It’s Week 5 DFS for the NFL, and there are plenty of viable TE and DST plays to get us in the money for cash games and GPPs. Let’s fire up the DFS engines and get you the picks you need to take down the tourneys and better your opponents.
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While the Eagles receiving corps is getting healthier, Ertz remains a much-utilized target within Philly’s offense. Through four games, he’s seen the most targets among TEs (38) and racked up 24-255-0, the glaring lack of a TD the only thing that ‘s keeping him from fantasy glory. Against the Jets in Week 5, he stands a good chance to remedy that. Zach Ertz is reasonably priced, the number one cash game play of the main slate and makes for a fine lock-and-load in all formats.
If Wertz is first, who do you think is second? Engram has only one fewer target (37) than Ertz and is averaging 6.75 receptions, 82.75 yards and a 0.5 TDs per game. If we round those numbers up to 7-83-1, we’re looking at a solid cash game play in a game that should feature a lot of the Giants TE. He comes at a small discount from Ertz, and even with WR Golden Tate back and slot man Sterling Shepard clicking with Rookie QB Daniel Jones, Engram projects to see around 8-10 targets on a weekly basis.
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We’ve got some huge disparity with the pricing on Hoper, who’s themost expensive TE on FD at $6,700, and only the fifth priciest on DK. That’s somethingwe can take advantage of in GPPs on FD, where his ownership should be slightlylower. Hooper saw 11 targets in Week 4, the most among NFL tight ends, and bustedout for 9-130-0. The Texans have been stingy vs. TEs, but with this game projectedto be a boon for all the skill position players, I’ll be utilizing Hooper in game/teamstacks with Matt Ryan and Julio Jones, and running back some of the Texans (DeAndreHopkins, Will Fuller).
At this point, it’s safeto call Waller matchup-proof, and while his upside is somewhat limited againstthe Bears, I can’t keep him completely off my builds for Week 5 NFL DFS. He’stied with Engram for second most targets among TEs (37) and he’ll be utilizedoften as a check down with the Raiders likely struggling to move the ball verticallyup the field. Ownership on both sites will be low and there’s no reason we shouldn’tlook to Derek Carr’s most reliable pass catcher as a contrarian GPP option here.
In Week 3, Kyle Allen looked absolutely smitten with hisveteran TE, but Olsen had a quiet week last Sunday when he hauled in just twoof his four targets for 5 yards. That performance was against the aforementionedTexans, and game log followers with recency bias may steer clear of Olsen thisweek. That’s fine – because when healthy, we need reliable red zone targets withupside like Olsen in our GPPs. The Jaguars aren’t the big bad scary predatorycats they were in 2018, so plug in the Panthers TE with confidence.
Doyou like risk? How about when it comes with oodles of upside in a matchup thatportends many scoring opportunities for a potent offense? Tom Brady has been desperatelylooking for a TE to lock onto since Rob Gronkowski retired, and Watson – in his15th NFL season and his second turn with the Patriots – is comingoff a four-game suspension that’s kept him off the field thus far. In his triumphantreturn to New England, we could see a few extra targets go his way. I won’t havetons of exposure to Watson, who’s probably going to be limited to red zonechances and about half of the Pats’ total offensive snaps, but he’s anoff-the-wall play for GPPs.
Eifertis crazy cheap on both sites and gets a gigantic boost against the Cardinals,who yield 163.7% of the average fantasy points to TEs. He’s been quiet thisseason and he might get chalky, but the Bengals offense is missing some oftheir WRs and Eifert is an attractive value play in Week 5.
Game manager Teddy Bridgewater doesn’t necessarily get the bloodpumping and inspire confidence in the New Orleans offense, but the QB should belooking more to Jared Cook in Week 5 against the Bucs, who provide a favorablematchup for the athletic Cook. His 18 targets through four games is arelatively low number, but this is a good game for him to spike a Top 10 TEfinish and find some good, old-fashioned NFL paydirt.
The Bears are slightly cheaper than the Pats on both sites and rank as my top cash game DST for Week 5. They’re just as likely as New England to notch multiple sacks and grab a few turnovers, and they probably have a little more upside based on some of their standouts defensive talents like sack specialist Khalil Mack, DB Kyle Fuller (23 solos, two INTs) and linebacker Roquan Smith, who’s back with the team after missing Week 4 for personal reasons. I’m buying in both cash and GPP contests.
The Redskins are having some difficulty settling on a QB for Week5, and the Pats defensive players must be licking their collective chops at theprospect of haranguing either journeyman Case Keenum, Colty McCoy (who’s yet tosee the field for Washington this season), or rookie Dwayne Haskins, who was9-for-17 in Week 4 with three INTs. New England comes in as my second-best cashgame play, but they’re usable in all formats.
The Giants aren’t quite as terrible as they were during the firstcouple of weeks, but they’re prone to turnovers and providing scoring opportunitiesfor opposing defenses with a substandard offensive line and a rookie QB. TheVikings are affordable on both sites and could get lost in the shuffle ofviable DST options.
We’ll be seeing a lot of green-on-green violence in this Sunday tilt, and there’s as much upside to this Philly unit (which has yet to break out with a double-digit performance) as any other DST on the slate.
I’m not trying to pick on the New York teams this week, even if it feels like it, but the Bills could be the third squad form the Empire State who’s not entering Week 5 with the same starting QB they rolled out in Week 1. The Bills are not a bad team, but the Titans have been watching the tape on Matt Barkley and planning accordingly.
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The Packers are another team that’s super risky heading into Week5 but make sense an off-the-board GPP play in Dallas. I’m a Cowboys fan and I knowthat the offensive lien issues they’re having are much more of a problem than anyonewants to let on. Pairing them with Aaron Jones and fading Ezekiel Elliott on afew lineups could allow you to find some leverage and load up withTexans-Falcons, my favorite game stack on the slate.
The Bengals are once again viable in GPPs (they’re at home and facing a rookie QB) but they’re not going to make any of my cash game builds. Use them as a contrarian GPP defense with plenty of upside and just as much risk.
Photo of Zach Ertz by Keith Allison
Week Four was a big one for the Win Daily team (many thanks to rostering a lot of Los Angeles Rams and Nick Chubb). Unfortunately, the game stacks in last week’s post didn’t really work out, but our top team stack paid dividends in a NFL DFS GPP.
It’s a bit of an ugly slate this week, so I do advise DFS players to heavily consider playing more cash games this week. Please check out our Cash Game Checkdown before you set your DFS lineups for Sunday. But, lets get to work on Stick’s Stacks for Week Five.
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If you have any questions and would like some further help when building your lineups, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly on Twitter.
The purpose of this weekly article is to identify team/game stacks that we are going to use for an NFL DFS GPP. For those of you that don’t know, a “team stack” is simply multiple players from the same team (I rarely ever use more than three players on a given team).
A “game stack” is similar, except we are going to use players from both teams in a given game. Focusing on team stacks and game stacks is incredibly useful in the NFL DFS GPP environment. That being said, let’s get to this week’s top NFL DFS stacks!
With the pace both of these teams play at and the combined struggles on defense, I was quite surprised to see a relatively mediocre total of 47.5 points. I’m going to remain confident this game shoots out and that multiple players in this game are worth targeting in your NFL DFS GPP lineups.
Both offenses have been extremely disappointing of late and enter Week Five in a perfect “get-right” spot. There really aren’t a whole lot of games that scream shootout in Week Five, but this game should be one of them. Both teams have been playing at a high pace and we always love Matt Ryan and company in a dome.
It looks like the Houston offense will be popular this weekend and for good reason, but I love getting exposure to the Falcons’ offense in Week Five for NFL DFS GPP style of tournaments.
QB: Kyler Murray
RB: David Johnson
RB: Joe Mixon
WR: Mohamed Sanu
WR: DeAndre Hopkins
WR: Larry Fitzgerald
TE: O.J. Howard
FLEX: David Montgomery
DST: Tennessee Titans
We’re into an exciting Week 4 DFS for NFL action and I’m looking at some TEs and DSTs to plug into your daily fantasy lineups and win some of that sweet, sweet green in cash games and GPPs. Let’s shed the bracket coverage, avoid the pesky double teams and find the paydirt!
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Engram is still the best receiver available on the Giants, so that hasn’t changed since Week 1 – and has been elevated to either the No. 1 fantasy TE or No. 2 by just about every expert polled in Week 4. More than anything else, consensus rankings that uniform are the stuff of cash game gold – and we needn’t look further than Engram’s game logs and target totals (14,8,8) to know that he’s a reliable pass catcher who’s involved in every aspect of the offense. With rookie QB Daniel Jones (DAMN, Daniel!) at the helm and Saquon Barkley injured, the Giants TE will be heavily riled upon in Week 4.
A guy who rarely comes off the field for the Raiders offense and has seen target totals of 8, 7 and 14 in the first three games, Waller entered the season as a highly touted, but somewhat risky fantasy option on a rudderless team without a bona fide No. 1 receiver. He hasn’t yet to score a TD, and that makes him kind of risky in GPPs – where he’ll be pretty highly owned. But Waller has incredibly managed to put himself into fine position as a cash game option with his elite level of involvement in just about every Oakland game script. I’m not saying he’s a bad GPP play, but he’s going to be chalky along with Engram.
Once again, Kelce has adifficult on-paper matchup that could keep a portion of the field away, and he’sstill very much a viable cash game option despite facing the Lions – who havedefended TEs well so far. But he’s my top GPP option of the Week and it’s not especiallyclose. At the moment, I’m looking at having ownership levels north of 50percent for Kelce, who’s put up consistent target totals of 8, 9 and 8 in hisfirst three games and has already compiled 25-284-1 on the season. He’s primedfor a two-TD game versus the Lions and I’m not especially afraid of theirdefense, which will struggle to contain this big-bodied gamebreaker.
With Jacoby Brissett really clicking in this Colts offense and the Raiders safeties and linebackers looking a bit sluggish and underwhelming, I’ll have some shares of Ebron at this price. He hasn’t drawn any huge target totals this season and splits the field time with Jack Doyle, who’s another possible GPP option. What Ebron (11-80-1 on the season through three games) offers in Week 4 is likely increased usage inside the red zone, where he should have more opportunities than usual given Oakland defensive futility. He won’t draw much ownership and we know he has enormous upside – albeit a relatively low floor.
Walker is nursing a kneeinjury that has seen him miss consecutive practices, but if he’s available –even in a limited fashion – during Friday’s sessions I’ll find a way to use himin some tournaments. Walker is a veteran TE who’s posted 16-158-2 over his firstthree games and has a history of playing hurt, which can be a blessing and acure for fantasy owners. He’s fairly priced on both sites and has decent upside againstan Atlanta team that just lost Keanu Neal – its standout strong safety – to atorn Achilles. If Walker plays on Sunday, I’ll have some exposure.
I make sure I lead off the punts by reminding you that you’ll be assuming a considerable amount of risk not looking to the obvious top TEs, but I’m not so sure that Dissly isn’t obvious at this point – given the matchup against the dreadful Cardinals and the upside that he’s established. After a quiet Week 1, Will has put up performances of 5-50-2 on five targets and 6-62-1 on seven targets. He’s worth rostering in all contests as a FLEX pairing with a more chalky TE or as a “contrarian light” option if you’re fading the five or six guys ahead of him in the weekly fantasy rankings. He’ll still garner ownership, but it probably won’t be as high as it should be.
Gesickiis a complete dart throw given Miami’s putrid offense and the fact that he’s onlyseen 11 targets through the first there weeks. But don’t look at him havingjust six catches for 51 yards without a touchdown through threegames as a negative – look at it as an opportunity to keep his ownership in the0-5 percent range. The second-year tight end won’t be a cash game optionanytime soon, but he’s likely to see increased targets in Week 4 versus the Chargerswith WRs Albert Wilson (calf/hip) and Allen Hurns (concussion) questionable anddoubtful, respectively.
Mark Andrews, BAL vs. CLE (FD $6,100, DK $5,000) – Nursing a foot injury, so a GPP option you should make sure is playing.
Austin Hooper, ATL vs. TEN (FD $6,400, DK $4,300) – Hooper is my white whale for DFS TEs, and I’m always on the wrong end of his capricious antics.
O.J. Howard, TB at LAR (FD $5,900, DK $3,900) – At some point they’re going to start throwing to him.
Vernon Davis, WAS at NYG (FD $5,100, DK $3,400) – He’s old as the hills, but he’s playing the Giants and this one could get interesting.
The Chargers are playing the Dolphins – and while we needn’tsay much more than that, it’s important to point out that despite a bevy of solidpass rushers, they have only recorded four sacks through three games. That’s anumber set to increase on Sunday against the worst offensive line in football. Don’toverthink this one and get the Chargers DST in there in cash games if you canafford it.
It’s somewhat dangerous to play a defense at Mile High – a venue that doesn’t lend itself to standout performances for opponents. But these Denver Broncos are not a well-oiled machine, and they could have trouble moving the ball against the Jaguars defense. This Jacksonville unit is coming off its best game of the season in Week 3, when they racked up nine sacks and recovered a fumble, their first takeaway in 2019. They’d obviously like to have Jalen Ramsey for this game, but he’s on paternity leave and probably won’t be available in Week 4. If he somehow is, the Jags are an even better play.
The Rams DST has been consistent from a fantasy points perspective,scoring 9, 8 and 9 FP in the first three weeks of the season. They have somesuperstar defensive lineman, including one of the best in the game, a group ofcapable LBs and some excellent defensive backs. They’ve also notched an INT ineach of their contests so far and should continue that streak against JameisWinston and the Bucs. Plug them in some of your GPPs and enjoy the results.
By way of their electrifying performance in Week 3, the Bearscould garner some higher ownership levels than they might deserve against a Vikingsunit that runs the ball a lot and will do everything they can to prevent KirkCousins from getting in too many 3rd and long situations. Truthfully, that’s apretty smart strategy against a Bears defense that caused five turnovers Mondaynight against the Redskins.
The Colts defense had four sacks in each of its first twogames before the goose egg against Atlanta, and I expect a much betterperformance at home facing the woeful Raiders. They give up some yardage, butfor this price I’m buying shares.
Ina week without too many viable punt options at DST, this is about as cheap as I’dlike to go. The Titans secondary is much better than they played last Thursdaynight in Jacksonville, and despite a difficult matchup against a potent Atlantaoffense, there’s plenty to like in terms of their upside (23 FP in Week 1) and theplaymaking ability of their ball-hawking defensive backs.
Evan Engram Featured Image via Keith Allison
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