This article is part of our FanDuel Fantasy Football series.
Ben Slocum is on vacation this week, so I'm attempting to fill his very large shoes on the FanDuel Ownership article. Please forgive the lack of aesthetics with the charts and the absentee graphs - I'm not nearly as talented as Ben. Also, due to time constraints, there may be some players/teams missing from the reports. Rest assured, we clicked on hundreds of FanDuel lineups to try and get as much data as possible, so missing data is likely reflective of very low ownership. I've noted instances of missing players below the charts.
The key to performing well in large Guaranteed Price Pool (GPP) tournaments on FanDuel is identifying which players will perform well and not be highly owned. Going hand-in-hand with that approach, you should fade players that are highly owned, and it certainly helps if these highly owned players put together bad performances. Projecting player ownership can be difficult; however, FanDuel runs tournaments on Thursday with lineups that lock through the rest of the week. Using player ownership percentages in the Thursday NFL Bomb is a very good indicator of what to expect in the Sunday GPP's.
Below, each position has a table with players' salaries, RotoWire's Week 7 Rankings and ownership percentages.
Quarterbacks
Not too surprising to see Joe Flacco leading the pack in ownership level at quarterback after his huge Week 6 performance. Despite a solid matchup (Atlanta), a repeat seems unlikely, making Flacco a good target to fade this weekend.
Drew Brees has been a disappointment this season and he doesn't have an ideal matchup (Detroit) or salary ($9,100), but he's playing indoors and has one of the highest ceilings at the position. At a 1-percent ownership level, Brees is a solid tournament play.
Played on Thursday - Tom Brady, Geno Smith
Running Backs
Justin Forsett has been a pleasant surprise this season, but his high ownership level this weekend is backed by a cushy matchup against the Falcons' weak run defense. When the matchup is too good to pass up, that usually leads to high ownership levels. Tournament players will want to strongly consider fading Forsett this weekend, even with his affordable salary.
Alfred Morris chimes in at No. 11 on our running back rankings this week, and he has a modest salary of $7,200. Owned by just 0.1 percent of teams in Thursday's contest, it's clear FanDuel users are scared away by the presence of Roy Helu, who has eaten into some of Morris' snaps recently. Morris is coming off outings against two tough run defenses (Seattle and Arizona). Look for him to bounce back this week.
Played on Thursday - Shane Vereen, Brandon Bolden, Chris Ivory, Chris Johnson
Notably missing from report - Mark Ingram, Antoine Smith
Wide Receivers
With Calvin Johnson (ankle) expected to miss another game, FanDuel users are strongly backing Golden Tate. He's at an attractive price ($6,700), but 20.3 percent ownership levels limit his usefulness in tournament play.
Dez Bryant was already one of my favorite plays at receiver this weekend, and his ownership level of 7.70 percent is more than manageable. A handful of receivers in the 1-3 percent range (Reggie Wayne, Julio Jones, etc.) also pique my interest after seeing so many lineups avoid them.
Played on Thursday - Julian Edelman, Brandon LaFell, Eric Decker
Notably missing from report - Dwayne Bowe
Tight Ends
Rob Gronkowski was owned by nearly a quarter of the Thursday night entries, so I expect ownership levels for many of the tight ends near the top of this list to easily surpass the totals shown below.
After returning last week and practicing in full Wednesday, I like Vernon Davis to breakout.
Played on Thursday - Rob Gronkowski, Jace Amaro
Notably missing from report - Coby Fleener, Jermaine Gresham, Charles Clay
Kickers
With a price tag under $5,000 and low ownership, I would roll with Brandon McManus.
Played on Thursday - Stephen Gostkowski, Nick Folk
Notably missing from report - Matt Bryant, Josh Brown, Ryan Succop, Greg Zuerlein, Billy Cundiff, Kai Forbath
Defenses
I'm steering clear of Buffalo. Arizona is on the road, but they have low ownership in a matchup against the Raiders.
Played on Thursday - New York Jets, New England Patriots
Notably missing from report - Eagles (bye), Bucs (bye), Chargers, Broncos, 49ers, Steelers, Rams, Raiders, Falcons, Bengals, Giants, Chiefs, Panthers
