NFL DFS Dart Board: Week 9

As I mentioned in the Playbook write-up for Ezekiel Elliott, Pollard becomes an intriguing GPP play should we be correct about the game-flow. Should Dallas jump out to a commanding lead in the first half (no doubt thanks to Zeke rushing for 100 yards and scoring twice), Pollard will likely see an increased workload in the second half against a team that is not only down-and-out, but also one that basically is a run-funnel based on their defensive schemes. No Von Miller is also going to make things a little easier with regard to Pollard's specialty, the running back pass-play.

Also featured in the Playbook's write-up on Aaron Jones, Dillon just might be able to be used in cash games if you are in need of a pay-down for your second running back. The expectation is that the Packers will utilize a heavy run scheme this week with Jordan Love under center, so when building your lineups, you need to take multiple looks at the Draft Percentage Forecaster to check on the ownership for both Dillon and Aaron Jones. Should Jones be highly used, you can look to Dillon for your GPP lineups as a way to differentiate yourself. If the pay-down to Dillon is heavily used by the masses, you may be able to use him in cash games while pivoting to the more-expensive Jones in GPP. Both backs are going to see opportunities, so you want to go with the flow in cash and go the other way in tournaments.

While I don't have a ton of confidence in Baker Mayfield and I expect Kevin Stefanski to turn to a much more run-heavy scheme against the Bengals, the Browns are still going to have to pass the ball, right? Well, with Jarvis Landry still nursing a bum knee and OBJ gone from the roster, Peoples-Jones steps in as the next man up. He should see an increase in targets and can work as both a possession receiver and a deep threat. Also to his credit is the physical advantage he has over both Eli Apple and Chidobe Awuzie. He's been nursing a groin injury and has missed the last two games, but if he gets the green light this week, he's someone you may want to look at even for some cash games should you need a pay-down.

As always, I do my best to listen to the team and I really liked this nod to Sharpe by Colby Conway in the WR Coach article this week. Most people will turn to Russell Gage for their lineups if they are looking for a piece of the Atlanta passing game and need to keep the cost down, so pivoting over to Sharpe, who saw a solid increase to his target share last week, could be a strong move. Also, as Colby states, he probably won't be seeing much of Marshon Lattimore, so who wouldn't like a favorable match-up against Paulson Adebo?

ONLY IF DEEBO SAMUEL IS OUT!!!! I want to be very clear about this. If Samuel is playing, he will likely see the bulk of the targets. Last week, Aiyuk saw seven which was a season-high for him, but only one came inside the red zone and he wasn't able to do much with what he did see. But if Deebo is out, Aiyuk becomes the top dog and will see a significant increase in volume, especially inside the red zone where Samuel has received four targets in just the last two games. Remember, with Garoppolo under center and both Kittle and Deebo out, Aiyuk shined bright. We could get one of those this week. 

Over the past four weeks, Hardman has seen an increased role as the Chiefs are desperately trying to add another dimension to their passing attack. He's gone from averaging 4.5 targets per game over the first four weeks to 7.3 over the last four and as such, the receptions and yards have seen an increase as well. We haven't seen him break any big plays yet, but after not logging a single catch over 20 yards through the first four weeks, he's got three of 20-plus yards in his last four. The speed is phenomenal and if Patrick Mahomes can feed it to him in space, he could be off to the races.

With Noah Fant out this week due to landing on the reserve/COVID list, the man everyone calls “Albert O” because they're too stupid to learn the proper pronunciation (Oh-kway-buh-nuhm), will be front and center in a super-tasty match-up against Dallas. The Cowboys actually rank dead-last in DVOA against the tight end and are allowing nearly 60 receiving yards per game to them. When healthy, we've seen Okwuegbunam utilized as a red zone target numerous times in the past, so if the Broncos can get inside the 20, you should keep a watchful eye out for him. He's listed for both cash and GPP, but if Fant somehow gains clearance in time, Okwuegbunam can still be utilized for GPP tournaments.

Here's the type of dirty, disgusting dart-throw that helped me land the TE Whisperer moniker back in the day. Yes, Marcedes Lewis is the veteran tight end who everyone expects to be leaned on by Jordan Love, but Deguara actually ran more routes. If the Packers are going to sit in 12-personnel and use two tight ends, I imagine that Lewis will be the guy tethered to the line and Deguara being the one to run the routes. And as we often see with young, inexperienced QBs, there's always a heavy lean on passes to the TE across the middle. Gross? Yes. But we've seen worse.