FanDuel Single-Game Daily Fantasy Football Helper: Week 9 Monday Night
A classic NFC East rivalry takes center stage on Monday Night, as the Dallas Cowboys are on the road to take on the New York Giants. Two elite running backs and plenty of offensive options on both sides should set us up for a solid fantasy game.
For those unfamiliar, single-game slates feature five flex spots with identical scoring to the main slate. However, kickers are included in these contests and there is an "MVP" roster slot. The MVP receives 1.5-times his total fantasy points, making this spot crucial.
Bookmakers currently have the Cowboys as 6.5-point road favorites and the over/under set at 49 points. This is backed by the public, as a whopping 72% of the bets are on the Cowboys, according to oddsFire.
MVP Considerations
Saquon Barkley ($14,500) - It shouldn't come as a surprise but Barkley is the highest projected player for the Giants, making him a great candidate for the MVP spot. Barkley posted 27 total touches last week against the Detroit Lions en route to a total of 24.8 FanDuel points, his best game of the season. Since returning from his injury, he has over 20 touches in each of his two games, reclaiming his normal role within the offense. That volume of touches is what we should be seeing from him tonight and our projections agree.
We have Barkley going for 17 rushing attempts and 7 targets in the passing game. The Cowboys are allowing 21.7 FanDuel points per game to running backs this season -- which is right around the league average -- but still presents plenty of upside in a game with a high over/under.
Ezekiel Elliott ($14,000) - On the other side of Barkley is Elliott, who scored a touchdown in the first matchup between these two teams this season. In that first game, Elliott carried the ball 13 times for 53 yards and that touchdown -- along with some minor work in the passing game -- only totaling 12.8 FanDuel points. That's his lowest output of the season, but it was his first game after missing training camp. Take that with a grain of salt and expect plenty more from him tonight, as our projections have him going for 19.7 FanDuel points -- the third-highest score on the night.
The game script indicates that the Cowboys -- as 6.5-point favorites -- will be leading and in control of this game, thus giving more opportunities for Elliott to run the ball and the clock. If that is not the case, what is encouraging is that Elliott has six or more targets in three of his past four games. That ensures his role in the offense regardless of the game script.
Dak Prescott ($15,000) - The Giants are allowing 20.1 FanDuel points per game to quarterbacks this season, putting Dak in a great spot. We saw what Matthew Stafford did last week to the Giants' defense -- 342 yards and 3 touchdowns -- which is in the cards tonight. In that first game against the Giants, Prescott threw for over 400 yards and 4 touchdowns, giving him a total of 33.4 FanDuel points -- his best game of the season.
The Cowboys have an implied team total set at 27.75, which is essentially four touchdowns. Getting three passing touchdown from Dak and one rushing touchdown from Elliott on the ground is not only plausible, but it's likely.
Value Plays
Darius Slayton ($9,000) - With Sterling Shepard ruled out for this game, Slayton is set to be the Giants' number two receiver, as we saw last week against the Detroit Lions. Slayton played on 84% of the offensive snaps -- the second-highest for wide receivers -- piling up his best game of the season with 2 catches for 2 touchdowns and a total of 50 yards. The touchdown rate won't sustain, but the percentage of snaps in the offense should with Shepard ruled out.
Slayton comes in as our best value play among players who are under $10,000 tonight. With the Giants set to be trailing by 6.5 points, they should turn to the passing game, where Slayton will be on the field a ton.
Randall Cobb ($8,000) - Cobb has four or more targets in five of his six games this season but hasn't done much with them. The Giants are allowing a whopping 35.3 FanDuel points per game to opposing wide receivers -- the third-most in the league -- presenting the Cowboys' receivers with one of the best matchups of the entire week. Main slate or single-game, this is a good spot for Cobb, who is carrying a solid 10.1 aDOT (average depth of target) and the third-highest market share of targets on the team.
All of this is good, but Cobb has only totaled over 10 FanDuel points one time this season, which came back in Week 1 against this very same Giants defense.
Jason Witten ($7,500) - All Jason Witten does is score touchdowns against the Giants. Well, that's not entirely true, but he has 16 touchdowns in his 31 career games against them, according to ProFootballReference. Regardless of that, Witten plays a very consistent role for the Cowboys, amassing four or more targets in every single game this season and carrying the fourth-highest market share of targets on the team.
Even with this very consistent role in the passing game, Witten hasn't reached the end zone since Week 2. All things considered, it seems as if Witten is ready to find his way back into the end zone against a familiar foe.
