FanDuel FFFC: A Rookie Experience – Week 5
I had rookie luck at the start but it has come and gone. I have decided I need to go with more gut calls. My lineup had Travis Kelce (8 catches, 93 yards, TD) in it and I was overthinking the matchup until I decided to bench him and clear up cap room for a more expensive TE in Jason Witten (5 catches, 61 yards) that scored less. This also was where I traded out Antonio Brown who had 7 catches, 131 yards, 2 TDs.
I don’t think I need to talk too much about key players as all of them seemed to fall flat on their faces in Week 4. My team had one receiving touchdown by Brandon Marshall who totaled just 2 catches for 19 yards. I had 0 rushing touchdowns from my players and only Colin Kaepernick managed to break the illusive 10 point mark. I placed well over 20,000 out of 23,793 entrants, I hope I can only move on up from here.
Week 5 Team:
QB: Mike Glennon @ New Orleans Saints Cost: $6,100
Glennon only completed half of his passes (21 of 42) but ended up with 302 yards passing and 2 touchdowns. The Saints are the 3rd worst team in the league against the pass allowing just shy of 300 yards per game, they have allowed 7 TDs passing as well. Glennon’s cheap price allowed me to grab up a ton of talent at other positions and if he does as well as I believe he will then I won’t be sacrificing many points at the QB position either. The down side is he will be without rookie Mike Evans, but the upside is that Louis Murphy and Vincent Jackson are still good to go and they combined for 9 catches, 131 receiving yards and 1 TD last Sunday.
RB: Le’Veon Bell @ Jacksonville Jaguars Cost: $8,600
Bell has been putting together a very solid season and the Jaguars are pretty weak against the run at 130.5 yards per game allowed, 25th in the league. This is also a game where the Steelers ought to be in a lead for much of it but at the same time they have been underachieving lately so the Jaguars may stay in this one long enough to keep Bell running the whole game.
RB: DeMarco Murray vs Houston Texans Cost: $9,000
DeMarco Murray is on a tear and it doesn’t figure to stop against the Texans who are 24th against the run allowing 130.2 yards per game. His 99 carries for 534 yards and 5 rushing TDs, adding 9 catches and 68 receiving yards is more output than you could ask for from a fantasy running back. The price is steep but will be worth it as he continues to dominate this season.
WR: Kelvin Benjamin vs Chicago Bears Cost: $7,100
Benjamin is proving that he is a capable #1 wide out even as a rookie. He now has 21 catches for 329 yards receiving and 3 TDs. The Bears are middle of the road against the pass and have allowed 7 passing touchdowns so far this season. Benjamin would have had 2 TDs last week if not for a penalty reversing one of them; this guy is a monster red zone target and has been doing work all over the field so far.
WR: Victor Cruz vs Atlanta Falcons Cost: $7,000
Victor Cruz has the benefit of the Giants’ offense starting to get their head above water; he has two 100+ yard games back to back. The Falcons are the 3rd worst in passing yards allowed and as long as the Giants can keep their offense on the roll that they are, Victor Cruz should have a great outing.
WR: Keenan Allen vs New York Jets Cost: $7,000
The second year wide out struggled in weeks 1-3 to get started against 3 very strong defenses (Arizona, Seattle, Buffalo) and bounced back against the porous Jacksonville passing defense. Allen collected 10 catches for 135 yards receiving this past week. While the Jets are 10th in passing yards allowed, they have allowed 9 passing touchdowns and have 0 interceptions. Their secondary leaves more to be desired, Rivers will make them pay and Allen should be a big part of that.
TE: Travis Kelce @ San Francisco Cost: $5,300
Kelce does not have a great matchup, nor did he on Monday against the New England Patriots. Against the Patriots he had 8 catches for 93 yards and a TD. Overall I just find Kelce’s talent to be way beyond his price tag, he is better than more than half of the tight ends that are more costly than he is.
K: Robbie Gould @ Carolina Panthers Cost: $4,600
The Bears have been very productive in the red zone which is why Gould has failed to break double digits in a game so far this season. The Panthers’ defense at home should be able to stop the Bears a few times. Gould is 5-5 on field goal attempts so far this season so if he gets the attempts, he should convert.
D: Cincinnati Bengals @ New England Patriots Cost: $5,300
Quarterbacks who have faced the Bengals so far this season average a QB rating of 56.9 (lowest in the NFL), and have thrown 2 TDs and 6 INTs. Brady’s QB rating so far this season is 79.1 throwing 1 TD per game so far and coming off of a 2 interception game. The Patriots offense is averaging 20 points a game, good for 24th in the league and that includes a game where they put up 30 points against the Minnesota Vikings where their defense scored 1 of their TDs and Matt Cassel aided them by throwing 4 interceptions giving them a short field often. Defense has been a rough spot for a few weeks for me but this has the recipe for domination written all over it.
This is the strongest good vibe I have gotten from a team that I have selected. The biggest worry I have at this point is that as I am setting this lineup there is still a chance that Josh McCown’s thumb is healthy enough to play. I doubt they will sit Glennon this week for an injured McCown but I have seen stranger things. My lineup may need to be turned upside down in that event. I am going to call my shot and say this will be the 2nd time I get into the payout. I am hoping I am not eating my words next week.
