Welcome to Week 7 of the RotoWire & FanDuel Fantasy Football Championship as we are just halfway through this season with plenty of winning weeks ahead for everybody.
It was only yesterday when it was the first kickoff for the 2017 season, but now we have plenty of evidence and background to go forward.
And also welcome to life after Aaron Rodgers.
It could have not come at a worse time with the Packers facing a nice enticing opponent in New Orleans.
There is no doubt that some are enticed by taking a flyer on Packers backup quarterback Brett Hundley. But even if he goes off against New Orleans this week, you don't want to be the one that is left holding the bag and he goes the other way.
For this week a lot of players will be on the Falcons-Pats game for Sunday night with an over/under 56 points. There is no doubt that most of the players in that game will be heavily played, i.e. Pats QB Tom Brady and Falcons QB Matt Ryan.
With that said, if you are unfamiliar with the RotoWire & FanDuel Fantasy Football Championship competition, here are the basics:
- 10-week competition hosted on FanDuel
- $10 entry
- 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 $4,000 in prizes and RotoWire subscriptions up for grabs
- Each qualifying week acts as a double-up with the top 150 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
- 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 including myself. Mike Doria (mikeinlalaland) came out on top in Week 6 with the help of the foursome of Steelers WR Antonio Brown (25.5), Texans QB DeShaun Watson (24.3), Cards WR Larry Fitzgerald (22.8) and Vikings RB Jerick McKinnon (22.4). McKinnon was the one that might have put him over the top as the Vikes RB was only owned by 3.6 percent of the players. Doria's 151.20 was just slightly better than Chris Benzine's (crispy272001) 148.70. The week increased Doria's first-place hold of almost 35 points over Logan Larson (lxlarson).
You can check out the full expert leaderboard here, but here's the current top 10:
1. Mike Doria (mikeinlalaland) 740.10
2. Logan Larson (lxlarson) 695.78
3. Chris Bennett (k30kittles) 693.96
4. James Anderson (realjranderson) 691.44
5. Benjamin Donabedian (jd0505) 687.10
6. James Seltzer (schweppy23) 686.16
7. Brett Goldhammer (bretskyball) 683.54
8. Chris Benzine (crispy272001) 679.20
9. Tate McIntyre (tamc10) 677.00
10. Joel Bartilotta (joelbartilotta) 673.74
Note: Games for this contest are for Sunday afternoon and night only so the Philadelphia-Washington Monday Night Football game is not included.
Value
QB Marcus Mariota, Tennessee Titans at Cleveland Browns
FanDuel Price: $8,200
This is a very tough week when it comes to value quarterbacks. Mariota looks healthy and it is the Cleveland Browns on defense. The Browns are tied with the Pats for most passing touchdowns at 14. The only negative is that this might be a low scoring game which the Browns have a tendency to do. A lot will depend on Mariota's counterpart, Browns' QB DeShone Kizer ($6,400), who is back under center. Kizer also could be mentioned since the Titans have allowed 13 passing touchdowns this season. Kizer's rope though could be short after already being benched this season.
QB Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Cincinnati Bengals
FanDuel Price: $7,200
I'm willing to give Big Ben one more shot at home and writing off the disaster two weeks ago against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He improved last week against a tougher defense in Kansas City and completed 68 percent on the road against the Chiefs defense. The Cincinnati Bengals defense has been tough against passing, but this is one more try for the Steelers quarterback. In addition, many will probably be paying up for Tom Brady ($9,200), Dak Prescott ($8,400) and Matt Ryan ($8,700).
RB Doug Martin, Tampa Bay at Buffalo
FanDuel Price: $6,600
This looks like a prototypical ground game on each side of the ball. With Bucs QB Jamies Winston hurting, Tampa Bay will be looking to run the ball. Last week the Bucs found themselves with a large deficit and pretty much put Martin out of the game. On the other side of the field, Buffalo will also be looking to run the ball behind LeSean McCoy ($7,900).
RB Adrian Peterson, Arizona at Los Angeles Rams
FanDuel Price: $6,300
Adrian Peterson showed that all he needed was a change of scenery as he went off for 25.4 FanDuel points against Tampa Bay in his Cards debut. In the Rams, it is another team that is poor against the rush. If he goes off this week, it might be the last time that he is a value play. Without David Johnson in the lineup since the start of the season, the Cards have been looking for a running back to lead the offense and want to run the ball first.
WR Pierre Garcon, San Francisco 49ers vs. Dallas Cowboys
FanDuel Price: $6,700
Garcon has mainly been a disappointment this season in his move out west, but a quarterback change looks to be bringing his name up on the value list. Garcon collected five passes for 55 yards and was targeted 12 times against the Redskins last week. Most of the targets came when C.J. Beathard took over for Brian Hoyer under center. In addition, the Cowboys defense has been friendly to opposing passing games.
WR Eric Decker, Tennessee Titans at Cleveland Browns
FanDuel Price: $5,100
You had me on Cleveland Browns defense. A Mariota-Decker tandem could go far this week. For Decker, he has finally started to get used to the Titans offense and has collected 15 targets the last two weeks. He had his best game last week against the Colts (12.3 FanDuel Points) and is going up against another pass friendly defense with the Browns. In addition, the money you save on Decker, you can use on the likes of Steelers WR Antonio Brown ($9,300) or Steelers RB Le'Veon Bell ($9,700).
TE Evan Engram, New York Giants vs. Seattle Seahawks
FanDuel Price: $5,500
Engram continues to improve this season and the lack of options for Giants QB Eli Manning allows Engram more targets. In addition, the Seahawks defense is notorious for allowing yards to opposing tight ends.
High Risk/High Reward
RB Tom Brady, New England Patriots vs. Atlanta Falcons
FanDuel Price: $9,200
There is a combination of few things that put the target on Brady. The game is the highest over/under on the slate and Brady is still Brady. Also, the New England defense has given up 300 yards in each game this season that will cause the Pats to throw the ball no matter what. The quarterback category is very top heavy with a few teams throwing out quarterbacks who are iffy at best (Green Bay's Brett Hundley for Aaron Rodgers.
STEER CLEAR
RB Leonard Fournette, Jacksonville Jaguars at Indianapolis Colts
FanDuel Price: $9,000
Fournette (ankle) did not practice on Wednesday and Thursday. The definite tough part is that this is such a good opportunity against a poor Colts defense. Fournette is the fourth highest priced player on the board. Even if he plays there might be a chance that he doesn't play the whole game since ankle injuries are tricky and also can linger.