Cracking FanDuel: Week 21

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 my projections against FanDuel's prices:

Some explanation of my Excel manipulation is in order:

General Thoughts

Situations that stand out to me this week.

• FanDuel is offering a SuperBowl only slate, but have tweaked the rules to include using any five players and counting one designated player to count for double the points. I think this contest as designed isn't very skillful. Without multiple games, nearly all the rosters are going to look very similar.
  
  
• If there is any kind of edge to be had here, it is in the construction of the roster. New England has all of their running backs healthy. I still think Mike Gillislee will scratch, but he could play. If he does play, it makes all of the Patriot backs unplayable. Even if he does play, the upside on the New England backs is limited because of their depth at this position. My advice is to avoid all of them in this start five players approach.
  
  
• I think it's imperative in cash games that you start both QB Tom Brady and QB Nick Foles. They have the highest Ratios on the slate based on my projections and have floors that are very safe. I think it's also imperative that you play one of them as the designated 2X player. I favor Tom Brady as that choice in cash games. In GPPs, your best shot to have a differentiated roster would likely be to sit one of these two QBs while playing the other as the designated 2X player (and stacking heavily with him). In cash games, play both QBs with confidence. Vegas has the over/under at 48.5 and quarterbacks have traditionally put up big statistics in the Super Bowl.
  
  
• Once, you play both quarterbacks, I think it makes the most sense in cash games to play PK Stephen Gostkowski. He is cheap and will provide necessary cap relief. He also has a very safe floor. This will leave you with $20,000 to spend on your last two players. My projections favor using Zach Ertz and Torrey Smith, but other combinations are also in close proximity.

Sample Roster 1 ($60K) - Cash Game - Projected = 79.2 FP

• QB Tom Brady, NE - $17,000 (Designated 2X player)
• QB Nick Foles, PHI - $13,500
• PK Stephen Gostkowski, NE - $9,500
• TE Zach Ertz, PHI - $12,000
• WR Torrey Smith, PHI - $8,000