Happy Holidays, everyone! Alright, enough with the pleasantries, there’s fantasy football playoffs business to attend to as we see our first couple Saturday NFL games for Week 15.
Put down the eggnog, check out my top-four sleeper picks/DFS value plays below, and hit me up with any questions on Twitter using #AskAndy. Let’s go!
Emmanuel Sanders, WR, New Orleans Saints
Yahoo! League ownership: 43 per cent
Draft Kings salary: $4,200
The Friday afternoon news that Michael Thomas will miss the showdown with Kansas City shakes up the fantasy options for New Orleans, especially since Drew Brees is returning from the injured list.
Buy in on Emmanuel Sanders stock while you can as this could be a wild back-and-forth scoring battle. People forget that the veteran was on a roll with Brees in the lineup and prior to his two-game stint on the COVID-19/reserve list at the end of October. In four outings from Week 3 to Week 9, Sanders averaged 17.23-fantasy points in PPR formats and a pair of touchdowns.
Besting the Chiefs defence is no easy task. However, there’s enough variety in the Saints’ arsenal to spread out coverage and give Sanders a chance to eat up targets from the slot.
Irv Smith Jr., TE, Minnesota Vikings
Yahoo! League ownership: 16 per cent
Draft Kings salary: $3,600
The tight end landscape continues to be volatile, which means we must focus on opponent and opportunity. Irv Smith Jr., is trending upwards in both of those categories.
Teammate Kyle Rudolph is again dealing with a bum foot, and Smith will look to build off of his four catches plus a touchdown performance from last weekend. When not working through a variety of ailments this season, the sophomore’s been the preferred TE recipient of Kirk Cousins’ affection over Rudolph. Now Smith encounters a Bears ‘D’ that’s given up the third-most fantasy points to tight ends, but the fourth fewest to wide receivers.
If Minnesota can exploit this tight end-friendly matchup, then it could become a productive afternoon for the Alabama Crimson Tide alum.
Russell Gage, WR, Atlanta Falcons
Yahoo! League ownership: 20 per cent
Draft Kings salary: $4,700
If you missed out on Emmanuel Sanders, then grab Russell Gage to slide in as a WR3/Flex. Julio Jones won’t suit up due to a pulled hamstring and that means Gage gets bumped to the No. 2 receiver role behind Calvin Ridley once again.
The 24-year-old has flashed fantasy relevance throughout this 2020 campaign, most recently since Atlanta’s Week 10 bye. In three of the past four contests, Matt Ryan’s tossed the ball his way on at least seven occasions. The last two games have seen Gage eclipse the 15-FPTs mark both times.
This all shows confidence from Ryan heading into Sunday’s NFC South meeting with rival Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers pass defence has slipped since the midway point of this season. They’ve allowed the fourth-highest completion percentage and are 10th in yards per attempt to wideouts.
New England Patriots, Defence
Yahoo! League ownership: 49 per cent
Draft Kings salary: $3,000
This certainly isn’t the powerhouse New England defence of 2019, but they do make for an intriguing streaming option or cheap DFS choice for Week 15.
During Bill Belichick’s regime, the Patriots are 21-5 versus rookie quarterbacks and undefeated since 2013. The Chargers’ Justin Herbert was the latest victim on Dec. 6 when New England pitched a shutout and delivered an obscene 31 FPTs.
Division rival Miami is on tap Sunday. The Pats DST posted 11 FPTs in the season-opening victory, although that was with Ryan Fitzpatrick under centre. This will be a real test for Tua Tagovailoa marching into Foxborough with playoff hopes on the line. The Dolphins are also riddled with injuries at running back and wide receiver, which could allow for Belichick’s unit to clamp down.
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