The NFL DFS Season is upon us. You know what that means: Loads of content for your Week 5 DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo lineups here at Awesemo. On Thursday morning’s show, Dave Loughran and Matt Savoca take a look at Week 5 matchups for all the major fantasy players you’re looking at as NFL DFS picks to put in your FanDuel, DraftKings and Yahoo lineups, including Lamar Jackson and Kareem Hunt.
Ben Rasa's Bet of the Day Awesemo's sports betting expert Ben Rasa pours over the day's betting lines and breaks down the best bet of the day for you to build your sports betting card around.NFL DFS Week 5 Strategy Show: Upcoming NFL Matchups | 11 AM ET Oct. 08
Here’s an excerpt from Matt’s Week 5 NFL DFS and Fantasy Football Matchups Column
Indianapolis Passing Game
The Colts never trailed against the Bears in Week 4, despite an off day from Philip Rivers in the passing department. Rivers had an abysmal 55% completion rate on 29 attempts, resulting in a mere 190 yards passing, but it was enough to stay well ahead of the Bears for the entirety of the game, in large part due to a stifling Indianapolis defense. It marks the second straight game of interception free football for Rivers, particularly encouraging after he threw three picks in the first two games. Also encouraging was Rivers’ moderately increased average depth of target, as last Sunday marked his second game this season at 8.0 or more air yards per attempt. His yearlong ADOT ranks just 22nd, and his composite quarterback efficiency ranks 25th, so there’s still room to grow here, but his playing has not been losing the Colts games. ESPN ranked him 9th on the week in total QBR, indicating he’s being efficient well beyond positional average on a per-play level. His upside is limited as Colt however you slice it. Rivers has finished between the 14th and 28th best weekly quarterback in each of his last seven starts depending back to 2019. At this point in his career, we know what we’re going to get, but against a Cleveland defense that continues to give up points in bunches (despite their three game win streak, the Browns are still bottom-10 in points allowed per play), and gave up the most yards per play in the league a week ago to Dallas.
The Colts’ leader in target share and receiving yards among wideouts the last two weeks has been Zach Pascal, a stunning development considering the preseason perception that a majority of the volume would funnel towards T.Y. Hilton. Hilton has played on just 64% of snaps the past two contests (compared to Pascal’s 79%) and has posted receiving yardage totals of 53, 28, 52, and 29. It appears Hilton’s game has transformed into all floor and no ceiling, especially with the lack of touchdowns this offense is producing overall. Against the Cleveland secondary, still dealing with injuries to Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams, Hilton should theoretically have opportunities to produce, but it feels far from certain based on his first four games playing with Rivers. Hilton’s Awesemo.com projection outpaces his salary this weekend.
In his first action of the year in Week 4, tight end Trey Burton tied for second on the team in targets with 5. Along with Mo Alie-Cox (who scored another touchdown in Week 4) and Jack Doyle, Indianapolis tight ends are averaging 11.3 targets per game this season. Cleveland gives up 9.2 fantasy points over opponent average to tight ends, making all three, particularly the lesser-owned options in Burton and Doyle, exciting contrarian tournament plays this weekend.
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