NFL

5 NFL FanDuel Value Plays to Target in Week 6

Studs with sizable salaries are frequently an integral part of winning money in daily fantasy football at FanDuel. However, to fit them under the salary cap, it's imperative to locate underpriced players who over-deliver.

A good place to start when attempting to unearth undervalued players is our projections tool. The tool offers a value option for sorting, showcasing who offers the most bang for your buck. In addition to matchups impacting projections, injuries do as well. On that note, players replacing injured starters are often among the top values. So, staying abreast of injury news and inactives until the start of games is a must with that in mind.

With the tone set for this piece, let's move on. The following quintet of players is among my favorite cap-friendly options in Week 6.

Tayor Heinicke, QB, Washington Football Team ($7,300)

This is the second time this week I've featured Taylor Heinicke in a piece, as I also included him in the season-long fantasy piece, 7 Fantasy Football Sleepers for Week 6 -- and he won't be the only player from that piece in this space, so go ahead and keep that article open for future reference, if you'd like. Even as a 7.0-point underdog, the Washington Football Team has a rock-solid implied total of 24.25 points, per our heat map.

This game looks like a treasure trove for daily fantasy goodness, and that will be reflected in more value selections from this contest below. First, this game should be played at a speedy tempo. According to Football Outsiders, the Kansas City Chiefs are playing at the 15th-fastest situation neutral pace, and the Football team is playing at the seventh-fastest rate. Second, both defenses are hot garbage, reflected by the Chiefs ranking second-worst and the Football Team ranking fifth-worst in our power rankings.

As for Heinicke, he's playing a fantasy-friendly game at quarterback. According to Pro Football Reference, he's averaging 271.5 passing yards and 27.5 rushing yards per game in four starts, passing for 7 touchdowns and rushing for 1. As a result of his dual-threat ability, he offers an intriguing combination of floor and ceiling in this matchup.

Michael Pittman Jr., WR, Indianapolis Colts ($5,800)

Spoiler alert, Michael Pittman Jr. is the only player in this piece who isn't involved in the projected shootout between the Chiefs and Football Team. He's a steal as the top pass-catching option by a mile on the Indianapolis Colts, evidenced by leading the team in targets (43), receptions (29), and receiving yards (368). Also, according to Pro Football Focus, Pittman leads the team in routes (191), and his 1.93 yards per route run (Y/RR) is second behind Jonathan Taylor's 2.77 Y/RR.

Speaking of Taylor, he'll likely be a chalk play this week, creating the potential for leverage in GPPs by using Pittman instead. It's not a secret the Houston Texans are dreadful defending the run. However, they also rank as a bottom-10 defense in pass defense in our power rankings. If you couple Pittman's role in the offense and the matchup, you end up with him ranking tied for 10th at receiver in value score -- a measure of points per thousand dollars of salary -- in our projections.

Mecole Hardman, WR, Kansas City Chiefs ($5,500)

Mecole Hardman and the final two players featured in this space are also carryovers from the previously linked 7 Fantasy Football Sleepers for Week 6 piece. I wholly expected Josh Gordon to step into a semi prominent role in Kansas City's. Instead, he played only five passing snaps and ran four routes. For the year, Hardman ranks third on the team in routes (158), running a season-high 45 last week.

Hardman also set season-highs for targets (12), receptions (9), and receiving yards (76) in Week 5. Obviously, that's not a world-beater line. Still, he'll have a chance to thrive in a dreamy matchup with the Football Team. According to Pro Football Reference, Washington's coughed up the second-most receptions (79), fifth-most receiving yards (1,025), and tied for the fourth-most receiving touchdowns allowed to wide receivers. Hardman's not a safe option, but he's a cheap piece of exposure to FanDuel's main-slate high implied total of 31.25 points for the Chiefs.

Darrel Williams, RB, Kansas City Chiefs ($5,200)

In addition to having a huge implied total, the Chiefs are attached to the third-highest favorite spread, laying seven points to the Football Team. Darrel Williams might be stepping into a dreamy game script for injured starting running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire. CEH suffered a knee injury last week, and Williams stepped into a prominent role. Perhaps surprisingly, he ran 24 routes on 31 passing snaps compared to 22 and 24 for pass-catching specialist Jerick McKinnon.

More predictably, Williams carried the ball 5 times for 27 yards compared to only a single carry for 2 yards for McKinnon. Williams was already entrenched as the goal-line back, handling all three carries by running backs this year when Kansas City was five yards or closer to scoring, punching it in twice. I don't believe Williams is more than average, but his potential to split receiving work, dominate rushing work, and retain goal-line work makes him a nifty value at under $5,500 at running back. Still, I view him as a better fit in cash games than GPPs.

Ricky Seals-Jones, TE, Washington Football Team ($5,000)

Ricky Seals-Jones stepped up for injured Logan Thomas last week. Thomas is on injured reserve, so Seals-Jones has another opportunity to help fantasy gamers in a mouthwatering matchup. The Chiefs rank as the fourth-worst pass defense in our power rankings. Also, they've yielded the most receiving yards (466) to tight ends in 2021.

Beyond the matchup, Seals-Jones' usage last week supports using him on FanDuel as a steal this week. In his first start of the year last week, he led the team in receptions (5), was second in targets (8), and third in receiving yards (41). However, his surface stats don't tell the full story. Additionally, his 42 routes last week were the second-most to Travis Kelce's 55 among tight ends last week.

Seals-Jones is easily my favorite punt at any position this week. The athletic former college receiver has appeal in cash games and GPPs.


Joshua Shepardson is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Joshua Shepardson also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username bchad50. 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.