Greetings, Gamers! We have an excellent opportunity on Yahoo for Week 5, as they are running a $250,000 contest with a $15 entry fee and 19,000 entries. This flagship tournament generally does not fill more than 85-90% in the fifth week, which provides extra value for gamers. Let’s get into some NFL Yahoo Fantasy Football DFS Picks for Week 5 including Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott and Russell Wilson.
Don’t forget to check out this week’s NFL DFS On the Contrary show with Alex “Awesemo” Baker, Dave “Loughy” Loughran and special guest Steve Buzzard who has now joined Awesemo.com on the Awesemo YouTube Channel
Yahoo Fantasy Football General Strategy
As with most sites, there are many viable strategies that can be successful in large-field tournaments and of course, we do need the same amount of favor from Lady Luck as we do elsewhere.
The key thing to remember is that this is a half-PPR site, meaning receptions are worth 0.5 points and the minimum salary is $10 with an average salary per player of $22. This week, Russell Wilson is at the top of the pricing list at $41. The full scoring parameters can be found here.
Please note: Yahoo now offers CSV upload as well as editing capabilities. The latter was something that was not available until recently. Be sure to become familiar with the steps involved in this process so you are savvy with how it all works when faced with a time crunch.
Awesemo NFL Rankings
One of the most useful features of the Awesemo.com premium content is the personal player rankings from Alex Baker, aka Awesemo, for all of the main sports. The players grade out separately for each DFS site with ratings for both “projected points” and “value” receiving an A through E report card-style grade.
As a sneak preview, for this article I will be sharing the grades Full Rankings (Premium Content)
Quarterback
If you have played football on Yahoo, or if you played Yahoo fantasy baseball, you know that the strategy is to look for the cheapest quarterback or pitcher that is tolerable so you can look for more secure points and upside elsewhere. In the recommendations below, I will be highlighting several discount options at the other positions so you can build a framework that will allow lineup construction for a top-shelf quarterback along with his favorite target and still have enough salary cap to run it back with the top option on the opposing team.
For a full breakdown of Sunday Night Football click here.
Russell Wilson – Seattle Seahawks vs. Minnesota Vikings – $41 Awesemo Grade: Points A, Value A
Gamers we are in for a treat with the way that things are currently shaping up. The “main” slates on most DFS sites do not include Sunday Night Football. This battle in Seattle is currently rolling out a robust 57.0 projected point total. While the hosts are favored by a touchdown, we know that their defense is VERY suspect. It seems as though coach (or is that chef) Pete Carroll has decided to “Let Russ Cook” this year and has gone away from the favored running game. Wilson has tied the NFL record shared with Peyton Manning as both quarterbacks rolled up 16 passing touchdowns in their first four games of the season. Minnesota has allowed 300+ passing yards in there of their first four tilts and we should see Wilson flirt with that milestone on Sunday night. Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf are both coming in at $31 which has them tied for the third most expensive options at their position. That moves them into tournament-only consideration, however Wilson is viable in all formats this week.
Dak Prescott – Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants – $38 Awesemo Grade: Points A, Value A
This is actually more of a tournament recommendation as the G-men have been so bade, opposing signal-callers have not had to unleash their fury. In just one of four outings has New York ceded more than 230 passing yards this season. In his last three showings, Prescott has thrown for at least 450 yards along with nine total touchdowns. Currently the Cowboys are favored by 8.5 points. With their impressive offensive line and rushing game, we need a close game for Prescott to really make his backers happy. Tournaments only.
Teddy Bridgewater – Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons – $25 Awesemo Grade: Points A, Value A
The key for me in cash games is going to be if I want to dip down to Bridgewater in basically his best matchup of the year, or find the savings to move up to Russell Wilson. Atlanta is a bottom five defense by most passing metrics which is no surprise. The Falcons are currently one point favorites at home in a game with 53.5 projected points. Currently only the Seahawks are allowing more passing yards per game than Atlanta 401.0 to 341.5. Giggity!
Editor’s Note
Awesemo’s Player Prop Stat Projections are predicting 235.4 passing yards for Joe Burrow which is well under what his Vegas totals suggest. There is some variation in the lines across sportsbooks, so use OddShopper to take advantage of this possible money-making player prop.
*Betting odds as of Saturday, Oct. 10 at 10:05 a.m. EST
Running Back
We want to keep in mind that while running backs are very important, Yahoo fantasy uses half-PPR, which will not penalize running backs that are not as active in the passing game.
Mike Davis – Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons – $19 Awesemo Grade: Points B, Value A
Davis has been outstanding picking up the slack for the injured Christian McCaffrey. He should once again approach 25 combined carries and targets. The Awesemo projections love him with 105 combined yards and an 80% chance of scoring a touchdown. Alex also has him ranked as the fifth best overall play this weekend for half-PPR scoring and in full-PPR he moves up to fourth.
Ezekiel Elliott – Dallas Cowboys vs. New York Giants – $35 Awesemo Grade: Points A, Value A
This is a phenomenal spot for Elliott who is a true three-down workhorse. There is not much else to say other than he will be popular in tournaments.
James Connor – Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Philadelphia Eagles – $24 Awesemo Grade: Points B, Value B
Consider Connor sort of an Ezekiel Elliott lite version for the Steelers. We are getting a significant $11 discount and the engine behind the Pittsburgh offense should come in at one-third to one-half of the popularity as his Dallas counterpart.
Dalvin Cook – Minnesota Vikings at Seattle Seahawks – $32 Awesemo Grade: Points A, Value A
Hopefully the other gamers skip beyond this as I tucked it behind the other running back recommendations. Okay, just between us, I do not see another option even close to Cook from a point per dollar or a raw point perspective. The matchup on Sunday night in Seattle without the vaunted 12th Man is sublime. While the Seahawks have been excellent against the run, they are porous against the pass. While the Vikings have not had to turn to their running backs in the passing game yet this season, they are facing an all hands on deck scenario. It also helps that Cook has seen 75% of the carries this season as well. This is a nice pivot play in tournaments away from the Ezekiel Elliott crowd.
Wide Receiver
More often than not, we should be able to find several nice options in the middle tier. The top-shelf Yahoo fantasy options are typically priced in the mid-$30 range. Often, they are best paired with their quarterbacks for tournament upside rather than risking downside as solo plays.
In addition to the players highlighted above with their quarterbacks, we can look to:
Jamison Crowder – New York Jets vs. Arizona Cardinals – $13 Awesemo Grade: Points B, Value B
While I prefer Crowder in full-PPR formats, this price is impossible to ignore. While he has only been healthy for two games, one of those was Thursday Night Football so it has been nearly a month since he has been in a “main slate” player pool. It sounds like Le’Veon Bell -$15 may be making his return and while he won’t be gracing my lineups, his presence would give the Cardinals someone else to focus their attention on.
DJ Moore – Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons – $19 Awesemo Grade: Points B, Value A
Yes, he sorely disappointed last week against the Cardinals, but we get a two dollar discount and a better matchup in Atlanta. Robby Anderson – $21 is also an outstanding play but gamers doing some box score watching are likely to end up there over Moore. We can also pair both with Teddy Bridgewater for some extra synergistic upside in tournaments.
Justin Jefferson – Minnesota Vikings at Seattle Seahawks – $20 Awesemo Grade: Points C, Value C
Who?! Yes, I agree though the rookie first rounder has cemented his role as the second option in the Vikings passing game. Adam Thielen – $30 is of course our preferred option, but the $10 discount to the former LSU standout is significant. Seattle is allowing 401.0 passing yards per game… just ponder that for a moment.
Tight Ends
This week we have some high, medium and low priced options so let’s dive in and see their matchup situations.
George Kittle – San Francisco 49ers vs. Miami Dolphins – $28 Awesemo Grade: Points A, Value A
This lofty price tag has Kittle as the seventh most expensive pass catcher in the player pool. Last week he hauled in all 15 of his targets and this week he should have Jimmy Garoppolo back under center. At this price point we need to view Kittle as a WR1 who plays tight end.
Darren Waller – Las Vegas Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs – $20 Awesemo Grade: Points A, Value A
It looks like rookie Henry Ruggs III – $12 will be back after missing last week with a hamstring injury. However, fellow first year man Bryan Edwards (ankle) has already been ruled out. Waller should still be peppered with targets in this game as the Raiders are coming in as 11.5 point road dogs.
Greg Olsen – Seattle Seahawks vs. Minnesota Vikings – $13 Awesemo Grade: Points D, Value D
This is a discount ticket to the Sunday Night Football matchup which should be a scorefest. Heading into Week 1, nealry 30% of Russell Wilson’s aerial touchdowns had gone to Seahawk tight ends. That worked out to 0.61 touchdowns per game. This year Olsen and Jacob Hollister have each hauled in one… however, the bonus is that Wilson already has SIXTEEN TOUCHDOWNS through four weeks, tying Peyton Manning for the record to start a season.
Defense/Special Teams
This week with all of the expensive offensive options, we should look to some of the bargain defenses.
Los Angeles Rams at Washington Football Team – $15 Awesemo Grade: Points A, Value D
The Rams are the ninth most expensive defense and while they are on the road, this is a cherry matchup. Dwayne Haskins has been benched in favor of Kyle Allen who will be making his first start for Washington. This team has allowed no fewer than three sacks in every game so far. They are also third in turnovers with eight including five fumbles. Los Angeles is fifth on the sack leaderboard with an even dozen. Finally, though it was with Carolina, Allen was sacked 46 times in just 13 games last season.
Houston Texans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars – $10 Awesemo Grade: Points C, Value B
Though they do not have a takeaway, this unit has tallied twelve sacks through three weeks. The Jaguars have suffered 13 sacks which is the fifth most in the league so far. If a desperation punt play is needed, give the Texans a look. There is a chance they are playing with some fire after Coach/GM Bill O’Brien was fired earlier this week.
As always, you can reach out to me in Awesemo.com Premium Slack or Twitter @EMacDFS if you have any questions.
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