plays. Let’s try to hit at least four or five this week.
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Quarterback
Ben Roethlisberger (PIT): $5,700 v. KC
I can’t envision not taking Deshaun Watson against the lowly Browns, but for the sake of this feature I’ll have to. Season-long fantasy owners have finally jumped off the Ben Roethlisberger runaway train (I know that I have after his five-interception week). It’s strange to see Big Ben on so many waiver wires, but you know what happens when season-long owners finally decide to give up on a player of Big Ben’s caliber — generally, he goes off. His play thus far has been obviously abysmal while the road match-up with the Chiefs doesn’t seem to bode well due to his previous road woes, but his DraftKings price finally reflects that as he sits at $5,700.
Despite being 5-0, the Chiefs are allowing the third most points to quarterbacks, and Big Ben is a good bounce-back candidate despite strangely declaring that he “might not have it anymore” following the Week 5 disaster vs. the Jaguars. No quarterback under $6k this week has the strong match-up/high-upside combination that Big Ben sports.
Running Backs
Alvin Kamara (NOR): $4,500 v. DET
It’s a shock to me that Kamara is still priced this low in the PPR setting. Back in Week 1 when everyone was bidding their hard-earned FAAB money on Tarik Cohen, the more shrewd owners likely grabbed Alvin Kamara at a severely discounted price. It’s already starting to pay dividends and will continue to do so. The Adrian Peterson trade certainly doesn’t hurt, but AP hardly threatened Kamara’s role in the high-powered Saints passing attack so there won’t be a ton of fallout from AP’s departure. However, it’s obvious the coaching staff loves Kamara, as does Drew Brees who found him 10 times in their win over Miami in Week 4. He’s an excellent PPR option with big play potential. Fire him up against a Lions defense that was torched by the Panthers passing game last week.
Mark Ingram (NOR): $4,400 v. DET
Picking two running backs from the same team may seem strange, but it’s not inconceivable that both perform well considering how different their roles are in the Saints offense. Alvin Kamara does most of his damage through the air while the departure of AP solidifies Ingram as the only true ball carrier on the Saints. Expect an increase from his 14 carries in each of the past two games. The Lions contained Jonathan Stewart last week which is hardly an accomplishment, but struggled against the Falcons run game in Week 2 and were in the midst of allowing a big game to Dalvin Cook in Week 3 before he tore his ACL. Ingram is a strong bet for his first score of the season as his price sits at a season-low $4,400.
Wide Receivers
John Brown (ARZ): $4,500 v. TB
Since his return from a quad injury, John Brown has seen seven targets in both Weeks 4 and 5. However, he’s only turned those into five catches so the results aren’t quite yet there despite his touchdown last week. When on the field, Brown appears to be a guy Palmer is targeting with frequency, and he gets the bottom-barrell Tampa Bay pass defense in Week 6. Just make sure he plays this week before lineups lock.
Ricardo Louis (CLE): $3,900 @ HOU
Louis Ricardo still sounds better, but Louis now has double-digits in two straight games in which he has averaged five catches and 8.5 targets. The Browns will be making the quarterback switch from Deshone Kizer to ‘Hollywood’ Kevin Hogan, but that is unlikely to make a big difference as long as Louis maintains that No. 1 receiver role while Kenny Britt is “injured.” Louis’ price will creep above $4k soon enough.
Tight End
Austin Hooper (ATL): $3,500 v. MIA
The weekly tight end dart throwing game continues as it seems like the right tight end to pick is whoever plays the Browns. This week, that would be the Texans’ Ryan Griffin who I actually thought was the dog from ‘Family Guy.’ It turns out that Ryan Griffin is an actual real person who Deshaun Watson has barely glanced at since being inserted as the starting quarterback. Can’t do it.
So that leaves Austin Hooper who hasn’t done much since his big game in Week 1, but did pile up five catches and 50 yards on seven targets following the departures of Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu in Week 4. Sanu will remain out this game so maybe Hooper can take advantage of that once again as he takes on a Miami defense that has been soft against tight ends thus far.
Defense/Special Teams
Redskins D/ST (WAS): $3,400 v. SF
Taking any defense under $3k is a complete shot-in-the-dark so let’s go with the Redskins who get the 49ers and Brian Hoyer on an early start time on the East Coast. Hoyer seems overdue for an implosion, and the Redskins have performed well this season averaging over nine points per game which is good for sixth most on this weekend’s slate. The 28.5 point team total for the Redskins doesn’t hurt either as that indicates that a defensive score may be in the cards. With eight sacks over the past two games, look for Washington to continue bringing the heat fresh off the bye.
Good luck in Week 6!
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Joey Korman is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Joey, check out his archive and follow him @leaveit2divac.
