NFL

5 NFL FanDuel Value Plays to Target in Week 13

One of the crucial aspects of daily fantasy football is unearthing cheap production.

Our projections can help you do just that by allowing you to sort players by their point-per-dollar value. A lot of times, the top value plays come as a result of injury situations, meaning it's imperative to see inactives on Sunday morning before setting your lineups.

When looking for a salary-saving option, check out one of these main-slate players this week.

Week 13 of the NFL is here! We have a loaded 11-game slate, and there are plenty of options across the board. Let's take a look at some value plays to help you afford the top stars on the main slate.

Keke Coutee, WR, Houston Texans ($4,800)

A number of changes have occurred for the Texans and their wide receivers, but that just brings us value this week.

First off, the Texans released Kenny Stills last week, and he went unclaimed on waivers. Next, the Texans' top wide receiver, Will Fuller, has been suspended for six games due to a violation of the NFL's performance enhancing substance policy. This thins out the Texans' pass-catching options and should elevate some of the depth players to more prominent roles within the offense.

This leads us to Keke Coutee, who has only played in three games this season due to injuries. He has played in each of the past two games while being on the field for 57% and 50% of the offensive snaps. This is very encouraging considering those snap rates were the third-highest on the Texans in each of those weeks. As you would assume, Fuller was one of the players ahead of him in terms of snap percentage and is now suspended. This puts Coutee in a spot to be the starting wide receiver at only $4.8K.

This game versus the Indianapolis Colts has an over/under sitting at 51.5, which is a great game environment to target and should see plenty of scoring. Coutee is a lower-salary player in a high over/under game with an expanded role.

James White, RB, New England Patriots ($5,700)

The backfield for the New England Patriots is always changing and always has some value options.

Running back Rex Burkhead was placed on injured reserve last week due to a torn ACL, and his season is over. Sony Michel returned from his injury in Week 12 but played on only one snap and didn't touch the ball. Damien Harris played on a team-high 64% of the offensive snaps and had 14 rushing attempts.

Finally, we have James White, who had six total touches and found his way into the end zone twice. Now, we don't want to chase the two touchdowns since they came on a total of six touches, but the matchup this week is what we want to look ahead to.

New England is traveling west to take on the Los Angeles Chargers, who are a very interesting defense to look at in relation to opposing running backs. So far this season, the Chargers have allowed the ninth-fewest (221) rushing attempts to opposing running backs. This makes sense, since the Chargers' offense can score plenty of points and often doesn't allow the opposing offense to sit back and rush the ball.

However, the Chargers have allowed the seventh-most targets (86) and the seventh-most receptions (86) to opposing running backs. This also makes sense because their games tend to be higher-scoring (7 of 11 games have hit the over this year) setting up for a passing game script.

That game script will have James White and his 4.66 average targets per game involved in the offense as the number one option. Harris and Michel have a total of seven targets combined on the entire season. This is simply a game for White ahead of the other two running backs.

Cam Akers, RB, Los Angeles Rams ($5,600)

Did we see a changing of the guard for the Los Angeles Rams' backfield last week?

Many in the fantasy football community have been waiting for running back Cam Akers to take control of the Rams' backfield, and we might be at that point. Last week against the Arizona Cardinals, the Rams deployed their usual trio of running backs, but the production they ended with was wildly different.

Darrell Henderson had a total of 10 carries for 19 yards, giving him a lowly -0.27 Rushing Net Expected Points (NEP) per carry. Next was Malcolm Brown, who ended with four yards from three carries, which was good for 0.06 Rushing NEP per carry. Finally, Cam Akers finished with a team-high 84 yards and a touchdown from 9 carries for 0.44 Rushing NEP per carry.

This is a clear sign that Akers is the best option for the Rams and their rushing attack. Akers remains under $6K, and if he is going to continue to be the standout performer among the Rams' three options, his salary won't stay this low for too much longer.

Denzel Mims, WR, New York Jets ($5,500)

Denzel Mims leads the New York Jets in targets over the past three weeks, and he is their third-most expensive wide receiver.

The rookie wide receiver missed the first few weeks of the season with a hamstring injury, but since then, he has taken control of the Jets' passing game. Over the past three weeks, Mims has 23 targets, which is the highest on the team. This also gives him seven targets or more in four of his five games. This is very encouraging for the second-round pick, and given the fact his salary hasn't increased all that much, you want to continuously focus in on him.

This week, Mims is up against a lackluster Raiders secondary, who are allowing 30.9 FanDuel points per game to opposing wide receivers. The Jets find themselves as 7.5-point underdogs, which should set them up for a positive game script and plenty of pass-catching opportunities for Mims.

Kyle Rudolph, TE, Minnesota Vikings ($5,000)

If Minnesota Vikings tight end Irv Smith Jr. is still out, Kyle Rudolph becomes a clear value play again.

Last week, Smith missed their game against the Carolina Panthers, which made Rudolph a popular value option. In that game, Rudolph put up a very solid 10.3 FanDuel points from 8 targets, 7 receptions, and 68 yards. Those eight targets were tied for the second-most on the team and is a good indication of his role within the offense. The one wrinkle here is that wide receiver Adam Thielen also didn't play last week, as he was on the COVID-19 list. Thielen was activated from the COVID-19 list on Wednesday and is set to return this Sunday.

Of course, this will impact Rudolph's potential targets this week versus the Jacksonville Jaguars. Instead of seeing eight targets, Rudolph is likely to see four to six but should still be the starting and main tight end if Irv Smith is out again.

On top of all that, the Jaguars are allowing the seventh-most (12.2) FanDuel points per game to opposing tight ends. This is a great matchup for Rudolph, who remains one of the cheaper tight ends this week.