NFL
FanDuel Single-Game Daily Fantasy Football Helper: Week 5 Thursday Night

Tom Brady versus Nick Foles. It's a Super Bowl LII rematch on Thursday Night Football.

OK, it's just a Thursday Night in October, and both players are on new teams. Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 3.5-point road favorites against Foles' Chicago Bears. With an over/under of 44.5 on FanDuel Sportsbook, this game is a half-point away from the lowest total of the week.

If you are new to the single-game slate, here is a brief rundown. 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, single-game slates feature five flex spots. Kickers are included in these contests, and there is an "MVP" roster slot. The MVP receives 1.5-times his total fantasy points, making this spot crucial.

This past offseason our Brandon Gdula did a deep dive on single-game strategy. It's worth checking out before you make your lineups.

Let's break down this slate!

MVP Candidates

Tom Brady ($15,000): Brady struggled against the Los Angeles Chargers early on Sunday, including throwing a pick-six as the Bucs fell behind by 17 points. The negative game script attributed to his 46 attempts, a season high. He completed 30 of them for 369 yards and five touchdowns, topping out at 33.46 FanDuel points.

Brady sits atop our projections for this game at 16.5 FanDuel points. However, he will be without receiver Chris Godwin. That narrows down your stacking partners for Brady, meaning Mike Evans ($12,000) should be your top priority for a Tampa-focused build.

Allen Robinson ($11,500): Robinson has already faced the quarterback transition from Mitchell Trubisky to Foles and has posted back-to-back games of 23.3 and 19.6 FanDuel points. Granted, all but 27 yards of his yards Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts came in garbage time as the entire Bears' offense struggled. The task does not get any easier versus a Bucs passing defense that ranks fourth by our schedule-adjusted numbers.

So why use A-Rob in your MVP slot? For the Bears to win, they'll need Robinson to continue his volume-fueled (41 targets) climb to the top of the wide receiver projections each week. Yes, the Buccaneers' defense is good, but they still allow almost 27.9 FanDuel points per game to opposing wide receivers, which is close to the league average.

Ronald Jones ($10,500): The Buccaneers are banged up all over the offensive side of the ball. Injuries to Leonard Fournette ($10,000) and LeSean McCoy ($6,500) have opened the door for Jones, who has averaged more than 20 touches in his last two games. The absences extends to the pass catchers, as well, and Jones showed capable hands last time out, leading the team with nine targets.

The matchup against the Bears' defense looks like one he should be able to capitalize on, as Chicago sits just 27th against the run, per our numbers. We project Jones for 13.5 FanDuel points, and there's potential for more in what should be a positive game script. With Brady coming off a monster game, recency bias will follow, likely making Brady the chalk MVP play. Lock in Jones for tournaments.

Value Plays

Scotty Miller ($8,000): Miller will once again take the number-two receiver spot opposite Mike Evans. In the comeback win last Sunday, he caught five of seven targets for 83 yards and a touchdown. Despite the questionable status, it looks like Miller will play, making him a solid value option for all roster builds at friendly salary of just $8,000. Tyler Johnson ($5,000) is also in consideration at the bare minimum as he will step in as the number-three receiver. He played 33 percent of the offensive snaps in Week 4.

Darnell Mooney ($7,000): Mooney fits into a similar role as Miller above. The rookie from Tulane has taken over as the second outside receiver, pushing Anthony Miller ($9,500) to the slot. Mooney has a slight edge overall in snap share compared to Miller and is coming off a season-high nine-target game.



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.

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