QUARTERBACKS
Drew Brees $9,100 - The Saints are a team that is desparate for a win and this week's matchup at home against the Buccaneers might be the perfect setting for them to get it done. Brees always tends to play much better at home and this week should be a much easier task against a Buccaneers secondary that made Matt Ryan look like the top QB in the league just two weeks ago. You would normally worry about a game like this becoming a blowout for the home team but with the Saints only winning one game so far they can't afford to step off the gas. Look for Brees to air it out all day long and show no signs of letting up on the Buccaneers defense.
Nick Foles $7,900 - Foles may have had a very ugly game against the 49ers but throughout his short NFL career so far he has shown some good bounce back in following games. Last year for example he had his worst performance against the Cowboys in Week 8 only passing for 80 yards and 0 touchdowns. The week following Foles lit up the Raiders for an incredible 7 touchdown performance. With Foles coming off of a 190 yard passing performance with 2 INT's against the 49ers, the stage is set for a nice bounce back against the Rams at home.
Cam Newton $7,600 - Newton may not be the most popular pick this weekend and this might be more of a hunch play but at $7,600 he seems like a decent value against a Bears defense that has been giving up a lot of points to start the season. Newton has failed to get a rushing touchdown so far this season, but with a banged up Carolina backfield and a soft Bears run defense he might get the green light to run this weekend and see a few goal line carries.
Value Plays: Eli Manning $7,300, Alex Smith $7,000, Blake Bortles $6,400
RUNNING BACKS
DeMarco Murray $9,000 - This one is an easy slam dunk pick on paper as the Texans run defense has been very bad to open up the season and Murray himself has been the best RB in the entire league. The only question you should have about if you should start Murray or not is his high salary of $9,000. I don't see a lot of cheap RB options this week and think Murray is a great pair with Jennings as your RB combo for the week.
Matt Forte $8,700 - Through 4 games so far Forte has yet to find the endzone yet he has still been a very productive fantasy player. He has both the rushing and receiving yards of 258 and 194 but his real value has come in the form of his 24 receptions. That is an average of 6 receptions a game and equivalant of 3 FanDuel points a game just by catching a few screen passes. He is expensive and has a tougher matchup than either Murray or Bernard but he also is a fairly safe option at the position.
Giovani Bernard $8,800 - We all just witnessed what Jamaal Charles did to the New England Patriots on Monday Night. It is not out of the question to think that Bernard could have a similar type of performance of his own as he has looked explosive in the Bengals first 3 games and is a weapon on the ground and in the air.
Rashad Jennings $7,200 - Jennings could very well be the highest owned player on FanDuel this weekend as he is the best bang for your buck at $7,200 and has been the heart and soul of the Giants offense so far this season. Through 4 games he has carried the ball 81 times and added 9 receptions collecting 433 total yards and 2 touchdowns. He looks to have a cake walk matchup against the Falcons defense who have been making any normal RB look like a star. Don't over think the Jennings pick this week, just plug him in as your RB2 and reap the rewards of RB1 numbers.
Value Plays: Khiry Robinson $4,900
WIDE RECEIVERS
A.J. Green $8,500 - Even when the Bengals have an ideal rushing matchup on paper they always seem to keep going back to the passing game, and against a Patriots team that looks to be on the ropes it might be safe to say that the Bengals will go all in and go for the blowout win. Green always seems to get his targets and catches every week but only has 1 touchdown so far on the year. A 6/100/1 statline looks just about right for Green this week against the Patriots.
Jeremy Maclin $7,600 - Maclin has seen a crazy amount of targets from Nick Foles this year with 47 total through 4 games. Out of those 47 targets he has reeled in a 21/364/3 statline and looks primed for another big game at home against the Rams. Look for another 10+ target game for Maclin in a game that the Eagles will want to re-establish their fast paced passing offense.
Keenan Allen $7,000 - Keenan Allen has yet to find the endzone this year but after coming off of a 10 catch game against the Jaguars he gets another soft matchup against the struggling Jets secondary. Everything is lining up for Allen to find the endzone in Week 5 as the Chargers have one of the top passing games in the NFL this year and have been hammered by RB injuries and struggles.
Victor Cruz $7,000 - Cruz is coming off of back to back 100+ receiving games and looks to add the hat trick against the struggling Falcons defense. Eli Manning has been better of late and the Giants as a whole have looked like a team that is not afraid to attack down the field and make plays. Cruz is a definite WR1 this weekend and he should have an impressive stat line at the end of the day on Sunday.
Vincent Jackson $6,700 - Jackson has been targeted 35 times so far in 2014 but has only been able to make 13 receptions. He only has 134 yards on the season but has managed to find the endzone twice so far. With QB Mike Glennon now under center the odds of Jackson increasing his yards and receptions goes way up and this weekends matchup against the Saints on the road may see Glennon airing it out to Jackson a little bit more.
Value Plays: Andrew Hawkins $5,300, Torrey Smith $5,300
TIGHT ENDS
Julius Thomas $8,000 - Thomas has caught 5 touchdowns in 3 games so far this season and now gets one of the worst teams at covering the TE position in Arizona. I think Thomas gets the bump over Graham this week as the top TE option on the board and although expensive at $8,000 he has potential for a multiple touchdown performance. Fade at your own risk here.
Travis Kelce $5,300 - Kelce has finally arrived at the NFL level and should be considered as a top 5 TE at this point. Top 5 TE's should not be priced at $5,300 on FanDuel and even with a tougher matchup against the 49ers, Kelce is hard to ignore at that price. Besides Charles in Kansas City, Kelce looks to be the next top playmaker on the Chiefs team.
Value Plays: Owen Daniels $5,100
KICKERS
Nick Novak $5,100 - Chargers at home against the Jets seems like an easy pick for the kicker position. The Chargers have been moving the ball very well all season long and the Jets on the other hand have been letting others go up and down the field. The Jets defense does have a great defensive line and one that could help stale some Chargers drives short of the endzone and make them settle on some field goals.
Cody Parkey $4,900 - The Eagles will be coming out fast and furious on offense this week in a home game against the struggling Rams. Chip Kelly has shown some trust in Parkey from long distance and in a game that is followed by a tough loss to the 49ers the Eagles are going to be going all out on offense and FG chances are going to be plenty.
Value Play: Robbie Gould $4,600
DEFENSE
Seattle Seahawks $5,500 - I went back and forth trying to find a play for the Monday Night Game and the best option that I could come up with was starting the Seahawks defense against a Washington team that was a turnover machine last week. Kirk Cousins threw 4 INT's last week against a very modest New York Giants defense so you have to like your chances against one of the best defenses in football over the past couple of seasons.
Value Plays: Detroit Lions $4,800, Dallas Cowboys $4,700
SUGGESTED ROSTER ($60,000) - Cash Games
- QB Nick Foles PHI (vs STL) $7,900
- RB Rashad Jennings NYG (vs ATL) $7,200
- RB DeMarco Murray DAL (vs HOU) $9,000
- WR Vincent Jackson TB (at NO) $6,700
- WR Keenan Allen SD (vs NYJ) $7,000
- WR Jeremy Maclin PHI (vs STL) $7,600
- TE Travis Kelce KC (at SF) 5,300
- K Robbie Gould CHI (at CAR) $4,600
- D Dallas Cowboys (vs HOU) $4,700