This article is part of our DFS Football 101 series.
With Week 16 in the books and a lot of players sitting out Week 17, I wanted to take a look back at the DFS season by the numbers for DraftKings, by looking at the best performances and players to hit value at each position for cash games and GPPS.
Most times hitting at least 4x value (GPP):
Top Scorers:
The top quarterbacks all put up at least 3x value on average. The best cash game players were Rodgers, Ryan, Luck, and Cousins based on their lower standard deviations.
Quarterbacks
Best Value: Derek Carr $5900, 39.82, 6.7x, @ Bucs, Week 8
Best Game: Aaron Rodgers $6700, 40.18, vs Vikings, Week 16
Most times hitting at least 3x value (Cash):
- Dak Prescott, Tyrod Taylor – 11
- Aaron Rodgers, Derek Carr, Drew Brees, Kirk Cousins – 9
- Andy Dalton, Blake Bortles, Colin Kaepernick, Jameis Winston – 8
Most times hitting at least 4x value (GPP):
- Tyrod Taylor, Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson – 5
- Aaron Rodgers, Carson Palmer, Colin Kaepernick, Marcus Mariota, Matt Ryan, Drew Brees – 4
Top Scorers:
| Player | Avg. Score | Avg. Salary | Avg. Value | Standard Deviation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Rodgers | 24.8 | $ 7,367 | 3.4 | 7.9 |
| Drew Brees | 24.8 | $ 7,453 | 3.2 | 9.7 |
| Matt Ryan | 24.8 | $ 7,027 | 3.3 | 7.4 |
| Tom Brady | 22.7 | $ 7,518 | 3.0 | 8.6 |
| Andrew Luck | 22.7 | $ 7,193 | 3.1 | 9.6 |
The top quarterbacks all put up at least 3x value on average. The best cash game players were Rodgers, Ryan, Luck, and Cousins based on their lower standard deviations.
Running Backs
Best Game: Le'Veon Bell, $9000, 54.8, vs Bills, Week 14
Best Value: Jay Ajayi, $3500, 36.7, 10.5x, vs Steelers, Week 6
Cash
With Week 16 in the books and a lot of players sitting out Week 17, I wanted to take a look back at the DFS season by the numbers for DraftKings, by looking at the best performances and players to hit value at each position for cash games and GPPS.
Most times hitting at least 4x value (GPP):
Top Scorers:
The top quarterbacks all put up at least 3x value on average. The best cash game players were Rodgers, Ryan, Luck, and Cousins based on their lower standard deviations.
The common theme in both formats is the Ravens and Bears are two defenses you never want to play running backs against. They don't allow value in cash games or tournaments.
I found the players who didn't average at least 3x value to be interesting like Freeman, Miller, Ingram, Ware, Gore, and Forte. This group was either very inconsistent or had very low ceilings.
One of the things sharp players discovered about wide receivers on DraftKings is that the salaries were too high based on the actual scores. Most of the top tier WRs were terrible values in cash games and I wrote about this repeatedly in prior articles.
Quarterbacks
Best Value: Derek Carr $5900, 39.82, 6.7x, @ Bucs, Week 8
Best Game: Aaron Rodgers $6700, 40.18, vs Vikings, Week 16
Most times hitting at least 3x value (Cash):
- Dak Prescott, Tyrod Taylor – 11
- Aaron Rodgers, Derek Carr, Drew Brees, Kirk Cousins – 9
- Andy Dalton, Blake Bortles, Colin Kaepernick, Jameis Winston – 8
Most times hitting at least 4x value (GPP):
- Tyrod Taylor, Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson – 5
- Aaron Rodgers, Carson Palmer, Colin Kaepernick, Marcus Mariota, Matt Ryan, Drew Brees – 4
Top Scorers:
| Player | Avg. Score | Avg. Salary | Avg. Value | Standard Deviation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aaron Rodgers | 24.8 | $ 7,367 | 3.4 | 7.9 |
| Drew Brees | 24.8 | $ 7,453 | 3.2 | 9.7 |
| Matt Ryan | 24.8 | $ 7,027 | 3.3 | 7.4 |
| Tom Brady | 22.7 | $ 7,518 | 3.0 | 8.6 |
| Andrew Luck | 22.7 | $ 7,193 | 3.1 | 9.6 |
The top quarterbacks all put up at least 3x value on average. The best cash game players were Rodgers, Ryan, Luck, and Cousins based on their lower standard deviations.
Running Backs
Best Game: Le'Veon Bell, $9000, 54.8, vs Bills, Week 14
Best Value: Jay Ajayi, $3500, 36.7, 10.5x, vs Steelers, Week 6
Cash games:
- The following running backs hit for at least 3x value the most times:
- David Johnson – 10
- Frank Gore – 9
- DeMarco Murray, Isaiah Crowell, LeSean McCoy, Le'Veon Bell, Melvin Gordon – 8
- Ezekiel Elliott, LeGarrette Blount, Jordan Howard - 7
- The following teams allowed the most running backs to hit for at least 3x value:
- 49ers – 15
- Falcons – 14
- Bengals, Browns, Colts, Chiefs – 12
- The following teams allowed the fewest running backs to hit for at least 3x value:
- Ravens, Bears – 6
- Cardinals, Cowboys, Giants, Seahawks – 7
- The following running backs hit for at least 4x value the most times:
- The following teams allowed the most running backs to hit for at least 4x value:
- 49ers - 12
- Colts, Saints – 8
- Vikings – 7
- The following teams allowed the fewest running backs to hit for at least 4x value:
- Giants – 2
- Falcons, Ravens, Bears, Lions - 3
The common theme in both formats is the Ravens and Bears are two defenses you never want to play running backs against. They don't allow value in cash games or tournaments.
- The following running backs had at least 25 points in a game:
- David Johnson – 10
- Le'Veon Bell - 7
- LeSean McCoy - 6
- Ezekiel Elliott - 5
| Player | Avg. Score | Avg. Salary | Avg. Value | Standard Deviation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Le'Veon Bell | 24.8 | $ 8,458 | 3.3 | 10.8 |
| David Johnson | 27.9 | $ 8,360 | 3.4 | 8.2 |
| Ezekiel Elliott | 23.2 | $ 7,607 | 3.1 | 8.7 |
| LeSean McCoy | 22.7 | $ 7,250 | 3.1 | 10.1 |
| DeMarco Murray | 20.5 | $ 6,993 | 3.0 | 6.4 |
I found the players who didn't average at least 3x value to be interesting like Freeman, Miller, Ingram, Ware, Gore, and Forte. This group was either very inconsistent or had very low ceilings.
Wide Receivers
Best Value: Davante Adams, $3900, 10.6x, 41.2 vs Bears, Week 7
Best Game: Julio Jones, $9200, 51.0 vs Panthers, Week 4
Cash Games:
- The following wide receivers hit 3x value the most:
- Marqise Lee, Kenny Stills – 9
- Tyrell Williams, Adam Thielen, Rishard Matthews, Pierre Garcon, Michael Crabtree – 8
- Davante Adams, Sterling Shepard, Michael Thomas, Jamison Crowder, DeSean Jackson, Cole Beasley – 7
- The following teams allowed the most wide receivers to hit at least 3x value:
- Titans – 24
- Eagles – 19
- Cardinals, Rams, 49ers – 18
- The following teams allowed the fewest wide receivers to hit at least 3x value:
- Broncos – 4
- Colts, Vikings, Steelers – 11
- Bengals, Seahawks, Texans – 12
GPP:
- Hit at least 4x:
- Marqise Lee, Tyreek Hill – 6
- Cameron Meredith, Davante Adams, Jamison Crowder, Michael Thomas, Taylor Gabriel – 5
- Hit at least 20 points:
| Player | Avg. Score | Avg. Salary | Avg. Value | Standard Deviation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antonio Brown | 21.3 | $ 9,267 | 2.3 | 9.6 |
| Jordy Nelson | 20.5 | $ 7,473 | 2.8 | 9.7 |
| Odell Beckham | 20.0 | $ 8,720 | 2.3 | 9.6 |
| Mike Evans | 19.9 | $ 7,927 | 2.6 | 10.3 |
| Julio Jones | 19.9 | $ 9,154 | 2.2 | 13.8 |
One of the things sharp players discovered about wide receivers on DraftKings is that the salaries were too high based on the actual scores. Most of the top tier WRs were terrible values in cash games and I wrote about this repeatedly in prior articles.
Tight Ends
Best Value: Dwayne Allen, $2600, 29.2 points, 11.2x, vs Jets Week 13
Best Game: Travis Kelce, $5000, 36.0 points, vs Broncos Week 16
- The following tight ends have hit for at least 3x value (Cash):
- Kyle Rudolph – 9
- Hunter Henry, Jack Doyle – 8
- Cameron Brate, Travis Kelce – 7
- The following tight ends have hit for at least 4x value (GPP):
