For Fantasy Sake

If James Conner is ruled out this week, it might be pertinent to lock Jaylen Samuels in every lineup at $4,000.  With news still yet to drop about James Conner's status after sustaining a shoulder injury, the week's biggest question hangs in the balance. Will James Conner sit and allow us to play all the Jaylen Samuels at $4,000? The slate is starved for value and, it's likely if Conner does sit, Samuels is going to be the most popular play on the slate. With the top-tier running backs being so expensive -- Christian McCaffrey is $10K and Dalvin Cook is $9.5K -- their ownership levels will be directly correlated to Conner's status. The most-common build will be to use Samuels in order to fit in one of those expensive options. So, should the news break that Conner is out, expect McCaffrey and Cook to draw more ownership, which puts you in the position of two things: How many shares of Jaylen Samuels do I play? How much McCaffrey and Cook do I want? ...

Latavius Murray went absolutely off again, scoring 39.7 DraftKings points  and was the third-highest-scoring player on the slate. Having the lead role  at $5,800 should have been a signal to everyone to play him, especially in  a primo matchup against the Cardinals.  Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. That ... that right there? That's the only thing we need to be saying about Latavius Murray . With Alvin Kamara ruled out again in Week 8, all DFS players should have found the way to lock Murray into their lineups. In large-field tournaments, he was only 28 percent owned, which is far too low based on the first week we saw him take the feature-back role with Kamara out. He should've been close to 50 percent owned at $5,800. Especially considering Drew Brees was making his return and teams would have to start respecting the quarterback play a little bit more than when Teddy Bridgewater was under center. That matchup with the Cardinals...

Another woeful game for Todd Gurley signifies he is as good as done. That and more in our overreaction Monday.  Lamar Jackson is the best quarterback in football. Todd Gurley is done. Forever. And Sammy Watkins outscored Julio Jones, Odell Beckham Jr., Adam Thielin and Tyreek Hill ... COMBINED ! Of course, this is all tongue in cheek. ... right? Bruh. It's absolutely tongue in cheek. I mean, come on, Week 1 isn't even 24 hours old. For the purposes of this column, we're going to have some fun and dive into some of the most overreaction things you'll hear across the fantasy landscape after just one game played. Todd Gurley is dust. It's over for him.  Over his last six games played, Gurley has only managed to average 55.5 yards on the ground and 19.2 on 2.8 receptions per game; and, according to my math, that's a shade under 10 points per game. Now, we find out he's being usurped near the goal line by Malcom Brown -- as evidenced by him s...

Damien Williams was the preseason darling -- keyword WAS -- before LeSean McCoy was signed by Kansas City. With one of the biggest game totals on the board, Damien Williams will likely be the lowest-owned Chiefs player, and could be one of the best tournament plays on the entire slate.  Lineup building can be somewhat tough in Week 1. There's an overabundance of information on every player, and every tout everywhere seems to find a way to love every player. Some silly writer went a little long in his previous iteration, and his editors told him to cut it down a tad. Also known as ... his girlfriend wasn't exactly thrilled when she found out how much time he'd be spending in front of a keyboard. Not to worry, y'all. No way she reads this. Or, if she does, she won't have even read down this far. Caitlyn, if you are, in fact reading this ... I ... I ... I love you? I'll mow the grass later. And that's a promise. For the purposes of this co...