So, you're telling me I can't just lock Christian McCaffrey this week? I was getting ready to do that and log off, but apparently he's not on the main slate because of an early London game. CMC exploded for our DraftKings cash lineup last week, and we also got really into Chark Week. We should've targeted the Jets with Eagles D/ST, but we'll continue to strive to get better with our Week 6 NFL DFS picks.
Let's spend that $50K in DraftKings cap while finding a CMC-esque smash elsewhere.
WEEK 6 NON-PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
DraftKings Week 6 Picks: NFL DFS cash lineup
QB Kyler Murray, Cardinals vs. Falcons ($6,500). Murray already possessed a decent floor even before increasing his rush volume over the past two weeks when he trails only Lamar Jackson in yards. A lack of touchdowns for his level of produciton also bodes well for positive regression.
UPDATED: RB Le'Veon Bell, Jets vs. Cowboys ($6,400): The ankle injury news makes Alvin Kamara a little risky at this price for cash games, so we'll swap him out. Bell leads all RBs in yardage market share and now gets his QB back to increase the pie for this offense.
INITIAL: RB Alvin Kamara, Saints @ Jaguars ($8,000): It's counterintuitive that Kamara sees his cheapest price of the season right after Teddy Bridgewater showed he can raise the tide for this offense from previous weeks. The Saints posted 457 total yards last week after failing to crack 270 in Bridgewater's three other games.
WEEK 6 PPR RANKINGS: Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end
RB Leonard Fournette, Jaguars vs. Saints ($6,700). Vegas projects this for around a pick 'em, so plenty of neutral game script should be in the cards for both running backs. We like the spots for each. Over the past four weeks, Fournette ranks second among RBs in carries and fourth in targets.
UPDATED WR DeAndre Hopkins, Texans @ Chiefs ($7,400). Now that it appears both Brandin Cooks and Christian Kirk are healthy enough to go Sunday, I've decided to hit both those values — clearing cap space to get D-Hop at his lowest cost of the season.
INITIAL WR Tyler Lockett, Seahawks @ Browns ($6,400). Lockett's 29 receptions rank fifth among receivers since Week 2, and he faces a Cleveland defense battling injuries at CB. He's a boom-bust candidate no longer, and his ceiling is 30-plus DK points when positive game script doesn't dominate as it did the past two weeks.
WEEK 6: Waiver pickups | FAAB planner | Trade values | Snap counts
UPDATED WR Brandin Cooks, Rams vs. 49ers: ($5,400). Cooks is expected to get the green light for Week 6 and this helps us with lilneup flexbility while getting a share in the Rams pass O. Any time one of these three costs $1,700 less than another (Kupp), we should have value on our hands. This does make Gerald Everett more of a thin play.
INITIAL WR Tyler Boyd, Bengals @ Ravens ($6,300). The Ravens' erstwhile scary pass defense is clearly now one to target in DFS. Only the Falcons have allowed more yards per pass over the past three weeks. Meanwhile, Boyd trails only Cooper Kupp in targets over the span.
UPDATED WR Courtland Sutton, Broncos vs. Titans ($5,000). Tennessee ranks 10th against receivers in DraftKings points allowed. However, we get ideal floor at the FLEX as Sutton has seen at least seven targets in all five games this season.
If Christian Kirk is declared at active for the 4:05 ET kickoff, I prefer swapping him in for Sutton (4:25 ET kickoff).
UPDATED ALTERNATE: WR Christian Kirk, Cardinals vs. Falcons ($5,200). I don't seek out stacks in cash but when this much value lines up I'll slam. Kirk had ranked sixth in targets prior to his Week 4 injury, and now looks healthy to return facing a Falcons defense allowing the most DK points to receivers.
INITIAL WR Robert Woods, Rams vs. 49ers ($5,600). Only Kupp has seen more targets than Woods since Week 3 — across the entire league. That makes this mid-tier price intriguing on its own, and the $1,500 discount from Kupp gets us a Rams passing share with cap to survive at FLEX, which could be tough on this slate for cash.
WEEK 6 DFS LINEUPS:
Y! cash | Y! GPP | FD cash | FD GPP | DK cash | DK GPP
UPDATED TE Austin Hooper, Falcons @ Cardinals ($5,000): Hooper is tied with Travis Kelce for second in tight end targets since Week 3. Getting Malcolm Brown at the flex freed up the cap to get a steadier play.
UPDATED TE Geoff Swaim, Jaguars vs. Saints ($2,900): James O'Shaughnessy's mid-game injury bumped Geoff Swaim to a 43 offensive snaps in Week 5, demonstrating that he's the heir apparent for the lion's share at the Jags tight end spot. We'll pick up $700 from Gerald Everett so we can get to Chris Carson at flex instead of the other options around $5K.
INITIAL TE Gerald Everett, Rams vs. Niners ($3,600). As Kupp rockets into the $7K range, Woods and Everett find their prices relatively stagnant. We'll capitalize by paying almost nothing for a tight end who ranks fourth in targets over the past two weeks, one behind Travis Kelce and Evan Engram.
UPDATED FLEX: Malcolm Brown, Rams vs. 49ers ($4,300): Todd Gurley received the doubtful tag on Friday, so hard to pass up this cheap Rams workload. Goal line carries in this still-potent offense can smooth over inefficiency for Brown, much like it had with Gurley this season.
UPDATED FLEX: Chris Carson, Seahawks @ Browns ($6,000). The favored Seahawks fed Carson more than 25 touches in each of the past two games. At the price, Carson enters flex territory for a three-RB cash lineup.
INITIAL FLEX Courtland Sutton, Broncos vs. Titans ($5,000). Tennessee ranks 10th against receivers in DraftKings points allowed. However, we get ideal floor at the FLEX as Sutton has seen at least seven targets in all five games this season.
MORE WEEK 6 DFS: Values | Stacks | Lineup Builder
UPDATED DST Eagles @ Vikings ($3,000): The savings from Malcolm Brown at the flex let us get up to Eagles and the Kirk Cousins fade.
INITIAL DST Cardinals vs. Falcos ($1,900). Basement price for a defense facing interception leader Matt Ryan, who can pile up yards while still getting us to 3X value with our D/ST.