Greetings, NFL DFS Gamers! Welcome to the Awesemo daily fantasy football Single-Game Prime Time series for FanDuel and DraftKings Showdown slates. For each of the featured games, typically Sunday Night Football, Monday Night Football and Thursday Night Football slates, we will be providing a free analysis for the single-slate action on DraftKings and FanDuel. This will include team capsules as well as player rankings and comments for all of your daily fantasy needs. We have loads of information and NFL DFS picks to get into for both DraftKings and FanDuel on this Week 15 Sunday Night Football slate between the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns.
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NFL DFS Picks: Week 15 Sunday Night Football DraftKings + FanDuel
Cleveland Browns: 25.0
Quarterback
Last Monday was a heartbreaker for the Browns, who lost 47-42 to the visiting Ravens despite posting 22 points in the fourth quarter. Baker Mayfield had his second straight 330-yard passing performance, and he has six touchdowns in his last two games.
The Giants defense is finally rounding into form, and it is steadily working their way up the passing DVOA ranks where they currently sit at 18th. Their last two games they have kept Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray in check for an average of 249.5 yards passing and two total touchdowns. They did allow them a combined 20 carries for 92 yards but otherwise held those dynamic field generals in check.
The Awesemo projections are not being kind to Mayfield, with him languishing in the bottom five for the full slate. Of course when we narrow the player pool down to just one game, Mayfield rockets to the top of the list.
Wanna bet?
Alex “Awesemo” Baker’s projected stats (part of Awesemo+) have Baker Mayfield with 215.5 yards passing, which makes the under 225.5 at -115 on OddsShopper an intriguing way to hedge some our DraftKings and FanDuel DFS lineups. Click on the image below to start shopping for the best edge in betting and check out all the player props available for the Sunday Night Football action between the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants.
Running Back
While the Giants have the 14th-best rushing DVOA per FootballOutsiders, they are allowing the ninth-most fantasy points to running backs this season. Part of that is a function of playing from behind, and part of it is the result of some larger early-season performances. In their last three games they are allowing an average of 18 carries for 69.3 yards on the ground and 7.7 targets for 5.7 receptions and 43.3 yards through the air with one lonely rushing touchdown,
Cleveland leans on their running game, and Nick Chubb has been outstanding since returning from injury. In his last five games he is averaging 18.6 carries for 109.2 yards with five touchdowns. He has been less active in the passing game, with 1.4 targets for 1.2 receptions and 15.8 yards per game in the same stretch. On the single-game slate he is a strong Captain/MVP option.
Kareem Hunt is seeing 12.4 carries and 48.6 yards with 3.4 targets for 2.6 receptions and 27.8 yards since Chubb has returned. He also has two rushing and one receiving touchdown in this timeframe. On DraftKings he is a fine option at $7,000, which is a $4,200 discount from Chubb. With this pricing, I would have no issues playing both in the same lineup. On FanDuel the salaries are much closer at $12,500 and $15,000, respectively, and my inclination would be to play only Chubb unless I am building 25-plus lineups.
Never Miss An Active/Inactive Ever Again Don't get burned by a player being ruled out last minute, use our New NFL Depth Charts page to see starting lineups and inactive players for every team.Wide Receiver
KhaDarel Hodge (hamstring) missed Monday’s game, and he has been limited in practice this week. If he is in, that makes it harder to consider Donovan Peoples-Jones. Jarvis Landry has benefited with Odell Beckham on the shelf, and over his last three games, Landry has 30 targets for 257 yards and two touchdowns. He is in the mix as the Captain on DraftKings.
Rashard Higgins had two early fumbles last week and a third late, though fortunately he did not lose any. Landry had two fumbles, and Mayfield and Hunt each had one for seven total, but none were recovered by the Ravens. Over the last two games, Higgins has 19 targets for 173 yards and two touchdowns. While his price is increasing, it is still fair.
Tight End
Austin Hooper (neck) is considered likely to play after missing last week. David Njoku is dealing knee injury, though also likely to play. If Hooper suits up, Njoku falls behind Harrison Bryant in the tight end pecking order. We know that the Browns love to utilize a lot of two tight end formations, so if either Njoku or Hooper is out or limited, Bryant becomes a solid discount option.
Defense/Special Teams
Cleveland has a solid 34 sacks on the season, and they will likely be facing an old friend in Colt McCoy with Daniel Jones dinged up. The Giants have allowed at least three sacks in five of their last seven games, including a whopping eight to the Cardinals last week. New York is turning the ball over about 1.5 times a game, and the Browns are fifth in the league with 20 takeaways.
New York Giants: 19.0
Quarterback
Daniel Jones (hamstring) has been extremely limited in practice this week and is likely to miss yet another game. That means journeyman Colt McCoy will likely be under center. McCoy actually started his NFL career as a third round selection by the Browns back in 2010. While McCoy is unlikely to embarrass himself, it is also a tricky matchup against a much improved Browns squad.
Over his last 62 pass attempts, which include one game for Washington, McCoy is averaging 4.4 yards per attempt and 7.0 yards per completion.
Running Back
Wayne Gallman continues to chug along, with 70 combined yards in four of his last five games and six touchdowns in his last seven. Last week Dion Lewis scored a short touchdown. However, he has seen five or fewer combined opportunities in his last eleven games. Gallman plays on about 50-60% of the snaps, Lewis for a third and then Alfred Morris and Elijhaa Penny see about the field about 10% of the time.
In the four games since Devonta Freeman was lost, Gallman has 70 carries, Morris 23, Lewis seven and Penny two. Running back targets have a similar distribution, with Gallman at 11, Lewis five and Morris one.
Wide Receiver
In about a game and a half of action, McCoy has posted a 21 completions on 35 attempts for 154 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. The Giants have attempted more than 30 passes only twice in their last eight games. There are simply not many opportunities to go around.
With the tight ends dinged up, we may see more three-receiver sets. Golden Tate will be working the very short routes, with Darius Slayton the downfield receiver and Sterling Shepard working mostly in the mid-range. In McCoy’s last start against the Seahawks, he targeted Tate four times, Slayton one times and Shepard six times with nine targets going to tight end Evan Engram.
Tight End
Evan Engram is going to be a game-time decision with a calf injury and Kaden Smith has a knee injury, though both are expected to take the field. Levine Toilolo is the other tight end, though he is mostly a blocker. Despite playing on a third of the Giants’ snaps this season, he has seen only four targets.
Defense/Special Teams
Cleveland has not allowed a sack in their last two games, and they have ceded just six in their last seven. Their 14 turnovers are the sixth fewest in the league. New York has been solid with 20 takeaways, and their 33 sacks are in the top third of the league.
Sunday Night DraftKings Showdown + FanDuel Single Game NFL DFS Strategy
The rankings below are best utilized for building out single-entry and three-max lineups and also for head-to-head and three-man formats. They provide a nice barometer for player value, but for those of you who are taking the MME approach, remember that correlation with your lineups is key. This means matching a receiver or two if you have a quarterback in the Captain/MVP slot. This also works conversely with pairing a Captain/MVP pass catcher with their signal-caller.
EMac’s Week 15 Sunday Night Football DraftKings + FanDuel NFL DFS Rankings
Week 15 Sunday Night Football Top 10 NFL DFS Picks
- Nick Chubb:Â He is the Browns’ preferred option and getting nice volume.
- Baker Mayfield:Â We know Cleveland is a run-first team, but Mayfield has really picked it up the last two weeks.
- Jarvis Landry:Â Viable Captain on DraftKings with the full-PPR scoring.
- Wayne Gallman:Â The Giants will lean on him again, but the defense knows it too.
- Cody Parkey/Graham Gano:Â This could be a game with a fair number of field goal attempts.
- Rashard Higgins:Â A completely league-average receiver, but one in a functioning offense.
- Colt McCoy:Â Yikes.
- Golden Tate:Â A steal on DraftKings and decent on FanDuel if we see half a dozen targets.
- Kareem Hunt:Â More of his touches than expected have been carries.
- Cleveland D/ST: DraftKings pre-emptively goosed their price point to $5,600,
Week 15 Sunday Night Football Secondary NFL DFS Picks
- Sterling Shepard/Darius Slayton: The former is cheaper on FanDuel, the latter on DraftKings.
- Donovan Peoples-Jones: In play if Hodge is out, neither are exciting if Hodge is active.
- Austin Hooper:Â Might be wishing he was back in Atlanta.
- Evan Engram:Â If he were 100% healthy, he would be at the top of this section.
- Harrison Bryant:Â Moves to the bottom of the top 10 if Hooper and Njoku are out.
Week 15 Sunday Night Football Lottery Tickets NFL DFS Picks
- Dion Lewis/Alfred Morris:Â Neither is exciting with McCoy under center.
- Kaden Smith/David Njoku:Â Dinged up TE2s. If Engram misses, move Smith up to his slot.
- New York D/ST:Â At least they will be on the field a lot.
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