For Fantasy Sake

With six teams on bye, a lot of the top options we usually go to on DraftKings, like DeAndre Hopkins, won't be available to play. So who are we going to this week with so many fantasy studs on the sidelines?  It's officially Bye-Nado. With six teams on bye, which, obviously, shrinks the slate; but with so many teams having their week off, it diminishes the talent pool. The teams that are on bye: Denver New England Philadelphia Washington Jacksonville Houston Obviously, Washington, and even Denver to an extent, are outliers on this list. The other four, however, have fantasy-viable players up and down their roster.  New England: Tom Brady, James White, Sony Michel, Julian Edelman, Mohammed Sanu and Pats DST Philadelphia: Carson Wentz, Jordan Howard, Alshon Jeffery, Zach Ertz Houston: Deshaun Watson, DeAndre Hopkins  Jacksonville: Leonard Fournette, D.J. Chark There are some fantasy heavy-hitters in that list above. But the more important fac...

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? ...

DraftKings looks to be raising prices on players who put up big games or garner large ownership percentages, but the middling players aren't decreasing in price at all. In a week where you're going to need some value, Phillip Lindsay could be your huckleberry.  How about that trade deadline, eh? One of my favorite tweets about the, uh, less-than-rousing-to-say-the-least deadline came from ESPN's Field Yates . A comprehensive recap of the NFL trade deadline: — Field Yates (@FieldYates) October 29, 2019 Sums it up perfectly. It also jives with the excitement that is being exuded about this Week 9 DraftKings slate. Don't believe me? Check the game totals put out by Vegas -- 40 percent of the slate has game totals of 41 or less, and only two games at 50 or more. Games with 41 or less: Jets at Dolphins 41 Redskins at Bills 37 Titans at Panthers 41  Browns at Broncos 39 Games with 50 or more: Lions at Raiders 50.5 Buccaneers at Seahawks 51.5...

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...

It seems as if Leonard Fournette finds his picture on every column I write, but with the usage he's getting and DraftKings refuse him to price him appropriately, I'm going to continue to tout him. The positive touchdown regression is coming, and when it does, it's going to be a barrage. He's a cash-game lock.  This time a week ago, it was the beginning of the #KoviStrong✊ movement that myself and two co-hosts of For Fantasy Sake  started. We partnered with QC Custom Tees to create the T-shirts and raise money for Kovi and his family as they traveled to Peoria, Ill., and Evanston, Ill. numerous times to get the treatment and surgeries he needed as he battled viral myocarditis.  Our attempt to raise money for the family has been great, and we've received many orders from all of you who read this column, listen to the show and live in the Quad-Cities community. Your support has been so overwhelming we at For Fantasy Sake can't say thank you enoug...

With Kerryon Johnson being placed on IR, it looks as if Ty Johnson will be the lead back in Detroit. At $4,900, Ty Johnson will probably be one of the most-owned value plays on the Week 8 slate.  Apparently, the NFL decided that THIS week was the trade deadline. A handful of trades went down. Not that we care about all of them, but some have fantasy impact, and we can't overlook them. Trades the matter: Momammed Sanu to the Patriots: Not only does Sanu get a bit of an upgrade heading to New England and having Tom Brady as his quarterback, but it likely tells us a little something about another wideout in New England. If the Pats felt the overwhelming need to give up a second-round pick for Sanu, the outlook for Josh Gordon is probably worse than originally anticipated. *Update: Gordon was placed on IR and may be waived by the Patriots.  Emmanuel Sanders to the 49ers: I tweeted out yesterday that I never thought I'd say a receiver leaving a Joe Flacco-led team wo...

Chase Edmonds was the highest-scoring running back on the slate, and was less than 2 percent owned across DraftKings.   Sometimes it be like that. Yep. Chase Edmonds happened. And it happened after we got reports from Kliff Kingsbury told reporters that David Johnson was going to be active. It went a little bit like this ... Me: Nice! Looks like DJ is going to be able to be fired up for DraftKings this week. Me: Locks DJ into 50 percent of GPP lineups. Me after Edmonds ran wild while Johnson sat on the sideline all game Here's what we have to look forward to in Week 8. QB High-End Plays Deshaun Watson $7,100 (vs. Oakland) Jared Goff $6,800 (vs. Cincinnati) Matthew Stafford $6,100 (vs. NY Giants) Value Plays Jameis Winston $5,900 (at Tennessee) Ryan Tannehill $5,100 (vs. Tampa Bay) Derek Carr $5,000 (at Houston) RB High-End Plays Saquon Barkley $8,900 (at Detroit) Todd Gurley $7,400 (vs. Cincinnati) Le'Veon Bell $6,900 (...