Welcome back to another edition of the DFS Drawing Board. We are just a couple hours away from Sunday kickoff, so I'll be keeping this one short and sweet. I have a ton of WRs in play this week, so lets focus on narrowing down our best plays.
Each week we take a step back to review the upcoming weeks matchups and crunch the numbers to develop a series of position specific articles related to top daily fantasy sports plays. Whether you are playing on FanDuel, DrafKings, or even configuring your season long NFL lineups, these articles should serve as a reference tool and helpful guide to choosing the best players. I've shortened these articles to give you only the necessities and bottom-line reasoning as to my top choices. This is a no bullshi*t article and by that I mean the players and plays I suggest are those that I will be using in my personal lineups. Nothing is excluded. We intend to win. The goal is to make great lineups, win money, have a great time, and share our success stories. If you are new to my blog or daily fantasy sports in general, I encourage you to check out my DFS Introduction post which provides some general context on what DFS is and how to play. Spoiler alert, if you like playing fantasy sports and winning money, DFS is the platform for you. Also, if you haven’t already, feel free to follow my referral links and sign up for Fanduel and Draftkings. Each provides its own set of bonuses for new users.
With that being said, here are my top plays at the wide receiver position for Week 15. Enjoy, upvote, and comment on your weekly outlook. Note, pricing now reflects what is posted on FanDuel.
WIDE RECEIVERS
JuJu Smith-Schuster - Pittsburgh Steelers
$7,800 / vs. NE / PIT + 1
JuJu is my favorite receiver to pair with Big Ben this weekend for a couple of reasons. First, there are a lot of people that are claiming Antonio Brown has fallen off a cliff and is having an awful season which just blows my mind. Thats simply not the case, he is on pace to set a career high in TDs and remains a top 5 receiver each and every week in fantasy (and the season as a whole). But teams are focusing on Brown and double, sometimes triple covering him. JuJu has stepped up in a big way and has had plenty of opportunity to showcase his own talents with most attention paid towards Brown. Big Ben clearly has developed a great connection with JuJu and for the season, JuJu leads the team in targets and yards. New England has always done a great job shutting down #1 WRs and in particular, Antonio Brown, but has also given up big performances in the passing game to secondary receivers all year. So I am focusing on finding ways to get JuJu in my lineup and pairing him with Big Ben against New England. Big targets, big yards, and red zone looks should equal another big game this weekend.
Adam Thielen - Minnesota Vikings
$8,200 / vs. MIA / MIN - 7.5
I have no idea what was going on with Minnesota last weekend. They just fired their offensive coordinator and if you watched last weekends prime time game, you would have noticed an unusual commitment to the run by the Vikings. Thats not to say they should find more balance and ways to incorporate Cook more in the offense, but it was like over the top in a game in which they trailed. As a result, for most of the game Cousins, Diggs, and Theilen struggled. In fact, Theilen didn't receive a target until the 2nd half of the game which is unbelievable considering the type of player he has become. In any case, things haven't been great for Cousins and the passing game but I suspect they get back to the bread and butter this weekend vs. Miami. Miami has struggled vs. the pass all year and even more so over the last couple of weeks. Thielen has been a monster all year both in terms of targets, yards, and TDs. Most people should be off him this weekend due to recent performance but with a great matchup and Cousins needing to prove his worth, I suspect big things are coming.
Amari Cooper - Dallas Cowboys
$6,600 / at IND / DAL + 3
Cooper has been a monster since joining Dallas and has quickly acclimated himself as Dak Prescott's favorite target. In my opinion, based on what he has done since joining Dallas and continues to show every week, he is underpriced on FD at just $6,600. Your looking at a guy that has averaged nearly 9 targets a game and has 6 TDs over a 6 week span. He has posted some ridiculous games including a 180 yard 2 TD performance vs. Washington and most recently a 217 yard 3 TD performance vs. Philadelphia. Clearly the best trade acquisition of the year, Dallas is now a serious playoff contender. I don't expect Cooper to slow down so get him while he remains relatively cheap.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
D.J. Moore - Panthers - $6,300
- Price has jumped but Moore has quickly become Newton's favorite traditional receiver target. New Orleans has struggled all year vs. the pass, so even at an elevated price, 8-10 targets could produce big numbers.
That wraps up Week 15 at the WR position. As always, good luck out there and lets win some money!
Sourced: Behind Steel Curtain / The Viking Age / Sports Illustrated