NFL

FanDuel Single-Game Daily Fantasy Football Helper: Week 7 Thursday Night

After a one week absence, Thursday Night Football is back. Your first taste of Week 7 is an NFC East battle between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles are 4.5-point home favorites with an over/under of 45.0 on FanDuel Sportsbook.

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. If you need help with lineup construction, give our Sharpstack optimizer a try.

Let's break down this slate!

MVP Candidates

Carson Wentz ($15,500): Wentz put together his best fantasy day of the season last Sunday against a strong Ravens defense. He completed just over 50 percent of his passes but did toss two scores while not throwing an interception for the first time this season. He added another 49 yards rushing and a touchdown on his way to 29.42 FanDuel points. It's been a rough stretch for Wentz, facing three defenses ranked in the top 12 of our metrics so far this year. Meanwhile, the Giants are surrendering just 16.7 FanDuel points to opposing quarterbacks. That's a little misleading for a team that has just one win on the season. In fact, they rank 29th against the pass, per our schedule-adjusted numbers. Wentz leads our projections on this slate at 17.5 FanDuel points. With Miles Sanders out, the Eagles' best bet may be to air it out, making Wentz an ideal MVP selection to stack with Travis Fulgham ($12,000) or DeSean Jackson ($8,000).

Daniel Jones ($14,500): Jones' best fantasy day came in the season opener against Pittsburgh, when he threw for 279 yards and two touchdowns on his way to 19.36 FanDuel points. Over the next five games, Jones had only a single touchdown pass and failed to surpass 250 passing yards. Losing Sterling Shepard in Week 2 has certainly played a role, as has an offensive line that has allowed 17 sacks. Where's the upside with Jones? Like the Eagles, the Giants have faced a tough opening schedule, including the Bears, 49ers, and Rams. The Eagles should be an easier test for Jones, as they sit 27th versus the pass by our numbers There's also a chance Jones will get Shepard back.

Evan Engram ($10,000): Engram could almost be considered a value play at $10,000 given the other low salaries for tonight. If, like me, you've been waiting for the Engram blow-up game, hopefully tonight is the night. Given how anemic the Giants' passing game has been, it's no surprise Engram has yet to eclipse double-digit FanDuel points in a game. That continued disappointment can lead to recency bias when making our lineup decisions, and that should play in our favor here. Using him as MVP is a multiple-lineup/tournament route only. Engram carries a 19 percent target share on the year and now faces an Eagles defense surrendering 15.2 FanDuel points per game to opposing tight ends. They also rank 30th in Success Rate allowed to tight ends (65.9%), per our numbers

Value Plays

Boston Scott ($6,500): Scott should get the majority of the backfield touches with Sanders out. Scott held the reigns to the Eagles' ground game back in Week 1 due to a Sanders injury and converted 11 touches into just 6.4 FanDuel points against Washington's top-10 rushing defense. The Giants are another tough mathcup on the ground, ranking ninth in run D. However, Big Blue has struggled to contain running backs in the receiving game, allowing a 54.5% Success Rate on running back targets.

Sterling Shepard ($6,500): Shepherd landed on injured reserve after Week 2 with a toe injury. Because of that designation, we don't have an updated injury designation or practice report for him. The Giants have until 4:00 p.m. EST Thursday to move him to the active roster. If Shepherd does play, he should give an immediate boost to the Giants' passing attack. His 16 percent target share, albeit in a short sample, trails only Darius Slayton in the Giants' pecking order. If Shepard is not activated, you can move up to Golden Tate ($8,000) for $1,500 more.

Richard Rodgers ($6,500): With Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert our, Rodgers assumes the top tight end role for Philly. The veteran tight end has seven targets over his past three games while playing the number-two role behind Ertz. The Giants don't appear to be a great matchup for tight ends, allowing a Success Rate of 54.8% to the position, which ranks 18th overall. However, Rodgers is a salary-saving option on a team missing a lot of pass-catchers.



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.