This article is part of our FanDuel Fantasy Football series.
Quarterbacks
The top five players at the position this week all have horrible matchups with the opposing defense ranked eighth-best or better against the quarterback position. That leads us all the way down to Ryan Tannehill ($7,300). He gets a great home matchup against the Browns who are 23rd in the league. Tannehill has averaged more than 20 fantasy points per game this season and should eclipse that mark against a shaky Browns secondary.
Taysom Hill ($7,700) might be a popular play this week after scoring 18.52 and 24.22 fantasy points in his first to starts. While the Falcons rank 31st against the position, it's important to note here the majority of that damage has been through the air and not on the ground. Hill's numbers wouldn't look as good with the four rushing touchdowns in his last two games making him a bit risky for cash.
Kyler Murray ($8,700) might be my favorite GPP play of the week at quarterback. After a subpar effort last week against the Patriots (8.9 fantasy points), his hefty salary cap hit and a tough matchup with the Rams will keep his ownership under five percent. Murray still possesses as much upside as any player, and among the regular starters has the most fantasy points per game at 27.32.
Sifting through the lower-to-mid tier options, Kirk Cousins ($7,300) seems like the safest option with a golden matchup against the Jaguars. If you really want to get crazy, Mitchell Trubisky ($6,900) is worth considering this week in tournaments. Trubisky seems to have the Lions number, scoring more than 20 fantasy points in each of their last four games against each other. Just look at the weather report before using Mitch.
Running Backs
Even though he burned us last week, I'm going back to Dalvin Cook ($10,500) this week. He's -400 to score an anytime touchdown this week, and I'll be shocked if he puts up only 8.2 fantasy points this week. There are enough other spots to find value this week allowing Cook to be a cash game option around which to build.
Devontae Booker ($6,000) is a great value this week with Josh Jacobs missing this tilt with New York. The Jets aren't good against the run, and Booker has the skill set to handle all three downs as well as the goal-line work. He's scored 12.8 and 20.8 fantasy points in two of his last four games and will likely be asked to shoulder a bigger workload in this game.
Those who gambled on Austin Ekeler ($7,000) last week were handsomely rewarded with an 18.1 fantasy-point performance. He ended up with 25 touches partially due to a whopping 16 targets in the passing game, and there was no "easing him back into the fold." This week's matchup against the Patriots isn't the greatest, but New England has to travel across the country and the volume will be there for Ekeler.
I always hesitate to let David Montgomery ($6,200) back into the "circle of trust." However, if you're not going to use Hall-of-Fame bound Mitchell Trubisky, I'd strongly consider using Montgomery. He's coming off a season-best 22.8 fantasy points despite only getting 16 touches against the Packers. The game this week should be a closer one than last week, and that narrative suggests that Montgomery should get plenty of work. Oh, and the Lions have allowed the most fantasy points per game to opposing running backs.
Wide Receivers
It's never a bad idea to use Davante Adams ($9,500) considering he finds the end zone on a weekly basis. However, there are two other top-tier wide receivers I would consider this week for tournament play. I plan on getting crazy and using both in a GPP lineups, and those two players would be Julio Jones ($8,000) and DeAndre Hopkins ($8,000). Jones is coming back from missing last week's game and is good enough he doesn't need to have a "show me" game before using him. Hopkins literally has the worst matchup on paper, taking on Jalen Ramsey and the Rams defense. For those reasons both will be unpopular picks despite having as much upside as any player at the position.
DJ Chark ($6,300) will return this week, and while coming off an injury is a bit of a red flag, I'll take my chances here. Minnesota has been the third-worst team against wide receivers, allowing more fantasy points per game than the Dallas Cowboys. Keelan Cole ($5,300) is on my radar as well in this game, and I'll figure out a way to do a lineup with each of them in one.
Michael Thomas ($7,200) is an intriguing play this week given where his price was all last season. Atlanta will likely sell-out to stop the run and slow down Taysom Hill, leaving them exposed in the secondary. Thomas' price is extremely low and he scored 14.9 fantasy points two weeks ago in Hill's first start. I'd guess near the goal line the Saints will run some type of fake run and look to Thomas in a one-on-one situation.
The long shot of the week to use a punt play in tournaments is the Texans' Keke Coutee ($4,800). Kenny Stills would be the attractive play here with no Will Fuller, but the team released him. Coutee is a shifty receiver who'll run short routes and do his best to gain yards after the catch. I can see eight to 10 targets in this game for the No. 2 wide receiver, and the salary helps open up money for other positions.
Tight Ends
My favorite play of the week at this position is the Titans' Anthony Firkser ($4,800). I can see around 10 fantasy points for him this week with the Browns being 30th against the position. Jonnu Smith was ruled out Friday, and the Titans tend to run a lot of shorter routes, which they'll need to do with Myles Garrett back. I don't mind using him in either cash or tournaments this weekend.
Zach Ertz ($5,700) while the lesser talented athlete in his family (Julie), I think he's an interesting play given his upside. He's been generally seen as a top-five tight end over the last few years, and while it's not a great matchup, he doesn't overly hurt the salary cap.
Defense
When you've delivered 14, 16, 14 and 16 fantasy points over the last four games, it's tough to get away from the New Orleans Saints ($4,800). The Miami Dolphins ($4,900) have had at least 12 fantasy points in four of their last seven games, so they are in play as well.
If I'm looking at a bargain option this week, I'm going with the New York Jets ($3,300) once again. I'm not sure Las Vegas has figured things out after last week's debacle, and they now have to travel across the country. This is an extreme option if you need to save some salary at this spot.
