While none of the salaries are outrageous in their own right, some of the players we insisted on using in our lineups carried large premiums. In order to offset this, we were consistently cheap across the board when it came to quarterbacks, and essentially all of our lineups started off with an inexpensive arm. Naturally, the skill position players took up the bulk of our salary caps, but we rotated through the top picks because of cheap tight ends, quarterbacks, and at least one lower-priced wide receiver.
Based on our expected Week 5 DFS game flow analysis and Week 5 Games to Target published 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 5 Plays:
Quarterback
Trevor Lawrence – To put it gently, things have not been particularly easy for Trevor Lawrence in the early stages of his NFL career. His team lacks talent, his coaching staff is inexperienced and struggling, and he is yet to win a game. Fortunately for Lawrence’s sake, all of that was true — and even more true — for fellow rookie Zach Wilson until he played against the Tennessee Titans. The Titans are a team that is really struggling, especially on defense. The Titans’ defense is especially vulnerable against the pass where they rank 29th in the league in net yards per pass attempt. Coming off a Thursday game — which was probably his best game of the season — Lawrence has a great opportunity to put forth the best game we have seen from him.
Jameis Winston – Jameis Winston exploded for five passing touchdowns in the first game of the season, then combined for three over the next three weeks. The real issue is that, even with his great season opener, Winston simply has not accumulated yards — his season-high is 226, but the other three games all saw fewer than 150 passing yards. For his price, we will gladly take another high touchdown output from Winston, but his matchup is actually great for yards, too. The Washington Football Team has allowed nearly 1,200 passing yards and ten touchdowns through the air in just four games. The New Orleans Saints are looking to get back in the win column after a tough overtime loss at home in Week 4, and Winston stands to benefit.
Ryan Tannehill – It’s going to be difficult to talk too many DFS players out of using running back Derrick Henry against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the reality is that quarterback Ryan Tannehill may have just as high of a ceiling. Tannehill has been thoroughly underwhelming this year compared to prior campaigns, but he will get back his top wide receiver and have the threat of Henry opening up the possibility for an aerial attack. Jacksonville has also been dominated through the air, as its defense ranks dead last in net-yards-per-pass-attempt and third-worst in passing yards allowed.