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 12 of the NFL season. We are back for another year of DFS domination and we have some new tools to take advantage of from my team over at WinDailySports.com.
Quarterbacks
Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
$7,300 DRAFTKINGS
$8,400 FANDUEL
After three clunkers, Hurts came back with a vengeance in Week 11. The zero passing touchdowns mean nothing at the end of the day when you can score three on the ground. The rushing upside he provides secures a safe floor for cash games and the tournament upside to climb the leaderboards. The New York Giants defense is beatable across the board, and with the Eagles walking into New York as favorites with a projected point total of 24, things are again looking up for Hurts. The analysis is simple on this one: Take the quarterback with the highest rushing upside on a smaller-than-usual slate with guys like Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Dak Prescott and Kyler Murray not playing.
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Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers
$5,600 DRAFTKINGS
$8,000 FANDUEL
… Similar story here with Newton. Since he returned to Carolina he has scored rushing touchdowns in both games capping off a 26-point performance in Week 11. Newton has fallen into a great situation to revamp his career with weapons like Christian McCaffrey, D.J. Moore, and a solid defense around him. The price is right on Cam and the matchup is elite. The Dolphins rank 27th against opposing quarterbacks and give up the 29th-most passing yards per game. Newton checks all the boxes in Week 12: A cheap price, rushing upside, plus an ideal matchup. Feel free to play Cam in both cash games and tournaments this Sunday.
Running Backs
Christian McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers
$9,000 DRAFTKINGS
$9,700 FANDUEL
I haven’t rostered McCaffrey all season due to injuries and an inflated price tag, but this is the week I’m buying in. Coming off 24-plus-point games in back-to-back weeks has me looking for ways to pay up for him in Week 12. Like I stated above, the Dolphins’ secondary is near league worst, and this is where McCaffrey is doing most of his damage these days. It’s an interesting stack to play Cam (for his rushing upside) and take CMC (for his receiving upside) as quarterbacks and running backs typically don’t correlate so well. With the Panthers projected to score 22 points, currently playing Cam with McCaffrey together secures the touchdown equity through both the air and ground in what could be a very solid floor for cash games if the Panthers show up in Week 12.
AJ Dillon, Green Bay Packers
$5,900 DRAFTKINGS
$6,900 FANDUEL
Dillon is in the exact same spot as last week and we get a $300 discount on DraftKings. Dillon was able to lock in 15.7 DraftKings points last week without scoring a touchdown, which is a solid floor to lock into at this price. Dillon still is the goal-line back and touchdown equity should be strong this week against the Los Angeles Rams. With a 47-point total in what Vegas is predicting to be a very close game through all four quarters, I expect a heavy workload from Dillon this week to secure him as the best value running back on the slate. Lock him into both cash games and tournaments in Week 12.
Wide receivers
Deebo Samuel, San Francisco 49ers
$7,900 DRAFTKINGS
$8,000 FANDUEL
As long as Deebo stays on the field and stays healthy against the Minnesota Vikings, he has the most upside at the position by my standards. Cementing his role as one of the most talented offensive players in the game, Samuel continues to terrorize defenses each week. Deebo has averaged 22 fantasy points per game and truly possesses upside not many other receivers can reach. I have this game rated as his easiest matchup of the season so far, which puts Deebo at the top of my rankings at Win Daily Sports. The Vikings rank 30th against wide receivers, and it seems like to me that every time they face off against a solid offense the total of the game shoots over 60 points. I love this game from a stack perspective, and I will be buying a lot of shares from this game in Week 12.
Laviska Shenault, Jacksonville Jaguars
$4,400 DRAFTKINGS
$5,600 FANDUEL
One of these weeks Shenault’s talent will show up on Sunday, and I hope I am still rostering him at that point. With Jamal Agnew now out and a soft matchup versus the Atlanta Falcons, Week 12 is lining up for a big week for Shenault. The targets have been there for him the past five weeks, averaging around six per game, and he may see a slight uptick this week. The price is right on Shenault, and the Falcons are allowing 27 points per game, so we are expecting some scoring from the Jaguars. I will roll the dice here and say Week 12 is the first time this season Shenault finds the end zone, and I will be taking shots on what should be low ownership on him.
Tight ends
Kyle Pitts, Atlanta Falcons
$6,100 DRAFTKINGS
$6,600 FANDUEL
Pitts has been quiet ever since Calvin Ridley went down and has had mediocre performances the past four weeks. This is a get-right spot for Pitts. The Jaguars rank 23rd against opposing tight ends, and the defense is giving up 25 total points per game on the season. The targets and talent is still there, and it simply comes down to finding ways to get him open and into the end zone. With some nice value on the slate and the top tier tight ends off, I am going back to the well with Pitts in Week 12.
Rob Gronkowski, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
$4,400 DRAFTKINGS
$6,500 FANDUEL
Tom Brady came right back to Gronkowski with eight targets in his first week back from injury, which is a great sign for fantasy owners. If the game stayed close with the New York Giants, we could have seen a 10-catch, 100-yard performance out of him last week. Now, Gronk is in a nice spot against the Indianapolis Colts, which should be a high-scoring affair with the game total set at 53. On top of that, the Colts currently rank 29th against opposing tight ends, which we know Brady will look to expose early and often. Take the discount on Gronk in Week 12 and let’s find some pay dirt on the field and in our lineups.
Good luck in Week 12, and if you ever have any questions, please hit me up on Twitter!
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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