Week 5 NFL FanDuel Salary Movers
Quarterback
Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers
Week 4 Salary: $7,300
Week 5 Salary: $7,800
After a 34-FanDuel-point performance in Week 4, Cam Newton tied Aaron Rodgers for the largest price increase at the quarterback position. So, does he deserve to be the fourth-priciest quarterback on the slate when no longer facing a horrific New England Patriots defense?
While it certainly was encouraging to see him reach the end zone on the ground for the second consecutive game, let's not assume that MVP Cam is back. Even after last week's resurgence, Newton still ranks just 18th in Passing NEP in 2017.
The matchup is a big factor here, too -- the Detroit Lions have looked much improved on defense. Detroit has intercepted opposing quarterbacks more often (seven times) than they've allowed touchdown passes (four) this season, and the Panthers have the sixth-lowest implied team total (20.25 points) on the slate. Given Newton's spike in price, you're probably better served looking elsewhere at quarterback this week.
Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
Week 4 Salary: $7,600
Week 5 Salary: $7,700
What does Dak Prescott have to do to see his price rise? The dude averaged 19.4 FanDuel points through three very tough matchups to begin the year and then put up 23.6 on the Los Angeles Rams last week. He now is in arguably his best spot for production so far this year and has the same price tag he carried into the "No Fly Zone" in Week 2.
His Dallas Cowboys have a slate-leading 27-point implied team total in a matchup against the Green Bay Packers, which easily has the highest over/under on the slate. While Green Bay's numbers against quarterbacks have been a little better this season, their defense still ranks 21st against the pass according to our opponent-adjusted Net Expected Points (NEP) metric. Prescott should have no problem exceeding value at his price tag.
