- Week 14. Patrick Mahomes $9, CORE. Ben Roethlisberger. $8, Hybrid

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1 TM QB Patrick Mahomes $9, CORE Mahomes is priced down this week due to a tough on paper matchup with the Ravens. His ownership will probably be depressed as well. I'm of the mind that Mahomes is unstoppable particularly at home. The Ravens are ranked 2nd overall in fewest points allowed to the QB position so there is obviously reason for caution here but the home field factor combined with the robust 53 point game total are reasons for optimism. I'll take low owned Mahomes here stacked with Kelce or Hill QB Ben Roethlisberger $8, Hybrid Ben will be popular this week. Raiders are terrible defenisively across the board. Normally the Steelers might lean on the run in a game like this but their duo of Jaylen Samuels and Stevan Riddick do not inspire confidence. There is a great chance they attack through the air and lean on Brown and Juju. Those two are the primary stack partners. QB Drew Brees $8, Hybrid Vegas has this as the game of the week. We already know the Bucs defense gives up tons of fantasy points to opposing offenses. They rank 29th in fantasy points allowed to opposing QB's. The only risk to Brees is if they go with a run heavy game plan. The most likely scenario is that Brees has a big day spreading the football around to various no name TE's and special teamers and also Kamara and Thomas. Brees is cash viable in this spot and does not absolutely need to be stacked in tournaments. He is stackable with Thomas as well but I'm be fine with just rolling him out unstacked this week and not trying to guess which of their pass catchers will get the opportunities QB Cam Newton $8, Hybrid Newton played like shit last week and still churned out 22 fantasy points. I'm looking for him to play better this week in a game the Panthers need to win. I actually like the idea of pairing up Newton with CMC to get a piece of all the Panthers tuddies. Newton is always a candidate to run out naked but Samuel, Funchess and Moore are all potential stackmates QB Philip Rivers $8, GPP QB Aaron Rodgers $8, GPP There is alot to like with this matchup. Chargers are at home facing one of the worst teams in the league as massive home favorites. If you know my style by now I try to focus on QB's in competetive games. I want the possibility of a shootout to be in play. This is not that type of situation. Sure the 30+ point total is great but as bad as the Bengals are it wouldn't suprise me if the Chargers simply lean on their defense and running game here to get the easy win. It's plausible that Rivers has a smash game as well. Anything can happen in an NFL game particularly with as bad as the Bengals defense is but I want to try to increase the floor at the QB position by targeting high scoring competitive games for cash and hybrid plays Rodgers has had a down fantasy year by his standards partially because of a lack of weapons in the passing game. This week the Packers fired Mike McCarthy and I think we get Angry Aaron here. This is more of a game stack situation then a stand alone play mainly because we haven't seen much production out of the Packers 's corps outside of Adams. Adams makes for the easy stack but if Rodgers is going to have a ceiling game then one of the other pass catchers will need to be involved. Stack with 2 of Adams and either Cobb, Graham or MVS QB Andrew Luck $7, Hybrid QB Deshaun Watson $7, Hybrid QB Jameis Winston $7, ALL The biggest positive for Luck in this matchup is simply that you can't run on the Texans so the Colts are likely to be forced to air things out in this game. Texans have been stingy to opposing QB's allowing the 9th fewest fantasy points to the position but they've also had some pretty solid matchups against the likes of Bortles, Mariotta, Keanum, Buffalo etc. They haven't faced any elite QB's outside of Brady in week 1. Stack with Hilton and/or Ebron This is the first game in a while where the Texans have faced a quality offense. It's been a season of ugly games against teams with bad QB's that can't score. This game seems like it could potentially buck the trend. I love the idea of game stacking this one. Last time these two teams faced one another, Hopkins went bananas for 35 Draftkings points. His best game of the season. That game was a shootout finishing with the Colts winning Watson is easy to stack because the clear alpha in this offense is Hopkins. From there both Demaryus Thomas and Keke deserve some consideration as double stack partners. I'd bring it around with Ebron Hilton or both. Winston has delivered every week and now he gets a home game vs a Saints team that is 23rd in points allowed to opposing QB's, The Saints play better at home then on the road and this game has all of the makings of a high scoring affair. Outside of games where he's been benched, Winston has delivered great results most weeks and this is the ideal matchup at home. The Bucs won't be able to run at all and every TD will come off the arm of Winston. The beatdown the Saints put on the Eagles a few weeks back is still on my mind but this Tampa Offense hasn't really been slowed down by anyone. Stack him with Godwin, Humphries or Evans. It's not as easy to game stack this one because the Saints spread around the football as much as they do QB Baker Mayfield $7, GPP Mayfield is reasonably priced in a matchup with a rising Vegas game total. He spreads the football around too much to trust any of his pass catchers so I'd use him unstacked

2 TM RB Christian McCaffrey $9, CORE McCaffrey has been on fire for the past few weeks literally breaking slates with his output. Now we get a matchup facing a Browns Defense that has given up 12 rushing TD's ranking 26th overall in fantasy points allowed to opposing RB's. He's priced up massively on both sites this week but also is the on paper best play. RB Saquon Barkley $8, ALL Theres something about Redskins and Giants games where they tend to be lower scoring. These two teams played a few weeks back with the Redskins winning In that game the Barkley only handled 13 carries, instead they threw it to Barkley 10 times in that game. No matter how this game is going, Barkley should stay involved. He brings a high floor to the table in this game. RB Ezekiel Elliott $8, CORE Zeke at home is generally going to be a solid play. The Dallas offense generally runs through Zeke. He is a focal point of his offense which gives him a very high floor. Eagles are giving up 25.7 points per game to opposing RB's RB Alvin Kamara $8, GPP Of the 4 highest priced RB'a on this slate, Kamara has the highest range of outcomes. He is an explosive player in a game with the highest projection on the slate. The matchup is fantastic facing a defense that can't stop the run or the pass. The downside is his volume. He just won't get as many touches as The RB's priced above him. If this becomes a blowout situation for the Saints they could easily fall back on Mark Ingram late in the game and put Kamara on the shelf. On the other hand if the game plays remotely close, Kamara has 2 TD upside. RB Phillip Lindsay $7, HYBRID We've been riding the Lindsay train for weeks now and his price has finally caught up to his production. This isn't quite the cake matchup that Lindsay had last week vs the non-existant Bengals defense. 49ers are right in the middle of the pack in terms of fantasy points allowed to the RB position. That said, Lindsay is an explosive player and though his volume is limited sharing touches with Freeman in this backfield, its clear he's the lead dog. I think the most common lineup construction will be going studs and duds this week so Lindsay should remain fairly low owned RB Nick Chubb $7, GPP Chubb is seeing 20+ touches every week with 3 targets on average in the passing game. This is a solid home matchup against a Panthers Defense that is giving up plenty of fantasy points to the RB position. The salary for Chubb is a bit high on Draftkings considering his lack of a heavy passing game role and with the way salaries fell this week I would expect a stars and scrubs approach at RB which should leave mid-salary plays like Chubb a bit underowned. RB Aaron Jones $7, HYBRID This is a great spot at home for Jones, I'm assuming that the firing of McCarthy will galvenize the team. Thats going to need to happen here because this Packers offense has looked lacklustre for most of this season. The matchup is ideal facing a Falcons team that can't stop RB's. This is the Defense that gave up 176 yards and 39 fantasy points to Nick Chubb two weeks ago. RB Sony Michel $6, GPP Miami gets torched by RB's and this is actually an excellent on paper matchup for Michel. His lack of passing game work combined with the unknown usage factor with Rex Burkhead back in the mix for the Patriots make him more of a GPP play RB Austin Ekeler $6, AVOID It's going to be very scary paying up this high for Ekeler this week. A case could be made that he got Melvin Gordon level usage last week with 8 targets in the passing game and another 13 mostly noneventful carries for 21 yards. That was a tough road matchup vs the Steelers. This week they are at home facing the terrible Bengals run defense. This is the highest ranked matchup on the research station because you have a heavy home favorite facing a horrible run defense. Justin Jackson got 8 carries and 1 target spelling Ekeler but he did alot more with those carries averaging 7.9 YPC and getting the TD. Now we have a quote from the Chargers coaching staff about how Ekeler is more of a special teamer and is a bit "fatigued". It all spells DANGER. I'd rather take my chances with Jackson this week in most formats RB Mark Ingram $6, GPP You never really know what kind of workload Ingram will see. I'm staying away in cash games due to the high variance but he makes for an interesting GPP pivot off the chalkier pay down options RB Jeff Wilson Jr. $5, HYBRID RB Jaylen Samuels $4, ALL RB Justin Jackson $4, Hybrid Cheap RB disclaimer - this week we have a number of replacement RB's with salaries that haven't adjusted for their roles in their respective offenses. Most people will try to jam at least one of these RB's into their lineups this week, and some might roll the dice with two of them. Between Wilson Jr, Samuels, Jackson and Ridley, it's unlikely that all of them perform well. We can't be certain of the types of workloads these relatively unknown comodities will recieve. In looking specifically at Wilson Jr, he's coming off a 9 target game. Thats all I need to hear. The coaching staff is calling him the primary RB. He is my favorite of the spend down group with a higher floor ceiling combination of all of them. Even in a tougher on paper matchup he is the least likely of the bunch to fail primarily because we've seen him used extensively in the passing game for the 49ers. The matchup for Steelers RB's vs this Raiders Defense is fantastic. The issue is volume. It's not clear that Samuels will be the primary back. I do think he will be the back they use in the passing game which has traditionally been where the Pittsburgh offense tends to involve the RB position heavily. Samuels has very little NFL experience compared to Ridley and if this kid cant pass block he could wind up shut down for a large portion of the game. If the Steelers were facing a tough defense that would be a larger concern. In this case the Raiders are so weak defensively that it's not a major concern. If he does manage to see 5-10 carries and 4-5 targets it should be enough to deliver value for his diminished salary. Of the trio of low salary RBs, Jaylen is my top overall choice and the one I will have the most exposure to. Jackson is going to be sharing touches with Ekeler in the Holy Grail of RB matchups to target. The Bengals produce smash scores every week for opposing RBs. Go back and check out what RB's have been doing against them week in and week out. The HC for the Chargers made a statement about Ekeler being a special teams player mainly and fatigued? Very odd statement but the implication was that they would be limiting Ekeler in favor of Jackson. There is risk here that Ekeler gets hot and they roll with him and the general risk that comes with a player like Jackson that probably wont be used in the passing game. RB Stevan Ridley $4, GPP Ridley should be the lowest owned player in the pay down at RB category. I'm keeping an eye out for any word from the Steelers about which of Samuel or Ridley will see more snaps next week. It could go either way. The matchup vs the Raiders is too good to pass up but an uncertain workload for Ridley lowers the potential floor. This is a pivot off of the Samuels chalk

3 TM Antonio Brown $8, ALL With Connor out this week there is a better chance that the Steelers will lean on their passing game for fantasy production this week. I have a hard time thinking they will feed Ridley or Samuel the football repeatedly. They are likely to be throwing and AB should be the beneficiary, Brown has been solid all season and this is one of the better matchups for him. Davante Adams $8, CORE Adams draws a smash matchup here facing a Falcons secondary that has been torched all season by opposing pass catchers. I fully expect this Packers team to come ralley this week after their HC was fired. Adams will see coverage from Robert Alford this week who grades out as one of the worst corners in the league. Stack him with Rodgers. DeAndre Hopkins $8, ALL Hopkins hasn't quite matched what the higher priced studs have done this season but a deeper look shows why. Watson's pass attempts have been down significant this season mainly because the Texans have been in a buch of low scoring affairs facing horrible opposing offenses that couldn't score. The Texans obliged in those games by leaning on the run and asking Watson to do just enough to get the win. This game has potential to be a high scoring affair. Hopkins beasted to the tune of 36 DK points when these teams met back in week 4. Julio Jones $8, GPP Julio is in another great situation this week in a game where his team should be playing from behind and throwing frequently if things go as Vegas thinks they will. The Packers do not have elite corners that can stop a like Jones. Michael Thomas $8, GPP Thomas target share has gone down as the Saints have been spreading around the targets to all manner of players in recent weeks. Thomas generally needs volume to produce massive fantasy production. The ceiling is there but the floor is what we saw from him over the past two weeks, under 10 points. The lack of locked in volume when compared to players like AB and Adams keeps MT as more of a stack with Brees hybrid/gpp play rather then someone I would target in a cash lineup Tyreek Hill $8, GPP Even in a tough matchup Hill brings one of the highest ceilings of any player in the NFL to the table this and every week. I'm concerned about his floor facing a very tough Ravens secondary but Hill is pretty much uncoverable. I also firmly believe in the see saw theory of player prodition. We've seen Kelce go off the past couple of weeks. As the Ravens prep for this game they will see the same thing and potentially gameplan around stopping him rather then stopping Hill. Mike Evans $7, GPP Evans will see Lattimore in coverage this week. Lattimore hasn't been good at all this season. He's allowing a passer rating on passes thrown his way this season. Thats bad. Everyone saw what happened last week with Evans failing and the cheaper duo of Godwin and Humphries delivering massive totals. This week everyone will flock to those other two Tampa 's. That leaves Evans in a solid matchup, significantly underowned. Definitely a stack with Winston candidate.

4 T.Y. Hilton $7, Hybrid Hilton has had alot of success against the Texans throughout his career. He had a nice game the first time these two teams met with 4 receptions on 6 targets for 115 yards. Not as high of a target share as I would have liked to see. The Texans quality run defense should push more potential TD's to the passing game for the Colts which would benefit Hilton as well JuJu Smith- Schuster $7, Hybrid I see Brown as the cash play and higher floor/ceiling play with JuJu as more of a pivot on Draftkings where the salary gap between him and AB is relatively small. JuJu is significantly less expensive on Fanduel which is where I will get most of my exposure. Amari Cooper $6, GPP Cooper is the focal point of the Cowboys passing offense. The Eagles have been vulnerable vulnerable to opposing pass catchers this season. If the Cowboys are throwing the football its probably going to be to him. Josh Gordon $6, GPP It doesnt look like the Dolphins will have Xavien Howard in this game. I don't love paying up this high for a player as volatile as Gordon has been. GPP only for me D.J. Moore $6, Hybrid Moore is more reasonably priced on Fanduel this week as compared to Draftkings. I'm watching to see if Denzel Ward will play this week for the Browns. If he does that would put a damper on Moore for me. Calvin Ridley $6, GPP Jarvis Landry $5, GPP I like the Browns offense in this game but its tough to trust Landry's workload with how the Browns have been spreading around targets lately Golden Tate $5, Hybrid Tate has emerged as the primary for the Eagles. Even in a low game total matchup Tate feels incredibly undervalued on Draftkings for $4800 salary. He's been targeted 7,8, and 8 times over the past three games. He's getting more and more comfortable in the offense. I like his floor and upside in this spot more then the other 's in this range Curtis Samuel $5, Hybrid Samuel is an interesting pay down option at this week with D.J. Moore likely to be shadowed by stud cover corner Denzel Ward and Olsen done for the season. He's coming off an 11 target effort last week and while I'm not sure we can expect the same here, I'd be happy with 5-8 targets this week. Tre'Quan Smith $5, GPP Smith has been more bust then boom this season sandwiching a 13 target 24 fantasy point day between a couple of donuts. He is the definition of GPP only Courtland Sutton $5, CASH With Manny Sanders on the shelf, Sutton should benefit with increased targets. 49ers Defense isn't a unit to fear and they will probably concentrate their efforts on stopping the red hot Phil Lindsay. Sutton will be an extremely popular play with everyone expecting him to benefit from the loss of Sanders which is something to keep in mind when creating GPP lineups. He's cheap enough that it will be difficult for him to fail particularly in cash games but for GPP there is some merit to going underweight on players like this in GPP's Chris Godwin $5, ALL Godwin will be one of the chalkiest plays on this week's slate. He's coming off of a week where he went off for 24 points. With D-Jax out of the way, Godwin is getting all of the snaps in 3 sets in what is a very high volume offense. Dante Pettis $5, GPP Pettis will be a chalky play this week after he went off for 129 yards and 2 TD's last week. He clearly has a nice connection with Mullins. That said, Goodiwin is expected back this week which muddies the situation. I'm not sure Pettis chalk is good chalk so beware Demaryius Thomas $5, GPP If Watson is going to have a ceiling type of game, Thomas will probably have to be involved mainly because they don't have very much else going on in the passing game. Coutee has been injured and there aren't any other explosive player options in the passing game for the Texans. Stack him with Waston in GPP's. Sterling Shepard $5, ALL With OBJ on the shelf, Shepard jumps right into the chalk paydown value conversation with Sutton Godwin, Humphries, Tate and Zay Jones

5 Devin Funchess $5, GPP Funchess isn't very good but he does continue to get occasional redzone targets for the Panthers Zay Jones $5, Hybrid Jones is coming off a 9 target effort. Kelvin is gone. It seems like a vote of confidence. Jones operates out of the slot for the Bills where he will face the burnable Buster Skrine in coverage. Skrine is allowing opposing QB's a massive QBR on passes thrown his way. Jets are an awful team right now and when they come to town the opposing offense should be putting on its finest show.

6 TM TE Travis Kelce $8, CORE Kelce is coming off a monster week and now he gets to face a Ravens defense that is solid overall but middling vs TE's ranked 21st overall in fantasy points allowed to the position. I fully expect them to have some gameplan in mind to stop Kelce here but with all of the Chiefs weapons, particularly Reek's ability to take the top off of a defense they really can't concentrate on a single player. TE Zach Ertz $7, ALL Ertz put up 43 fantasy points vs the Cowboys in the first matchup. The Eagles have since added Tate but the best way to attack Dallas secondary remains via the TE position. TE George Kittle $6, GPP Kittle continues to get plenty of work in this 49ers offense. It's been a while since it has translated into massive point totals but the targets remain with 9 last week and 13 the week before. His salary has dropped to a more reasonable level and the Bronco's are ranked 20th vs TE's so not a scary matchup TE Eric Ebron $6, CORE Salary was jacked up for Ebron this week with good reason. The Texans bleed receptions and points to the TE position and Ebron has been a focus of the Colts passing offense when Jack Doyle has been out. Last week Ebron made value in a game where the Colts were shut out because he saw a mind blowing 16 targets!!!! We don't need 16 this week in a much more favorable spot facing a Texan D ranked 25th in points per game allowed to opposing TE's TE Jimmy Graham $5, GPP TE David Njoku $5, GPP Njoku's target volume has been down in recent weeks with Mayfield spreading the targets around. He hasn't surpassed 6 targets in a game since week 7. He could always pop off in a game like this facing a Carolina defense that is giving up the 4th most fantasy points per game to opposing TE's. TM DEF Pittsburgh Steelers $4, Hybrid Steelers have been a high scoring defense a number of times this season. I continue to believe that this Raiders offense is a mess. No Cooper, no RB's of note or 's of note. DEF Los Angeles Chargers $4, ALL I don't like paying up for the top priced defense but anytime we have a young inexperienced QB on the road facing a top NFL defense we need to get exposure DEF Buffalo Bills $4, CORE Darnold is a turnover machine this season. Bills have had one of the tougher home defenses all season and that was when their offense was incredibly inefficient. Their offense is starting to click a bit right now which will keep their defense well rested in this smash spot DEF New York Giants $3, Hybrid Giants Defense isn't great but they are in play due to the Sanchez factor. I'm not expecting a buttfumble here but if I'm going to pay down this week they are one of the better risks.