There are some weeks you can dedicate hours upon hours and crunch numbers and matchups til the cows come home and then there are some where life just gets in the way and you have to put the fun stuff aside and grind it out in the much less fun non-fantasy world. This was one of those weeks for me as the wife and I moved out of our home of 10 years. For the record, I’m ridiculously happy with the new place, but the packing and the sorting and the throwing out was such a huge pain in the ass that I don’t think I’ll ever do it again. The house I am in now is the one in which I will die. But enough about the personal life. Let’s get to the DFS universe because, while I didn’t put in a world of research, I did play a lineup that actually had me cashing in by the end of the Monday night game.
So usually I put together a pretty solid cash game lineup. I go big on my receivers, grab at least one solid running back and find myself a quarterback who is fairly safe but has some good upside based on the matchup. This week, I raced through the matchups and went more with gut feeling and a cursory glance at defensive numbers, and based on my quarterback choice and a few other darts I felt I was throwing, I figured this lineup was more GPP-worthy than it was good for cash games.
Now before I reveal the lineup, allow me to discuss tournaments for a moment. If you’ve listened to me on Sirius, you may have heard my advice regarding tournament choices for new players and those who don’t have a world of money to invest. Stick to the single-entry tournaments. The top-10 payouts may not be as lucrative, but at least the playing field is a little more level since everyone who enters is allowed just one lineup. Sure, there are probably some loopholes being exploited, but the fact remains that the field is much smaller and, in my opinion, gives you a better chance at cashing in.
So with that, I entered the FanDuel $125K Sunday NFL Safety which had a modest $2 entry fee and here’s the lineup I used:
Kirk Cousins, QB WAS – Yeah, that’s right. My gut was telling me to use Cousins against the Saints who had given up 83 points in their last two games. The defense ranked last overall and, more specifically, their pass defense ranked 31st in the league. Cousins just got DeSean Jackson back, had a healthy Jordan Reed and still had Pierre Garcon as well. This was, in my opinion, his week to shine and he did. Throwing for 324 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions was fantasy gold.
DeAngelo Williams, RB PIT – After the game he had in Week 9, Landry Jones under center and facing one of the worst run defenses in the NFL, why wouldn’t you use Williams? I was a little bummed by the slow start but figured the Browns were just stacking the box and forcing Jones to throw. A few completions to Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant would soon remedy that, but then Jones got hurt and Ben Roethlisberger, who apparently has Wolverine-like healing powers, stepped in and took over. With Big Ben looking sharp through the air, there was little to no need for a ground game. Ah well.
James Starks, RB GB – While Cousins was technically a dart, Starks was probably my first real legitimate shot in the dark. He was just named the starting running back over the putrid Eddie Lacy, the Lions' run defense was soft and their pass defense was struggling against running back pass plays. Not to mention, if the Packers went up early, they’d likely just run Starks to eat the clock. With a low cost and a half-point PPR format, if he hit, he was going to hit big. Who knew the Lions would actually show up in Lambeau this time?
Julian Edelman, WR NE – The over/under in this game was 54.5 and the Giants' pass defense had been struggling through much of the season. For my most expensive receiver, it was either him or Odell Beckham and seeing as how I thought Bill Belichick would hide some extra rolled-over coverage his way, I believed Edelman was the safer play. The broken foot put an end to those hopes and dreams.
DeSean Jackson, WR WAS – Another dart here. I knew Cousins would hook up with Jordan Reed, but I figured that with one game now under his belt, Jackson would be primed for a breakout game and this was the perfect scenario. It didn’t happen. He got his bell rung and missed part of the game and when he came back, the Skins were up so much that Alfred Morris was suddenly the featured offensive weapon. Swing and a miss!
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Brandin Cooks, WR NO – Given the number of points the Saints were giving up, you had to figure that Drew Brees was simply going to take it to the air all day. He and Cooks had been totally in-sync the previous two games (14 targets, 10 catches, 159 yards and three touchdowns) and this seemed like a strong matchup given the injuries to the Redskins' cornerbacks. While the Saints were trounced and put up just 14 points all day, those points were courtesy of Cooks and no one else.
Rob Gronkowski, TE NE – To Gronk or not to Gronk? That is the question Jeff Mans asks us every week. Well, with darts thrown at Cousins, Starks and D-Jax, I had the money on Gronk. He had been struggling a bit in previous weeks, but the Giants had also been struggling against the tight end position and this looked like the perfect time for the return of the Gronk Smash. It, of course, paid off.
Josh Brown, K NYG – My thinking was that, while the game would be a high-scoring affair, Belichick’s defense would stall Eli Manning more than they would allow touchdowns and Brown would see ample field goal opportunities. His price was low amongst the kickers and four field goals and two extra-points later, this pick was a winner.
St. Louis Rams, DEF – OK, well all my darts allowed me to pay up for the Rams, a usually reliable defense. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out here.
So with 124.84 points I finished 8,784th out of 71,839, good enough for a $5 prize. It wasn’t the big money I obviously hoped for, but a win is a win. I more than doubled my investment and for that, I am grateful.
Now some people will look at this, see my points total and question why I didn’t just put in for more games, particularly cash games. Well, first of all, I wasn’t investing more money in names like Cousins, Starks and Jackson. These were more than educated guesses, but given the “any given Sunday” phrase that goes hand-in-hand with the NFL, I figured it was just best to play it safe in a week where I was unable to dedicate as much time into lineup selection as I would have liked. Could I have won more? Probably. But you know what they say – Pigs get fat. Hogs get slaughtered.