3 Daily Fantasy Football Players to Avoid in Week 7
We have loads of pieces on numberFire dedicated to helping you figure out which plays you should target in your daily fantasy football contests on FanDuel and DraftKings. And you should definitely check them all out!
But an underrated aspect of the DFS process is figuring out who you shouldn't play. Narrowing down your short list of potential plays by avoiding those who are overpriced and/or in tough matchups goes a long way towards ensuring that you create optimal lineups.
Let's go through three guys to consider fading on this week's DFS main slates.
Jacoby Brissett, QB, Indianapolis Colts
FanDuel Price: $7,300
DraftKings Price: $5,600
With a matchup that's posted shootouts in the past and a relatively solid 47.0-point over/under this week, should we think about rostering Jacoby Brissett in Week 7?
Despite the surprising success for this team, Brissett hasn't been that great as a signal caller. Among the 30 quarterbacks with 100 or more drop backs, Brissett has posted a mediocre mark of 0.13 Passing Net Expected Points (NEP) per drop back, placing him 17th in that group.
Efficiency is one thing, but the volume of passes isn't there for Brissett, either. The Indianapolis Colts have logged only a 1.09 pass-to-run ratio, the fifth-lowest mark in the league, and they rank third-worst in terms of situation-neutral pace.
There are a lot of very solid options this week at the quarterback spot, so while Brissett's 10 touchdown passes against only 3 interceptions are impressive, this isn't the best week to play him.
Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints
FanDuel Price: $7,800
DraftKings Price: $7,500
There are a lot of slates where rostering Alvin Kamara of the New Orleans Saints makes a ton of sense.
Week 7 is not one of those slates.
While the Saints maintained an impressive record despite losing Drew Brees, this week is going to present a serious challenge. Not only are they forced to leave their friendly confines of the Superdome, playing outdoors on grass, they are matched up with one of the most ferocious defenses in the league as the Chicago Bears clock in fourth via our per-play metrics.
It's not a surprise that the over/under here sits at only 38.5 points, the lowest total on the slate. Factor in New Orleans being a slight underdog (3.5 points) and both teams ranking in the bottom four in terms of overall pace, and there doesn't look like there's a lot of scoring potential. Oh, and Kamara is banged up, too, so even if he suits up, he's best left alone this week.
Keenan Allen, WR, Los Angeles Chargers
FanDuel Price: $7,500
DraftKings Price: $6,700
What in the world is going on with the Los Angeles Chargers?
Losers of four of their last five contests, with the only win coming against the lowly Miami Dolphins, this Chargers team faces a serious uphill climb if it wants to be part of the 2019 playoff picture.
Part of their challenge has been an absolutely moribund offense, which ranks 21st overall and 16th in passing. That offense and folks like Keenan Allen could be in line for continued struggles this week, as they line up against a Tennessee Titans defense that ranks third overall by our schedule-adjusted numbers.
Tennessee has yet to allow anyone to score over 20 points on them this season, and only Matt Ryan has passed for over 300 yards versus the Titans. It may not be a bad idea to fade this LA passing attack for another week.
Matt Kupferle is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Matt Kupferle also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username MKupferle. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
