Week 12 of the NFL season is here which means it's time to take a look at the DraftKings NFL and FanDuel NFL main slates to figure out which players we should be looking to build our lineups around for our NFL DFS Tournament contests. As ugly as this Week 12 main slate appears from a value standpoint, that's what makes it a great one especially for GPP's when it comes to being contrarian with your lineup builds. If you want to take down the big NFL DFS contests you need to find those high upside contrarian players to put into your lineup that will help you differentiate yourself from the rest of the field and while you don't need to go completely contrarian with your lineup builds it is generally a good idea to find one or two players to put into your lineup each week that may go again the majority of the field in hopes that it will give you a leg up on the competition. 

 

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Top FanDuel & DraftKings NFL DFS Week 12 Contrarian Plays

C.J. Stroud, QB Houston Texans

I don't really get this one but if you look at our projected rostership for the week you will see that Stroud is expected to be less than 10% rostered in GPP contests and if that ends up being true then I need to have him in my lineups this week against the Jaguars. Jacksonville does not stop the pass all that well and Stroud has put together three straight weeks of 20+ fantasy points which included that incredible performance against the Buccaneers where he threw for 470 yards and five touchdowns. He has the upside to take down a GPP and if nobody is playing him then you can bet your last dollar that he will make my player pool.

Ezekiel Elliott, RB New England Patriots

All reports are seemingly indicating that the Patriots are going back to Mac Jones here in Week 12 and therefore many are looking at Rhamondre Stevenson who came away with 20 carries against the Colts in Week 10 before the Patriots bye week. While I think Stevenson is a fine play, I can't help but look at Elliott here who nobody is playing despite the fact that he continues to see a solid amount of carries, gets red zone work and has historically eaten up the New York Giants. If you really want to go against the grain here this week then Elliott, off a bye, against the Giants could be your golden ticket. 

Greg Dortch, WR Arizona Cardinals

Everyone is looking at Justin Watson this week along with Khalil Shakir and both of those are fine plays with nice upside but an easy pivot here is to Greg Dortch who saw 75% of the offensive snaps last week and with Michael Wilson again ruled out should see similar workload here in Week 12. I also like that Dortch and QB Kyler Murray have chemistry as Dortch was the teams top target at times when Murray was under center over these past seasons. The Rams do not have a great secondary which I think Dortch can exploit and look to repeat his six  catch effort from Week 11.

David Njoku, TE Cleveland Browns

I think Njoku here is just a victim of the price tag. He is in the mid-range when it comes to cost and the Browns are still starting Dorian Thompson-Robinson in Week 12 while being on the road in Denver. The thing is, Njoku had 15 targets last week from DTR and the Broncos are not a good defense against opposing tight ends. If nobody is playing a guy who had 15 targets last week then I'm certainly willing to give him a look in my GPP lineups.