Top-ranked daily fantasy sports pro Jason Mezrahi, founder and CEO of WinDailySports.com, breaks down his favorite DFS plays at various salary ranges for Week 13 of the NFL season.
Even though we have had great results in picking top DFS plays in this article every week, I’m going to let you in on a little secret: Our projection model at WinDailySports.com has been firing on all cylinders this season so what I will do in this article is list some of our highest projected players based off raw points and our highest point per dollar plays based on DraftKings.com pricing.
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These are some of the players Jason will be locking in his lineups on DraftKings and FanDuel for this weekend’s slate.
QUARTERBACKS
AARON RODGERS, GB
$6,800 DRAFTKINGS, $8,600 FANDUEL
To get Aaron Rodgers at a discount is something to be grateful for during this time of year. The $6,800 price tag on Rodgers allows you to get an elite and consistent quarterback at a value price tag. Rodgers has scored over 23 DraftKings points in each of his last 6 games and that should continue in a home matchup versus the Eagles. With no Mahomes on this slate and other top end quarterbacks in tough matchups, slightly injured, or missing key weapons, Rodgers becomes my cash-game quarterback and is in play for tournaments as well on both sites.
DEREK CARR, LV
$5,800 DRAFTKINGS, $7,200 FANDUEL
This play is not for the faint of heart. Derek Carr has looked great at times and has also failed fantasy owners on occasion. I truly believe Carr is an elite quarterback without elite receivers, which is why we are witnessing the inconsistency. If he had a true #1 to add to Waller I believe we would see a top-10 quarterback statistically. For the time being we have to work with what we have, and what we have is a $5,800 price tag and a matchup versus the New York Jets. They rank 30th at passing yards allowed and are currently surrendering 292 yards per game this season. I believe we see Carr’s 3rd 300 yard passing game of the season here and if all goes well we can add 3 touchdowns to the stat line. I will reserve Carr as a tournament play only in Week 13.
RUNNING BACKS
DERRICK HENRY, TEN
$9,200 DRAFTKINGS, $10,000 FANDUEL
If you need to know why we are targeting Derrick Henry simply go watch some highlight clips of his stiff arms. Henry is a beast and only gets stronger as the season progresses. Coming off three consecutive 100 yard games, Henry is carrying some nice momentum into this game. His price tag has risen so there is a reason to fade the price and possible ownership, but he should be the first running back you get into your cash games. The Browns rank 20th against defending the running back position and this game has the highest total of the slate. Make sure you lock in Henry in cash games and get ownership to this game in both cash games and tournaments.
NICK CHUBB, CLE
$7,700 DRAFTKINGS, $8,700 FANDUEL
I don’t generally like stacking my running backs from the same game, but I may make an exception for this week. We have another running back coming off three consecutive 100-yard games in a game with the highest total on the board. Chubb draws a even better matchup than Henry and gets the 26th ranked defense at defending running backs. The floor is safe for cash and the upside is there for tournaments as well. So lock in Chubb and feel free to stack this game with two players from each side.
WIDE RECEIVERS
JARVIS LANDRY, CLE
$6,200 DRAFTKINGS, $6,000 FANDUEL
Jarvis Landry has reverted to his role as the number one receiver in this offense since Odell had a season ending injury. Don’t look at the recent game logs because the Browns have been involved in several bad weather games as of late. Landry is the best receiver in this offense and he will be needed to keep up with the Titans. As I stated a couple times above this game has the highest total of the slate and if you can’t afford Chubb or want to game stack this game Landry would be a great fit either way. He is priced right, he has a high ceiling, and the floor in a high total game like this should pave the way to a good performance.
BRANDIN COOKS, HOU
$5,600 DRAFTKINGS, $6,500 FANDUEL
Cooks has been good and even great at times this year paired with Deshaun Watson. It will be interesting to see how this duo plays out the rest of the season now that Will Fuller has been suspended for the rest of the season after reportedly violating the NFL’s performance enhancing substance policy. The news came out after DraftKings and FanDuel priced out players on this slate so Cooks has now become a glaring value. The matchup is not great by any means but the pure volume of targets provides a safe floor. The game currently has a total of 51 points putting it near the top, so getting the top target from the trailing offense should be a great spot for you to build around in Week 13.
TIGHT ENDS
MIKE GESICKI, MIA
$4,200 DRAFTKINGS, $5,700 FANDUEL
Gesicki has seen an uptick in production the past four weeks with WR Preston Williams missing in action and with the addition of Ryan Fitzpatrick back into the starting lineup. It looks like Tua will be a game-time decision this weekend, but I’m guessing he will rest for another week. If he starts, I will bump down my Gesicki ownership and if he misses the game I will bump up my ownership. The matchup is great for Gesicki, as the Bengals rank league-worst at defending the tight end. With no Kelce on this slate we need to find value at the lower tier allowing us to pay up at other skilled positions in Week 13.
JORDAN AKINS, HOU
$2,900 DRAFTKINGS, $5,200 FANDUEL
Similar to the reason above in reference to Cooks, I will be rostering Akins in Week 13. He is more of a DraftKings only play where you can really stack up the rest of your lineup by locking in Akins at $2900. At this price tag you don’t need much and he truly can’t ruin your day alone. At 5 points he hits value, at 10 points he crushes value, so take the slight risk and play Akins in both cash games and tournaments on DraftKings.
DEFENSES
MIAMI DOLPHINS
$4,400 DRAFTKINGS, $4,900 FANDUEL
The Miami Dolphins have found ways each and every week to score some points. The matchup is great this week against the Bengals, and any time I have the opportunity to target a backup Quarterback please sign me up. Vegas agrees with me putting the Bengals at a team total of only 15 points. This is the lowest total on the board in Week 13 so if you have the salary to pay up lock in the Dolphins.
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
$3,300 DRAFTKINGS, $4,700 FANDUEL
The way this defense started this year it’s rather shocking that I am targeting them as a possible defense in Week 13. Bringing on Dunlap and getting Adams and a couple other pieces healthy has changed things as of late. The Giants are also playing a backup quarterback and we get to target Colt McCoy in Week 13. The Giants are only projected to score 18 points as per Vegas which is the second lowest on the slate. I believe the Seahawks are the best mid range value play at defense and I will have a bunch of shares on DraftKings.
Jason Mezrahi has been a professional, top-ranked Daily Fantasy Player on FanDuel and DraftKings for more than eight years. He has won FanDuel’s $155,555 King of the Diamond competition and placed second in DraftKings’ Fantasy Basketball World Championship, earning him $300,000. He owns and operates WinDailySports.com, which supports the DFS and Sports Betting community with resources such as tools, projection models, expert chat, in-depth written analysis and podcasts, plus much more.
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