We are beginning to enter the home stretch of the season as week 14 of the NFL kicks off this evening with the Steelers taking on the Vikings who just handed the Lions their first and only win of the season. The playoff picture is beginning to become more and more clear and that will only continue as we come down to the final weeks as we wind out December. As usual I will be covering the top quarterbacks and players to stack with them for GPP contests across the NFL DFS industry, so any stack that I recommend is in play for both FanDuel and DraftKings. With that said, let’s get to the picks!
The QB’s
A. We have a very unique situation for week 14 of the NFL, as the three worst teams in total DVOA are all on the main slate for what I believe to be the first time all season. Another wild aspect of this is the fact that all 3 of those teams also have the same rank in DVOA against the pass as they do in total DVOA. The top option for us this week is Taysom Hill ($5,600 DK / $7,700 FD) as he is just way under priced for his potential production. Not only is he one of the few quarterbacks that still contributes heavily in the rushing department, but he also draws the best possible matchup for a signal caller as he faces off against the New York Jets. The Jets rank dead last in the entire NFL in total DVOA and DVOA against the pass, while also ranking 3rd worst in DVOA against the run. This team boasts the absolute bottom of the barrel worst defense in the NFL, and with Alvin Kamara likely returning, this Saints offense should be able to walk all over New York. I will save further analysis for the stacks section, but this Jets team ranks dead last in DvP against the running back position as well, so I think you can see where I will be getting heavy exposure in addition to Hill.
B. I hate to just cherry pick the quarterbacks that are facing the bottom three defenses in the league, but I really think it is honestly this easy this week. The tricky part will be determining where to differentiate with our stacks. Ryan Tannehill ($6,400 DK / $7,300 FD) and the Tennessee Titans will be taking on the second worst defense in the entire NFL, the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jags rank second to last in both total DVOA and DVOA against the pass, however unlike the Jets, they are at least average in terms of defending the run. Of the 28 teams taking the field in week 14, the Titans come in at 20th in terms of sack likelihood on Tannehill. In other words, Tannehill should have the 9th easiest time passing the football in the pocket and we should not expect him to be pressured very often, according to the strength of the Tennessee offensive line against the week Jacksonville defensive line. Tannehill should be able to have his way with this defense, and it will be icing on the cake if Julio Jones is also able to return.
C. The last quarterback that is facing a bottom three defense on the main slate is none other than Dak Prescott ($6,700 DK / $8,100 FD). While he is the most expensive of the three, he will likely be significantly lower-owned than Taysom Hill for tournaments. The Washington Football Team really needs to come up with an actual name, it is insane how long this has taken. Anyway, they are horrendous at defending in football games, as they rank 30th in both total DVOA and DVOA against the pass. The Cowboys will be calling passing plays at an enormous rate, given that both of their runningbacks are banged up and the fact that WFT actually ranks 8th in DVOA against the rush. Washington ranks dead last in DvP against the QB position, so we should absolutely expect a ceiling game for Dak, especially that he now has his weapons healthy. The Cowboys should absolutely roll in this spot, and I expect Dak to be one of the top scoring quarterbacks on the slate.
The Stacks
A. Similar to the Kansas City Chiefs, the New Orleans Saints have really not been themselves this season. Michael Thomas got surgery extremely late in the off-season, and then unsurprisingly missed the entire season due to experiencing a “set-back”, and Alvin Kamara has been in and out of the lineup for the majority of the season at this point. Regardless, stacking Taysom Hill with Kamara is one of my favorite builds at this point in the week. You can add one wideout, but our options of Tre’Quan Smith, Marquez Callaway, and Lil’Jordan Humphrey do not inspire much confidence whatsoever. The tight end options are arguably even more bleak, so I will likely be sticking to the Hill/Kamara one-two punch and hoping that the field avoids Kamara due to his injured status and potential lost red zone touches due to Hill. Elijah Moore is somewhat intriguing on the Jets side of the football, but I will likely be avoiding the Jets as I do every week, since that will very rarely come back to haunt us.
B. The situation in Tennessee really hinges very heavily on the potential return of Julio Jones as I mentioned above. If Jones does not return, we should likely pass on this Titans offense, but if he does suit up then a DraftKings price of $5.4K with no A.J. Brown or Derrick Henry is beyond enticing. Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Chester Rogers are potential options if Julio sits, but they essentially have little to no ceiling to help us win GPPs. I also would not be caught dead rostering a Jaguars player, as I took the cheap price on Laviska Shenault last week and was quickly reminded why his price is so low. $4.3K is honestly still too much for this guy in this offense, and I am not even sure I would have interest at $3K. Similar to the game above, this is really just a spot where I want to target the quarterback and top skill position player from one team and then leave the rest of this game on the table.
C. Last but not least, we finally have a game that we can stack up from both sides. I wrote up Dak Prescott, but you can also get cute and roster Taylor Heinicke on the other side for tournaments, as he will almost definitely come in at even lower ownership. I heard Ezekiel Elliott referred to as a “$90M pass blocker” earlier this week, and that is sad but true. Zeke has looked fat, out of shape, and downright horrendous at most points this season, and he is claiming he is injured as well but man even early in the season he looked awful. Pollard is clearly the more skilled back but he is still technically a backup that we would have to pay $6.4K for, so no thanks. The wide receivers are clearly where the money is on this team, and we can get plenty of exposure to CeeDee Lamb, Amari Cooper, and Michael Gallup on Sunday. Dalton Schultz is also a viable tight end option, and you can really load up two or three of these guys in one lineup and still feel comfortable with your potential upside given that Dallas has one of the highest implied team totals on the slate. Terry McLaurin is of course our default bring-back option and I love including him in lineups with my Dallas stack onslaughts.
That will do it for this week’s article. If I am not taking down the million this Sunday, then I hope that it is a member of our WDS fam! Please make sure to check out our projection model by clicking here, and if you have any questions about GPP strategy or the top stacks for the week, I will be in our expert chat in Discord leading up to Sunday afternoon. Feel free to shoot me a DM or @ me in chat! Lastly, do not forget to subscribe to the WinDaily YouTube channel and follow me on Twitter: @AThr0ughZ!