1. Sterling Shepard's Floor Is Sweet
Say what you want about the New York Giants' offense, but you have to give them this: you know where the ball is going. And on a bad offense, that's all we can ask.
A big benefactor of this strategy the past two weeks has been Sterling Shepard. In those games (his first since coming off of an ankle injury), Shepard has 29.3% of the team's total targets and 41.2% of their targets 16 or more yards downfield. That is absolutely monster usage. And given the assets around him, why wouldn't they keep on feeding him?
The best part about Shepard's emergence is that it hasn't pushed Evan Engram out of the fold. Even in these two games with Shepard back, Engram still has 25.3% of the team's overall targets and 35.3% of their deep targets. He's overpriced at $7,400 on FanDuel, but you're still getting a high floor when you plug him in.
While touchdowns are going to be an issue in this offense, we should still be willing to use Shepard in DFS until his pricing reflects his role. He's $6,500 in Week 11, meaning that's not the case just yet. We know he has limitations, but it's hard to pass on a floor this high when the salary is that forgiving.
2. Corey Davis Is a Name to Buy
The Tennessee Titans have had three instances this year in which a wide receiver hit double-digit targets. Two of those have been by Corey Davis, who has been healthy for just three full games. This dude could be on the verge of an explosion.
The second 10-target game for Davis was in Week 10, but he didn't do much with it as he finished with just 4 catches for 48 yards. That said, our enthusiasm for Davis can be based on more than just his targets.
Titans final WR snap count
Rishard Matthews 79
Corey Davis 78
Erick Decker 32
Taywan Taylor 14
Out of 90
— Nathan Jahnke (@PFF_NateJahnke) November 12, 2017
It's hard to score fantasy points when you're not on the field, but Davis was a fixture there on Sunday. This means he's a guy getting looks and playing snaps while catching passes from an efficient quarterback. What's not to love here?
To top it all off, these aren't bunny targets for Davis. He has at least two deep targets in all three of his full games, adding a bit of upside to his floor. Despite some rough patches this year, Marcus Mariota is a good quarterback, and we want to get pieces of his offense.
This all means Davis is a guy we want to start buying aggressively. He's getting the usage of a player with a solid floor and ceiling combination, but he hasn't had a big breakout game to alert the public to his Gucciness. At just $5,600 for the full Week 11 slate, Davis is a steal and a guy we want to target if we're getting exposure to the Thursday night game.
3. Marvin Jones Goes As His Matchup Goes
If you look at Marvin Jones' game logs, you're going to think he's a tough cookie to crack. He has had six or fewer targets in five of nine games. In three of the other four, he has had at least 11 targets. We don't want that type of volatility in the usage categories. But if you look at the individual games at each end of the spectrum, things become a bit clearer.
The list of cornerbacks that Jones has faced in his low-volume games includes Patrick Peterson, Janoris Jenkins, Desmond Trufant, Xavier Rhodes, and Jason McCourty (though McCourty did not shadow Jones, according to Jeff Ratcliffe of Pro Football Focus). That's basically a "Who's Who?" of shutdown corners across the league. When Jones has faced lesser competition, he has absolutely shredded them. Predicting what this guy will do may not be as difficult as it seems.
The one complicating factor in this equation is that Jones' tough matchups have often overlapped with when Kenny Golladay has been healthy. Because Golladay is a deep threat, it makes sense that Golladay's being active would be a detriment to Jones. However, Golladay played just 11 snaps in Week 10, so that concern may be more anecdotal than legitimate.
Based on this, we should be lending extra attention each week to Jones' individual cornerback matchups. If he's facing a poor batch of outside corners (he gets the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 14), he's a player we should covet. However, if the matchup is tough (Rhodes and the Minnesota Vikings lurk in Week 12 on Thanksgiving), then it'd likely be wise to look elsewhere.