Let’s get right into it for the Conference Finals NFL DFS slate. This week’s article will simply be a ranking at each position for the players in my DFS player pool.
If you haven’t yet, I would strongly advise giving my NFL DFS Strategy article I published this offseason before diving into the 2020 NFL DFS season. If you have any questions or would like some further help when building your lineups, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly on Twitter. Without further ado, let’s do this thing!
- Cincinnati @ Kansas City (-7) / TOTAL (53.5)
- San Francisco @ Los Angeles (-3.5) / TOTAL (45.5)
NFL DFS Quarterbacks
- Patrick Mahomes – regardless of price, Mahomes will be my quarterback this week on all NFL DFS formats. There’s no one on the slate with his floor or his upside. The rushing upside of late is also an added bonus to the best quarterback in the NFL. Mahomes dictates the outcome of this game and is gamescript proof in a game with a significantly higher expected pace than the late game in LA.
Ownership projections have Patrick Mahomes sitting around 45% owned and I think that’s about 20% too low. 55% of the field is in a rough path to the leaderboards if they’re going to fade Mahomes.
Honorable Mention: Joe Burrow, Matthew Stafford
NFL DFS Running Backs
- Joe Mixon – the obvious number one back on this slate is Joe Mixon. He’s the only running back on this slate with 20+ carry upside out of the backfield and 5+ receptions in the passing game. Like many, the Bengals will need to control the pace the best they can to keep Mahomes off the field as their offensive line simply cannot handle a shootout pace like we saw the Bills do last week. The Chiefs’ defensive line is healthy and will certainly limit what Mixon can do on the ground, but I’m most interested in Mixon due to his passing game abilities, especially against a heavy blitz team like the Chiefs.
Projected ownership: 5% - Elijah Mitchell – like the Bengals, the only hope the 49ers have is to control the pace of this game and have it play out at a snail’s pace with 25+ carries for Elijah Mitchell. I don’t love taking opposing running backs against the Rams but on a two-game slate, there’s not many options. Mitchell is a fine play who may certainly be game-scripted out a bit if the Rams jump on it early.
Projected ownership: 35% - Cam Akers – it appears that Sean McVay has officially given Cam Akers the keys to the Rams’ backfield castle while giving him over 80% of the snaps for 20 carries last week (Sony Michel 20% and just three touches). I do think we’ll see a bit more Michel this week if the Rams get ahead by two scores early (I think they do), but the price-tag of Akers is too-low to avoid when he’s one of the few running backs who have pass-catching upside.
Projected ownership: 55%
Honorable Mention: Clyde Edwards-Helaire (20% ownership projection), Jerrick McKinnon
Wide Receivers
- Cooper Kupp – best WR option on the NFL DFS slate.
Projected ownership: 45% - Ja’Maar Chase – we talked about Ja’Maar Chase’s success against high-blitz rate teams all season long and there’s no reason to shy away from that now. He’s my clear WR2 on this slate who averaged 24.4 fantasy points per game against the AETY Model’s highest expected blitz rate opponents.
Projected ownership: 35% - Tyreek Hill – not a whole lot to say about Tyreek Hill, besides “thank you” for last week’s performance. Hill can always break a slate and certainly has some excellent matchups every way he lines up against this Bengals’ secondary. I honestly will not have a lot of exposure to him and that scares the hell out of me.
Projected ownership: 50% - Tee Higgins – Higgins’ price is just too low for the expected volume in a game where the Bengals’ will likely be chasing points from the get-go. Like Ja’Maar, Higgins has excelled in all aspects of the game this season but has had some of his better games against high-blitz teams, averaging 16.1 fantasy points per game in those matchups and a relatively higher red-zone share than Ja’Maar Chase. Tee Higgins will have a lot of single coverage with Charvarius Ward, which is something the AETY Model says to attack.
Projected ownership: 35% - Odell Beckham Jr. – Love the upside and pay-down off of Cooper Kupp. Odell Beckham will have a lot of single coverage and we’ve seen the red-zone targets take a massive swing upward of late… at the cheap price-tag, Odell Beckham offers us a lot of NFL DFS upside at significantly less ownership than most of the top tier wideouts on the slate.
Projected ownership: 20% - Deebo Samuel – I’m having a very hard time getting to Deebo Samuel this week after he was significantly banged up against the Packers’ last week and the lack of targets in the passing game. Like Tyreek Hill, he can break the slate and a fade scares me, but I’m likely to fade. He’s a stud and please do not let me scare you away from him… just letting you know where I’m at.
Projected ownership: 35% - Jauan Jennings – Jennings is surprisingly trailing Deebo Samuel by only four targets over the past seven games for the 49ers and is also active in the red-zone packages. With a list full of studs, I needed to add some value to this section of the article and I can’t think of anyone better (besides maybe one of the cheaper KC wideouts) than Jennings. The AETY Model gives a nice upgrade to slot receivers against the Rams and Jennings fits my narrative of the 49ers having to play catch-up to Stafford and the Rams.
Projected ownership: 5% - Byron Pringle – it’s hard to ignore his recent production and he’s a stackable piece to the only quarterback I’ll play this weekend. Pringle is seeing the majority of his work out of the slot and that’s the strong suit for the Bengals’ secondary in Mike Hilton.
Projected ownership: 25% - Mecole Hardman – I’m likely to full fade Byron Pringle in NFL DFS due to the heavy chalk on the “value wideout” and pivot down to Mecole Hardman. Hardman seems to be a feature on the Chiefs’ offense for gadget plays (which he certainly can provide significant upside through), but also running the majority of his snaps on the outside. There should be a handful of opportunities for Hardman to be on the outside in single coverage with one safety behind him (likely to shade towards Kelce/Hill)so… I’m calling for a Hardman long touchdown this weekend. Let’s go.
Projected ownership: 10%
Honorable Mention: Brandon Aiyuk, Tyler Boyd
Tight-Ends
- Travis Kelce – clear top tight-end on this NFL DFS slate.
Projected ownership: 50% - George Kittle – Kittle has been a bit of a bust of late but with my projected gamescript of the 49ers playing from behind, this should be an excellent breakthrough spot for Kittle. Starting to love the idea of using both Kelce and Kittle together for the combined red-zone upside and differentiation with two tight-ends.
Projected ownership: 25%
3. CJ Uzomah – at the price, I’ll be very interested in punting down to Uzomah or paring him on the other side of Travis Kelce for a double tight-end build. I want as much exposure to this high-scoring affair as I can get.
Projected ownership: 25%
4. Tyler Higbee – love the red-zone upside, but not a big fan of playing Higbee when Uzomah is cheaper and in an arguably better gamescript.
Projected ownership: 35%
Defense / Special Teams
I’ll rarely write about defense and special teams, but prices considered, here’s who I’ll take a look at in my NFL DFS lineups:
- Los Angeles Rams
- San Francisco 49ers
- Kansas City Chiefs
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