To those of you who’ve made it to this article because you’re no longer part of your season-long league, welcome. While you’ve been focusing on making the playoffs, we’ve been focusing on making money. Last week was one where our running backs really let us down, as Jordan Howard and Duke Johnson failed to come close to hitting value, though Marshawn Lynch and Kenyan Drake did. Here’s a famous quote that I’ll never forget: “I’ve never lost. It’s either I won, or I learned something.”
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Hopping right back into it this week, I want to pass along an urgent message to each and every one of you. If you’re reading this article, it’d be very wise for you to come to our live show on Sunday mornings from 11-12 EST, as there may be a lot that has changed by then. For example, when Ameer Abdullah was announced as inactive, I slid Theo Riddick into my cash lineup with that news. It’s always important to pay attention to the news on Sunday morning, which I talk about during that live Sunday morning show.
If this is your first time here, this article isn’t meant to win you a million dollars. These players are meant to be played in a cash lineup, which consists of 50/50s, Double-Ups, and Head-to-Heads. These are players who should give you the best bang for your buck. We ideally have players with a high-floor and a decent ceiling to go along with it to make up for those who may not hit value due to injury or whatever reason. While we cannot build an entire lineup for you, these are the players you should consider building your lineup around.
Quarterbacks
Philip Rivers (vs. WAS) $6,800
He’s the obvious one atop the board this week, as the Redskins will be traveling across the country to play against a scorching-hot Chargers offense. He’s now averaged 316 yards and 2.0 touchdowns over the last four games, and the Redskins have been among the league’s weakest pass defenses outside of their division. Prior to holding Eli Manning and Dak Prescott in check, they allowed almost 1,000 yard and eight passing touchdowns to the combination of Russell Wilson, Case Keenum, and Drew Brees in Weeks 9-11. If you want to pay up at the position, Rivers is about as safe as it gets this week.
DeShone Kizer (vs. GB) $4,900
This is likely to be my own personal cash-game quarterback this week, as the matchup is just too good to look the other way. The Packers secondary has been brutal this year, though it wasn’t really exposed until Aaron Rodgers went down with his collarbone injury. Since that time, they have allowed 5-of-6 quarterbacks to finish as top-15 options, including fellow rookie Mitch Trubisky. The only quarterback who failed to do that was Joe Flacco, who has struggled in basically every matchup. Kizer himself has scored at least 15 fantasy points in four of his last five games, including games against the Vikings, Bengals, and Chargers. With Josh Gordon and Corey Coleman healthy, he’s got a bevy of weapons to throw to.
Running Backs
LeSean McCoy (vs. IND) $7,200
He hasn’t been the most consistent running back this year, but McCoy’s Week 14 matchup is exactly what you look for in cash-games. He’s a home-favorite on a team who is struggling to throw the ball, and on top of that, they’re playing a defense that has already allowed eight running backs to score at least 16 PPR points against them. It’s likely due to the fact that there have been 17 running backs to total double-digit carries against them, a product of good game-script. Since coming to the Bills, there have been nine games in which they were at home and favored. In those games, McCoy has averaged 21.1 attempts for 122.2 yards and 1.3 touchdowns on the ground, with another 3.3 receptions for 19.0 yards through the air.
Lamar Miller (vs. SF) $5,800
Let me start this by saying that I shut Bobby down on our podcast about Miller earlier this week, but the more I thought about it, the safer he is than Kareem Hunt, who I was originally going to put here. I’m not a huge believer in Miller, but he is locked in for 15-plus touches in a good matchup and his price is generous. Despite the Bears failing to have many plays/runs on offense against them last week, the 49ers have still allowed the most rush attempts, at 32.2 per game. Miller has averaged 21.0 touches over the last three games, which is elite territory. He hasn’t totaled more than 61 rushing yards since back in Week 5, but he also hasn’t finished with less than 12.1 DraftKings points in five of the last six games. That’s essentially where we need him to get to, and against the 49ers, he really should.
Giovani Bernard (vs. CHI) $3,100
It appears that Joe Mixon didn’t get cleared in time for this game, as they were operating on essentially a five-day window, which is a short time to get through the concussion protocol. Not that Bernard is a workhorse running back, but he can spot-start when you need him to. There have been 10 games in his career where he’s seen more than 14 carries, and in those games he’s averaged 106.4 total yards and 0.5 touchdowns. The Bears have allowed opponents an average of 28.6 carries per game this year, so knowing that the Bengals have rookie Brian Hill (who was cut by the Falcons) behind him on the depth chart, expect him to see plenty of work. His price is going to put him in probably 75 percent of cash lineups, but that’s because he’s just too good to pass up.
Wide Receivers
DeAndre Hopkins (vs. SF) $8,500
It’s hard to say that Hopkins was a “letdown” last week, but his eight catches for 80 yards was a slight disappointment. What that stat-line didn’t show was that he did have a touchdown that was overturned, as he just missed getting his second foot in-bounds. Against the 49ers, he’s going to find the end zone. Through 12 games, they have allowed 11 wide receiver touchdowns, which ranks 11th, and they have also allowed five different wide receivers to finish with more than 100 yards. If you’d like to read more on Hopkins’ cornerback matchup, check out the wide receiver matchup article that went up yesterday.
Larry Fitzgerald (vs. TEN) $6,500
You always want to attack possession wide receivers who are going against a defense that stuffs the run extremely well, especially when it appears they’re going to be missing their starting slot cornerback. Logan Ryan hasn’t been great this year, but if he were out, it would be another blow to a defense that can’t really afford it. His replacement will be the below-average veteran Brice McCain, who Fitzgerald should eat up. He and Gabbert appear to have a connection, as he’s now gone for at least 91 yards and a touchdown in two of his three starts.
Josh Gordon (vs. GB) $5,500
While we deemed last week “Josh Gordon Week,” it appears we may have been a week too early. His matchup with the Packers is the type of thing we dream of with a player as talented as him, especially when you see his price-tag. He went against Casey Hayward last week, who said that Gordon was the best wide receiver he’d played against this year not named Odell Beckham Jr. That’s awfully high praise considering he’s played against Amari Cooper, Alshon Jeffery, Demaryius Thomas, and Dez Bryant. The Packers just put another one of their staring cornerbacks on IR, and this time it was Kevin King, who the Packers drafted for times like this. The Packers have allowed six different wide receivers to cross the 100-yard barrier, and my guess would be that Gordon is the next to do it.
Notable mentions: Dez Bryant (at NYG) $5,900, Marquise Goodwin (at HOU) $5,100, DeSean Jackson (vs. DET) $4,400
Tight Ends
Travis Kelce (vs. OAK) $7,400
If you haven’t figured it out by now, Kelce is pretty dang good. His 871 yards and seven touchdowns (along with a few rushing yards) amount to 127.8 fantasy points, which is more than all but six wide receivers, yet we always hesitate to play him when his price “goes up.” If you eliminate the risk at the most volatile position, your chances of winning go through the roof, provided you don’t completely screw up everywhere else. Kelce tagged the Raiders for 13.3 DraftKings points the last time they played, but it was actually one of his weaker games of the year. The Raiders have allowed five different tight ends to rack up at least 75 yards, including Evan Engram‘s 99 and a score last week with Geno Smith under center. With Andy Reid giving up play-calling duties, Kelce’s ceiling went up, as you saw last week.
Hunter Henry (vs. WAS) $4,600
He was limited in practice on Wednesday, though he’s not listed on the injury report, so we have to assume all is well with the second-year phenom. In Weeks 8-11, Henry struggled with production, totaling just 43 scoreless yards over those three games combined. Why? Rookie Mike Williams played more than 20 snaps in each of those games, which directly correlates with Henry’s dip, so it’s no surprise to see him total 157 yards and a touchdown over the last two weeks with Williams out of the lineup. The Redskins have allowed 7-of-12 tight ends to finish as top-12 options against them, including three of them to finish as top-five options. With Rivers hitting on all cylinders, there’s little reason to fade his go-to tight end who has replaced Antonio Gates.
Notable mentions: Delanie Walker (at ARI) $5,700, Jason Witten (at NYG) $4,700
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Mike Tagliere is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive and follow him @MikeTagliereNFL.
