FanDuel Weekly Salary Cap Guide: Week 8

Welcome to Week 8 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 better introduction (or if you missed it), check out the Week 1 Version.

BUILDING THE OPTIMAL LINEUPS

This week, we'll use one set of projections for each salary cap level. Therefore, you'll see a $55k lineup optimized using David Dodds' projections, and you'll be able to compare it to one that has been optimized based on Sigmund Bloom's projections. Then we'll do the same for the $60k cap.

$55k Salary Cap (Dodds Projections):

• QB: Thaddeus Lewis
• RB: Knowshon Moreno
• RB: Eddie Lacy
• WR: Pierre Garcon
• WR: Eric Decker
• WR: Steve Johnson
• TE: Jordan Reed
• K: Alex Henery
• DEF: Chiefs

Dodds has this team projected for 121.8 points, a very solid number for a $55k "expert" FanDuel team. This team spends $452 per fantasy point in Dodds' projections. For what it's worth, Bloom's projections for this same squad yield a point total of 120.3 points.

$55k Salary Cap (Bloom Projections):

• QB: Thaddeus Lewis
• RB: Eddie Lacy
• RB: Darren Sproles
• WR: Jordy Nelson
• WR: Antonio Brown
• WR: Rueben Randle
• TE: Tony Gonzalez
• K: Steve Hauschka
• DEF: Raiders

This team is projected to score a very solid 124.8 points by Bloom. It spends $441 per fantasy point. Dodds is high on this team too, as his projections have this squad scoring 119.5 points.

$60k Salary Cap (Dodds):

• QB: Eli Manning
• RB: Knowshon Moreno
• RB: Eddie Lacy
• WR: Pierre Garcon
• WR: Antonio Brown
• WR: Eric Decker
• TE: Rob Gronkowski
• K: Phil Dawson
• DEF: Chiefs

Dodds has this team projected for 128.2 points and spending $468 per fantasy point. With our extra $5,000, we spent $735 per fantasy point. That's not an efficient number, but our total did rise by 6.8 points. And gross point total is what fantasy is all about. Bloom's projections for this team yield a point total of 127.0 points.

$60k Salary Cap (Bloom Projections):

• QB: Terrelle Pryor 
• RB: Jamaal Charles 
• RB: Eddie Lacy 
• WR: Jordy Nelson 
• WR: Eric Decker 
• WR: Rueben Randle
• TE: Jordan Reed
• K: Mason Crosby
• DEF: Chiefs

This team is projected to get 134.8 fantasy points based on Bloom's projections and spends $445 per fantasy point. Dodds is also high on this team, as he has it projected to get 130.3 fantasy points.

"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 Josh Freeman. His Minnesota debut was a dud on Monday Night Football. This week's selection will tempt your appetite for risk. Carson Palmer ($6,500) gets an Atlanta team whose defense has been giving up passing touchdowns in large quantities all season long - 14 touchdowns in six games. Palmer may throw an interception or two, but he's very likely to end up with more touchdowns than interceptions.

Last week's running back selection was Joseph Randle at Philadelphia. Randle touched the ball 22 times and gained 93 total yards. His day was efficient but would have been better had Dallas not given Phillip Tanner the call near the goal line. This week, we're going with Peyton Hills ($4,500). Hillis showed us enough last week that he can be a force as a rusher and receiver in the Giants offense. We'd much rather have him than Brandon Jacobs, and we think the Giants are realizing that. This is also a good matchup against a poor Eagles defense. 

Last week at wide receiver, we picked Keenan Allen and Rueben Randle. Allen's matchup was difficult as Jacksonville simply doesn't force their opponents to pass the ball all game long. But Allen's $4,500 salary was too tantilizing to pass up. He caught three passes for 67 yards, but the low salary hopefully allowed his FanDuel owners to pick up points in other positions by spending more there. Randle only caught three passes for 40 yards but scored yet another touchdown - his fourth of the season - all of which have come in the past three games.

This week, we're going with Stephen Hill ($4,500) as our first wide receiver sleeper. We expect the Jets to take to the air fairly often in this game. Usually opposing quarterbacks against Cincinnati wind up with decent pass attempt numbers. Geno Smith's big arm should yield good results, and Hill should benefit most, in our opinion. Another factor working in Hill's favor is that Cincinnati lost top cornerback Leon Hall last week for the remained of the season with a torn Achilles' tendon.

Our second receiver selection is Rueben Randle ($5,500) once again. Receivers and quarterbacks are thriving against Philadelphia, we expect the Eagles to be ahead of the Giants, and the Giants need to be pass-heavy regardless of game script. Randle has four touchdowns this season, and all have come in the past three games. With Tom Coughlin's latest words on Hakeem Nicks' lack of reliability, Randle will continue to see a handful of high-value targets each week.

For a "bonus" this week, we're giving you a third receiver. Should Jimmy Graham not play for New Orleans, his targets will have to go elsewhere. They won't all go to one person, but we think Kenny Stills ($4,600) will be the biggest beneficiary.

In Week 7, our "scrub" tight end of choice was Zach Miller. We have to go "all the way back" to last Thursday to see that Miller came through with five receptions, 40 yards, and a touchdown. This week, Green Bay's unfortunate loss of Jermichael Finley shifts the Green Bay tight end spotlight to Andrew Quarless ($4,500). Our interest in Quarless increases if James Jones is still out, which we think could happen. The loss of Finley opens the door for Quarless to pick up some of the slack. The Packers have sustained success with three capable receivers. If Jones can't go, Quarless becomes the third receiver and probably will see plenty of time in the slot, which has historically been a position of success in the Green Bay offense. 

Last week, we chose Miami's defense, which didn't work out too well. This week, we like the Raiders ($5,000). Pittsburgh has allowed 22 sacks in six games, which provide easy points for fantasy defenses and also the potential for turnovers and touchdowns. The Steelers are also 31st in the NFL in red zone touchdown percentage. They only convert 37.5% of their opportunities inside the 20, which allows opposing fantasy defenses to keep their points allowed totals low.

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.
• 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.