With the NFL playoffs set to kick off, Sportsnet fantasy analyst Andy McNamara shares a sleeper or salary value player for each team that you can slot into a lineup. And if you’re looking for more fantasy football advice, follow Andy on Twitter: @AndyMc81.
Happy New Year, everyone! It’s 2020 and the NFL post-season kicks off with four games spread across wild-card weekend. League seasons may be finished, but there is still plenty of fantasy football to play and money to be won through DFS contests.
TENNESSEE TITANS at NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
TE: Jonnu Smith, Titans
Draft Kings salary of $3,800
This may be the best value on the entire slate. A starting tight end that’s delivered three consecutive double-digit fantasy point outings prior to Week 17 with three touchdowns over that stretch for a price tag of under $4,000? Sign me up!
Yes, the historic fear of taking on the Patriots in Foxborough looms large. However, the home team is average at best when it comes to defending tight ends. New England needs to focus on shutting down Tennessee’s electric weapons of A.J. Brown and Derrick Henry, which leaves Smith as the ideal outlet for Ryan Tannehill.
WR: Mohamed Sanu, Patriots
Draft Kings salary of $3,900
This is a fascinating salary structure on Draft Kings where the No. 2 wide receiver is cheaper than third option, rookie N’Keal Harry. It’s not that Mohamed Sanu deserves to be considered a fantasy threat right now, but he’s getting slightly more targets than Harry and is the much more polished receiver.
Plus, Sanu always poses the threat of an extra gadget play and would be next man up if Julian Edelman is limited due to injury.
BUFFALO BILLS at HOUSTON TEXANS
WR: Duke Williams, Bills
Draft Kings salary of $3,400
The Buffalo offence has been pretty straight forward all season when it comes to their playmakers — Josh Allen, John Brown, Devin Singletary, and a sprinkling of Frank Gore. No real sleeper or under-the-radar types have emerged in any sort of consistent way.
However, Williams peaked my interest in Week 17 when the starters sat. Having not played since Week 8, he sparked an impressive 108 yards on 12 targets for six catches. That dummied the effort by Robert Foster, who’s been a disaster in his sophomore campaign, yet has remained ahead of Williams on the depth chart.
This former CFL standout gives the Bills passing attack a different look. Offensive coordinator Brian Daboll would be wise to utilize Duke’s six-foot-three, 225-pound frame and impressive vertical leap against Houston’s 21st ranked defence versus fantasy receivers. At the very least, it would be nice to see the man rewarded for producing after being a healthy scratch half the season.
RB: Duke Johnson, Texans
Draft Kings salary of $4,400
Buffalo’s defence is definitely its strength. The unit can get to the quarterback (12th in sacks) and its general ability to keep opponents out of the end zone makes trusting Houston’s offence difficult for fantasy purposes.
This is where I’m really liking Duke Johnson’s role. He’s improved as an actual rusher, but his forte is receptions out of the backfield and gaining yards after catch in space. If the Bills are in the grill of Deshaun Watson, then Johnson makes the perfect safety net dump-off. The fifth-year pro has also been getting more touches inside the red zone.
Where the Texans’ secondary wideout options are inconsistent and there’s an undefined timeshare at tight end, Johnson’s garnered a steady workload throughout 2019. He’d be a good looking flex on a DFS roster for wild-card weekend.
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MINNESOTA VIKINGS at NEW ORLEANS SAINTS
TE: Kyle Rudolph, Vikings
Draft Kings salary of $3,500
Rudolph was certainly a more viable fantasy choice when Adam Thielen was sidelined for multiple weeks. However, he’s proven to be reliable (catching 81.3 per cent of his targets) and a TD converter when called upon with six majors.
Rookie tight end Irv Smith Jr. threatened some of Rudolph’s touches earlier in the season, but he’s been used as more of an underneath afterthought the past few games. Thielen hasn’t looked right since returning from that hamstring injury and I wonder if Kirk Cousins turns to the veteran tight end if Thielen starts slow.
WR: Tre’Quan Smith, Saints
Draft Kings salary of $4,000
Tre’Quan Smith offers some real value as a TD-dependent WR3 or flex. Drew Brees has found him for a score in three of the last four weeks, and Smith averaged 9.73 fantasy points in the final quarter of the season.
The problem is that there’s only so much ball to go around, which means the UCF alum needs to secure a touchdown versus a Vikings secondary that’s allowed the fourth-most fantasy points to wide receivers. As a contrarian point play, he’s worth a roll of the dice.
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS at PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
Seattle DST
Draft Kings salary of $2,800
The Seahawks DST price dropped $900 from last week, and I love this salary visiting an injury-plagued Eagles offence.
This isn’t the old “Legion of Boom” but the group is fifth in the NFL for interceptions, fourth in forced fumbles, and second in fumbles recovered. When the two clubs squared off Week 12 in Philadelphia, Seattle’s DST racked up three sacks and 17 fantasy points. The Seahawks also delivered an average of 11.3 fantasy points when on the road during the 2019 campaign.
This bargain cost gives the flexibility to go buy a heavy hitter for your DFS contest with the savings.
TE/WR: Joshua Perkins, Eagles
Draft Kings salary of $2,900
If Zach Ertz suits up for this wild-card matchup, then immediately scratch Joshua Perkins off your sleeper list. As of Friday morning, Ertz was still not cleared for contact so this may come down to a game-time decision.
Activated off Philly’s practice squad in late November, Perkins impressed last Sunday with a touchdown on four catches and 50 yards in a must-win game to clinch the division. The journeyman actually lined up at receiver in that one. Perkins secured all five of the passes that came his way the only other time he saw any significant action, and that came back in Week 14.
The versatility of using the undrafted veteran at both wideout and tight end intrigues me. Nelson Agholor is trending towards missing another contest, and J.J. Arcega-Whiteside has been borderline useless. In one capacity or another, Perkins could serve up some surprising contrarian points.
