4 DraftKings Studs to Target in Week 5
Melvin Gordon, RB, Los Angeles Chargers
DraftKings Price: $8,600
Projected Points: 22.7
The Los Angeles Chargers have a strong 29.50 implied team total (3rd highest on the main slate) and are 5.5 point favorites over the visiting Oakland Raiders. This game sets up nicely for Melvin Gordon to be featured in a positive game script.
Our models project Melvin Gordon to score 22.7 DraftKings points in Week 5. We currently have him at 79.10 yards rushing on 17.71 carries. Similar to Matt Ryan, that projection seems closer to his floor in this matchup, leaving a significant amount of wiggle room for a healthy scoring ceiling and giving him the potential to return huge value.
The Raiders defense is allowing 139.3 yards rushing per game and were just chewed up by the Cleveland Browns running game. Melvin Gordon has yet to surpass the 15-carry barrier in 2018, however, if the Chargers go out ahead nice and early we could finally see a game where Gordon chews up the clock and racks up the carries.
Either way, we are pretty safe with rolling out Gordon due to his pass-catching ability. Gordon has 34 targets, 25 receptions, 199 yards receiving, and 3 receiving touchdowns through the first four games. He's elite all around, and that has led to a 27.9 DraftKings point per game average. If you are paying up at running back on Sunday, then Gordon is an easy plug and play.
