DraftKings Daily Fantasy Football Helper for Week 6
Running Backs
High-Cost Option: Arian Foster $7,000
After seeing a full workload last week, Arian Foster could be a high-cost option that could pay off handsomely as the Texans visit the Jacksonville Jaguars this week. Foster saw 19 carries last week and another 10 targets as the Texans had few reservations putting their star running back to work. On a site utilizing full PPR scoring such as DraftKings, running backs like Foster who are seeing so many targets can become great value plays.
Facing off against a defense allowing the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing running backs, Foster could get in a groove early against a struggling Jacksonville defensive front. The Jaguars have ranked towards the middle of the pack as far as rushing yards allowed per game (15th), but they've had a tough time keeping teams from scoring, allowing the third-most rushing touchdowns on the season. Jacksonville is very susceptible to receiving running backs as they've given up the sixth-most receptions to them. After watching the Texans utilize Foster last week with nine receptions, he could have another solid outing in the receiving department.
Mid-Cost Option: Giovani Bernard $4,600
Despite Marvin Lewis continuing to try and pull the wool over our eyes, the Bengals rushing offense is entirely flowing through Gio Bernard. Outsnapping, outplaying, and outscoring Jeremy Hill, Bernard has reinvigorated his former fantasy relevance this year.
Reaching five-plus yards per carry on half his rushing attempts, Bernard is playing like Hill was last year, picking up yards in big chunks and supplementing a heavy dose of receptions to boost his fantasy value. Facing a Buffalo front-seven that is only giving up 82.2 rushing yards per game, the Bengals will likely try to mix up Bernard's usage with screens and swing passes to slow down a ferocious pass rush.
The Bills are giving up the seventh-fewest fantasy points to opposing running backs, but the Bengals could use Bernard in a similar fashion to how the Patriots utilized Dion Lewis when they faced Buffalo. Lewis hit Buffalo in a variety of ways, ending the day with 40 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown to go along with nearly 100 yards receiving on 6 catches.
Low-Cost Option: Charcandrick West $4,000
By now, the cat's out of the bag given that most people are expecting Charcandrick West to step in as the lead back following the terrible injury Jamaal Charles sustained last week, ending his season. At only $4,000, West will be a very popular play, with similar astronomical ownership to Karlos Williams' Week 4 debut. Running in a balanced offense like the Chiefs utilize, West merits that heavy usage at such a steep discount.
West will face a Minnesota Vikings defense that is the fourth worst against the run per numberFire's Adjusted Defensive Rushing NEP metric. While the Vikings are more towards the middle of the league in fantasy points allowed, they've given up the seventh-most rushing yards per game. Despite being the road team, the Chiefs are only 3.5-point underdogs in this contest, and with the way the Vikings have been playing as of late, this could be a close game all four quarters making West fantasy relevant throughout the entire game. Expecting Charles-like output is a lot for West, but at $4,000 he should be able to return value.
GPP Wildcard: LeGarrette Blount $4,400
I'll be really interested to see what kind of ownership percentage LeGarrette Blount has as New England has run all over the Colts in the past. The problem with Blount is the way the Patriots have redefined their running game this season with Lewis as their main back.
The passing game has taken off, as the Patriots have the sixth-highest passing play percentage (64.5%), leaving uncertainty in both whether or not Bill Belichick decides to run the ball in this game and with which running back he chooses to utilize. Blount has had enormous success in the past against the Colts in the playoffs -- 24 rushes for 166 yards and 4 touchdowns in 2013 and 30 rushes for 148 yards and 3 touchdowns in 2014 -- that not playing him in a GPP could be a very costly move. On the other hand, Belichick has heavily favored Lewis this season and he could see this type of heavy workload if Belichick really wanted to.
Bonus GPP Wildcard: Shane Vereen $4,200
Shane Vereen won't be surprising as many people as he did last week with his 8-catch, 86-yard, 1-touchdown stat line. However, in a projected highly scoring affair in which the Giants' defense may have trouble slowing down the Eagles offense, Tom Coughlin may need to rely on Vereen out of necessity this week if he wants his offense to keep pace.
Vereen doesn't face an overly easy task against the Philadelphia front-seven (allowing fourth-fewest fantasy points to opposing running backs), but the Eagles have allowed 29 catches on the season (14th-most). Injuries to inside linebackers Kiko Alonso and Mychal Kendricks have forced rookie Jordan Hicks into action, and he'll have his hands full keeping up with Vereen this week. In DraftKings full PPR scoring, Vereen could be a sneaky play at running back with so much attention going to similarly priced Charcandrick West.
