Sean Barnard gives his top DraftKings DFS plays for this week’s DraftKings Millionaire contest.
Believe it or not, we have reached the halfway point of the 2024 NFL season.
The New York Jets kicked off Week 9 with a desperately needed victory over the Houston Texans. There are only two teams with byes this week: the Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Francisco 49ers. There are 12 games during the Sunday day slate leaving plenty of football still to occur.
As you seek to maximize your DFS lineups, here’s a look at a few players who could have the inside track to outperform their price points. Be sure to get some superstars in your lineup still, but here are some lower-budget names who could help you win your competitions!
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $2.75M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st]
Quarterbacks:
Trevor Lawrence ($5,600)
The Jacksonville Jaguars are set to face off with the Philadelphia Eagles this week. There has been plenty of frustration for the Jaguars, who enter with a 2-6 record and signs trending toward some significant changes this offseason. While there are issues across the team, Trevor Lawrence has still had his flashes of solid play despite his wide receivers not doing him any favors.
Amid the struggles, Lawrence ranks 17th among quarterbacks in fantasy scoring. He will face off against an Eagles defense that will be without CB Darius Slay and have already had their ups and downs in their passing defense. While holding Daniel Jones to less than 100 yards passing in Week 7 has increased their defensive rankings greatly, they are comfortable allowing teams to eat up yards over the middle in a bend-but-don’t-break philosophy.
The Eagles are coming off their best win of the season over the Bengals and look to be back on track. Expect the momentum and game plan to carry over and for the Eagles to get out to an early lead. Garbage time points count the same as regular fantasy points so expect Lawrence to be forced to air the ball out plenty in this matchup.
Jameis Winston ($5,400)
The Cleveland Browns desperately needed a jolt of life to their team and this is exactly what Jameis Winston has brought to the table. In his first start following the injury to Deshaun Watson, Winston completed 27 passes for 334 yards and three touchdowns. Despite how Watson made it look for the duration of the season, there are plays to be made within the Browns offense and Winston showed just this.
Heading into this week, the Browns will face off with the Los Angeles Chargers. This will be a difficult matchup as the Chargers are allowing the fewest points per game in the NFL and rank eighth in yards given up.
Winston will have his ups and downs in this matchup, but expect him to outperform his cost as the 20th most-expensive quarterback. There has never been a doubt about the arm talent of Winston, rather his decision-making that has gotten in the way. Expect there to be enough positive plays for this to be a successful fantasy football performance as he attempts to prove he deserves another look as a true starting quarterback.
Running Backs
Tyrone Tracy Jr. ($5,500)
Despite the expectation that Devin Singletary would be the more impressive running back entering the season, Tyrone Tracy Jr. should be looked at as the more desirable RB in New York moving forward. Tracy is coming off his best game as he tallied 20 carries for 145 yards and a touchdown. He ranked fifth among running backs and 18th among all players in fantasy points tallied last week based on DraftKings scoring.
Heading into this week, the Giants are set to face off with the Washington Commanders. While there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about this Commanders team, its run defense is not one of them. Washington ranks 25th in rushing yards allowed on the season and 29th in net yards per rush attempt.
After Singletary had double-digit carries in each of the first four weeks, he missed the next two weeks due to injury and then has been held to just seven combined carries over the past two weeks. In contrast, Tracy was held to just 12 combined carries over the first four weeks. He now has tallied double-digit carries in three of the past four weeks and rushed for 129+ yards in two of these games. While Tracy may not reach these heights in this matchup, expect him to be in line for regular carries and outperform his price point.
Tyler Allgeier ($4,900)
Expectations coming into the season were for Bijan Robinson to elevate into one of the top running backs in the NFL. While Robinson has had his moments, Tyler Allgeier has been far more involved in the offense than most expected.
Robinson has carried the ball 116 times for 546 yards and four touchdowns, while Allgeier has been given 68 carries which he has turned into 352 yards and a touchdown. Allgeier is averaging 44 rushing yards per game and has received at least three carries in each game including double-digit carries in two of the last three weeks.
While Robinson will continue to have the edge for his role in both the rush and passing game, Allgeier will receive guaranteed touches in a way that will keep the door open for a positive fantasy football week. Atlanta is also set to face off with the Dallas Cowboys who rank 31st in points allowed and 26th in yards given up on the season. Looking directly at the rushing defense, the Cowboys rank 31st in both yards and touchdowns allowed. Expect the Falcons to utilize their rushing attack and for Allgeier to be relevant throughout the matchup.
Wide Receivers
Ladd McConkey ($5,600)
Last week marked the true breakout performance for Chargers WR Ladd McConkey. The Georgia product tallied six catches for 111 yards and a pair of touchdowns. His 60-yard touchdown especially generated attention. While this was his best performance thus far in the NFL, McConkey has tallied at least two catches in every game and has 376 receiving yards on the season.
Perhaps more noteworthy than McConkey’s performances have been the changes in the Chargers offense. After rolling out a completely rush-oriented attack through the first few games of the season, Los Angeles has begun to open things up and throw the ball. Justin Herbert was held to 179 or fewer passing yards and 17 or fewer completions in each of the first four weeks. Since this time, he has completed at least 20 completions in every game and thrown for 237, 349 and 279 passing yards.
With the team relying on their passing game more, McConkey’s fantasy outlook improves dramatically. The rookie leads the team in targets, receptions, yards and touchdowns on the season. Expect his chemistry with Herbert to continue growing and for McConkey to be in the conversation for an every-week lineup option. Count on this continuing this week against the Browns.
Cedric Tillman ($4,300)
The biggest beneficiary of the quarterback change in Cleveland has been Cedric Tillman. The former third-round pick was held to just three total catches through the opening six weeks but has broken out over the past two. Last week, Tillman tallied seven receptions for 99 yards and a touchdown. The week prior he was targeted 12 times which he turned into eight receptions for 81 yards.
There was some confusion when the Browns elected to trade Amari Cooper a little over two weeks ago. While the need for Bills was clear, this move may have been more motivated by Cleveland wanting to create more of an opportunity for Tillman. After logging 37 percent of the offensive snaps or fewer over the first six weeks, Tillman logged 80 percent and 92 percent of the offensive snaps in the past two weeks.
While the sample size is still small and it is a bit of a risk, expect this to be just the start of Tillman’s breakout. Get ahead of it early and expect him to outperform his price point as the 54th most expensive wide receiver.
Tight End
Hunter Henry ($3,900)
So far this season, Hunter Henry is averaging 9.6 fantasy points per game which makes him the ninth-best tight end on the season. The Patriots pass catcher also has seen an uptick in production since the quarterback change. While Drake Maye was in concussion protocol for most of the week, the third-overall pick has officially been cleared and will play this week against the Titans.
Henry’s best performance was in Week 2 when he tallied 109 receiving yards. But if you exclude this week, he tallied just eight catches for 71 yards across the other four weeks with Jacoby Brissett. Looking at the last two games that May played the majority of, Henry has tallied 11 catches for 133 yards.
Tight ends are an excellent security blanket for young quarterbacks and this seems to be the type of relationship forming with Henry and Maye. Expect him to continue to be in the mix for one of the best tight ends on an every-week basis and for Henry to outperform his price point as the 15th-best tight end.
Grant Calcaterra ($3,400)
The Philadelphia Eagles will continue to be without Dallas Goedert as he recovers from his hamstring injury. They will look toward Grant Calcaterra to step up in his absence. While Calcaterra is involved in the offense even when Goedert is active, he will see an uptick in targets as he fills the TE1 role.
On the season overall, Calcaterra has tallied 12 receptions for 186 yards. He is coming off of a three-reception and 58-yard performance last week and also had four catches for 67 yards in Week 6. The SMU product moves better in the open field than most tight ends and is capable of turning a short pass into a healthy gain in any opportunity.
While he likely will not lead the week in tight-end production, Calcaterra will play a guaranteed role in the Eagles offense and is capable of making plays. Expect him to outperform his price point comfortably and keep him in mind if you are looking to keep the tight end position low cost.
Defense & Special Teams
Cleveland Browns Defense & Special Teams ($2,900)
The Cleveland Browns are set to face off with the Los Angeles Chargers this week. While the Chargers have taken some strides forward in their offensive production over the past few games, they still rank 25th in scoring and 23rd in yards on the season. They also rank fifth in time of possession controlling the ball an average of 32:02 per game. The Chargers are more than happy for the game to be a low-scoring defensive matchup and have not tallied more than 26 points in a game this year.
Cleveland ranks 18th in points allowed this year and 14th in yards given up. While the stats look worse than the level of play based on the situations that the defense has been put in, this is more of a pick against the Chargers. Expect Los Angeles to be unable to produce enough points to be damaging to the Browns’ defensive scoring total.
Set your DraftKings fantasy football lineups here: NFL $2.75M Fantasy Football Millionaire [$1M to 1st]
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is seanbarnard) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
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