By Gerry Love - SPM Fantasy Staff
SI.com Photo
COVID, COVID, COVID. It’s all anyone talks about. Where have we heard that before (insert eye roll here)?
Well, unfortunately it’s become the number-one topic in the National Football League – as it already has been in the rest of the world – as the Ravens added their 20th player or staff member to their COVID list with the addition of tight end Mark Andrews. That comes a day after the Denver Broncos had to add all four of their quarterbacks to the virus list as the contact tracing process unfolds there.
On top of that, the injury hits keep coming and have resulted in changes in our top-value picks for Week 12 right up until the posting of this article at 10 a.m. EST Sunday.Playes expected to play key roles who have been ruled out in recent days include Jonathan Taylor, Tua Tagovailoa, Todd Gurley, James Conner, Kalen Ballage, Salvon Ahmed and on and on and on.
The Denver situation also forces DFS players to relive the Taysom Hill headache all over again. Last week Hill was listed as a tight end in FanDuel even though he had been named the starting QB for the New Orleans Saints. A dual threat at $4,500, Hill was an enticing prospect in the tight end slot, and he ended up being 75 to 80-percent owned in most FD formats. Hill came through to the tune of 24 points.
This week, unknown wide receiver Kendall Hinton, a QB in college at Wake Forest, steps in for Drew Lock in Denver. While we don’t recommend ignoring this situation – and it’s probably worth throwing him into a lineup or two given his relatively low price of $6,000 in FanDuel - as of this writing Hinton is NOT an option in Draft Kings.
Before pulling the trigger on Hinton, consider this: His salary takes up 10 percent of your $60,000 salary cap. Based on last year’s average FanDuel numbers we figure that a score of 170 points normally guarantees a nice pay day. Assuming that you need 150 or more to have a shot at winning any money, Hinton needs to score at least 15 points to justify that salary. But our goal here is to find players who will EXCEED their value.
It’s no slam dunk that a QB who hasn’t thrown a meaningful pass since college operating what is sure to be a simplistic game plan will score that many points. With so many great wide receiver options available this week at lower salaries, while it’s fine to take a shot on Hinton in a game or two, we wouldn’t count on him to be what we would consider a value selection or a core player.
Our Week 12 top-value picks, core player recommendations and value/stacked lineup suggestions can be found below. The information is updated as much as it can be at this point. Good luck!
Top DraftKings QB Value
1. Aaron Rodgers
2. Cam Newton
3. Ryan Fitzoatrick
4. Tom Brady
5. Matt Ryan
6. Taysom Hill
DrafKings Super Value QBs
1. Daniel Jones
2. Derek Carr
3. Carson Wentz
Top FanDuel QB Value
1. Cam Newton
2. Tom Brady
3. Daniel Jones
4. Ryan Fitzpatrick
5. Taysom Hill
6. Matt Ryan
FanDuel Super Value QB
1. Derek Carr
Top DraftKings RB1 Value
1. Nick Chubb
2. James Robinson
3. Miles Sanders
4. Mike Davis
5. Aaron Jones
Top FanDuel RB1 Value
1. Alvin Kamara
2. Nick Chubb
3. Derrick Henry
4. James Robinson
5. Josh Jacobs
6. Aaron Jones
7. Miles Sanders
Top DraftKings RB2 Value
1. Kareem Hunt
2. Wayne Gallman
3. Damien Harris
4. Austin Ekeler
5. Kenyan Drake
Top FanDuel RB2 Value
1. Karem Hunt
2. Mike Davis
3. Austin Ekeler
4. Kenyan Drake
5. Clyde Edwards-Helaire
FD & DK Top Value Flex RB Plays
1. Wayne Gallman - FD
2. Damien Harris – FD
3. Brian Hill – DK & FD
4. Nyheim Hines – DK & FD
5. David Montgomery – FD
6. Jordan Wilkins – DK & FD
7. Leonard Fournette – DK & FD
8. Zach Moss – DK & FD
Top DraftKings WR1 Value
1. Calvin Ridley
2. Cooper Kupp
3. Tyler Lockett
4. Julio Jones
5. Allen Robinson
Top FanDuel WR1 Value
1. Calvin Ridley
2. Michael Thomas
3. Tyler Lockett
4. Julio Jones
5. Stefon Diggs
Top DraftKings WR2 Value
1. Robert Woods
2. DJ Moore
3. DeVante Parker
4. Robby Anderson
Top FanDuel WR2 Value
1. Cooper Kupp
2. Allen Robinson
3. Robert Woods
4. DeVante Parker
5. Robby Anderson
WR3/Flex Value WR Plays FD & DK
1. Curtis Samuel
2. Sterling Shepard
3. Tyler Boyd
4. Michael Pittman Jr.
5. Jakobi Meyers
6. Tee Higgins – FD only
Super Value Flex WR Plays FD & DK
1. Damiere Byrd
2. Keelan Cole
3. Henry Ruggs
4. Josh Reynolds – DK only
Tee Higgins – DK only
Top DraftKings TE Plays
1. Hunter Henry
2. Evan Engram
3. Hayden Hurst
4. Rob Gronkowski
Top FanDuel TE Plays
1. Hunter Henry
2. Evan Engram
3. Hayden Hurst
4. Rob Gronkowski
Super Value TE Plays
1. Robert Tonyan
2. Trey Burton
3. Jordan Reed
Week 10 Suggested Core Players & Lineups
DraftKings Players to Consider in All Lineups
RB – Nick Chubb, WR – Calvin Ridley TE – Hayden Hurst, D - Colts
FanDuel Players to Consider in All Lineups
RB – Alvin Kamara, WR – Calvin Ridley, TE – Hunter Henry, D – Titans
DraftKings Value Lineup
QB – Cam Newton
RB – Nick Chubb
RB – James Robinson
WR – Calvin Ridley
WR – DJ Moore
WR – Jakobi Meyers
TE – Hayden Hurst
Flex – Nyheim Hines
D – Colts
FanDuel Value Lineup
QB – Cam Newton
RB – Alvin Kamara
RB – James Robinson
WR – Calvin Ridley
WR – DJ Moore
WR – DeVante Parker
TE – Hayden Hurst
Flex – Damiere Byrd
D – Titans
DraftKings Stacked Lineup
QB – Daniel Jones
RB – Nick Chubb
RB – Josh Jacobs
WR – Stefon Diggs
WR – DJ Moore
WR – Sterling Shepard
TE – Hayden Hurst
Flex – Wayne Gallman
D – Titans
FanDuel Stacked Lineup
QB – Justin Herbert
RB – Alvin Kamara
RB – Josh Jacobs
WR – Keenan Allen
WR – Nelson Agholor
WR – Robby Anderson
TE – Hunter Henry
Flex – Wayne Gallman
D – Titans