NFL

4 NFL FanDuel Studs to Target on Wild Card Weekend

As is the case when playing any sport on FanDuel, it’s imperative to hit on the high-priced players in your lineup. They require a big chunk of your salary, and when paying up for a player, you shouldn’t have to worry about him letting down your lineup.

Heading into the opening week of the NFL postseason, here are four studs who should prove to be worth their high price tag.

Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints

FanDuel Price: $8,500
Projected Points: 20.4

There's one game with a hefty over/under, and it's the New Orleans Saints' home matchup with the Minnesota Vikings.

As hefty favorites, the Saints have a massive 28.50-implied team total, and that means Drew Brees is likely to put up good numbers. Just take a peek at this offense -- looking at our per-play metrics, the Saints rank fourth overall and fourth against the pass.

In looking at Passing Net Expected Points (NEP) per drop back, Brees checks in as the second-best signal-caller in the game with a mark of 0.35, and he has a Passing Success Rate of 56.15%, which has no equal.

Brees has a great ceiling as well as a nice floor, topping 20 FanDuel points in each of the last four contests.

Invest in Brees with confidence this week, even if he's likely to be the most popular passer of the weekend.

Derrick Henry, RB, Tennessee Titans

FanDuel Price: $9,300
Projected Points: 15.9

If the Tennessee Titans are going to end the New England Patriots' reign atop the AFC, it's going to take a heavy dose of Derrick Henry in order to do so.

Now, there are plenty of reasons why using Henry could go south. The Pats' vaunted defense has been great in 2019 -- they rank first overall and ninth against the run, per our numbers. But this defense has been gashed, at times, by the run as they've allowed more than 100 rushing yards six times this season. There are yards to be had on the ground.

This Titans offense clearly clicks as Henry does. They are committed to the run as they have the fourth-most run-heavy offense at a 1.13 pass-to-run ratio, and they rank as the seventh most efficient rushing attack by our metrics.

If Tennessee can keep this game close, it likely be because Henry is heavily involved, and it could lead to a superb fantasy output.

Michael Thomas, WR, New Orleans Saints

FanDuel Price: $8,900
Projected Points: 19.8

The stats for Michael Thomas, quite frankly, are downright silly when he's at home. If you can fit him into your lineup, do so.

This season, during a brilliant campaign in which he caught a ridiculous 149 passes, Thomas grabbed 87 balls for 1,027 yards in his eight home games. Let that sink in. He was a 1,000-yard receiver just in home games this year, good for a clip of better than 128 yards per game. That'll do, donkey.

There is reason to be even more bullish on Thomas this weekend as he faces a Vikings secondary that's been roasted this year. They've allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to wide receivers, and Xavier Rhodes, who is likely to draw the Thomas assignment, has allowed 59 catches on 70 targets for 707 receiving yards. Ouch.

Thomas is pricey, but he's worth the investment.

Cole Beasley, WR, Buffalo Bills

FanDuel Price: $6,300
Projected Points: 11.2

A wideout priced at $6,300 isn't normally in the stud territory, but the four-game slate changes things, making Cole Beasley the eighth-most expensive wide receiver on FanDuel this weekend.

With Beasley playing on a team with only a 20.50 implied total, it doesn't seem like there's a lot of fantasy goodness to spread around here. But check out Beasley's closing stretch -- over the final six weeks of the regular season, Beasley racked up a 26.0% target market share.

Now, consider the matchup. The Houston Texans have been dreadful against the pass. Via our per-play metrics, the Texans rank 21st overall defensively and 24th against the pass. While Beasley was performing like a boss down the stretch, the Texans' pass D allowed 300 or more passing yards in three of the last five games.

Houston also generates almost no pressure against opposing quarterbacks, ranking fourth-worst in Adjusted Sack Rate (5.2%), leaving plenty of time for Josh Allen to find Beasley -- though J.J. Watt is expected to be back Saturday.

Beasley should be a high-floor option who can be a one-off play or part of game stacks.



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