FanDuel Weekly Salary Cap Guide: Week 15

Welcome to Week 14 of the FanDuel Salary Cap Guide. In this guide, Jeff Haseley and I will put together the best FanDuel lineups we can craft by using FBG's projections and a metric of Dollars Spent per Fantasy Point. For a more descriptive introduction to what we're doing here, check out the Week 1 Version.

BUILDING THE OPTIMAL LINEUPS

$55k Salary Cap:

• QB: Matt Flynn ($5,300)
• RB: Eddie Lacy ($7,200)
• RB: Andre Brown ($6,700)
• WR: Antonio Brown ($8,000)
• WR: DeSean Jackson ($6,900)
• WR: Roddy White ($6,200)
• TE: Heath Miller ($4,700)
• K: Garrett Hartley ($5,000)
• DEF: Colts ($5,000)

Dodds has this team projected for 117.9 points and spending $466 per fantasy point. That's much more effective than Bloom's projections reflect for the same team. Bloom has the team projected for 108.6 points and spending $506 per fantasy point. Let's put more emphasis on Bloom's projections for the $60k team.

$60k Salary Cap:

• QB: Nick Foles ($9,200)
• RB: Shane Vereen ($7,200)
• RB: Jordan Todman ($4,600)
• WR: Demaryius Thomas ($8,900)
• WR: Julian Edelman ($5,500)
• WR: Cecil Shorts ($5,500)
• TE: Jimmy Graham ($8,200)
• K: Garrett Hartley ($5,000)
• DEF: Eagles ($5,400)

Dodds has this team projected for a 113.2 points and spending $529 per fantasy point. Because of the emphasis put on Bloom's projections, he likes this team much more than Dodds does, projecting it for a total of 126.1 points and spending $475 per fantasy point.

"SCRUB"-BING FOR VALUE

If you've ever done an auction draft, you've likely heard the phrase "stars and scrubs." For those unfamiliar, it's a strategy in which a team spends the majority of their money on high-dollar players and hopes to fill the rest of the roster with low-dollar "lottery ticket" types. This can be a viable strategy in FanDuel too. Let's see some of this week's low-dollar players who might compliment the "stars" on the roster.

Last week at quarterback, we suggested Case Keenum. He disappointed us, only throwing for 159 yards and one touchdown while getting benched.

This week, we're going with Kirk Cousins ($5,100). We get the feeling that Cousins is going to be on many winning FanDuel squads this week as the best players typically don't spend their money on the quarterback position. Cousins gets an Atlanta defense that has been terrible against the pass and the run this season, which will afford him the opportunity to finish some drives and score fantasy points.

Last week, we went out a limb and picked Darren Sproles, hoping he would break out against Carolina. He only ended up with 55 yards and three receptions.

This week's selection is conditional upon an injury situation. We're assuming Adrian Peterson (foot) won't play, so we're going with Toby Gerhart ($5,600). That salary is a good figure if Peterson is definitely out. Gerhart has produced approximately one fantasy point per rushing attempt over the last three or four games. I fully expect his rushing attempts to increase as Minnesota's primary ball carrier this week. If this particular metric holds true, he should be able to produce a strong double-digit game. 

If Peterson happens to play, we like a couple other backups-turned-potential-starters this week. In this order, we'd suggest Jordan Todman ($4,600) and then James Starks ($4,500) should either of the starters ahead of them not play due to injury.

Last week, we went with Julian Edelman and Andre Holmes. Edelman had yet another nice game as he had six catches, 64 yards, and a touchdown. Holmes had a more modest game with three catches for 63 yards.

This week, we're once again going with Edelman ($5,500). He remains a strong play week after week. He is catching 70% of the passes that come his way and the loss of Rob Gronkowski should increase the chances that he'll see more action. Edelman leads all Patriots with 76 receptions. I don't see that trend dropping.

Our second receiver this week is Cecil Shorts ($5,500). Jacksonville is surprisingly playing great football, and Buffalo shouldn't put up a ton of resistance, allowing the third-most fantasy points to opposing receivers. As you can see from the $60k lineup above, pairing Shorts and Edelman as two-thirds of the receiver group allows FanDuel players to put a high-dollar receiver with them or go "big" at other positions.

Last week, we went with Garrett Graham, who didn't disappoint with eight receptions, 73 yards, and a touchdown.

This week, we're going with Delanie Walker ($4,800). First of all, it's no secret that Arizona has been a doormat for opposing tight ends this year, allowing 14 touchdowns to tight ends. Walker comes back this week after missing the last game with a concussion. In his last home game, Walker had 10 catches for 91 yards and a touchdown. Ryan Fitzpatrick clearly has some confidence in his veteran tight end. I see that continuing in a very favorable match up at home this week.

Last week, we chose the Oakland defense. They were a huge disappointment against a dream matchup of Geno Smith and the Jets. 

This week, we're going with Indianapolis ($5,000). The Colts are at home and get a Houston team that is in shambles. We expect the whole team to "get right," including the defense.

THE "D.I.Y." SECTION

Below, you'll find the spreadsheet with which you can customize your own team. Before downloading, here are a few notes and instructions to help make it work effectively:

• Upon opening, enable macros and data connections when prompted.
• If you're unable to sort by name, salary, projections, etc. on any of the positional pages, your macros are not enabled.
• Begin at the "Front Page" tab and follow the instructions listed in each section.
• Use the drop-downs on each respective position tab to select your players. Please DO NOT be able to type anything in the dark-shaded cells. This entire workbook utilizes formulas, macros, and links. Typing in those cells can ruin its functionality.
• If you don't see a player listed, it's because FanDuel didn't have a salary assigned to him as of Wednesday evening. Adding these players manually wouldn't be helpful since they're not available on FanDuel anyway.
• The "Lineup Page" tab will only add up the salary figures when a full team of nine players is selected.
• We've added a button on the front page that will update the player projections when it is pressed! Again, make sure your macros and data connections are enabled in order to ensure proper functionality. To do this, I had to un-protect the positional worksheets. Again, typing in any of the colored cells can impact/ruin the tool's functionality.
• If refreshing the data isn't working, it may be the version of Excel you're using. Download the sheet again and do not refresh the projections. This will allow you to use the sheet, but you won't get updated information throughout the week. Projections obviously change from Wednesday to later in the week, but this will still give you a good basis for building a team.
• We have a new feature on the DIY sheet. We've color-coded the games based on time played due to the many FanDuel Thursday only contests.
• You'll notice some "N/A" fields in the projections That is because one or both of our projectors did not project points for that player, likely due to questionable playing status. By using the new refresh function above as the week goes on, you may see projections for those players if their injury outlook improves and the projectors include them.
• Enjoy!

Create Your Own FanDuel Lineup 

For any questions on your weekly fantasy decisions, FanDuel teams, or anything else in the world of fantasy, follow and reach out to us on Twitter @JeffHaseley and @footballbrackts. For questions on the spreadsheet, please e-mail Ryan Hester at hester@footballguys.com. We appreciate and encourage any feedback that can help us get this thing perfect.