This article is part of our FanDuel Fantasy Football series.
The Sunday Million contest is an affordable $5 entry with $1.75 million in prizes with $300,000 going to first place. Now is a good time of the year to check out the other contests running during the week, with fantasy hockey and basketball happening on a daily basis. Let's take a look at who's a good play this week especially with a certain quarterback out.
QUARTERBACK
The Bills' Josh Allen ($9,000) has a nice road matchup against the Jaguars who are allowing the 21st-most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks. Allen leads the position in fantasy points per game this season (26.96), and with Buffalo a two-touchdown favorite, they should have no problem scoring points.
There are a few mid-tier quarterbacks to consider if you can't take Allen's salary cap hit. The safest in that tier is probably the Bengal's Joe Burrow. He's thrown at least two touchdown passes in every game this season and had scored at least 20.34 fantasy points in five straight games. Burrow get the Browns at home this week, a team that allows the 27th most fantasy points to opposing quarterbacks.
If I'm looking for a long shot this week, I'd think about Jordan Love ($6,000). He got time during the week to work with the first-string players, and the Chiefs have been a horrible defense all season. Davante Adams ($9,000) can easily be paired with Love given their respective salary cap hits, and Adams won't be a popular play without Aaron Rodgers and coming off the COVID-19 list. One would expect the Chiefs to stack the line in an attempt to stop the running game and force Love to beat them.
RUNNING BACK
Austin Ekeler ($9,000) has one of the better matchups this week at the Eagles (30th vs. running backs), and this should be one of the higher scoring games of the week. Ekeler is averaging 19.52 fantasy points per game, the most of any running back on the main slate of games. Looking on the other side of the field, Boston Scott ($6,300) is worth considering given he appears to be the starter now for Philadelphia. He's not a guy who will see a lot of volume (think 12 to 16 touches), and Jordan Howard's ($5,700) presence doesn't help. However, this is a good home matchup for Scott, and he's a much more elusive player than Jordan catching passes out of the backfield.
One of the more economical picks at the position this week is Buffalo's Zack Moss ($6,000). The Bills are expected to score around 31 real points against the Jaguars, and Moss should definitely be a part of that. I don't mind pairing him up with Allen as that provides a nice floor with a lot of upside. Moss may be an unpopular pick this week with only 13.7 fantasy points combined in his last two contests, but before that he scored double-digit points in four straight.
A situation to keep an eye on heading into the weekend is the Arizona backfield. Chase Edmonds is banged up with a shoulder injury, and if he was ruled out, it would be a nice opportunity for James Conner ($6,100). Conner is clearly the goal line back with eight touchdowns to date and he usually gets double-digit carries. His touches might go up either way if the Cardinals limit Edmonds' workload even if he's active.
WIDE RECEIVER
Starting with the top tier of wide receivers, Deebo Samuel ($8,000) is always a good option. The 49ers make him a big part of their game plan (29 targets the last three weeks), and he's always a threat to get a carry or two out of the backfield. He's top at the position in terms of fantasy points per game (18.82), and has games of 27.4 and 31.7 this season.
The player I think provides the best value at the position is Brandin Cooks ($6,800). Tyrod Taylor ($6,900) is set to return under center, and while it's a limited sample, Cooks had games 15.7 and 18.3 with Taylor healthy. Miami's defense ranks 31st against the position, making this is a great matchup despite Miami being on the road. Using Tyrod and Cooks in the same GPP is an excellent contrarian play.
The long shot of the week (who should only be used in tournaments) is the Raiders' Bryan Edwards ($5,300). His problem this season is the lack of targets, but he's been efficient with the ones he's gotten (19.2 yards per catch). Edwards has a good matchup against the Giants who are 28th against wide receivers.
TIGHT END
While this is not a great matchup for him, Travis Kelce ($7,800) is in play this weekend despite playing the Packers and being the top hit to a salary cap. He only has 2.7 and 10 fantasy points in his last two games, and should be much lowered-rostered than usual. Last week's six targets were a season-low, so expect some progression to the mean with that stat.
Mike Gesicki ($6,500) welcomes the Houston Texans' defense to Miami Sunday, a team allowing the 30th most fantasy points to the position. Gesicki has been on fire as of late with games of at least 13.6 fantasy points four of his last six contests. He's going to break the bank like Kelce and should have easier sledding after playing Buffalo (first against the position).
The most viable, economical option of the week could end up being Denver's Albert Okwuegbunam ($4,500), but that depends on a few factors. Albert O. is dealing with a knee issue, but that doesn't seem like it'll keep him out of the tilt in Dallas. Also, his fantasy stock would point up if team mate Noah Fant (COVID-19) ends up sitting this one out. Fant is vaccinated, so he could still play Sunday. Check our news and notes over the weekend.
DEFENSE
It's grabbing the low-hanging fruit this weekend to suggest my Buffalo Bills ($5,200), but that's exactly what I'm going to do. Despite being on the road, they're two-touchdown favorites, and Jacksonville's James Robinson is looking iffy to play at this point. Buffalo has the top scoring defense on FanDuel (12.14) and should get some sacks/turnovers here.
Normally I don't even consider the Dallas Cowboys ($3,900) defense, but they have a great home matchup against the Broncos. Dallas averages 8.17 fantasy points per game, and dollar for dollar this is a similar value to Buffalo using their averages.
