By Will Helms
Another thrilling week of football reaches its conclusion Monday with a tight NFC South matchup. The Buccaneers and Saints meet and 365Scores has you covered with a DFS primer for the game.
As always, we’ll take a look at MVP/captain options, value plays and general strategies to prepare you Monday’s primetime matchup on both FanDuel and DraftKings.
FanDuel
MVP Candidates
This is a really tricky slate with several big names, but no clear top player. FanDuel has Tom Brady as the highest-priced player, but the site often does that with bigger names to entice players to pay up. Brady hasn’t exactly been the elite player we’re used to seeing this season.
Still, I’m rolling with Brady ($16,000) and Chris Olave ($13,500) as my main captains this week. Brady has put up 15 points or more in four straight games and with Tampa’s newfound rushing attack, there’s less pressure on his arm. The Buccaneers finally seem to be getting healthy at receiver, so Brady should spread the ball around enough to avoid giving one receiver too much volume. I’ll stack a few of the receivers in the lineup, but I’m not touching any Buccaneers other than Brady in my captain slot.
Alvin Kamara ($15,000) has eclipsed eight points in just one of his last four games and is coming off a 2-fumble performance against the 49ers last week. He’s been on and off the injury report this week and while it’s certainly possible that he has one of his signature explosive nights, I’m not counting on it against a strong Buccaneers front.
Olave isn’t my main captain, but he’s Andy Dalton’s go-to-guy and has the ability to explode for 25-30 points.
Value Plays
Each of my lineups has either Jarvis Landry ($7500) or Julio Jones ($7000) in it as a pay-down option. Both guys seem to be healthy and have seen their target shares tick up. Paying this far down isn’t typically what I do, but most of the players we want to start are hovering around the $12,000 mark, so we only have to pay down once, if we start a guy in the range of Landry and Jones.
With Juwan Johnson out, I’m tempted to start Adam Trautman ($5000) and I’ll definitely throw him in a lineup or two. I was high on Trautman out of college, but while he’s flashed occasionally, he just hasn’t gotten consistent targets. Still, his price point on FanDuel is too low to ignore completely.
DraftKings
Captain Options
This week, our prices are drastically different on the two sites. Chris Godwin, the sixth-most expensive player on FanDuel, is the priciest option on DraftKings.
I’m more tempted to entertain the idea of a skill player at captain on this site because we get the extra half point for receptions, which makes me like Olave ($12,600) as a captain. Olave is significantly less expensive than Brady and I was able to stack my team by captaining the Saints’ rookie.
It’s obviously risky and because of the pricing differences, you’re looking at two completely different team builds, depending on which player you captain.
I’m doing both, but the captaining Olave is sure to give you a deep and unique roster.
Value Plays
Like FanDuel, DraftKings has Trautman ($1200) quite low on its list. I like the risk of playing a starting tight end on a team that uses a lot of 12 personnel, especially when he’s there are 28 players priced above him.
You can really take your pick with fourth or fifth receiving options here. Marquez Callaway, Scottie Miller and Rashid Shaheed are all $1400 or less and worth a look, if you want to pay up for Godwin ($10,600), Kamara ($10,000) or Evans ($9600).
From there, I added Rashad White ($7000) as my extra guy on DraftKings. He’s averaged 18 carries in his last two (With Fournette hurt) and is fourth on the team with 29 receptions after nine in his last game. He isn’t likely to have many huge plays, but he’ll rack up stats.
Notes
Leonard Fournette is officially questionable, so if it’s announced that he’s in, he’s a wild card. He’s substantially cheaper (relative to other players) on DraftKings and with the extra roster slot, he’s a possible play there.
There’s always the possibility that the Saints suddenly decide again to use Taysom Hill ($10,000 on FD, $6400 on FD) and if he gets the volume at quarterback or receiver, he has a chance to wreck the entire slate. I’m officially fading him and Kamara, but the disclaimer is that either could blow up the plan.
Still, I’m even more confident this week than most, especially after cashing with my primary lineup in four straight weeks. If Olave plays the way I expect, captaining him will push you straight to the top.
