Welcome to the DFS Playbook for NFL Week 14!
Hard to believe we're already here at Week 14, right? Some of us never thought we'd get this far during the pandemic, but while we struggled through some weeks with postponements, here we are in the second week of December and not a single game cancelled. I may not have always agreed with how the NFL has handled everything COVID-related, but we've gotten this far and no one is ccomplining. So, at least, allow me to throw a little appreciation the league's way.
Now as far as our week has been, a few of you have reached out to me wondering why the DFS Watch List never received any updates. Usually I get at least two days worth of updates in there, adding and subtracting players, but nothing this time around. Well, first off, I had to wait until Wednesday morning to start it, as we didn't wrap Week 13 until Tuesday night and I wanted to have all the data in. Second, there were a lot of key situations where injuries and missed practices were in play, so rather than add or subtract people based on sketchy or incomplete information, I thought waiting would be best. Turns out, I was right because you'll see a few names from the Watch List that I actually thought about cutting, but actually remain after further details were revealed. My fear was that cutting a guy from the Watch List and then having him in the Playbook might confuse people and take them off a really solid play.
One important thing to note this week is how tricky it may be to find legitimate value in cash games. It's easy to mine for cheap, high-upside plays in GPP tournaments because you're taking more chances; throwing more darts. In cash games, it's more difficult because we're looking for cheap plays who still have a relatively high floor. Those two criteria, very rarely, go hand-in-hand. As a result, it may limit us with regard to which players we pay up for in cash games. While we'd all love to use the top names at each position, that's just not realistic, so picking where we pay down is going to be key. But that lineup consstruction stuff can come later in the day or even Sunday morning. It's improtant now to narrow down this player pool and figure out who we want to ride into the green.
SUNDAY MORNING UPDATE:
With the news of Myles Gaskin landing on the reserve/COVID list, we are going to add RB DeAndre Washington as a value play and with likely high ownership, we may be able to use him in cash games. It's not great chalk -- similar to how I felt about Devontae Booker last week -- but if everyone is doing it to fit in some of the bigger names, his production almost becomes negligible.
I am also adding Washington TE Logan Thomas . He sees consistent enough targets and remains priced down at a very affordable price, particularly on Draft Kings.
As always, for those who may be joining us late, here is your three-step process to lead you up to going through your favorite Playbook plays:
Step 1: Check out the DFS Position Coaches
QB Coach -- James "Babyface" Grande (@The_Real_Grande)
RB Coach -- Justin Vreeland (@JustinVreeland)
WR Coach -- Colby Conway (@colbyrconway)
TE Coach -- Andrew Cooper (@CoopAFiasco)
D/ST Coach -- Dan Malin (@RealDANlanta)
Step 2: Check out the rest of the relevant DFS content
In addition to the positional coaching pieces, you also have things like the DFS Watch List, where I provide you with a list of players I am looking at throughout the week. We have the NFL DFS Podcast with Jon Impemba (@jimpemba777), who also does the Contrarian Corner video and special guest Babyface Grande this week, you can check out the DFS Bargains from Jen Piacenti (@jenpiacenti). Our Master of Tools, Matt Selz (@theselzman), supplies you data junkies with the Weekly Match-Up Report and everyone should also be reading the Weekly Game Previews and WR/CB Match-Up Report from Ryan Hallam (@fightingchance).
Step 3: Make your own list of players
It's real easy to just sit and wait for the Playbook, but as you are doing your research throughout the week, it is important to make notes and list the players who interest you the most. Maybe they end up in the Playbook and maybe they don't. If they're there, then great, it should mean we are honing in on the same things that make him a strong play. If not, maybe you're onto something else that someone overlooked. We aren't perfect and if you uncover something different, maybe you're right. I would be careful of routine groupthink and hype from beat writers, but often times someone will tell me something they saw about their local team that I missed and I am always looking to investigate more if its there. If you do, then say something in the chat. Talk it out and see what the rest of the #FAmily thinks.That's why the chat is there, isn't it?
With those three steps complete and discussions are in progress, you are ready to look at the Playbook players, make comparisons and finalize your list for lineups, so let's get to it.
Stacks
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