FanDuel Fantasy Football: Saturday Wild-Card Games

FanDuel Fantasy Football: Saturday Wild-Card Games

This article is part of our FanDuel Fantasy Football series.

We are lucky enough to have six games this weekend with an even divide between Saturday and Sunday. The NFL sure knows how to maximize profits, don't they? As a result, there are two different slates of games this weekend so I'll be writing up each one, starting with Saturday. 

Quarterbacks

I promise this isn't the homer in me, but in cash games you have to start building your lineup with Josh Allen ($9,000). He's the quarterback of the team slated to score the most points Saturday, and it's not close. Allen offers the upside of being a running quarterback, and throughout the season Brian Daboll has leaned on Allen's arm to get them to 13 wins. Trust Allen in cash.

Definitely think about other options at the position for tournaments. Tom Brady ($8,000) comes to mind immediately, given he's scored 23.4, 29.92 and 31.26 fantasy points over his last three games. The WFT is a solid defense, but there's an argument that Brady has the best receiving options in the league (including Rob Gronkowski).

Finally, the long shot this week is Philip Rivers ($6,900). He'll be a very unpopular play this week facing the Bills, but there's still upside here. He's gotten T.Y. Hilton more involved in recent weeks, and Michael Pittman is back from his head injury. Occasionally the tight ends get involved, and the Bills should be focused on shutting down Jonathan Taylor after his dominant performances over his last four games.

Running Backs

I think for this slate of games this is a good spot to go with more economical options. As stated, I'd expect the Bills to be focused on stopping Jonathan Taylor ($8,800), and it's tough to trust Chris Carson ($7,000) against the Rams defense. Ronald Jones ($6,700) has a tough matchup against the Washington Football Team, so I'm going to pick Cam Akers ($6,100) as the guy to target. He had 25 touches last Sunday and should be in line for a similar workload with a shaky quarterback situation. J.D. McKissic ($5,400), Zack Moss ($5,500) and Devin Singletary ($5,300) are all worth dart throws for bigger GPPs. 

Wide Receivers

Stefon Diggs ($8,700) is a great option this week, with most sportsbooks having his over/under for receiving yards at 90.5-92.5 yards. He's just under 50/50 odds to score a touchdown, the highest odds of any receiver on the slate. Cole Beasley ($6,000) and John Brown ($5,700) are two good options for tournament plays.

I don't think we can expect Mike Evans ($7,600) to be at full strength, so I like Chris Godwin ($7,800) a lot Saturday. I will mix Antonio Brown ($6,500) into a few lineups as well, given the strong rapport he has with Brady.

I think the Rams/Seahawks game will be low-scoring, but I also feel like either DK Metcalf ($6,900) or Tyler Lockett ($6,800) will have a big game. Jalen Ramsey can only cover one of those two players, and I wouldn't bet against Russell Wilson in this one.

Tight Ends

For cash games, I'm looking at Rob Gronkowski ($6,000) for a solid floor. This is another good place to save some salary cap space, as there isn't a Travis Kelce or George Kittle to select from. If I'm looking to spend down, I'm leaning toward Jacob Hollister ($4,700) who has scored two touchdowns in his last three games.

Defense

Before I looked at the pricing, I was already thinking about using the Seattle defense ($3,600). When I saw the price, it made me even motivated to use them. This defense has improved drastically over the course of the season, and you really can't trust the quarterback situation for the Rams.

The Buffalo Bills ($4,100) are also an interesting option given they're a huge home favorite. This is an opportunistic defense. They've scored 12, 12, 7 and 21 fantasy points over their last four games buoyed by four defensive/special teams touchdowns in those four games.

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Kevin Payne plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: Fanduel: kevinccp, Draft Kings: kevinccp, Yahoo: kevinccp.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kevin Payne
Kevin has worked for RotoWire over a decade and has covered basketball, baseball and football. A glutton for punishment, he roots for his hometown Bills, Sabres and the New York Yankees. You can follow him on Twitter @KCPayne26.
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