QUARTERBACKS
Matthew Stafford $8,500 - This one is a bit of an against the grain type of pick as Stafford has not been a great fantasy option so far in 2014. He has yet to throw for 3 touchdowns in a game this year and has had an injury filled receiving core that hasn't helped his cause. He also has a tough matchup on paper against a Dolphins defense that has been playing very well the past few games. All of those negatives can be washed away by just as many positives as Stafford will be playing at home and is coming off of a bye Week and should be well rested. His price is also very moderate at $8,500 as he could see a breakout game with his top WR in Calvin Johnson likely back in Week 10.
Ben Roethlisberger $8,300 - It is going to be hard to not roster Roethlisberger this week at $8,300 especially in a fantastic matchup against the weak NY Jets secondary. Add in the fact that Roethlisberger has thrown 12 touchdowns over the past 2 games and he is pretty much a must play at the position and probably the safest plug and play on the weekend.
Cam Newton $7,700 - Newton has had his struggles to start the season but a high scoring matchup against the Eagles might be what he needs to help turn his fantasy season around. Newton has the ability to win games with both his arm and his feet and that is a always a huge bonus in the fantasy football world. On Monday Night Football he is a strong option to end the week as a top 5 fantasy QB against an Eagles defense that gives up a lot of yards and points. Just like Stafford this is an off the radar type of pick and Newton is probably going to be one of the lesser owned star QB's on the weekend.
Value Plays: Mark Sanchez $6,600, Josh McCown
RUNNING BACKS
DeMarco Murray $9,300 - It feels as if Murray has been the entire Cowboys offense so far in 2014. He is seeing an incredible amount of touches through the first 9 games with 225 carries for 1,133 rushing yards, 7 touchdowns and 30 receptions for 250 receiving yards. He is coming off back to back games where he only carried the ball 19 times in each game and last game was his toughest matchup on the season against a solid Cardinals run defense that held him to just 79 yards on the ground and kept him out of the endzone. All that should change this week in London as the Cowboys take on the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars. After two straight loses you have to think the Cowboys come out strong against the Jaguars and try to establish the run game right out of the gate and give Murray a heavy dose of carries once again. A 25-30 carry type of game for Murray is what I envision and with that type of work he is bound to hit the endzone multiple times against a very weak Jaguars run defense.
LeSean McCoy $7,700 - Still with just 1 touchdown on the season back in Week 2 but McCoy has been playing well the past 4 Week's showing more patience and great vision finding the open lanes. He has 430 rushing yards over the past 4 games and last week against the Texans he actually had a touchdown scooped away by Chris Polk on the goalline as McCoy did all the work to get the Eagles down there before Polk spelled him. McCoy is an elite RB and to have the ability to roster him at $7,700 on a Monday Night game is a no brainer.
Ronnie Hillman $7,400 - The question in this Raiders and Broncos game is do you play the Broncos passing game or fade it and go all in on the running game? Hillman's $7,400 price makes him the play for me as all the Broncos passing options are very expensive and will make it tough to put together a full team. The Raiders run defense has shown that they can be exploited and if this game gets out of hand by halftime it wouldn't be surprising to see Hillman get a heavy workload the rest of the way.
Bobby Rainey $6,700 - Rainey has took over as the lead RB in Tampa Bay and he has shown that he can produce both running the ball and catching the ball out of the backfield. He has the best matchup for any RB this Week against the Falcons and their lackluster run defense. He comes at a very affordable price and makes for an excellent RB2 play with some potential upside.
Value Plays: Darren Sproles $6,300, Darren McFadden $6,100
WIDE RECEIVERS
Antonio Brown $9,100 - Ok here is Brown's statline through 9 games this season, 71/996/8. Basically you are banking on Brown to get you an 8/110/1 statline each week and he is delivering on those numbers. There isn't a better matchup at the WR position this Week then what Brown has against the Jets secondary. He is the highest priced WR and rightfully so as he has been the best WR all season long.
Julio Jones $8,000 - There has been a rule this season to start as many offensive players as possible against anyone playing the Buccaneers. The Falcons have struggled this season but coming off a Bye Week and getting a great matchup against Tampa Bay is setting up perfect for Julio Jones to have a massive game. Jones is seeing 10+ targets a game on average and has piled up 734 yards and 3 touchdowns over the first half of the season.
Brandon Marshall $7,300 - The Bears are on a downward spiral of late but if they are wanting to save their season it has to start this Week in Green Bay in almost a must win type of game. Marshall has voiced his frustrations with the offense and with the Bears coming off a Bye Week it will be interesting to see how they look on offense and if Cutler and Marshall can get some consistent chemistry going with each other. Marshall has been targeted 29 times over the past 3 Bears games but has down very little with those targets with only 15 receptions for a modest 196 yards and 0 touchdowns.
Kelvin Benjamin $6,700 - The rookie WR has put up a respectable 40/589//5 statline on 78 targets on the season and has shown flashes of star power with fellow QB Cam Newton. In a Primetime game against the Eagles this Week you have to feel safe using Benjamin in your lineups and makes for a nice combo to use with Newton.
Mike Evans $6,600 - Evans made his presence felt last week against the Browns converting his 11 targets for a 7/124/2 statline. Once again this week Evans gets a nice matchup against the Falcons soft secondary and should be able to give fantasy owners another solid statline and find the endzone.
Value Plays: Martavis Bryant $6,100, Dwayne Bowe $6,000, Torrey Smith $5,900
TIGHT ENDS
Jimmy Graham $7,500 - Graham secured all 7 of his targets last week against the Panthers for 83 yards and a touchdown. He is finally looking healthy once again and with a big NFC game this week against the 49ers he is going to be counted on to make some plays. With Rob Gronkowski on a Bye Week, the top TE options this week are Graham and Julius Thomas but both are priced around the same range so I like to take Graham as he is the main focal point of Drew Brees passing offense.
Travis Kelce $6,200 - Kelce has 4 touchdowns in the past 6 games and has become a favorite target for QB Alex Smith. The downside to Kelce is that he only plays on a limited amount of snaps so getting a massive upside game out of him might be harder than some of the other big name TE's around the league.
Value Plays: Vernon Davis $5,500
KICKERS
Steven Hauschka $5,100 - Hauschka now has kicked at least two field goals in 7 of 8 games this season and is coming off his best performance last week against the Raiders where he went 3 for 4 and added 3 extra points. He should once again have plenty of tries to put points on the board with a home game against a suspect Giants defense.
Brandon McManus $4,700 - McManus is the best value kicker on the board as he plays for the high flying Broncos offense and gets matchup against a weak Raiders defense. The problem with McManus is that he has played in 3 straight games without making a field goal and only has a total of 9 field goal attempts through the Broncos first 8 games. Even with all that being said his price of $4,700 just seems too appealing to pass up.
Value Play: Matt Bryant $4,500
DEFENSE
Seattle Seahawks $5,400 - Whenever the Seahawks have a home game you want to take notice and see if you can plug them into your lineup. Everything is lining up for the Seahawks to repeat last Week's success against the Raiders and put up a similar performance against the Giants at home this week.
Arizona Cardinals $5,100 - The Cardinals have the best record in the NFL but are still fighting to get name recognition. The defense has been one of the main reasons why they sit at top of the NFL with a 7-1 record. With a tough NFC West matchup against the Rams this weekend it is going to be a battle at the line of scrimmage.
Value Plays: St Louis Rams $4,600
SUGGESTED ROSTER ($60,000) - Cash Games
- QB Josh McCown TB (vs ATL) $5,700
- RB DeMarco Murray DAL (vs JAC) $9,300
- RB LeSean McCoy PHI (vs CAR) $7,700
- WR Martavis Bryant PIT (at NYJ) $6,100
- WR Julio Jones ATL (at TB) $8,000
- WR Mike Evans TB (vs ATL) $6,600
- TE Jimmy Graham NO (vs SF) $7,500
- K Matt Bryant ATL (@TB) $4,500
- D St. Louis Rams (at ARI) $4,600
