Welcome to Week 7 of the 2016 NFL season!
And welcome to Week 7 of the RotoWire & FanDuel Fantasy Football Championship. Yes it is Week 7 already which is unbelievable considering it was only yesterday that NFL camps were opening up.
There are only four more weeks until the Week 11 Freeroll with over $5,000 in prizes and RotoWire subscriptions up for grabs.
If you are unfamiliar with the competition, here are the basics:
- 10-week competition hosted on FanDuel
- $10 entry (max five entries each week)
- Compete against other users and three FanDuel experts (Jeff Erickson, Derek VanRiper, Kevin Payne)
- Finish above the experts and win an entry in the Week 11 Freeroll with over $5,000 in prizes and RotoWire subscriptions up for grabs
- Each qualifying week acts as a double-up with the top 250 doubling up their cash
- This is not a continuous competition, so you can enter every week, and you don't have to have participated in Week 1 to enter this week's competition
- There is no limit on the amount of entries you can win for the championship round, so start racking them up this week if you haven't already
- You can sign up for this week's competition here.
There is a separate RotoWire expert competition that is taking place concurrently with the public competition. Scott Jenstad (oaktownsj) had a monster week with 205 points, almost 32 points ahead of the second place, Harry Thompson (hlthomson3) who had 173.60. Jenstad was bolstered by four players who accumulated 31-plus points by Giants' Odell Beckham Jr. (36.2 points), Saints' Drew Brees (33.6), Bills' LeSean McCoy (33.2) and by Texans' Lamar Miller (31.3). With the big week Jenstad jumped to fourth place (766.60). James Seltzer (schweppy23) has a healthy lead overall with 811.72, more than 35 points ahead of Adam Wolf (rotosomething) who is second at 776.54. After a slow week I have bolted up to seven place overall (Ed Kensik, ChicagoEd, 740.18) with a help of sixth place in Week 6 (158.8, Brees, Miller and Beckham Jr. helped).
You can check out the full expert leader board here, but here'sthe current top 10 after six weeks:
1. James Seltzer (schweppy23) 811.72
2. AdamWolf (rotosomething) 776.54
3. Chris Benzine (crispy272001) 770.82
4. Scott Jenstad (oaktownsj) 766.60
5. Harry Thompson (hlthompson3) 751.04
6. Kevin Payne (kevinccp) 741.04
7. Ed Kensik (chicagoed) 740.18
8. Ronny Mor (ronnymor2) 733.56
9. Shawn Cwalinski (cwalinski) 728.68
10. Eric Caturia (etcat30) 728.08
While it is Week 7, it feels like Week 16 for some quality running backs.
Already, Packers' Eddy Lacy was placed on IR and Carlos Hyde has been ruled out against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. And one of the top backs in all of fantasy, Bills' LeSean McCoy is considered very questionable (not Patriots questionable), but very questionable on Sunday against the Dolphins which is a choice scenario for McCoy.
Like always make sure you check the inactives for the early games around 11 a.m. Eastern Time. DON'T FORGET the deadline for the contest is 1 P.M. Eastern Time (Noon Central Time and 10 A.M Pacific Time etc.)
In addition before making the picks for Week 7, the teams on the bye week are Dallas and Carolina while also the teams that played on Thursday Night Football, Green Bay and Chicago, along with Monday Night Football, Houston and Denver are not included in the contest.
Value Picks
QB Kirk Cousins, Washington Redskins vs. Detroit Lions
FanDuel Price: $7,300
All you have to do is look at the number of passing touchdowns that the Lions have allowed, 17, most in the league and are 23rd in the NFL against the pass. Cousins should top his Week 2 output against Cowboys where he completed 28-of-46 pass attempts for 364 yards and 19.56 FanDuel points. The Redskins quarterback has thrown multiple touchdowns the last three out of four games.
QB Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers @ Atlanta Falcons
FanDuel Price: $7,800
This should be a shootout and you might be better to use some of the other money on other positions in picking up Rivers compared to Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan ($8,700). The Falcons have given up 14 touchdown passes this season and have allowed the sixth most passing yards per game (285 yards). On the other side the Chargers have allowed the ninth most passing yards per game (280 yards) which definitely dictates a high-scoring game that you want to get a part of with your lineup. In addition the Falcons are in the top 10 in rushing yards allowed per game (94 yards) per game which means the Chargers will have to throw the ball.
RB Jacquizz Rodgers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers @ San Francisco 49ers
FanDuel Price: $5,600
Rodgers might be a pick this week and in future weeks as starting running back, Doug Martin, suffered a setback this week with his hamstring injury. This week is prime for another big game for Rodgers. Rodgers collected 15.4 FanDuel points against Carolina on October 10. With Martin out Tampa Bay will face a 49ers defense that is very porous against the run, the most in the NFL. San Francisco's run defense has allowed 174 yards on the ground, by far worst in the NFL, 27 more rushing yards than number two, Miami. The 49ers have also allowed nine rushing touchdowns this season.
RB Spencer Ware, Kansas City Chiefs vs. New Orleans Saints
FanDuel Price: $7,000
The Chiefs love to run the ball just ask the fantasy football owners of KC quarterback Alex Smith. The Chiefs are taking their time easing Jamaal Charles into running mode so this should give Ware at least one more week to show off his 'Ware's' (sorry bad pun). And there is no team like the Saints to run the ball against as they have allowed 11 rushing touchdowns this season. You take a running team like the Chiefs, playing at home, a poor Saints running defense and the Saints playing on the road and you get a big day for Ware.
WR Pierre Garcon, Washington Redskins @ Detroit Lions
FanDuel Price: $6,500
Washington top wide receiver DeSean Jackson is questionable for Sunday with a shoulder injury plus Redskins tight end Jordan Reed appears to be out with a concussion against the Lions. This should open up the targets for Garcon. If you want you can also stack with Jamison Crowder ($6,200). Like I mentioned under Washington's Kirk Cousins, the Lions passing defense has allowed 17 touchdowns this season by far the worst in the NFL. Garcon has the most targets of Redskins wide receivers with 43.
WR Mike Wallace, Baltimore Ravens @ New York Jets
FanDuel Price: $6,900
This will be a more enticing pick if Joe Flacco starts for the Ravens behind center against the Jets, but Wallace might still be a good pick with backup quarterback Ryan Mallet against the porous passing defense of New York. Flacco returned to practice Friday, but still keep an eye on the inactives on Sunday morning. In addition Steve Smith Sr. is questionable to play on Sunday so allowing Wallace more targets. With Smith Sr. in and out of the lineup, Wallace has the most targets for the Ravens this season with 48. He's coming off a four catch-97 yard outing against the Giants. The Jets have also allowed the third most points in the NFL to receivers this season.
TE Vernon Davis, Washington Redskins @ Detroit Lions
FanDuel Price: $4,500
As you can see, I am all in for the Redskins passing offense (Kirk Cousins and Pierre Garcon). You can add Davis to that list. Before you pick Davis make sure you hear about Redskins starting tight end Jordan Reed. As of Friday Reed was expected to miss Sunday's game against the Lions because of a concussion. With Reed out last week against the Eagles, Davis caught a pair of passes for 50 yards and one touchdown. Against a weaker defense in Detroit, Davis should match or exceed it and you can't beat the price of $4,500.
TE Hunter Henry, San Diego Chargers @ Atlanta Falcons
FanDuel Price: $5,800
The price might be a little bit high for a Value Pick, but Henry is a prime pick against a poor Falcons pass defense in a game that is expected to be high scoring. Henry has scored in three straight games while the Falcons have allowed almost 100 receiving yards and a touchdown in five out of the last six games. Henry might be the player where the baton has finally been passed to from Chargers long-time tight end Antonio Gates.
High Risk/High Reward
QB Tom Brady, New England Patriots @ Pittsburgh Steelers
FanDuel Price: $9,100
The way to beat the Steelers defense has been via the pass. The Pittsburgh defense is much stingier against the run than against the pass which points to Brady throwing and throwing and throwing. This would be a more enticing selection if Ben Roethlisberger was behind center which would portend to a higher-scoring game. With Brady missing the first four weeks of the season, the Pats passing game is still trying to get going and Brady will want to throw until it hurts. In his first two games Brady has registered 27.2 FanDuel points and 29.6 FanDuel points against Cincinnati and Cleveland respectively.
Steer Clear
QB Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints @ Kansas City Chiefs
FanDuel Price: $8,500
All you have to do is look at Brees numbers on the road as opposed to being home. Recently, he logged 13.88 FanDuel points while away at San Diego (a choice matchup) on October 2 while collecting 33.6 points at home against Carolina on October 16. In addition the Chiefs have allowed only eight passing touchdowns in five games. In addition the Chiefs are top 10 in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game (237). You might downgrade all of his top weapons in wide receivers, Brandin Cooks ($7,700), Michael Thomas ($5,700), Willie Snead ($6,800) and tight end Coby Fleener ($5,900). The Chiefs allowed 27 points to the Chargers in Week 1 on Sept. 11, but the Chiefs defense is more like Week 3 where they allowed only three points against the Jets on Sept. 25.
WR Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers vs. New England Patriots
FanDuel Price: $9,000
In your seasonal fantasy football league you are probably running him out there; but in the daily league, you can do better. Interesting stat, all of Brown's 43 touchdown passes in his career have been thrown by, Ben Roethlisberger. It's too much to $9K on a gamble that backup quarterback Landry Jones will hook up with Brown so look for a better possibility even Falcons' Julio Jones at $9,200, the highest player on the board.