This article is part of our DFS Football 101 series.
Being able to extract value on a weekly basis is the key to winning in daily fantasy football. One of the most important metrics to look at is the dollars per point. You take the salary of a player and divide it by the number of points the player has scored to create your value metric.
You have to take into consideration the overall point total of a player, because lower priced players are always going to have a great dollar per point ratio, but that does you no good if those discount are projected to score eight points.
The way to use this data is to look at the current FanDuel salaries of these players this week, and see who is closest to their yearly average and has a great matchup.
Data is from FanDuel through Week 8.
Quarterback (Average points, Average Salary, Average $ per point)
League Average 16.8 points,$7498 salary, $685 per point
Top 10n Value Quarterbacks
Kyle Orton - 19.1, $6425, $344
Carson Palmer - 19.2, $7125, $373
Andrew Luck - 25.9, $9688, $386
Mike Glennon - 15.4, $6060, $420
Ryan Tannehill - 17.5, $7071, $422
Peyton Manning - 24.5, $10071, $422
Philip Rivers - 21.3, $8625, $427
Russell Wilson - 22.4, $8386, $440
Colin Kaepernick - 18.8, $8129, $456
Jay Cutler - 19.8, $8188, $460
Bottom Five Value Quarterbacks
Geno Smith - 11.0, $7075, $2130
Kirk Cousins - 16.2, $7050, $828
Andy Dalton - 16.0, $7886, $618
Cam Newton - 16.7, $8171, $615
Matthew Stafford - 17.7, $8788, $612
If you noticed the $ per point at the quarterback position is significantly lower than all the other positions. Quarterbacks have the ball in their hands more than any other position and produce a much more constant output. We also know in season long fantasy that "waiting" on the quarterback position is a popular strategy because of the depth at the position. Finding a mid-tier quarterback with a great matchup is a solid strategy in daily.
Running Back
League Average - 9.3, $6241, $1489
Top 10 Value Running Backs
Mark Ingram - 20.1, $5733, $288
DeMarco Murray - 21.7, $9038, $420
Ahmad Bradshaw - 15.3, $6013, $435
Ronnie Hillman - 14.7, $5925, $468
Justin Forsett - 12.9, $5738, $484
Arian Foster - 22.1, $8643, $486
Branden Oliver - 15.7, $6040, $523
Le'Veon Bell - 17.7, $8600, $528
Matt Forte - 21.2, $8925, $549
Lamar Miller - 13.5, $6800, $552
Bottom 10 Value Running Backs
Maurice Jones-Drew - 2.3, $5700, $3204
Chris Johnson - 6.3, $6500, $2344
Frank Gore - 9.0, $7357, $2253
Zac Stacy - 6.9, $7543, $1985
Bernard Pierce - 6.1, $5440, $1915
Donald Brown - 5.3, $5720, $1845
C.J. Spiller - 8.0, $7486, $1838
LeSean McCoy - 10.4, $8686, $1803
Bishop Sankey - 5.8, $5800, $1797
Doug Martin - 6.5, $7140, $1669
These numbers show you can find value at the running back position because the injury factor opens up those lower priced backups who are thrust into great opportunities (Oliver, Forsett, Hillman).
Wide Receiver
League Average - 9.0, $5965, $1418
Top 15 Value Wide Receivers
Martavis Bryant - 16.9, $4800, $323
Golden Tate - 15.7, $5925, $457
Antonio Brown - 20.4, $8488, $474
Mohamed Sanu - 14.3, $5986, $498
T.Y. Hilton - 15.7, $6888, $538
Mike Wallace - 12.4, $6586, $575
James Jones - 10.9, $5286, $585
Emmanuel Sanders - 16.1, $7529, $622
Randall Cobb - 16.8, $8063, $642
Demaryius Thomas - 19.7, $8900, $662
Mike Evans - 9.6, $5950, $686
Dez Bryant - 14.5, $8675, $696
Julio Jones - 14.5, $8613, $732
Kelvin Benjamin - 13.0, $6488, $733
Jordy Nelson - 16.8, $8400, $748
Bottom Ten Value Wide Receivers (this list is filtered, and I took the ten biggest names)
Calvin Johnson - 11.5, $9120, $2710
Michael Floyd - 8.1, $6443, $2358
Wes Welker - 6.7, $6760, $2357
Torrey Smith - 7.9, $5688, $1870
Brandon Marshall - 10.4, $7988, $1707
Percy Harvin - 7.3, $7333, $1692
Justin Hunter - 7.1, $5400, $1629
Brian Hartline - 5.3, $4714, $1532
Tavon Austin - 4.2, $5300, $1460
Kendall Wright - 9.8, $6175, $1415
Martavis Bryant only has a two game sample size, but it sure looks like he will be a steal going forward. Tate and Sanu have taken advantage of their No. 1 wide receivers going down due to injury. Brown has become the most consistent weekly fantasy football player overall. Hilton has gone from being a tournament boom-or-bust type player to Luck's favorite target.
Calvin Johnson has suffered and tried to play through injury, but until he comes back and that salary starts to drop he will be very hard to roster. Floyd has probably been the biggest disappointment, as he looked to be a breakout star this year. The early in jury to Palmer certainly didn't help Floyd's value, but now he hasn't been targeted much the past couple weeks either.
Tight End
League Average - 7.4, $5443, $1654
Top Five Value Tight Ends
Travis Kelce - 9.6, $5143, $638
Martellus Bennett - 13.4, $6125, $676
Rob Gronkowski - 14.7, $7638, $697
Delanie Walker - 11.1, $5663, $777
Clay Harbor - 8.2, $5060, $876
Bottom Five Value Tight Ends
Jordan Cameron - 6.2, $6067, $2014
Larry Donnell - 9.6, $5214, $2012
Jordan Reed - 7.3, $5450, $1966
Jimmy Graham - 12.1, $7914, $1777
Coby Fleener - 6.1, $5438, $1725
Kelce has been an internet darling, so it is good to see him be the best value at the tight end position. Bennett was gaining a lot of steam in the preseason and it has carried over into the regular season. Cameron, Graham, and Reed have been battling injuries, while Donnell was a huge value early on but has disappeared in the Giants offense.
Defense/Special Teams
League Average – 7.0, $4976, $1634
Top Five Value Defenses
Lions - 9.4, $4838, $724
Eagles – 12, $5186, $832
Texans - 9.1, $5050, $860
Browns - 7.7, $4886, $884
Broncos - 7.3, $5143, $899
Bottom Five Value Defenses
Panthers - 5.8, $5438, $3010
Raiders - 2.9, $4557, $2587
Seahawks - 4.7, $5400, $2344
Redskins - 5.4, $4650, $2183
Saints - 3.7, $4729, $2113
The Panthers, Seahawks and Saints have fallen off considerably this year, whereas the Raiders and Redskins are just not very good. The Lions have finally emerged with their great defensive line, and the Broncos made significant upgrades on defense, especially with Von Miller back.
Kicker
League Average – 8.2, $4960, $980
Top Five Value Kickers
Adam Vinatieri - 10.1, $5225, $553
Chandler Cantanzaro - 9.8, $5057, $571
Justin Tucker – 10.5, $5200, $585
Caleb Sturgis - 9.0, $4929, $631
Cody Parkey - 10.2, $5043, $631
Bottom Five Value Kickers
Josh Brown - 6.1, $4900, $1842
Robbie Gould - 5.6, $4650, $1433
Matt Bryant - 7.2, $5150, $1422
Greg Zuerlein - 6.2, $4829, $1405
Sebastian Janikowski - 5.4, $4729, $1397
The interesting thing about the kickers is you have the consummate veteran in Vinatieri, but then you have four young kickers who have entered the league and had a lot of success.
