This article is part of our DFS Football 101 series.
Last week I wrote about how to select a D/ST and it was met with a lot of positive response, so I expanded on that this week with kickers along with D/ST. One thing to take note for new players to Fanduel this year, all of the stats below are from 2013 and they changed the salary structure for each position. I'm sure it was based on user feedback and they looked at the percent owned of each position weekly. The way it was structured forced most to just go with the bare minimum salary / best matchup. This year, the salaries are much more spread out making it tougher, however they did lower the salaries, which I think was a great move.
Kickers
Note:Fanduel has changed their K salary range to $4500-$5500 this year vs. $5000-$6100 last year.
Avg Salary $5166
Avg Pts 8.4
37% occurrence 10.0 points or higher Avg Salary $5186
24% "" 12.0 points or higher Avg Salary $5193
11% "" 14.0 points or higher Avg Salary $5207
Avg Salary – Avg Points (# of players)
$5000 – 8.0 (245)
$5100 – 7.4 (60)
$5200 – 9.5 (64)
$5300 – 8.8 (43)
$5400 – 8.4 (35)
$5500 – 9.0 (30)
$5600 – 11.1(13)
$5700 – 9.0 (10)
$5800 – 6.0 (4)
$5900 – 9.4 (5)
$6000 – 3.0 (1)
$6100 – 9.0 (1)
Last year, most of the player pool was minimum salary (245/511), so everyone just took those kickers. This year is not the case, as Fanduel has made sure to spread the salaries more. So look for the ones that fit the system criteria. 84/245 had at least 10 or more fantasy points so you can find value at $4900 or less.
There is a slight edge taking home kicker indoors if you can find them.
One key point you want to take note of and it is a major mistake that most new players make. Make sure that you do not own any other offensive players from the same team as your kicker. You want TDs from QB/RB/WR/TE, and NOT extra points from your kicker. You are hoping to get 2-3 field goals from your kicker with a couple extra points.
This week presents a few of options
Let's start to narrow down the choices based on the field
$4900 – Folk, Sturgis, Parkey, Suisham, Bullock
$4700 – Forbath, Graham
$4600 – Santos, Cundiff, Gould
$4500 – Freese, Janikowski, Scobee, Bironas, Brown
Kickers I Like
Cody Parkey-Should be in a very high scoring back and forth game and he is at home.
Shayne Graham-Also should be in a high scoring game, he is at home and in a dome.
Robbie Gould-On the road and outdoors, but he is one of the best kickers in the NFL and
that game is a nice total with small line and you get $300 in relief from the others.
Nick Folk-From the same game
Caleb Sturgis-Can kick it from a long distance, he is at home and it is a nice total with a small line.
Defense/Special Teams
Note:Fanduel has changed their D/ST salary range to $4500-$5800 this year vs. $5000-$6600 last year
Avg Salary $5285
Avg Pts 8.0
35% occurrence 10.0 points or higher Avg Salary $5358
25% "" 12.0 points or higher Avg Salary $5364
18% "" 14.0 points or higher Avg Salary $5357
12% "" 16.0 points or higher Avg Salary $5337
You can see that the average salary does not change very much as you go up the scoring chart. Meaning that it does not make sense to overspend on D/ST, but it also makes sense to a little above the minimum.
Your target in cash game should be at least 10, with a GPP target of 16. Seeing how 16 is usually only hit around two to four times a week, its important to nail one of them.
Projected Team Total Target should be at least 24 points to make it a top play. I would not go below 23.
To calculate team totals, look at the Vegas lines for example
Bengals -7 vs. Titans, 43. You take the total which is 43/2 = 21.5
then you add if its the favorite +7/2 = 3.5, which gives you the projected total of 25.
On the flip side, you have the Titans 43/2=21.5; -7/2 = -3.5, giving you 18.
This makes the Bengals a must play for D/ST this week, because they fit all of the criteria that we look for as I mentioned last week.
Home/Favorite/Outdoors/Total 45 and less or Team Total 23+
Other Defenses I Like
Dolphins -3.5 vs. Chiefs, 42.5. The total might be a tad low, especially with the Miami running game hurting and I expect Tannehill to throw more, but their pass rush really got to Brady in Week 1, which no one does. Alex Smith could be in for a long day behind a very weak offensive line. Also, the Chiefs, now 0-2, come off a tough divisional road game vs. the Broncos and have to travel to humid South Florida.
Bills -2.5 vs. Chargers, 45. What the Chargers did last week to the Seahawks was impressive, and they have been on a nice run going back to last year. But much like how I did not like the Dolphins last week, I don't like the Chargers in this spot. Having to go all the way east to play a 1 p.m. game does not bode well, and you know the hangover will be in effect after last week's win. Add in Ryan Mathews going down, which means they go to Donald Brown. I like Brown, but not this week. Also, Keenan Allen might be a little banged up.
The Bills are riding high at 2-0, and as I stated last week, this is the BEST D-Line in the NFL. They will cause havoc for Philip Rivers while playing the run-the-clock game. I think it will be a very low scoring game, more in the 17-13 range then the 23-20 Vegas has projected.
Panthers -3.5 vs. Steelers, 42. Carolina is another team I rode last week, and I see no reason to go any different this week. The Panthers get a putrid Steelers offense on the road that has not scored a TD in six quarters. While I do think the Steelers will find a way to put up more points than the Lions, I don't think it will be very much more. This Panthers defense swarms at home, and does not appear to miss Greg Hardy one bit. The addition of Antone Cason is looking to be genius as they let Captain Munnerlyn leave via free agency to Minnesota. The Panthers also play their ball at home, which is run the ball, hit Greg Olsen, and let Cam run in designated spots, but now you add in the Kelvin Benjamin factor. Expect a bounce back game from him after three drops last week.
Again the goal here is to provide you with a couple of top plays and streamers that get you in the money each week, by applying this system you WILL have an edge over the rest of the competition, who blindly picks their D/ST and K.
