This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Football series.
The Week 14 NFL main slate begins Sunday at 1:00 p.m. EST and features 10 games. The Falcons, Bears, Packers, Colts, Saints and Commanders are all on bye, while the Thursday Night Football (Raiders-Rams), Sunday Night Football (Dolphins-Chargers) and Monday Night Football (Patriots-Cardinals) participants are also excluded from Sunday's main slate. Yahoo will be running plenty of NFL DFS contests for Week 14, including a Dual Baller Special.
One Dual Baller contest has a $12 entry fee and pays out a guaranteed prize pool of $100,000 to the top 1,470 finishers, including $25,000 to the winner. You can submit up to 150 entries into this contest, which has a maximum total capacity of 9,800 entries but will still run if it doesn't fill, potentially providing you with enhanced odds of winning, also known as overlay. The other has a $25 entry fee and pays out a guaranteed prize pool of $100,000 to the top 1,060 finishers, including $10,000 to the winner. You can submit up to 140 entries into this contest, which has a maximum total capacity of 4,705 entries.
Playing in guaranteed prize pool (GPP) contests is about chasing upside, while lineups geared towards head-to-head, 50/50 or double-up formats should prioritize high floors. The players you want to target for these different contest types aren't mutually exclusive, but winning a GPP tournament usually requires finding a hidden gem or going against the grain in a spot or two, while building a solid base of the same chalk plays you would use anywhere. Against-the-grain plays typically consist of big-name players in tough matchups or boom-or-bust types with uncertain roles.
Keep in mind that Yahoo DFS contests use 0.5 PPR scoring rather than full PPR, which lowers the comparative value of wide receivers and running backs (in that order) while especially affecting high-volume pass-catchers. Your NFL $100K Dual Baller Special lineup(s) will consist of one QB, two RBs, three WRs, one TE, one FLEX (RB/WR/TE) and one D/ST unit. Suggested Week 14 plays include a quarterback filling in due to injury, a running back returning from injury and a pair of wide receivers selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
QUARTERBACK
Tyler Huntley, BAL at PIT ($26): If Lamar Jackson (knee) is unable to return from the injury that knocked him out early last week against the Broncos, Huntley would make for a strong value play. He lacks Jackson's elite burst on the ground, but Huntley's a rushing threat as well and has displayed the passing accuracy necessary to lead the Ravens down the field. After Jackson got hurt, Huntley completed 27 of 32 passes for 187 yards against an elite Denver secondary and ran in the winning touchdown as part of a 41-yard performance on the ground. Pittsburgh has allowed the fifth-most passing yards (3,201) and third-most touchdowns (23) to quarterbacks, so Huntley's primed for success through the air and should contribute significantly on the ground to boot.
Honorable Mentions
Joe Burrow, CIN vs. CLE ($37); Geno Smith, SEA vs. CAR ($31); Jared Goff, DET vs. MIN ($28)
Against the Grainers
Josh Allen, BUF vs. NYJ ($37); Patrick Mahomes, KC at DEN ($34); Mike White, NYJ at BUF ($30)
RUNNING BACK
Joe Mixon, CIN vs. CLE ($29): Mixon failed to clear concussion protocol in time to play in last week's win over Kansas City, but he'll have fresh legs as he returns to the lead role in Cincinnati's backfield against a Browns defense that has allowed 16 scrimmage touchdowns to running backs -- tied for most in the NFL. While Samaje Perine thrived in a three-down role in his absence, there's little reason to believe Mixon won't go back to dominating touches after playing at least 65 percent of the offensive snaps in every game prior to getting injured. Cleveland actually held the Bengals to a season-low 13 points when they met back in Week 8, but Mixon still contributed by tying his season highs in targets (nine) and catches (seven), so he should be heavily utilized regardless of game flow.
Ezekiel Elliott, DAL vs. HOU ($24): Both Elliott and Tony Pollard ($30) should thrive against the Texans, who are giving up a league-high 169.1 yards per game on the ground. Pollard has been flashier lately, topping 20 fantasy points in four of the past five games and eclipsing 33 twice. Elliott's strong play has flown under the radar as a result, but Zeke's got a streak of five consecutive games over 15 fantasy points, reaching the end zone seven times over that span. In addition to all that yardage, Houston has also struggled to keep running backs out of the end zone, as the Texans' 14 rushing touchdowns allowed to the position are tied for most in the league with the idle Bears.
Honorable Mentions
Dalvin Cook, MIN at DET ($28); Isiah Pacheco, KC at DEN ($19); D'Andre Swift, DET vs. MIN ($16)
Against the Grainers
Christian McCaffrey, SF vs. TB ($32); Zonovan Knight, NYJ at BUF ($21); Travis Homer, SEA vs. CAR ($15)
WIDE RECEIVER
Justin Jefferson, MIN at DET ($40): Jefferson is the premier player to build around this week, even at his expensive valuation. His 88 receptions rank third in the NFL behind Tyreek Hill and Stefon Diggs, while Jefferson's 1,277 receiving yards trail only Hill. Diggs has a brutal matchup against the Jets secondary, while Hill plays outside the main slate in Week 14, leaving Jefferson head and shoulders above the available alternatives at wide receiver. He will take on a Lions defense that's allowed the third-most yards to wide receivers (2,256). Detroit did a shockingly good job against Jefferson in Week 3, holding him to a season-low 14 yards, but he had at least 124 receiving yards in three consecutive encounters with the Vikings' NFC North rivals before that.
A.J. Brown, PHI at NYG ($23): Brown presents nice value at a season-low salary in his introduction to the Eagles-Giants rivalry. Big Blue's secondary has been stout overall but has allowed the opposing No. 1 wide receiver to thrive in each of the past two weeks. CeeDee Lamb had six catches for 106 yards in Week 12 before Terry McLaurin added eight catches for 105 yards and a touchdown in Week 13. Coming off a 119-yard, two-touchdown performance that gave Brown eight touchdowns in his last seven games, the Eagles' top pass catcher is poised to add to New York's recent struggles.
Jerry Jeudy, DEN vs. KC ($16): Jeudy should see all the targets he can handle, as the Broncos will definitely be without KJ Hamler (hamstring) while Courtland Sutton (hamstring) is unlikely to suit up. Jeudy was eased back into action from an ankle injury last week, but Denver will have little choice but to give him a full workload as the team's top available wide receiver. With the Broncos likely to fall behind against a comfortably favored Kansas City, Jeudy stands to benefit from a pass-heavy game script as the game unfolds. Excluding the Week 10 game in which he got hurt almost immediately, he has surpassed 50 receiving yards in six consecutive appearances, making him a low-risk, high-reward option.
Honorable Mentions
Ja'Marr Chase, CIN vs. CLE ($29); Amon-Ra St. Brown, DET vs. MIN ($27); Christian Kirk, JAX at TEN ($26);
Against the Grainers
Garrett Wilson, NYJ at BUF ($22); Deebo Samuel, SF vs. TB ($20); Darius Slayton, NYG vs. PHI ($14)
TIGHT END
David Njoku, CLE at CIN ($16): Njoku has been effective when available. He ranks seventh in receiving yards among tight ends with 464 despite playing only nine games and being limited in one of them. Assuming he's good to go after sitting out the previous game due to a knee injury, Njoku would present nice value in a game that's projected to feature plenty of offense -- only Vikings-Lions (52.0) has a higher over/under among games in the Sunday main slate than Browns-Bengals (47.0).
Honorable Mentions
Travis Kelce, KC at DEN ($36); T.J. Hockenson, MIN at DET ($22); Greg Dulcich, DEN vs. KC ($13)
Against the Grainers
Mark Andrews, BAL at PIT ($24); George Kittle, SF vs. TB ($19); Daniel Bellinger, NYG at PHI ($11)
DEFENSE
Dallas Cowboys, DAL vs. HOU ($22): This could be one of those rare occasions in which paying up for a top defense is worth it. The Cowboys scored 20 fantasy points last week, marking the third time the NFL's highest-scoring fantasy defense has recorded at least that many. It would be surprising if this unit failed to muster a fourth such performance against the Texans, who gave up 30 fantasy points to the Browns defense last week, 18 to the Dolphins in Week 12 and 19 to the Commanders in Week 11.
Honorable Mentions:
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, TB at SF ($17); Seattle Seahawks, SEA vs. CAR ($16); Kansas City Chiefs, KC at DEN ($15)
Against the Grainers:
San Francisco 49ers, SF vs. TB ($17); New York Jets, NYJ at BUF ($17); Cleveland Browns, CLE at CIN ($10)
