4 NFL FanDuel Studs to Target in Week 13

Spending your available salary in any DFS lineup on a stud can make or break your lineup. These high-salaried players will take up the majority of your budget, so it’s critical to carefully consider which ones you’ll want for each slate. Whether it’s trying to capture a safe floor in a cash game or chasing a huge game to help you win a tournament, nailing the expensive players is one of the keys to making winning NFL lineups on FanDuel.

We're coming down the home stretch of the regular season, so let's take advantage of the main slates we have left and try to make some money.

Jalen Hurts, QB, Philadelphia Eagles

FanDuel Salary: $8,800
Projected Points: 23.4

This season, Jalen Hurts has joined the company of elite fantasy quarterbacks. He was almost there last season, but his play tailed off towards the end of the year due to injury. His performance last week makes it seem like that's definitely not going to happen this season.

Hurts trails only Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen in fantasy points per game among quarterbacks. He's third among signal-callers in rushing yards, including 157 in Week 12 against the Green Bay Packers. Add in 17 touchdown passes this season, and you have the recipe for an elite fantasy quarterback.

Hurts has been below 20 FanDuel points in only two games this season, making him a very safe option. He's also capable of rushing in multiple scores, giving him a high ceiling.

The Philadelphia Eagles will play the Tennessee Titans at home on Sunday. The Titans have a reputation for having a great defense, but they can still be beaten. They've allowed the sixth-most fantasy points per game to opposing quarterbacks. They are a middle-of-the-pack pass defense by most metrics and have also faced passes at the highest rate in the league. Hurts can get at them through the air, and he will be tough to stop on the ground, as well.

Philly has a 25.0-point implied team total in this game. Hurts contributes a ton to this offense, so if they are to come close to that total, he should be doing a ton of the damage. He's our highest projected player on the entire slate and is a good option in both cash games and tournaments.

Derrick Henry, RB, Tennessee Titans

FanDuel Salary: $8,800
Projected Points: 19.0

On the opposite side of that game, we can look at Derrick Henry. Henry is the RB3 by half-PPR scoring, once against proving doubters wrong who were concerned about his injury last season. He's in another great spot this week.

Henry is one of three backs to exceed 1,000 rushing yards this season and is also one of three backs with double-digit touchdowns. The best part of Henry's season is his involvement in the passing game. It still doesn't rival the best pass-catching running backs in the league, but he has already set a career-high in both receptions and receiving yards. We never roster Henry because of his receiving yards, but it's nice to have that in his arsenal.

The game plan for the Titans will certainly be to run the ball a lot with Henry. Philadelphia is a classic run funnel defense, as they rank 5th against the pass but 30th against the run, according to numberFire's metrics. They also rank 27th in adjusted fantasy points per carry and 30th in rushing success rate against.

Henry likely won't be popular this week because his salary is quite high, and there are a lot of good options at running back. Henry has as much upside as anyone on this slate, though, making him a great tournament play this week.

Davante Adams, WR, Las Vegas Raiders

FanDuel Salary: $8,600
Projected Points: 15.9

Davante Adams has fit in perfectly with the Las Vegas Raiders. It would have been hard to replicate his rapport with Aaron Rodgers, but he's definitely done enough to make him one of fantasy's best receivers once again. He's fourth in fantasy points per game and is a good play nearly every week.

The concern with Adams coming into the season for fantasy purposes was that he wouldn't be as relied upon with his new team. Well, those fears quickly evaporated early in the season, and he now has a 32.1% target share, the highest in the NFL. He also sees a massive 41.7% of the team's air yards. Adams is third in the league in red zone targets, too, which has contributed to his 10 touchdowns this season.

The Raiders are facing off against the Los Angeles Chargers this week. The Chargers' pass defense is pretty average across the board, but they probably won't be able to slow down Adams. They certainly weren't able to in Week 1 when these teams first met, as Davante saw 17 targets and caught 10 of them for 141 yards and a score.

Davante's high number of targets puts him on the radar nearly every week. If you want to roster players in this game with a 50.5 total, Adams is definitely one to prioritize.

Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs

FanDuel Salary: $8,400
Projected Points: 15.6

The level to which Travis Kelce is dominating at the tight end position is unlike anything we've seen in fantasy football. It's often discussed just how few and far between the good plays are at tight end, so the case to roster Kelce is getting a huge leg up on the field.

Kelce is averaging 18.4 FanDuel points per game. The gap between him and the next closest tight end, Mark Andrews, is 6.5 points per game. That's the gap between Andrews and the 25th-ranked tight end. Kelce's 12 receiving touchdowns lead the league regardless of position, and he's sixth overall in receiving yards.

The Kansas City Chiefs play the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 13's highest-totaled game (52.5). There isn't much in the numbers that say this is an elite matchup, but it's hard to imagine the Bengals' defense slowing down Kelce from catching passes from Mahomes. The Chiefs have the highest implied team total on this slate, so the oddsmakers aren't exactly expecting them to struggle.

Kelce's numbers are comparable to many of the top wide receivers, and his salary reflects that, too. The advantage to playing Kelce is that you get to fill what is arguably the hardest position to find playable guys to use each week.

Nicholas Vazquez is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Nicholas Vazquez also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username hbyanksman. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.