4 NFL FanDuel Value Plays to Target in Week 17
One of the crucial aspects of daily fantasy football is unearthing cheap production.
Our projections can help you do just that by allowing you to sort players by their point-per-dollar value. A lot of times, the top value plays come as a result of injury situations, meaning it's imperative to see inactives on Sunday morning before setting your lineups.
When looking for a salary-saving option, check out one of these main-slate players this week.
Sterling Shepard, WR, Giants ($6,200)
The Philadelphia Eagles-New York Giants game is a superb matchup for both aerial attacks as each team's defense sits in the top four in most FanDuel points per game allowed to receivers.
Sterling Shepard has been a busy man lately for the G-Men. Since coming back from injury in Week 11, he's racked up target counts of 9, 6, 7, 11 and 6. The Giants were in a similarly friendly spot in Week 16 with a sweet matchup versus Washington, which marked Daniel Jones' return from injury. The Giants blew up for 41 points as Jones had a career day, with Shep catching all six of his targets for 76 yards and a score.
The Eagles have it all to play for, which makes them appealing on this slate, and Shepard is a cheap way to run it back if you're stacking Philly. If you're not stacking this game, Shepard is a nice one-off option, too.
Phillip Lindsay, RB, Broncos ($6,600)
After a seven-carry game in Week 15, Phillip Lindsay toted the rock 19 times in Week 16, compared to just nine carries for Royce Freeman. Lindsay also out-targeted his backfield mate by a count of three to two.
Lindsay turned the volume into 118 total yards (109 rushing) and a touchdown. It could've been an even bigger day if Freeman hadn't vultured a tuddie.
In Week 17, the Denver Broncos are 3.5-point home favorites versus the Oakland Raiders, so the game script could be in Lindsay's favor. Lindsay has seen at least 16 carries in three of the past four weeks, and the volume makes him one of the better cheap running backs this week. Our models rank him as the top point-per-dollar back among those priced under $7,000.
D.J. Chark, WR, Jaguars ($5,900)
In the last two games in which Gardner Minshew and D.J. Chark have played, Chark paces the Jacksonville Jaguars with a 25.0% target share, and he's in a blow-up spot as the Jags wrap up their campaign at home against the Indianapolis Colts.
Indy has allowed the 12th-most FanDuel points per game to wideouts in 2019, and prior to shutting down Will Grier last week in his NFL debut, the Colts had been blasted for 34, 38 and 31 real-world points in their last three outings.
Chark returned from injury last week and was targeted seven times, tops on the team. He blowtorched the Colts for eight catches, 104 yards, and two tuds in Week 11. He could have another big day this week.
John Ross, WR, Bengals ($5,200)
In a negative game script in an overtime game last week, John Ross was peppered with 13 targets. We can't count on that kind of usage in Week 17, but his big-play chops make him appealing at this dirt-cheap salary.
The Cincinnati Bengals are 2.5-point home 'dogs versus the Cleveland Browns, and Ross has accounted for 19.2% of the team's targets over the last two games (since Auden Tate hit the shelf). Even more enticing is that Ross has seen an average depth of target of a whopping 20.9 yards in that time while averaging 167.5 air yards per game.
That's slate-breaking usage, and you can get exposure to it for just $5,200. Yes, please.
