Projecting ownership and finding the right spots to fade the public are key strategies to winning daily fantasy football tournaments/GPPs. Week 6 is no different.
Certain realities are being established, while the weekly pendulum of ownership still swings in DFS tournaments, where finding the right mix of low-, medium- and high-owned players is critical to hitting big. We mine these factors every week in this column. Our DraftKings lineups can be found here for cash games and here for tournaments.and if you're looking to build the "perfect" DFS lineup, check out RotoQL and take advantage of its fantastic DFS tools.
Now, let's run through some themes that should affect ownership this week.
WEEK 6 RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | Defense | Kicker
Daily Fantasy Football Week 6: Quarterback
This profiles as a week for the masses to pay up at quarterback. The top four prices go to the battle in the Superdome between Cam Newton ($8100/QB1) and Drew Brees ($7900/QB2), Tom Brady ($7700/QB3) hosting a Bengals defense that just got torched, and Ben Roethlisberger ($7500/QB4) paying a visit to the Dolphins and their rag-tag DB corps. Collective Ownership Report projects only this group into 10-plus percent ownership among QBs.
Brian Hoyer's ($5800/QB20) ownership will interesting to monitor. Despite a string of 300-yard games, he's still priced pretty low. He might be in the medium-owned category as a ceiling due to his well-known career track record of melting down right about now. ... Eli Manning ($5900/QB19) has burned so many people in great spots, including his touchdown-free day against the Saints and Sunday night stinker in Green Bay, so the public will see a favorable matchup with Baltimore and still say no thanks.
WEEK 6 DFS: DK cash lineup | FD tournament | DK tournament | Values | DFS lineup builder
Daily Fantasy Football Week 6: Running Back
The public is playing their Steelers this week. Pittsburgh should land with Carolina and New England as the top teams in implied point total this week, and Collective Ownership Report rates Le'Veon Bell ($7900/RB1) as a run-away for highest owned in Week 6. The Steelers' status as 7.5-point favorites against a flat Dolphins offense indicates a really positive game script for the Steelers run game, and Bell has proven to have a high receiving floor over the years.
DeMarco Murray ($7700/RB2) and LeSean McCoy ($6900/RB4) will both go chalk with their elite usage and recent success. Cementing their ownership are favorable defensive matchups and high favorite spreads. The Browns have funneled fantasy production to their pass defense far more, but Murray has been as involved in the pass game as any workhorse back. ... Jamaal Charles and Arian Foster are both going at $5100/RB19 with great workhorse track records, but the public might want to see an elite game before paying up for them.
Daily Fantasy Football Week 6: Wide Receiver
Look out for the high Vegas totals creating extremely popular stacks in Week 6. Cam Newton-Kelvin Benjamin ($8100/WR5) gets the Saints defense bump. Benjamin's high variance as a unique red-zone weapon will make him especially appealing in tournaments despite the relatively high price. Jeremy Maclin ($6300/WR25) could see the similarly popular Raiders defense bump, and the cheaper price should see him go at least medium-owned.
Don't forget the Big Ben stacks. Antonio Brown ($10000/WR1) and especially Sammie Coates ($4000/WR34), whose recent usage will probably see his ownership far surpass AB this week, barring any bad news about the hand laceration. The public will likely bail on Julian Edelman ($5400/WR21) with Martellus Bennett and Rob Gronkowski both coming alive in the short-to-immediate range last week, even with his Brady track record. Expect Amari Cooper ($7500/WR14) and Michael Crabtree ($6900/WR19) to split the ticket and keep each from high-owned status against a vulnerable Chiefs pass D.
WEEK 6 DFS: DK cash lineup | FD tournament | DK tournament | Values | DFS lineup builder
Daily Fantasy Football Week 6: Tight End
Greg Olsen ($7000/TE1) will get the Monday night bump despite his primetime explosion occurring prior to a jump to top price at the position. The public will be on him against the Saints and Delanie Walker ($5500/TE4) against a Browns defense that was just annihilated by the Pats at that position.
Zach Ertz ($4000/TE15) burned everyone as the chalk pick last week, and the public will be off the perennial tease TE. Travis Kelce ($5000/TE5) gets a great matchup with Oakland, but the Chiefs offensive breakdown in their last outing should depress ownership to at least the medium range.