Thomason: Sleepers & Daily Fantasy Value Plays For Week 7
By Jack Thomason--
(CBS) As a reminder, this piece can be utilized for daily fantasy football and/or season-long leagues. The idea is to create one-stop show for sleepers at each position, no matter what league you're playing. Best of luck to everyone in Week 7.
Quarterback
C.J. Beathard, 49ers (at Cowboys) — Beathard is the starrter for the 49ers moving forward and had a nice debut last week while subbing in for Brian Hoyer. He threw for 245 yards, one touchdown and one interception while adding 14 yards via the ground. The Cowboys shape up as a nice matchup, as they rank 26th in 4for4's schedule-adjusted fantasy points allowed (aFPA) and 23rd in Football Outsiders' pass defense DVOA. The 49ers' implied team total is 20.5 points, but the price is what gets you thinking about Beathard as an option. (FanDuel: $6300; DraftKings: $4900)
Tyrod Taylor, Bills (vs. Buccaneers) —We know Taylor has a nice floor given his rushing ability, but he also has a nice ceiling due to those legs and the juicy matchup against the Buccaneers, who rank 30th in aFPA to quarterbacks and 31st in pass defense DVOA. That sets up Taylor up to move the ball through the air regardless of his subpar weapons. The Bills are also coming off their bye, so they've had the opportunity to address some passing game woes. (FD: $7000; DK: $5100)
Running back
Adrian Peterson, Cardinals (at Rams) — It feels funny writing up Peterson as a sleeper or value play, but that's what he is on FanDuel. After being traded to the Cardinals, he logged 90 percent of the touches (26) on 74 percent of the snaps and totaled 136 yards and two scores. While Peterson won't be catching any passes, it's safe to say he will see a heavy workload against a Rams team that's sporting an aFPA rank of 32nd in rush defense and a run defense DVOA rank of 22. The Cardinals are 3.5-point road underdogs, which isn't typically where you want to use running backs, but Arizona wants to run the ball and will likely attempt to control the game by doing so. (FD: $6300; DK: $5800)
Dion Lewis, Patriots (vs. Falcons) — In the highest over/under of the week (55 points) by a landslide, the Patriots take on the Falcons. Lewis has quietly seen his snaps and touches increasing weekly and has also seen red-zone work of late too. I believe the Patriots have been waiting for Lewis to regain his health to unleash his dynamic talent. He should see 10-12 touches, which is enough to put up big points at his current price. Lewis can play whether the Patriots are ahead or playing from behind, plus the Falcons rank 29th in rush defense DVOA and aFPA to running backs. (FD: $5500; DK: $3400)
Receiver
Josh Doctson, Redskins (at Eagles) — Docton hasn't seen more than three targets in any of the last three games. However, he does have a touchdown in two of the last three contests and would have three touchdowns in three games if not for bobbling the ball on a difficult catch another time when he hitting the ground. Jamison Crowder and Terrelle Pryor continue to struggle, and coach Jay Gruden has come out saying the team needs to actively find a way to get Doctson more involved. Doctson's snap percentage should rise from his 37-percent mark on the season, and he'll have a nice matchup with an Eagles secondary ranking 31st in aFPA to receivers. (FD: $5000; DK: $3800)
Kenny Stills, Dolphins (vs. Jets) — This has everything to do with whether or not DaVante Parker plays, but assuming he doesn't, I like Stills at his price. The Jets defense ranks 21st in pass defense DVOA and 22nd in aFPA to receivers, and Stills played 90 percent of the snaps with Parker out. He can take any catch to the house and seemed to have a decent connection with Jay Cutler, catching all four of his targets for 49 yards and a score last week. His opportunities will be there again if Parker sits this one out. (FD: $4900; DK: $4400)
Tight end
George Kittle, 49ers (at Cowboys) — We have one Iowa Hawkeye on here already in Beathard, why not add his college and now pro teammate in Kittle? In the last two weeks, Kittle has seen 17 total targets, multiple red-zone targets and scored a touchdown. The Cowboys rank 26th to tight ends in pass defense DVOA and have been oozing fantasy points just about every where defensively. If I like Beathard, then I'm going to like at least one pass receiver of his, and I'll take the one he has the most familiarity with. (FD: $4800; DK: $3600)
Jack Doyle, Colts (vs. Jaguars) — It looks like Doyle is back to being healthy and heavily targeted. Jacoby Brissett looked his way 11 times Monday night, with Doyle reeling in seven for 50 yards and a touchdown. The Jaguars are the best pass defense in football, but you can work them on the inside with the tight end, as they rank 20th in aFPA to the position. (FD: $5100; DK: $3400)
Just missed: Derek Carr, Ben Roethlisberger, Orleans Darkwa, Mike Gillislee, Richard Matthews, Taylor Gabriel/Mohamed Sanu, Kyle Rudolph and Austin Hooper.
Jack Thomason is 670 The Score's fantasy football expert and weekly guest of "Chicago's Fantasy Football Today," which can be heard every Sunday during football season from 8-9 a.m. CT on WSCR-670 and 670thescore.com/listen. Follow him on Twitter@jthomason77 and feel free to ask fantasy questions.
