FanDuel Single-Game Daily Fantasy Football Helper: Week 14 Monday Night
Week 14 is just about the rearview mirror, but worry not because we still have a Monday Night Football game left to scratch that DFS itch. Tonight, we get a compelling matchup between NFC playoff contenders in the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks with a middle of the road 45.5-point over/under.
For those unfamiliar with the single-game format, scoring is identical to its full roster cousin, except lineups consist of five flex spots, and kickers (remember them?) are an option in place of defense/special teams. The one twist? One of the five roster spots is your designated "MVP," who receives 1.5-times his total fantasy points. Naturally, it's crucial that you choose your MVP carefully if you want to be at the top of the leaderboards when it's all said and done.
Let's run through some of tonight's top plays, starting with the best options to consider for your MVP slot.
MVP Candidates
Russell Wilson ($16,500 on FanDuel): Neither of tonight's signal-callers have particularly enticing matchups, but Russell Wilson will enjoy the confines of home as a three-point favorite and leads the slate with 20 FanDuel points per game this season. Wilson has thrown for multiple touchdowns in 11 of 12 games, but it's come off an 8.9% touchdown rate that's way above his career rate (6.0%), and Seattle ranks last in pass attempts per game. While that level of efficiency is impressive, chances are it's also a bit fortuitous, and it may be difficult to keep it up against Minnesota's ninth-ranked pass defense by numberFire's schedule-adjusted metrics. Still, with few obvious spots to exploit, it's not enough to deter us from looking Wilson's way tonight as a home favorite on a roll these days, compiling over 18 FanDuel points in eight straight games. He's numberFire's top projected player on the single-game slate. Tyler Lockett ($12,500) has similarly lived off of a steady diet of touchdowns that seems unsustainable, but the deep threat is the most obvious stacking partner with Wilson.
Kirk Cousins ($16,000): On the other side, Kirk Cousins similarly has what looks like a daunting task on the road in Seattle, but the Seahawks have allowed over 300 yards passing and/or multiple touchdowns to their last six opposing quarterbacks, including 414 yards and 2 scores to Nick Mullens at CenturyLink Field just last week. Cousins' results have been all over the place all year but there's no denying the upside he's shown with stellar weapons in Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs, exceeding 27 FanDuel points three times. The floor has been surprisingly shaky, but you shouldn't hesitate to go here if you forgo Wilson in a lineup.
Adam Thielen ($14,500) and Stefon Diggs ($14,000): Speaking of Cousins' top wideouts, Thielen draws a difficult matchup against a Seattle defense that's been tough on slot receivers, and while Diggs should have an easier time on the perimeter, he's been dealing with a knee injury so it's unclear if he's 100% healthy. But with target market shares of 28.2% and 24.8%, respectively, they're easily the best pass-catchers on the board and a quick look at their box scores show some gaudy results. Thielen has reached 100 yards and/or scored a touchdown in 11 of 12 games, and Diggs has scored over 18 FanDuel points in 3 of the last 4.
Dalvin Cook ($12,000): Due in large part to his health issues this season, Dalvin Cook has mostly underwhelmed, but he arguably draws one of the better matchups of the evening against a defense that ranks just 26th against the run in Success Rate allowed and 31st in yards allowed per rush. Cook hasn't exceeded 10 carries since way back in Week 1 but is coming off an encouraging overall performance against the Patriots where he saw 9 carries and a season-high 8 receptions (10 targets). The Vikings have the highest passing play percentage in the league, so it's tough to bank on those carries rising, but if Cook remains this involving as a pass-catcher, that's a workload we can very much get on board with. Even including yesterday's results, Seattle has allowed the third-most receiving yards to opposing backfields. Cook figures to see fairly high ownership at this price point, but he isn't likely to be as popular for the MVP slot if you're looking to be a bit contrarian.
Value Plays
David Moore ($9,500): David Moore's targets have fluctuated all over the place and it's not exactly uplifting that he's coming off a one-target goose egg in Week 13. But with Doug Baldwin ($10,000) looking unlikely to play tonight as a game-time decision, that should theoretically open up more opportunities for Moore. He's boom-or-bust for sure, but you have to take chances somewhere on a single-game slate, and the upside was on full display just a couple weeks ago after catching 4-of-5 targets for 103 yards and a score versus Panthers in Week 12.
Kyle Rudolph ($8,500): No doubt, Kyle Rudolph has been a straight up disappointment in this offense and hasn't scored a touchdown since Week 3. Still, he's third on the team in red zone targets (11) and has just as many targets inside the 10-yard line as Thielen and Diggs (6), so we can still hold out hope that he can break that scoreless streak at some point. Averaging 5.0 targets per game with a season-high of 8, Rudolph's usage is reasonable for this salary, but he's averaging just 38.6 yards, so you'll need that elusive touchdown for him to be of value.
Sebastian Janikowski ($9,000) and Dan Bailey ($8,500): Seeing as we're dealing with some respectable defenses tonight, it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities that the kickers on each side could end up being heavily involved. Both Sebastian Janikowski and Dan Bailey have had their moments this year, with each reaching double-digit FanDuel points four times this season.
Kenyatta Storin is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Kenyatta Storin also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username yatters. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
