DraftKings NFL Picks, Week 14: Best bargains in DFS play
By Drew DeLuca
Though you may have been bounced from your season-long fantasy football league, these best DFS bargains on DraftKings in Week 14 can cure your sorrows.
Holiday shopping season is a time when budgets are stretched to the max. While millions around the world immerse themselves in the search for perfect gifts that won’t break the bank, NFL DFS players on DraftKings continue to maximize their salary cap allotment in a quest for the perfect lineup.
Naughty or nice, two universal truths that apply to fantasy football of any kind: 1. a lineup anchored by at least one true stud offers more consistency, and 2. matchups matter.
With that in mind, take a break from a weekend full of errands and peruse our featured Week 14 DraftKings bargains.
Quarterbacks
The landscape at this position is deeper than ever, with almost twenty quarterbacks well-positioned to make a splash this weekend. Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers are never bad starts, but as the four highest-priced options in a field stocked with many others with favorable matchups, we brush them aside in our search for better values.
Kirk Cousins (MIN vs. DET, $6,700) should finish as a top-five fantasy quarterback this week, but he’s unfortunately priced as such by DraftKings. Matt Ryan (ATL vs. CAR, $6,600) is another attractive option against a Carolina Panthers team that just lost its defensive-minded coach, though he also carries a relatively high cost. We examine the best of the rest to help NFL DFS enthusiasts maximize value throughout their DraftKings lineups.
While matchups matter, Deshaun Watson (HOU vs. DEN, $6,500) proved last week that he is, in fact, a stud by shredding the league’s top defense. Since he’s priced outside the top five, start him with confidence against a comparatively inferior Denver Broncos unit.
Expect Baker Mayfield (CLE vs. CIN, $6,300) to come up big in a rivalry game, despite nagging hand and rib injuries. Mayfield’s mama “didn’t raise a wuss,” and the second-year signal-caller has played better football over the last several weeks. Adding one of the league’s worst pass defenses to the mix should allow Baker to cook up an impressive fantasy stat line in Week 14.
Carson Wentz (PHI vs. NYG, $6,100) has had a rough season, in part due to poor play from his receiving corps. The incredibly ineffective Mack Hollins has been replaced by the up-and-coming JJ Arcega-Whiteside (PHI vs. NYG, $3,400), a move that should help propel Wentz to his second straight 300-yard, three-touchdown game, given the state of the New York Giants’ secondary.
Continuing with this theme, Jared Goff (LAR vs. SEA, $6,000) has been left for dead by most fantasy owners, but those looking to ride a swell to a crest could benefit from his second straight big game. Plenty of weapons are at his disposal, and the Los Angeles Rams will need to utilize them in order to keep pace with MVP candidate Russell Wilson.
Ryan Tannehill (TEN at OAK, $5,800) is a recommendation that conditionally rides on the health of A.J. Brown (TEN at OAK, $5,300), who was limited in practice earlier this week. The impressive rookie wide receiver now carries no injury designation, so he and Tannehill should team up to exploit a weak Oakland Raiders secondary.
Bargain bin discoveries include Andy Dalton (CIN at CLE, $5,200), resurrected by the Cincinnati Bengals after the failed Ryan Finley experiment. Dalton gets speedster John Ross (CIN at CLE, $4,400) back this week, a low-budget DFS value in his own right who should open up the offense and allow Dalton room to work underneath.
Not for the faint of heart are rookie Drew Lock (DEN at HOU, $5,100), who established an impressive connection with Courtland Sutton in Week 13, and deposed veteran Eli Manning (NYG at PHI, $4,700). Lock was highly regarded by many draft analysts months ago, and while it’s too risky to start him given the plethora of better options, a soft matchup makes him worth watching.
Meanwhile, Manning is priced attractively for a swan song against a division rival with a questionable pass defense, but he’s 10-22 all-time against the Philadelphia Eagles and lost nine of his last 10 games against them. Two things to expect this week from the two-time Super Bowl champion: turnovers and garbage time.