Cracking FanDuel: Week 18

Footballguys has partnered with FanDuel and as part of that deal, I will be penning a weekly piece that tries to cover some of the finer points on beating their contests. This article will usually appear on Saturdays and not include the early Thursday games.

My approach to FanDuel's Daily Games

In salary cap games where other companies are determining prices, I like to see where their thoughts differ substantially from my projections. My value chart below matches up my projections against FanDuel's prices:

Some explanation of my Excel manipulation is in order:

• Everything is sorted by position
• I have converted my projections to FanDuel Fantasy Points. These figures appear in the FP column.
• The Price column reflects FanDuel's Week 18 Price
• The Price per FP column reflects the cost per projected fantasy point (the lower the value the better).
• I have highlighted player's names (in green) that should be strong considerations for your lineups. They generally reflect the most bang for the buck at their respective positions. Players in yellow also are worth consideration when building your roster.

General Thoughts

Situations that stand out to me this week.

• It's a short slate (just 8 teams) so I would advise agering substantially less than a normal full slate week.
• A.J. Green is doubtful (and will likely scratch) which changes up the game script considerably for them. I expect the Bengals to attempt to lean on Jeremy Hill a lot in this contest.
• News blurb is calling Trent Richardson questionable this week. Is this because the coaching staff now sees what the rest of us know? Namely, anyone is more effective than Trent Richardson. I like Herron to get a sizeable workload in this game.
• RB Le'Veon Bell has been ruled out for this game. His backup (Josh Harris) is untested and raw. He could have a decent game, but I sense the team just relies on Antonio Brown a lot more.
• Cam Newton thrives in games where something is on the line. I sense this is one of those moments. His running abaility makes him a strong play this week.

Sample Roster ($60K) - Projected Points = 122.8

• QB Cam Newton, CAR - $8,300
• RB Jeremy Hill, CIN - $7,400
• RB Dan Herron, IND - $5,400
• TE Greg Olsen, CAR - $6,400
• WR Antonio Brown, PIT - $9,200
• WR Kelvin Benjamin, CAR - $6,900
• WR Steve Smith, BAL - $6,400
• TD Dallas - $5,000
• PK Dan Bailey, DAL - $5,000