4 NFL FanDuel Value Plays to Target in Week 5

Identifying key value plays are of paramount importance when it comes to daily fantasy football. Luckily for you, our NFL projections are ready to roll, and our value category is brimming with potential slate-winning targets. If you're needing a salary saving option, consider plugging in one of these options into your lineup.

Kirk Cousins, QB, Minnesota Vikings ($6,800)

There's nothing like opening up an article when you are trying to find quality advice for Week 5 and see Kirk Cousins as a suggested value option. Fortune truly does favor the bold.

Listen, has Cousins been brutal this season? Yes. Has he shown a lack of upside through all four games? Yes. However, his salary is lower than it has been in two seasons and regression to the mean suggests that there is plenty of wiggle room left in his scoring ceiling. I also like that he has thrown the ball over 30 times in 2-of-3 games since the weird Week 1 contest when he had just 10 passing attempts.

The New York Giants are a bad team and even though the Minnesota Vikings are on the road, they are currently 5.5-point favorites and have a 24.50-point implied team score. If the game stays competitive, Kirk could provide tremendous value at very low ownership.

David Montgomery, RB, Chicago Bears ($5,700)

While the rest of the field goes towards the more alluring options in the mid-6k price range -- including David Johnson ($6,800), Leonard Fournette ($6,900), Aaron Jones ($6,800), and potentially even Melvin Gordon ($6,800) -- I believe that David Montgomery offers up the most value at the running back position in Week 5.

While the Oakland Raiders are home and hosting the Chicago Bears, they have just a 17.75-point implied team total and are 5.0-point underdogs. That's not good no matter how you try to spin it. This makes me believe that Montgomery should get plenty of opportunities as the Bears protect the lead and lean on his talent to close out the game.

Montgomery has seen his snaps increase each and every single week this season, including over 70% of the snaps in back-to-back weeks. While the yardage has been low on his touches, the climbing playing time is a good sign, and we can rely on his NCAA-leading broken tackles record (in 2018) to point towards future success. Yes, I know that is a stretch, but at just $5,700, we have a back with playmaking ability receiving plenty of opportunity at a salary saving price tag.

While the rest of the field is heavily investing in a bevy of running backs $1,000 dollars more expensive, you can build a very unique lineup by using a very contrarian option and set yourself apart from the field. If Montgomery runs wild, you'll be screeching up the standings.

Golden Tate, WR, New York Giants ($4,500)

This is an absolute plug and play in cash games this week. The Giants are likely to lean on the passing game and push Daniel Jones this season while they try to progress him as a passer. Getting Golden Tate back into the fold is going to be a really nice playmaker for Jones to lean on when he's in trouble.

Tate being the minimum price is just a steal. Our projections have him hauling in 5.17 receptions on 7.74 targets and racking up 57.67 yards receiving and 0.27 touchdowns! Wild stats, right?

Okay, so of course he won't be fractionally garnering final stats, but what our model does suggest is plenty of opportunity and success. In fact, he has the highest point-per-dollar value rating (2.2) at the wide receiver position, and his 9.9 FanDuel points could potentially be his floor projection.

There is plenty of upside here with Golden Tate. He should avoid opposing cornerback Xavier Rhodes, which will only help his prospects. Sometimes you just have to try to not look a gift horse in the mouth.

Greg Olsen, TE, Carolina Panthers ($5,700)

The Carolina Panthers have a tough opponent as the Jacksonville Jaguars come to town in Week 5. This game is likely to be quite low-scoring with both defenses doing their best to get after a couple of very young quarterbacks.

This is the type of game where a veteran tight end like Greg Olsen might be leaned on by Kyle Allen as his security blanket. Up until Week 4, Olsen had been having a career revival. In Weeks 1-3, Greg had received 25 targets and hauled in 18 receptions for 295 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns. Not too shabby for the vet.

In Week 4, he played the most snaps he has played all season (66-of-68) but had his worst game. He managed to catch just two passes for five yards receiving on four targets.

The Jaguars' strength is their pass rush and their cornerbacks. If they lock down the outside wide receivers of the Panthers, Olsen could rack up targets over the middle and down the seam. At his price point of just $5,700, we have plenty of upside with using Olsen at one of the most volatile positions in daily fantasy football.

Mitch Carl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Mitch Carl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username fcurev. 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.