Week 13 FanDuel Tournament Pivots

Quarterback

Chalk:

Drew Brees, Tom Brady, and Ben Roethlisberger are all in great matchups and should be popular plays, even as top-priced options. At the lower end, Colin Kaepernick has continued to outperform expectations and could by highly owned this week.

Pivots:

Matt Ryan, $8,600 (vs Kansas City Chiefs): Matt Ryan has slowed down a bit in recent weeks, but that could largely be due to tough matchups against the Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles. Despite this, he still has the third-highest Passing Net Expected Points (NEP) per drop back (0.34).

He gets a banged-up Kansas City Chiefs defense that has allowed the fourth-most FanDuel points per game to opposing quarterbacks among defenses on this slate. Elite pass-rusher Justin Houston is finally healthy again, but the Chiefs have still given up a combined 699 passing yards and four touchdowns to Jameis Winston and Trevor Siemian in the two games Houston has played in.

Game script sets up well for Ryan, as the Falcons have the fourth-highest implied team total on the slate and are favorites in what should be a shootout (49-point over/under). In other games with at least a 49-point over/under since 2013, Ryan has averaged 310 passing yards and 1.8 touchdowns, as opposed to 281 yards and 1.6 touchdowns in all other games during that span.

Tyrod Taylor, $7,400 (at Oakland Raiders): Okay, so everyone wants to roster Colin Kaepernick after his impressive six-game sample size. After watching him run all over the Miami Dolphins for 34.1 FanDuel points, the daily fantasy community will spend all week talking about what a safe floor his rushing ability gives him. They're not wrong.

What the fantasy community is missing is the fact that Tyrod Taylor profiles similarly to Kaepernick, is cheaper, is in a better matchup, and will see lower ownership. In the six games since becoming a starter, Kap has averaged 22.3 FanDuel points, 7.2 of which have come from his rushing ability. Taylor has averaged 19.9 points during that span, along with 8.5 points on the ground.

Taylor will take on the Oakland Raiders, who have allowed the eighth-most FanDuel points to quarterbacks, while Kap's opponent, the Chicago Bears, have allowed the 19th-most. Oakland is also fresh off allowing fellow dual-threat quarterback Cam Newton post three touchdowns and 21.4 FanDuel points against them.

Our projections have Taylor listed as the second-best value at quarterback this week, just ahead of Kaepernick from a points-per-dollar perspective. If you're looking to pivot off Kaepernick, Taylor checks all the boxes.