NFL

FanDuel Single-Game Daily Fantasy Football Helper: Week 10 Thursday Night

Cam Newton has as much upside as anyone as the Panthers meet the Steelers in prime time. Who else should you target on tonight's single-game slate?

Week 9 is in the books and your first crack at redemption in Week 10 is on FanDuel's Thursday Night Football single-game slate. The salary cap remains at $60,000 and scoring is unchanged from the full roster game, but we don't have to worry about individual positions. Instead, your roster will consist of five offensive flex spots with kickers replacing team defense/special teams. One player will be designated as your "MVP," who is awarded 1.5x his total fantasy points. Making the correct choice for MVP is crucial for a top-scoring lineup but we also can't ignore the value plays that let you squeeze in your favorites.

If you sat through the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers game last week, aka Nick Mullens breakout night, you deserve a much better game for your Thursday night viewing please. And thankfully, that's on the table as tonight's game features the Carolina Panthers visiting the Pittsburgh Steelers. Both are coming off wins against divisional foes and are in the hunt for playoff spots with only two losses on the year. Using numberFire's rankings, the Steelers are seventh in passing offense and ninth in total offense while the Panthers are ninth in passing and seventh in total offense. We should be in for a fun matchup with the Steelers installed as 3.5-point home favorites with an over/under of 51.5 points, tied for second-highest this week.

To score well in your contests, making the right choice for your MVP slot is crucial. Unlike last week, injuries are not a main concern in this game as the primary options on both sides are healthy. The issue will be narrowing down your choices in the player pool with so many good options. Let's get to it!

MVP Candidates

Cam Newton ($16,500): Newton has eclipsed 18 FanDuel points in every game this year and should be in the discussion for league MVP. In Norv Turner's offense, Cam has his highest completion percentage, highest QBR, and lowest interception rate of his career. He faces a Steelers defense that has given up just 34 combined points their last 2 games against the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens. However, they do surrender points to the quarterback position, coming in 28th using our advanced stats.

Cam is projected to be the highest scoring player of the night with 22 points. His rushing production not only adds a safe floor, but gives him an incredible ceiling if can also find the end zone on the ground. He is the most expensive player on the slate, and while he did disappoint Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers relative to expectations, Cam is near matchup-proof and a great selection in this format.

James Conner ($16,000): While the saga surrounding Le'Veon Bell continues into another week, Conner has looked the part of the Steelers' every-down running back in his absence. Over his last four, Conner is averaging over 30 FanDuel points per game. Against the Panthers, he gets perhaps the best matchup of the night against their 26th-ranked rushing defense. He also has at least four receptions in every game during the same stretch and commands a target share of 14 percent on the year.

His projection of just under 21 points trails only the quarterbacks on this slate. The Panthers have been stingy against running backs, in terms of overall scoring, coming in as the fourth-toughest matchup for running backs overall. That's not enough to scare us away from Conner when he routinely plays 90 percent of the snaps on a team with an implied total of 27.50 points as a home favorite.

Ben Roethlisberger ($15,500): At $1,000 less than Cam, Ben leaves you a little more salary to fill out your lineup, but deciding against the two will be difficult. His projection is almost equal to Cam's but presents the better value due to the reduced cost. His projection lines up with prior production in home games with an over/under above 50 (via the RotoViz Game Splits app).

Roethlisberger is dealing with a fractured finger on his non-throwing hand, but that didn't slow him down Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, against whom he posted 25.2 FanDuel points. His 74.60 Passing Net Expected Points (NEP) is seventh in the league and he comes in ninth in NEP per dropback, at 0.21. He's tossed at least two touchdowns in every home game this season except the first meeting against Baltimore. On the other side, the Panthers have allowed multiple touchdown passes in every road game thus far. If "Primetime Ben" makes an appearance, like he did on Monday night in Week 3, with 353 passing yards, the MVP bonus could really put you over the top.

Antonio Brown ($14,500): It's Week 10, and AB already has nine touchdowns, matching his total from 2017. While he may be due for some regression, he's still Ben's top option in the passing game, with a 26 percent target share and 13 red zone targets. He's scored double-digit FanDuel points in every game this year and over 20 in each of his 2 previous home games.

He's been consistent from week to week but has yet to truly have a huge game. His season-high of 105 yards isn't on par with his usual option, but his scoring has been boosted by his touchdowns, which helps to make him our number-one wide receiver of them all this week. Unlike last Thursday, we have a plethora of options for our MVP slot, and Brown needs to be in consideration with a projected 13 targets.

Value Plays

Greg Olsen ($11,500): After missing more than a month with a fractured foot, Olsen returned in Week 6 and resumed his role as a steady cog in the Panthers offense. Olsen has at least five targets in every game since his return and has increased his scoring in each subsequent game, culminating in 16.6 FanDuel points Sunday. His target share of 15 percent is third on the team while also commanding an 18 percent share of the air yards. The Steelers rank just 29th versus tight ends, and Olsen's projection of 10.9 points is the third-highest for any tight end this week. If you need to balance your lineups with a solid floor, Olsen provides that with a reasonable salary.

Devin Funchess ($10,500) and D.J. Moore ($8,000): Funchess leads the Panthers in receiving yards and air yards while trailing only Christian McCaffrey in target share. He's had a rough two-week stretch, seeing only eight combined targets while the rookie Moore had a mini-breakout in Week 8, securing 5 of 6 targets for 90 yards. If you need to save salary, both are viable options as the Steelers have given up the sixth-most points to opposing wide receivers this season.

Vance McDonald ($8,500): If you want a piece of the Steelers offense without paying up, Vance is your guy. As the fourth option in any offense, finding consistency in their performance is difficult. After blowing up on Monday night in Week 3, with 19.2 FanDuel points, and giving Chris Conte the stiff arm of the century, Vance has only cleared double-digit points once in the last five outings. Still, there's reason to be optimistic as the Panthers rank just 31st against tight ends and have given up seven touchdowns to the position already this season. Maybe it's time for another Vance party!



Ryan Bobbitt is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Ryan Bobbitt also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Drummerinabox. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.