Week 15 Fanduel picks for GPP tournaments center around a Tampa Bay stack in Detroit. With Mike Evans out, there's value to be had with Justin Watson, and then you should see a huge game from Chris Godwin, as well. Around them, we'll use Chris Carson and Chris Conley to take full advantage of injury situations across the league.
If you're new to this article, we pick four players every week we'll be overweight in our lineup builds. Then, we give an example of how we'd fill in around them in tournaments. Our "Core Four" this week is Chris Carson, Darius Slayton, Chris Conley and Justin Watson. This isn't an "optimal lineup"; rather, it's an example of one you could build if you start with our "Core Four". If you're looking for more great NFL, NBA, or MLB, or PGA DFS advice, check me out on Twitter (@DFSBenj).
WEEK 15 NON-PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
FanDuel Picks Week 15: NFL DFS example lineup for GPPs
QB: Jameis Winston, Buccaneers @ Lions ($8,200)
For the stack, I love the Bucs’ stack of Jameis Winston and Chris Godwin, to go along with core play Justin Watson to complete the three-man stack. Winston is good to go in a great matchup against the Lions after slightly breaking his thumb last week. He is having one of the wildest seasons that you will ever see, and he has a real shot at leading the league in passing yards, touchdowns and interceptions. He has shown a great floor and ceiling this season and has easily been my favorite quarterback to roster in DFS.
WEEK 15 PPR RANKINGS: Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end
CORE PLAY: RB: Chris Carson, Seahawks @ Panthers ($7,400)
There are plenty of great value plays on FanDuel this week, but no player tops the value that can be found with Seahawks running back Carson at $7,400. Carson is priced up on DraftKings at $7,500, but FanDuel bafflingly priced him as only the 12th-highest priced running back. Carson is set to see a role bump in the Seattle offense after Rashad Penny was lost for the season with an ACL injury. Carson had been giving up significant workload to Penny over the last three weeks, but he is set to retake his bell-cow roll in the offense in a prime matchup against Panthers, who are the 32nd-ranked rushing defense. I fully expect Carson to be the highest owned player on FanDuel this week, but he is impossible to fade given his projected role in the offense and his misprice on FanDuel.
WEEK 15 DFS LINEUPS:
FD Cash | FD GPP | DK Cash | DK GPP | Y! Cash | Y! GPP
RB Derrick Henry, Titans vs. Texans ($9,400)
This spot is going to the red-hot Henry. While he’s dealing with a slight hamstring injury, I’m not too worried about it. Henry is almost always a fade for me on DraftKings with its full-point PPR format, but he is more viable on FanDuel with the 0.5PPR format.
CORE PLAY: WR: Chris Conley, Jaguars @ Raiders ($5,100)
While it’s clear that the Jaguars have packed it in on the season, there are a few players in their passing game that you have to be interested in for Week 15. WR DJ Chark is “week-to-week” with a foot injury, which opens up a significant target share for Dede Westbrook and Conley in a matchup against the Raiders. Of the two, I slightly prefer the upside that Conley provides at his $5,100 price tag on FanDuel, given his big-play ability. We just saw the Raiders get torched downfield by AJ Brown last week, and their defensive secondary has been their weakness all season long. Conley is far from a “safe” play but is a great salary saver on a week where I want to spend up on three high-volume running backs.
MORE WEEK 15:
Waiver pickups | FAAB planner | Stock watch | Snap counts | Fantasy playoff tips
CORE PLAY: WR: Justin Watson, Buccaneers @ Lions ($4,500)
Bucs’ WR Mike Evans is listed as “very doubtful” to play this week with a hamstring injury, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he missed the rest of the season. This leaves an opening for Watson to take on an increased role in the offense at the minimum price on FanDuel at $4,500. Watson isn’t the physical freak that Evans is - not many players are - but he should see a nice target share for Tampa Bay yet again after seeing eight targets against the Colts after he came in for Evans following his injury. The Lions defense ranks 26th DvP against opposing wide receivers. Watson and the rest of the Bucs’ offense will also see a huge boost with QB Jameis Winston cleared to play after slightly breaking his thumb during Sunday’s win over Indianapolis.
WR: Chris Godwin, Buccaneers @ Lions ($8,400)
Godwin will be the clear cut top pass-catching option for Tampa with Mike Evans out, and he could push for 15-plus targets.
MORE WEEK 15 DFS: Values | Stacks | Lineup Builder
TE: Zach Ertz, Eagles @ Redskins ($6,700)
Tight end is a great spot to pay up in tournaments, and Ertz is underpriced at $6,700. The Eagles are extremely thin at wide receiver with Alshon Jeffrey now out with a foot injury. Ertz should eclipse 10 targets, and we saw on Monday night that Carson Wentz is going to feed Ertz early and often given the lack of any other reliable pass-catching option.
CORE PLAY FLEX: Darius Slayton, Giants vs. Dolphins ($6,300)
Slayton's coming off 154 yards and two touchdowns on Monday night, displaying enough chemistry with Eli Manning for us to feel confident in the rookie in another good matchup, this time against the Dolphins.
Note: Slayton is an updated core play after DeAndre Washington looks likely to back up Josh Jacobs on Sunday.
D/ST: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Broncos ($3,900)
The D/ST is going to the Kansas City Chiefs, who are a great value at $3,900 in a home matchup with the Broncos. While Drew Lock has played well for Denver, a divisional road matchup against the Chiefs is going to be a different kind of test for the rookie making his third career start.