Yahoo fantasy football is running a $500,000 contest with a $20 entry fee and 28,000 entries for the three-game Wild Card Sunday slate. Let’s get into some Yahoo Daily Fantasy Picks for NFL lineups, including Tom Brady, Dak Prescott and more.
Wild Card Sunday NFL Yahoo Daily Fantasy Strategy & Picks
The critical thing to remember is that Yahoo is a half-PPR site, and the minimum salary is $10, with an average salary per player of $22. This week, Patrick Mahomes is at the top of the salary list at $37. The complete scoring parameters can be found here.
One of the most valuable features of the Awesemo.com premium content is the personal player rankings from Alex Baker, 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. This week, as a special treat, Awesemo is also adding in the “Roster%,” which is the projected percentage a player will be used in the large-field tournaments.
Quarterback
If you have played daily fantasy football on Yahoo or 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.
Tom Brady: Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Philadelphia Eagles – $35
Awesemo Grade: Points B, Value B, Roster% 13.2%
This is going to be yet another postseason game where Tom Brady is going to have to carry his team into the next round. We all know about the Antonio Brown meltdown in New York and of course Chris Godwin being lost for the season with a knee injury. Unfortunately he will also be without his top two running backs as Leonard Fournette is still dealing with the hamstring injury he suffered in Week 15 and Ronald Jones is also out with an ankle injury incurred in Week 17.
Fortunately he still has Mike Evans ($26) and Rob Gronkowski ($30) who are more than capable of hauling in a couple touchdowns each. While there is not much to take from the Week 6 meeting between this two teams as that was a lifetime ago, it is important to note that the Eagles have the 21st passing DVOA and 16th rushing DVOA. Even in his age-44 season, Brady is still getting it done.
Dak Prescott: Dallas Cowboys vs. San Francisco 49ers – $32
Awesemo Grade: Points A, Value A, Roster% 25.1%
After languishing in the DFS Doldrums from Week 11 through Week 15, Dak Prescott ratcheted up the fantasy production down the stretch. In his last three games he had a dozen touchdowns with no interceptions along with 951 yards. Second year phenom Cee Dee Lamb ($23) has struggled, but he has tremendous upside. Dalton Schultz ($18) is the unsung hero and he posted a career season including four touchdowns in the last four games. Veteran Amari Cooper ($20) was steady and Cedrick Wilson ($16) stepped up to fill the void left by Michael Gallup who was felled by a late season knee injury. This gives Prescott a bevvy of pass catchers who can be mixed and matched in a variety of ways without breaking the bank.
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.
Darrel Williams: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers – $17
Awesemo Grade: Points B, Value A, Roster% 69.2%
It all comes down to how Darrel Williams toe responds to treatment. Though he was limited all week in practice, he is expected to play. Clyde Edwards-Helaire battled his own injury issues all season which opened the door for Williams to take over the lead duties. Williams can contribute in all facets of the game and has become the trusted option for coach Andy Reid. Rookie Derrick Gore ($13) and fellow veteran Jerick McKinnon ($14) will be the backups and while each should see a handful of opportunities, Williams will need to reaggravate his toe injury or Kansas City racks up a multi-score lead before either of the reserves has a path to fantasy relevance aside from a fortuitous touchdown. It needs to be noted that Pittsburgh is nearly two touchdown underdogs, though the later in the game that margin is reached, the lower the chances for mop up duty.
Ke’Shawn Vaughn: Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Philadelphia Eagles – $14
Awesemo Grade: Points C, Value A, Roster% 49.2%
It seems that Ke’Shawn Vaughn is the last man standing and he should be in line for the first crack at the running back touches for a second straight week. Vaughn is a capable option when he is in the open field, but getting there is a struggle. It is reasonable to expect a dozen opportunities with Le’Veon Bell ($10) serving as the backup and getting a handful of touches. Giovani Bernard ($12) was never able to shake the injury bug and he is a distant afterthought, if he even sees the field at all.
Eli Mitchell: San Francisco 49ers at Dallas Cowboys – $20
Awesemo Grade: Points C, Value B, Roster% 46.0%
Rookie Eli Mitchell has proven to be a capable runner when he can stay healthy. That seems to be a common theme for San Francisco running backs as they certainly have had a revolving cast of characters at that position the last couple of seasons. Dallas is mediocre against the run and while he will be sharing the backfield with Deebo Samuel ($36), Mitchell is a solid option in all formats on Sunday against a mediocre Dallas rushing defense.
Wide Receiver
The top-shelf Yahoo fantasy options are typically priced in the low to mid-$30 range. Often, they are best paired with their quarterbacks for tournament upside rather than risking downside as solo plays.
Mike Evans: Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Philadelphia Eagles – $35
Awesemo Grade: Points B, Value C, Roster% 34.7%
And then there was one. Mike Evans is the last man standing with Godwin, Brown and Cyril Grayson all falling by the wayside. We know he has game breaking upside and he will be getting most of the Brady targets along with Gronkowski. Breshad Perriman ($10) and Tyler Johnson ($10) are in the mix at the Yahoo minimum salary and either could flirt with double digit fantasy points on the receiving end of TB12 passes.
Deebo Samuel: San Francisco 49ers at Dallas Cowboys – $36
Awesemo Grade: Points B, Value C, Roster% 33.6%
This is a lofty salary for Deebo Samuel who has seen a dramatic decrease in his receiving workload now that he is moonlighting as the San Francisco RB2. Fortunately he continues to find himself in the end zone with 10 touchdowns (eight rushing and two receiving) in the last eight games. Anything less than 100 yards and a touchdown is a failure with his cap hit and it will take 20 or more fantasy points to consider rostering him a success.
Tight Ends
There are plenty of top-shelf tight end options, so let’s take a gander at a couple who are getting lost in the shuffle.
George Kittle: San Francisco 49ers at Dallas Cowboys – $25
Awesemo Grade: Points A, Value B, Roster% 33.6%
The tight end position is loaded on this slate with Travis Kelce ($29), Rob Gronkowski ($30) and Dallas Goedert ($18) all being among the top receiving options on their team. There is merit to even using our flex spot on a second tight end. Ultimately Kittle could potentially be getting lost in the mix with all of the great options and that makes him stand out since gamers are less likely to be enthusiastic about a Jimmy Garoppolo pass catcher with all of the more exciting signal-callers taking the field. If not for injuries, Kittle would have once again been among the top three tight ends from a statistical perspective this season.
Dalton Schultz: Dallas Cowboys vs. San Francisco 49ers – $18
Awesemo Grade: Points A, Value B, Roster% 9.6%
If Kittle is getting lost in the shuffle, then Dalton Schultz is darn near invisible on Sunday. In three of his last four games he has 15 or more Yahoo fantasy points with 30 targets for 25 receptions, 224 yards and four touchdowns. Take the discounted popularity and consider Schultz as part of a double-tight end roster build on Sunday.
Defense/Special Teams
This week we are picking on some inexperienced quarterbacks with some bad, but discounted defenses.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Philadelphia Eagles – $15
Awesemo Grade: Points B, Value C, Roster% 32.2%
We know that the plan will be for Brady and the offense to put up a couple early scores if at all possible to force the Eagles to abandon the run. Jalen Hurts is a phenomenal fantasy quarterback, but he starting for only the 20th time in his career on Sunday. Mistakes will be made and the Buccaneers are a defense that can capitalize when presented miscues.
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Pittsburgh Steelers – $16
Awesemo Grade: Points B, Value C, Roster% 27.1%
Rookie running back Najee Harris will be playing with a recently hyperextended elbow even though he is off the injury report and clearly Ben Roethlisberger is in the final phase of his career. Even the potential return of Juju Smith-Schuster is not going to be enough to spark this offense. Of course anything can happen, however, it seems like Kansas City should be playing with the lead as nearly two touchdown favorites at home and if they can force Roethlisberger into a couple of mistakes, we could see a pick-six or scoop and score from the defense.
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