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.
It's been a long, strange NFL season so far, and there are still a few weeks left before the playoffs. Let's look at some studs that can help us win in Week 14.
Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati Bengals
FanDuel Salary: $8,300
Projected Points: 21.3
With Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes in tough matchups this week, we can look a little lower in salary to Joe Burrow. Burrow was the talk of the league last year during the playoffs after reaching the Super Bowl, but that talk has died down a bit this season. He's coming off a big win last week and has played well -- and has a chance to continue that this week.
It might be surprising to learn that Burrow ranks as the QB4 in fantasy points per game. He's averaged 23.5 FanDuel points per game, but that number increases to 25.2 points per game with game-breaking receiver Ja'Marr Chase in the lineup. That's compared to just over 20.0 when he isn't playing. Burrow has also been productive on the ground this season, adding 5 rushing touchdowns to go with his 25 through the air. The Cincinnati Bengals rank 10th in pass-to-run ratio and are letting Burrow cook more than last season.
The Bengals will get a rematch against the Cleveland Browns team that beat them on Monday Night Football earlier in the season. That was the first game they played without Chase in the lineup, and the difference was evident. Now with Chase playing, Burrow should be able to take advantage of a defense that is 22nd in adjusted fantasy points per drop back. The Browns' D is also 26th overall, according to numberFire's metrics.
Cincinnati's implied team total is the third-highest on the main slate this week. Burrow has had a few massive ceiling games in the past two seasons, making him a great tournament play nearly every week.
Saquon Barkley, RB, New York Giants
FanDuel Salary: $8,200
Projected Points: 16.4
It's been a good season for Saquon Barkley, especially considering the last two seasons he had. In 2020, he played just two games before getting injured. Last year, he struggled mightily on an offense that could not move the ball.
This year, it's a different story. Barkley is the RB6 by half-PPR points and gets the type of workload we want. As the New York Giants continue to find any kind of consistency at wide receiver, both in health and performance, Barkley has needed to take on more work in the passing game. He's seen at least five targets in the last three games and has a solid 16% target share over the course of the season. He also has a rushing score in the last two games, and he seems likely to be the Giants' best option to move the ball this week.
The Giants are playing in a divisional matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. The Eagles have been very solid defensively this season, but they can be attacked on the ground. They rank 31st in schedule-adjusted run defense by our metrics. They are also 25th in adjusted fantasy points per carry allowed.
New York is a 6.5-point underdog in this game, and getting the ball to Barkley seems like their best route to possibly competing in this game. He's a tournament play that could go a bit overlooked this week without any recent blow-up games in his game log.
Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR, Detroit Lions
FanDuel Salary: $8,600
Projected Points: 15.7
After a strong end to last season, Amon-Ra St. Brown went into the season with a bit of hype -- but still some doubters. It might have been hard for some people to believe that he could keep up what he was doing, but he's proven that it was no fluke. He's been one of the most consistent receivers in the NFL.
St. Brown gets the job done through volume. He's seen at least eight targets in every game in which he's played a full complement of snaps. He has been targeted on an incredible 37.6% of his routes, which is the best rate in the NFL. He gets a ton of volume in the areas we like, too. He has seen 46.2% of the red zone targets and 50% of targets inside the five-yard line. This role has led to him being the WR8 (per game) in half-PPR formats.
The Detroit Lions play in the highest-totaled game on the Week 14 main slate. They will face the Minnesota Vikings in the second matchup of the season between the two teams. Minnesota's defense ranks 23rd against the pass, and they've allowed the third-most fantasy points per game to receivers.
It may be a bit surprising to learn that the Lions are actually favored against the 10-2 Vikings. They also have the second-highest implied team total on this slate. Amon-Ra is their best and most consistent offensive player, and if they really are going to approach 27 points this week, he should be scoring lots of fantasy points.
Mark Andrews, TE, Baltimore Ravens
FanDuel Salary: $6,800
Projected Points: 10.4
Now, Travis Kelce stands alone among tight ends and has for most of the season. If you don't want to spend the salary to get to him, there is a case to be made for Mark Andrews. He might be playing with a backup quarterback, but that might not necessarily be a bad thing.
Andrews has clearly been second behind Kelce for the best fantasy tight ends this season. He's the Baltimore Ravens' number one target in the passing game, holding a 25.1% target share on the season. With Tyler Huntley looking likely to take over for an injured Lamar Jackson, we can look at what Andrews did with Huntley at QB last season. In five games with Huntley, Andrews had 43 catches for 498 yards and 3 touchdowns. That's an average of a whopping 17.86 half-PPR points per game.
The Ravens are on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers this week. The Steelers have not impressed in pass defense at all this season, ranking 20th on the season. They will have a tough time slowing down Andrews if he is being force-fed targets in this game by Huntley.
This game has the lowest total on the slate, so it's likely that people will steer clear of players in this game. Even if the game is an ugly one, Andrews can still be a player to target at tight end, which is once again lacking in quality options.
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.