FanDuel Price: $8,500
Salary Change: Down $600
David Johnson has recorded 323 total yards and 5 touchdowns in his last two games, yet somehow his FanDuel salary has decreased by $600 for Week 7. This is a rare occurrence -- no running back with this recent production in the last three seasons has seen their salary decrease this much in the following week.
The only explanation for Johnson’s $8,500 salary is his matchup with the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. Seattle’s defense has allowed just one running back to score more than 11.5 FanDuel points this season (Carlos Hyde in Week 3, who scored 25 points).
In an attempt to emphasize the matchup, many DFS players will point to Week 17 last season when the Seahawks held Johnson to his worst production as a starter. Johnson scored just 7.4 FanDuel points, but he only played 36 snaps as Arizona rested most of its starters for the playoffs once the game got out of hand. This situation is not comparable to that game.
Johnson is versatile and his receiving abilities will keep him involved throughout the entirety of the game. He’s totaled at least 27 receiving yards in all but one career start, so even if he gets shut down in the run game, he’ll still be useful on FanDuel.
History highlights the upside of rostering Johnson in this situation. Stud running backs (FanDuel salary of $8,000 or higher) with a $500-plus salary decrease playing at home have scored 20-plus FanDuel points 35 percent of the time since the beginning of 2014. He’ll be low-owned because of the opposing defense, but he’s matchup proof with a massive ceiling -- Johnson is an elite tournament play this week.