By Scotty P. - SPM Fantasy Staff
So, you say that you’ve been knocked out of your full-season fantasy football playoffs. Or you didn’t make it all. Or, like me, both things happened to you.
That’s right I was dumb enough to play in a league that didn’t allow trades and guaranteed division winners made the playoffs no matter what their record was or how many points they had.
Because of that, I made it to the postseason in one league and for the eighth time this year when one of my various teams put up 150 points only to lose in the first round. And in another league, I ended the season on top of the power rankings, with the third-most points overall and the fourth-best record, but a team with a sub-.500 record and fewer points advanced while I got to watch from the sidelines.
Lesson learned. Always read the fine print.
But the reason that my team with a record barely above .500 was able to make a late run, jump to the top of the power rankings and really earn what should have been a playoff spot was the attention I paid to the waiver wire throughout the season. Despite having numerous injuries, I was able to add players like Mike Davis and James Robinson who combined to start for me every week except one after I added them. That was huge considering that I lost Saquan Barkley early and played without Nick Chubb and Kenny Golladay for a large portion of the season.
Sometimes getting players off waivers can be luck and sometimes players go to managers who overpay in leagues that require budding, but many times it’s the managers who watch most of the games every Sunday and monitor the waiver wire each week – whether they need players or not – who make the key pickups that lead to playoff berths and ultimately championships.
The good news is that for those of us who missed out on making the full-season playoffs, all the players we weren’t able to grab off waivers are available every week in DFS games. And frequently they are the higher-value guys and the ones we recommend you build your lineups around on a weekly basis. These are the players who our analytics believe will out-perform their value and allow you to save salary that you can spend on the top-tier, higher-priced guys who can put you in the big money.
All of our top-value recommendations, as well as core-player and lineup recommendations for NFL Week 15 can be found below for DraftKings and FanDuel.
Good Luck!
Top DraftKings QB Value
1. Ryan Tannehill
2. Tom Brady
3. Jared Goff
DrafKings Super Value QBs
1. Phillip Rivers
2. Drew Brees
3. Jalen Hurts
Top FanDuel QB Value
1. Lamar Jackson
2. Kyler Murray
3. Ryan Tannehill
4. Tom Brady
5. Jared Goff
6. Drew Brees
FanDuel Super Value QB
1. Phillip Rivers
2. Jalen Hurts
Top DraftKings RB1 Value
1. Alvin Kamara
2. Jonathan Taylor
3. James Robinson
Top FanDuel RB1 Value
1. Alvin Kamara
2. Jonathan Taylor
3. James Robinson
Top DraftKings RB2 Value
1. JK Dobbins
2. Kenyan Drake
3. JD McKissic
4. Nyheim Hines
5. Jeff Wilson Jr.
Top FanDuel RB2 Value
1. David Montgomery
2. Miles Sanders
3. Cam Akers
4. D’Andre Swift
5. Kenyan Drake
6. Nyheim Hines
DraftKings & FanDuel Super Value Flex RB
1. Leonard Fournette
2. JD McKissic – FD only
3. Jeff Wilson Jr. – FD only
4. Chase Edmonds
5. Gus Edwards
Top DraftKings WR1 Value
1. Robert Woods
2. Justin Jefferson
3. Terry McLaurin
4. Mike Evans
Top FanDuel WR1 Value
1. DeAndre Hopkins
2. DK Metcalf
3. AJ Brown
4. Calvin Ridley
5. Justin Jefferson
6. Robert Woods
Top DraftKings WR2 Value
1. Brandon Aiyuk
2. Chris Godwin
3. Corey Davis
4. TY Hilton
5. Marvin Jones Jr. (if Stafford plays)
Top FanDuel WR2 Value
1. Cooper Kupp
2. Brandon Aiyuk
3. Corey Davis
4. Terry McLaurin
5. Mike Evans
6. Tyler Boyd
WR3/Flex Value WR Plays FD & DK
1. Keke Coutee
2. Michael Pittman Jr.
3. Russell Gage
4. DJ Chark
5. Cee Dee Lamb
Super Value Flex WR Value Plays FD & DK
1. Christian Kirk
2. Emmanuel Sanders
3. Michael Gallup
Top DraftKings TE Value Plays
1. Rob Gronkowski
2. TJ Hockenson
3. Hunter Henry
4. Mark Andrews
5. Dallas Goedert
Top FanDuel TE Value Plays
1. TJ Hockenson
2. Rob Gronkowski
3. Hunter Henry
4. Mark Andrews
5. Irv Smith Jr.
6. Jared Cook
Super Value TE Plays
1. Irv Smith Jr.
2. Jared Cook – DK Only
3. Hayden Hurst – DK Only
4. Gerald Everett – DK & FD
5. Trey Burton – DK only
Week 13 Suggested Core Players & Lineups
DraftKings Players to Consider in All Lineups
RB – Alvin Kamara, WR – Brandon Aiyuk, TE – Rob Gronkowski, D – Patriots
FanDuel Players to Consider in All Lineups
RB – Alvin Kamara, WR – DeAndre Hopkins, TE – Irv Smith Jr., D – Cowboys
DraftKings Value Lineup
QB – Ryan Tannehill
RB – Alvin Kamara
RB – JK Dobbins
WR – AJ Brown
WR – Brandon Aiyuk
WR – Keke Coutee
TE – Rob Gronkowski
Flex – Michael Gallup
D – Patriots
FanDuel Value Lineup
QB – Kyler Murray
RB – Alvin Kamara
RB – Jonathan Taylor
WR – DeAndre Hopkins
WR – DK Metcalf
WR – Emmanuel Sanders
TE – Irv Smith Jr.
Flex – Leonard Fournette
D – Cowboys
DraftKings Stacked Lineup
QB – Kyler Murray
RB – Derrick Henry
RB – Leonard Fournette
WR – DeAndre Hopkins
WR – Keke Coutee
WR – TY Hilton
TE – Jared Cook
Flex – Emmanuel Sanders
D – Cowboys
FanDuel Stacked Lineup
QB – Lamar Jackson
RB – Derrick Henry
RB – JK Dobbins
WR – Allen Robinson
WR – Brandon Aiyuk
WR – Emmanuel Sanders
TE – Mark Andrews
Flex – Leonard Fournette
D – Cowboys