It was another whacky week in daily fantasy football, as owners likely had to put up abnormally high scores to even cash in many contests. Did Daily Musings help you get there? Hopefully it did.
Let's take a look at how last week's stacks, plays and fades fared.
STACK OF THE WEEK
FANDUEL
Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta Falcons - 15.66 points, $498 per point
Julio Jones, WR, Atlanta Falcons - 15.9 points, $503 per point
Apparently all the juicy stacks were mirages. Anyone who didn't stack Aaron Rodgers and Jordy Nelson was behind the eight ball.
Matt Ryan and Julio Jones didn't hooked up plenty, to be sure, but the sole touchdown pass Ryan threw went to Roddy White. The only positive here is that this stack should have hopefully opened up funds to use elsewhere, on both FanDuel and Draft Kings.
DRAFT KINGS
Ben Roethlisberger, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers - 18.72 points, $401 per point
Antonio Brown, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers - 13.4 points, $649 per point
If you heaved a heavy sigh of frustration during the Pittsburgh Steelers woeful jaunt through Met Life Stadium, you weren't alone.
The New York Jets put a sleeper hold on quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and an offense that had taken a flamethrower to its opponents over the past couple of weeks. Antonio Brown had a couple of bad fumbles that helped torpedo his own team, along with anyone who invested in him or anyone else not named Martavis Bryant last week.
It turns out this was too good to be true.
PLAYS
QUARTERBACK
Mark Sanchez, Philadelphia Eagles - Draft Kings (DK): 24.18 points, $236 per point, FanDuel (FD): 24.18 points, 273 per point
It's a good thing head coach Chip Kelly had some sort of axe to grind on Monday night, otherwise Mark Sanchez might not have panned out.
The newly minted Philadelphia starter was all but handed a huge lead thanks to a defense and special teams unit that scored three touchdowns. For some reason, however, Kelly kept throwing the ball, allowing Sanchez to get past 300 passing yards and a second touchdown. He was an excellent value all around.
Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers - DK: 19.84 points, $333 per point, FD: 19.84 points, $388 per point
It's a good thing head coach Ron Rivera wants to run his quarterback into the ground.
Cam Newton was gimpy from the get-go, and it looked like he was going to be an abject disappointment in the fantasy realm for most of the game. At one point, even the announcers were wondering why he was still in there given it looked like he was playing hurt.
He wound up throwing a pair of touchdowns late in garbage time to salvage a miserable night, making him a decent value in cash games. He didn't live up to expectations, however.
Derek Carr, Oakland Raiders - DK: 13.68 points, $402 per point, FD: 13.68 points, $497 per point
Once again, Derek Carr investors were saved by the game script.
The Oakland Raiders quarterback was frustrating for a vast majority of the game, totaling just 96 yards and a touchdown when he took over at his own three-yard line with 4:30 left in the game. The Broncos defense finally relaxed enough to allow Carr to put together a touchdown drive that saved his day.
He was still a bad value despite those two touchdowns tossed. The game script can only do so much.
RUNNING BACK
DeMarco Murray, Dallas Cowboys - DK: 22.1 points, $389 per point
With quarterback Tony Romo playing surprisingly well with that broken back, DeMarco Murray had his work cut out for him if he was going to put up a monster game. Despite a favorable game script—the Cowboys took a big lead by the third quarter—Murray was unable to capitalize. The lone rushing touchdown of the day went to Joseph Randle, who stole Murray's fantasy points with a 40-yard touchdown.
Unfortunately, Murray's output didn't justify his cost in any formats.
LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia Eagles - DK: 8.7 points, $643 per point, FD: 8.2 points, $939 per point
This was very nearly a giant disaster. Thanks to an overturned touchdown pass that gave LeSean McCoy an easy touchdown, it was only a moderate disaster.
It seemed as though an offensive lineman disapparated every time McCoy touched the ball against the Carolina Panthers. The Eagles running back continued his troubling 2014 campaign, bringing his rushing average down to 3.7 yards per carry and dropping a couple of passes while he was at it. The Eagles inexplicably turned Darren Sproles into a goal line back early in the game, and he played the part of touchdown vulture well.
Denard Robinson, Jacksonville Jaguars - DK: 20 points, $255 per point, FD: 17.5 points, $388 per point
What more does Denard Robinson have to do to get folks to believe in him?
Despite a strong run of 100-yard games—including one against the vaunted Miami Dolphins defense—Robinson’s pricing continues to be depressed across daily fantasy football sites. Of course, part of the reason for that might be the fact the Jaguars are big underdogs yet again.
That won't be conducive to Robinson having a massive game, but he will still be valuable in cash games this week. He has taken over the lead back role for the Jaguars, and he has scored well in big defeat in the recent past. Plus, the Dallas Cowboys are hurting at linebacker yet again, making this a nice matchup from a defensive standpoint.
Reggie Bush, Detroit Lions - DK: 3.5 points, $1,200 per point, FD: 3 points, $2,200 per point
It's becoming increasingly difficult to resist the Siren song of Reggie Bush for Week 10.
As soon as that line was written, Reggie Bush should have been stricken from this column. After all, what were mythological Sirens but murderous beasts in the end?
It seems the daily fantasy price gods knew what they were doing with Bush.
WIDE RECEIVER
Brandon Marshall, Chicago Bears - DK: 28.2 points, $199 per point, FD: 24.2 points, $302 per point
It's all about the game script, 'bout that game script... Ok, let's not do that.
The Chicago Bears were throttled at Lambeau Field, and most of the offense suffered. The only viable fantasy choice was wide receiver Brandon Marshall, an admittedly fortunate circumstance given most of his output came on a bad pass he adjusted to and took for a 45-yard touchdown. In the end, he was a fantastic value.
Kelvin Benjamin, Carolina Panthers - DK: 22 points, $191 per point, FD: 20.5 points, $327 per point
That sound you heard during Monday Night Football was Kelvin Benjamin investors and fantasy owners snapping pencils and chewing on fingernails.
The big rookie receiver had one reception for nine yards through nearly 3.5 quarters, and it seemed like the myriad thousands of lineups that included him were about to be set aflame. Fortunately, the Philadelphia Eagles finally took their foot off the gas defensively, allowing quarterback Cam Newton to move the ball and Benjamin to score a couple of garbage time touchdowns.
Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons - DK: 19.2 points, $266 per point, FD: 16.2 points, $407 per point
It turns out some of the mojo reserved for Julio Jones went to Roddy White, who scored the lone receiving touchdown in Atlanta's road victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
TIGHT END
Mychal Rivera, Oakland Raiders - DK: 18.4 points, $207 per point, FD: 15.4 points, $370 per point
What's the theme of the week? That's right—game script.
Like his quarterback, David Carr, tight end Mychal Rivera was having a quiet day against the Denver Broncos until the last drive of the game. It was a bit of good fortune, but garbage time forges many heroes. Rivera caught a couple of passes on that final drive, including a 25-yard touchdown that made him hit on his value.
Julius Thomas, Denver Broncos - DK: 24.3 points, $202 per point
If you took a chance on Thomas in GPP formats, you were handsomely rewarded. Peyton Manning found his big tight end for a pair of touchdowns, and he far exceeded his value as a result. He wasn't nearly as big of a bargain over at FanDuel—hence why he was only recommended at Draft Kings—but he met his value over there as well.
Owen Daniels, Baltimore Ravens - DK: 4.0 points, $800 per point, FD: 3.0 points, $1,800 per point
As it turns out, Daniels wasn't a good option even in cash games. The Baltimore Ravens struggled to move the ball a bit, and Daniels bore the brunt of it in the fantasy realm.
Heath Miller, Pittsburgh Steelers - DK: 5.9 points, $763, FD: 4.4 points, $1,205
As alluded to earlier, the entire Steelers offense was a pit of despair last week. Despite a great matchup, Heath Miller tanked at all levels.
FADES
QUARTERBACK
Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys - DK: 21.84 points, $343 per point, FD: 21.84 points, $371 per point
So Batman's chiropactor did make an appearance in Dallas after all.
The injury and the matchup did nothing to stop Romo from putting up great fantasy numbers, though anyone who invested in him can probably thank receiver Dez Bryant for two of those touchdowns. Bryant was beastly on both receptions.
Even so, Romo was only a good cash game play—he didn't quite have the huge numbers relative to his cost to make him a solid GPP start.
Ryan Tannehill, Miami Dolphins - DK: 11.28 points, $656 per point, FD: 11.28 points, $709 per point
As expected, the Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions played a defensive struggle that came down to the wire last week, and Ryan Tannehill had a down day as a result. He only rushed the ball twice on the day, and he gained exactly zero yards on those carries. It didn't help that his starting left tackle, Branden Albert, was knocked out for the season.
RUNNING BACK
Le’Veon Bell, Pittsburgh Steelers - DK: 14.9 points, $469 per point, FD: 10.9 points, $798 per point
At least this one was predictable for the Steelers.
Where most options in the passing game seemed like great options, the New York Jets run defense was a tough matchup for Bell, despite how good he has looked this season. His eight receptions made his fantasy output palatable, but he didn't come close to meeting value in the end.
Lamar Miller, Miami Dolphins - DK: 1.6 points, $3,563 per point, FD: 1.1 points, $6,545 per point
A tough Detroit defensive line proved too much for Lamar Miller and the Miami running game last week. Miller was dealing with a shoulder injury as well, and he only got five touches on the day on his way to a miserable output. It was simply an awful game to invest in all aronud. Except...
WIDE RECEIVER
Golden Tate, Detroit Lions - DK: 24.9 points, $281 per point, FD: 19.4 points, $422 per point
Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions - DK: 27.3 points, $260 per point, FD: 23.8 points, $361 per point
It turns out both of these guys were solid investments despite a strong defensive showing from the Miami Dolphins. Johnson could have had another touchdown or two were it not for some spectacular plays by the Miami secondary. It seems Johnson is all the way back and fresh, as he mentioned heading into Week 10. Tate is only going to benefit from Johnson's presence going forward.
TIGHT END
Vernon Davis, San Francisco 49ers - DK: 1.8 points, $1,889 per point, FD: 1.3 points, $4,231 per point
Vernon Davis' downward spiral into fantasy oblivion continues. He had just one catch for eight yards against the Saints, though a low output was somewhat predictable. His price was tantalizing, but his matchup was not. Anyone who might have invested in Davis probably cried into their adult beverage.
