This article is part of our FanDuel Fantasy Football series.
I continue to lick my wounds from my Bills losing in dramatic fashion, but life goes on. Looking at this week, there are very limited options with only two games to choose from. The chalk will be the Chiefs, but let's see if we can find some other sneaky plays.
QUARTERBACK
I preach this every week, but if you're going to enter multiple lineups in a big tournament, use all four quarterbacks at least once. While I don't trust Jimmy Garoppolo ($6,200), he's the lowest salary cap hit at the position, and anything can happen in any of these games. Both Joe Burrow ($7,500) and Patrick Mahomes ($8,800) have the best matchups on paper, and I would prefer Mahomes in cash games. Their pricing makes them pretty even dollar-for-dollar. Matthew Stafford ($7,500) is probably the sneaky play of this week. He actually averages more fantasy points in the FanDuel system than Burrow despite having the same price tag. Add in the fact that the 49ers aren't a great defense against the pass plus it's a home game, and those two factors I can see justifying using Stafford this week.
RUNNING BACK
This is a pretty easy call for me this week picking two running backs. I have no idea how to read the Kansas City backfield, and my lean here is to use both Cam Akers ($6,200) and Joe Mixon ($8,200). While I don't love Elijah Mitchell's ($7,000) matchup, I can see using him along with the other two running backs just given the probability of him getting 20-plus touches. Just keep an eye on his knee injury to see if that limits his workload.
WIDE RECEIVER
It's hard to bet against Cooper Kupp ($9,700), and if I have to pick between him and Deebo Samuel ($8,400), I'm finding the room to use Kupp. He has a much better matchup, and you can count on the Rams utilizing their defense to limit Samuel. Tyreek Hill ($8,100) is another very viable option, and I prefer him over Ja'Marr Chase ($8,000). The Chiefs were able to take away Stefon Diggs last week and I'd guess they give Chase the same treatment. That leads me to using Tee Higgins ($6,400) or Tyler Boyd ($5,800) in GPP formats after seeing what Gabriel Davis was able to do. The final wide receiver I'd consider in tournaments is Mecole Hardman ($5,300). The floor is low, but the ceiling is also high with him, and I prefer him over Byron Pringle ($5,700) or Demarcus Robinson ($4,800).
TIGHT END
Again — and this is grabbing the low-hanging fruit — I think Travis Kelce ($7,700) is the best option for cash games this week. I was ready to sign the divorce papers with George Kittle ($5,800), but he showed signs of life last week (cue Undertaker waking up gif), so I think he's still in play for tournaments. C.J. Uzomah ($5,600) and Tyler Higbee ($5,500) are definitely considerable options if your lineup spends up in at the other positions. They, again, might be the path to a win in a big tournament, especially if you use both (my weekly preaching about using two tight ends in a GPP).
DEFENSE
I look at the defenses this week and the Los Angeles Rams ($4,500) are the obvious pick, especially for cash games. If you need to save a little on cap space, I can see using the San Francisco 49ers ($4,200). If you think that using up salary cap space at the positions is a must. I wouldn't be surprised to see a defensive or special teams touchdown from either the Cincinnati Bengals ($3,700) or the Kansas City Chiefs ($3,200). Usually defenses are hard to predict, so feel free to use the lesser of the two options this weekend to save on salary.
