The obvious takeaway from a first glance at Week 16’s slate of games is the scheduling of almost every game on Saturday instead of Sunday. But the real story uncovered by digging through each matchup is that only a select few players carry price tags high enough to cause concern. The rest are actually reasonable.
It is not completely shocking that we tend to find it much easier to construct a lineup during weeks when we avoid some of the highest-paid players, but it is inspiring when the middle-tier of salary actually contains decent talent that we can utilize somewhat comfortably. Such is the case for Week 16’s targets, as players we like are not necessarily carrying outrageous price tags.
Based on our expected Week 16 DFS game flow analysis performed earlier, we can carry our thoughts into actual lineup positions. The long list of players that fit the requirements set forth by the projected flow of the game was cut dramatically by the requirements set forth by salaries.
Below are Sporfolio’s DFS Week 16 Plays:
Quarterback
Andrew Luck – Over his last five games, Andrew Luck is 4-1 with eleven passing touchdowns. During this span, he faced the defenses of the Titans, Jets, Packers, Texans, and Vikings. Throughout the entire league, only the 49ers and Browns rank worse than the Raiders in net-yards-per-pass-attempt allowed. Luck’s matchup is clearly great against Oakland’s secondary, but the gameplan is even better, as there is likely no situation in which Luck isn’t passing often at one point during Saturday’s game in Oakland. The best-case scenario would be if Luck and Derek Carr got tied up in a back-and-forth offensive showcase, leaving the ceiling on Luck’s potential production relatively uncapped.
Jameis Winston – Basically every quarterback who plays against the Saints has an automatic boost in potential by virtue of such a favorable matchup, but it is enhanced further in the case of Jameis Winston. His team’s winning streak was finally cut short when he traveled to Dallas in Week 15 and Winston is in potential to rebound from both last week’s outing and the prior game in which the Saints actually did limit his Bucaneers to only 16 points. Winston’s upside is as good as it gets in a game that should be high-scoring throughout.
Derek Carr – Like Winston, Derek Carr is in both a favorable matchup and a potential shootout. Going against the Colts’ secondary has been a gift to opposing offenses, and Carr is coming off back-to-back subpar performances. The Raiders’ quarterback has been playing at an MVP-caliber level, all season, and will need to return to form in order to maintain the progress he and his offense has made throughout the year.