DraftKings Week 7 Values & Top Plays
Week 6 was the epitome of why an antifragile, contrarian approach to daily fantasy can be so valuable. I personally believe that the value in going against the grain is apparent when we stop analyzing fantasy football results in a binary way.
Even if we think about a decision probabilistically, it’s very tempting to just say “Hey, what are the chances that this decision works out?” I think that can be problematic thinking, however, if we don’t consider the degree to which we can benefit if things do indeed go our way. The thinking behind a contrarian strategy is that, by rostering low-usage players, we can acquire the most “usable value” if they produce as expected.
There’s a similar phenomenon in season-long leagues. Sometimes we get sucked into this trap of “Does this player offer value?” in a very binary manner. Well, yeah, maybe a certain player offers slightly more value than another, but what we should really be concerned about are the odds of a player helping us win our league.
Those are two separate things. Imagine that you roster a player on DraftKings who is really, really popular; we’ll say 80 percent usage. That player could score 50 points and the usable value would be limited because you’d still be competing with four-fifths of users.
Keep this idea in mind as you field your Millionare Maker lineups this weekend and enter in other large field events. We shouldn’t be concerned solely with whether or not a player offers value, but also 1) how much you can potentially benefit if that player scores X points and 2) how his anticipated usage will help you win your leagues, i.e. how much pragmatic value does he offer?
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DraftKings Week 7 Value Plays
High QB: Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay vs Carolina, $8800
I believe the quarterback position is the most difficult to solve this week because the pricing is more accurate than at other positions. I’m not sure there are any “must-play” quarterbacks this week, but I do like the idea of targeting a red-hot Rodgers against a struggling Panthers defense. Carolina has been better against the run than the pass this year, and I think Rodgers will rack up plenty of attempts in this one. You could make a strong case for paying $200 more for Peyton Manning, too.
Low QB: Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh vs Houston, $5700
Roethlisberger was horrible last week, but it was also just his second game of the year with a passer rating under 100. I think he’s playable in both cash games and GPPs, as you can easily stack him with Antonio Brown.
The Houston defense has been moderately effective against opposing quarterbacks this year, but they’ve struggled in the past two weeks against the only two top-tier passing offenses they’ve faced.
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