If you've never played daily fantasy football on FanDuel before, it's time to start. Unlike traditional leagues, you're able to select the players you want on that specific day only, giving you a different squad to root for each and every week.
Here at numberFire we offer great tools for premium members. The analysis below is meant to help you understand why some of these players are top picks in our tools and projections because we don't want you going into the weekend completely blind. We want to help you. Keep in mind, however, that things can change drastically if an injury is announced, so make sure you're double checking the tools and projections as close as possible to kickoff.
Let's break down the main slate on FanDuel for this week.
Running Backs
Devonta Freeman ($8,500) - Freeman's Atlanta Falcons are 11-point favorites over the Miami Dolphins while playing in Atlanta. That's basically the full checklist for any running back (home, heavy favorite, high implied total). Miami has been tough against the run this season (3rd in Rushing 5th in Success Rate to running backs), but the game script almost assures Freeman the ability to run from ahead.
Leonard Fournette ($8,600) - Fournette's Jacksonville Jaguars are thin favorites over the Los Angeles Rams at just 2.5 points, but the Rams have given up some big plays, and we can assume they won't be able to throw efficiently against the league's best pass defense. Jacksonville runs 60% of the time when tied or leading, and that means Fournette should get fed. In the same game, we can consider Todd Gurley at $8,400 against the league's worst rushing defense. Maybe he'll get more than 15 carries, which is what Le'Veon Bell saw in this matchup a week ago.
Melvin Gordon ($8,400) - Gordon has cleared 13.9 FanDuel points in four of his five games and just saw a 26-touch game after stating he wanted the ball more. There's no over/under set in this game, but the Los Angeles Chargers are actually three-point underdogs to the Oakland Raiders. That's not ideal for a running back, but Gordon just had eight targets last week, and Oakland is one of the more beatable run defenses in football.
C.J. Anderson ($7,000) - Anderson and the Denver Broncos are heavy favorites (11.5 points) over the New York Giants, who are expected to score 14 points of their own. That means Anderson should see as many carries as he can handle against a mediocre run defense. Anderson has played at least 69% of snaps in all four games so far, so the backfield still looks to belong to him.
Lamar Miller ($6,800) - Miller's Houston Texans are also heavy favorites (10 points over the Cleveland Browns). Miller has played at least 68% of snaps in all five games so far and is averaging 16.6 carries per contest. He's still the man in Houston, and this script sets up perfectly for him, even after factoring in the Browns' run defense.
Mark Ingram ($5,900) - The departure of Adrian Peterson may not matter much for Ingram, as AD averaged fewer than seven touches per game, but that's not insignificant, even if Ingram sees only three or so more touches per contest. Ingram is a home favorite (4.5 points over the Detroit Lions) and has had at least 18 opportunities in consecutive games. His touchdown upside gives him the edge on FanDuel over Alvin Kamara ($5,800).
Javorius Allen ($5,800) - Allen's Baltimore Ravens are 6.5-point favorites on the Chicago Bears and run the ball 58% of the time with a lead or when tied. Terrance West missed Wednesday's practice with a calf injury, and Allen has tallied 21 carries in two different games this season. Even if Alex Collins ($5,600) eats into the workload, Allen (and maybe Collins) should see enough carries to produce low-end value at their prices.