4 NFL FanDuel Tournament Pivots for Week 15

Wide Receiver

Chalk

Many of this week's big wide receiver names are off the main slate; Michael Thomas, Tyreek Hill, Keenan Allen, and DeAndre Hopkins, all pegged as top-10 scorers this week, are out of play.

That should lead to some heavy ownership for some lower-priced options. Coming off a mediocre 10.3-FanDuel-point week, Adam Thielen ($8,200) should be ready to bounce back against a shoddy Miami Dolphins pass defense. The Minnesota Vikings sport the third-highest implied team total (25.75) on the main slate, and after allowing both Josh Gordon (5 catches, 96 receiving yards) and Julian Edelman (9 catches, 86 yards, and a touchdown) to roast the 'Fins a week ago, Thielen should be chalky.

T.Y. Hilton is also looking like a popular play, and for good reason -- he's been surface-of-the-sun hot of late. He's received nine-plus targets in each of his last four games, topped 125 receiving yards in three of those contests, and worked his way to a 9-catch, 199-yard performance last week.

JuJu Smith-Schuster ($7,800) could be heavily owned, too. Antonio Brown could likely draw shadow coverage from ace corner Stephon Gilmore, freeing up the wide receiver to run wild. He has popped for 24-plus FanDuel points twice in the last three weeks, and is coming off a strong 8-catch, 87-yard, 2-touchdown performance.

Finally, another solid option, at a much lower price point, is Amari Cooper -- coming of that silly performance last week (10 catches, 217 receiving yards, 3 touchdowns), he should be on a lot of radars at only $6,600.

Pivot

Tyler Boyd, Cincinnati Bengals: $6,700 (vs Oakland Raiders)

With many viable mid-tier options available at the wide receiver slot and some recent inconsistent performances, Tyler Boyd is worth a long look in tournament formats.

Sporting the eighth-highest implied team total on Sunday's main slate (24.50 points), the Cincinnati Bengals make for an intriguing option against an Oakland Raiders passing defense that ranks as the league's worst. While they've lost ground in the AFC North with a five-game losing streak, Boyd has maintained a strong connection with Jeff Driskel, recording a solid 22.6% target market share over the last four games.

Boyd becomes increasingly tantalizing to roster when you realize that Oakland has struggled to defend wide receivers, as they have allowed 18 receiving touchdowns to the position (third-highest) this season. As 3.0-point favorites in this contest, Cincinnati's pace metrics signal some upside here as well. They rank 10th in situation-neutral pace and lead the league in pace when leading by seven or more points. The potential game script and volume have Boyd primed to do some serious damage.

We have Boyd projected for only 12.7 FanDuel points, but with potential for 22.9 FanDuel points in a tournament setting, that's good for 3.42 points per $1,000 of salary. On a tricky main slate with plenty of middle tier value at wide receiver, peep Boyd.