Last week, I was dismayed to report that Week 7 had been a total disaster for my Daily Fantasy Sports squads - but I vowed not to give up my quest to prosper in the DFS space.
This week, I am on the other side of the divide, and am happy to report that I went 10-for-12 in 50/50 leagues during Week 8, although I didn't place in any of the four large tournaments that I also entered. After an 0-fer, I will gladly take 10-out-of-16 overall (62.5% win percentage). The wild roller-coaster ride continues at FanDuel! I am enjoying the thrill ride (most of the time!), friends. 8^)
After a "Never Surrender" moment, it is a good thing to head into the Week 9 with some renewed confidence. It doesn't matter why you fell down - it only matters that you get up and keep going.
This week, I've been noodling around with Maurile Tremblay's Interactive Value Chart: FanDuel as I cross-check my DFS lineups. I commend it (them, he does several across many DFS sites) to your attention as a good way to make sure you aren't rostering someone that all of our DFS experts hate. Don't worry if you have someone projected with a few more fantasy points than the projectors (in my opinion), but it is definitely worth cross-checking players' news if one or more of your favorites for the week is slagged by all four of the experts/the average column. You may have missed an important news item or a late-week injury relating to that player. You can't be too careful with your players' minutes on the field.
As I have mentioned previously, I write the weekly rushing and passing matchups around here - so one of my guideposts for DFS at FanDuel is to only consider players that do not have tough or bad matchups heading into Week 9. Looking at the matchups this week, two of the most favorable pairings I see are:
1. PHI Passing Offense at HOU: The Houston pass D is ranked 28th in the NFL allowing 271.4 net passing yards per game, with 15 pass TDs given up vs. seven interceptions and 15 sacks generated to date (tied for 13th and 18th in the NFL, respectively). Rookie Zach Mettenberger threw 27/41 for 290 yards, two TDs and one interception (with two sacks taken for -9 yards) vs. Houston last week. Yes, some of Mettenberger's numbers were due to garbage time padding, but I don't mind getting garbage time fantasy points. Bottom line here is that Houston has given up lots of passing yardage and multiple passin touchdowns to most opponents this year, and Foles can throw for a lot of both (36/62 yielding 411 yards passing, two TDs and two interceptions last week). Read through the matchup to see how much Foles relies on Jeremy Maclin, or take my word for it and stack him with Foles this week.
2. MIA Rushing Offense vs. SD: The Chargers have allowed a lot of scoring to opposing backs of late - 30/139/2 rushing to the Broncos last week and and 39/154/1 rushing to the Chiefs two games ago. Meanwhile, Lamar Miller has posted 32/139/1 rushing and 5/43/0 receiving during that same two week span as the Dolphins' lead running back. At home in mild SunLife Stadium on Sunday, I like Miller to shine this week.
As I will be taking breaking news and updated injury reports into consideration while crafting my Week 9 DFS squads right up until kickoff on Sunday (I am putting my own money on the line here, after all), I will post my Week 9 results and lineups in next week's edition of Old Dog Learns New Tricks. I hope that you, the reader, will check back in to see how a fellow DFS beginner fared in the eighth week of the 2014 season, along with sharing some thoughts about DFS in Week 10.
Also, I hope that YOU win all YOUR leagues this week! Good Luck!
Roster 1
Position | Player Name | Salary | % Owned | Points |
QB | Mike Glennon | $6,800 | 2 | 11.14 |
RB | Jamaal Charles | $8,700 | 10.8 | 23.1 |
RB | Arian Foster | $9,100 | 13.6 | 37.3 |
WR | Michael Floyd | $6,500 | 12 | 0 |
WR | Louis Murphy | $6,500 | 1.8 | 2.1 |
WR | Sammy Watkins | $7,300 | 14.5 | 23.2 |
TE | Zach Ertz | $5,400 | 10.3 | 7.3 |
K | Dan Carpenter | $4,900 | 4.2 | 15 |
D | Kansas City Chiefs | $4,800 | 12 | 19 |
Roster 2
Position | Player Name | Salary | % Owned | Points |
QB | Colt McCoy | $6,100 | 1 | 18.56 |
RB | Andre Ellington | $7,400 | 18 | 14 |
RB | Ahmad Bradshaw | $7,000 | 22 | 18.2 |
WR | Pierre Garcon | $7,300 | 1 | 6.7 |
WR | Dez Bryant | $8,800 | 23 | 10.5 |
WR | T.Y. Hilton | $7,900 | 25 | 24.5 |
TE | Crockett Gilmore | $4,600 | 3 | 3.3 |
K | Dan Bailey | $5,400 | 6 | 5 |
D | Miami Dolphins | $5,400 | 15 | 28 |
Roster 3
Position | Player Name | Salary | % Owned | Points |
QB | Aaron Rodgers | $10,000 | 15 | 26.82 |
RB | Jerick McKinnon | $5,800 | 42 | 8.7 |
RB | Mark Ingram | $6,100 | 11 | 24 |
WR | Jordy Nelson | $8,800 | 45 | 4 |
WR | Randall Cobb | $8,400 | 18 | 21.1 |
WR | Jermaine Kearse | $4,900 | 4 | 2.5 |
TE | Martellus Bennett | $5,900 | 15 | 18.5 |
K | Mason Crosby | $5,000 | 10 | 12 |
D | Houston Texans | $5,100 | 14 | 7 |