DraftKings NFL Week 6 Positional Breakdown

 

Hockey season is in full effect, and the hammer is going to be dropped on the start of the NBA season soon, but the main story is the 2016 NFL season! We’ve seen a lot of big games thus far, and we should see many more this weekend. The schedule sets up well, so make sure to run a bunch of lineups out there so you can be the next fantasy millionaire.

 

Without further adieu, let’s get this thing started!

 

QUARTERBACKS

 

HIGH OWNERSHIP: Will it be Cam Newton ($8100) or Derek Anderson ($6400) this week for Carolina? We should all hope it is going to be Newton, because he’s got the much higher upside. In the same game, Drew Brees ($7900) should be highly owned as a result of the fact that people know he is a much better player on his home turf. After a dominant performance last week, Tom Brady ($7700) should see high ownership. Aaron Rodgers ($7300) should also see a relatively high ownership considering he is a better player at home as well. Brian Hoyer ($5800) is too cheap for what he is putting together, and a perceived good matchup with Jacksonville will likely inflate his ownership percentages even more.

 

LOW OWNERSHIP: Is this a week where we could potentially see Ben Roethlisberger ($7500) at low ownership because of the vast variety of options around him? Russell Wilson ($6900) is locked into a very good home matchup against a poor Falcons defense, so I think he’s in a good position and could be lower owned. The Kansas City Chiefs defense is not what it once used to be, so I don’t mind running out Derek Carr ($6400) on this slate in what should be a pretty high scoring contest. I think while everyone else is running toward Brian Hoyer at his price, I love the idea of pivoting to Alex Smith ($5700) in tournaments, as he should have every opportunity to put up a ton of points.

 

HOW I’M USING THEM IN CASH GAMES: Newton/Brees/Wilson

 

HOW I’M USING THEM IN TOURNAMENTS: Smith/Roethlisberger/Wilson/Brady/Newton

 

RUNNING BACKS

 

HIGH OWNERSHIP – I would expect to see high ownership on both Le’Veon Bell ($7900) and DeMarco Murray ($7700), as they have been as consistent as they come this year, and also have very good matchups. LeSean McCoy ($6900) has also been very good, and gets a 49ers defense that is not very good at all. After what we’ve seen him do the last few weeks, Jordan Howard ($6200) should see a high ownership percentage in a good matchup. After his explosion of touchdowns Monday night, Cameron Artis-Payne ($3700) should find himself in a lot of lineups against the Saints, so long as Jonathan Stewart is unable to return. Outside of those players, this is a week that I can see ownership being spread out pretty well this week.

 

LOW OWNERSHIP – Ezekiel Elliott ($7000) surprisingly hasn’t seen a ton of ownership, and even though he has been dominant, I think a lot of people will see what the Packers defense has done and pass on him. Just remember, the previous running backs that this defense faced were T.J. Yeldon, a half a game of Adrian Peterson, Theo Riddick and Bobby Rainey – not exactly the type of running back that we can compare to Elliott. As a result, Elliot is my top overall tournament play this week. Lamar Miller ($6600) has been quiet this year, but I think this is the game he gets back on track. Mark Ingram ($6000) is a great cash game target because of his consistency and he gets a bad Carolina run defense that many still think is good because of years past. Even though I like the Buffalo defense, I think Carlos Hyde ($5100) is still in play. Jamaal Charles ($5100) is really cheap and I think will go overlooked, despite coming off a bye week, giving him plenty of time to get back on track. Ryan Mathews ($4900) is in an attractive position against a poor Redskins defense, and I think this could be a situation where he is a top point per dollar play.

 

HOW I’M USING THEM IN CASH GAMES: Bell/Murray/McCoy/Ingram/Howard

 

HOW I’M USING THEM IN TOURNAMENTS: Elliott/Charles/Miller/Mathews/Bell

 

WIDE RECEIVERS

 

HIGH OWNERSHIP – It will be interesting to see how Antonio Brown ($10000) is handled this week with a 5 digit price tag, but I imagine he’ll still be pretty highly owned. Against a poor New Orleans defense, Kelvin Benjamin ($8100) will also see a high level of ownership. Jordy Nelson ($8000) is Aaron Rodger’s top target, and his top target is always going to see higher ownership. Amari Cooper ($7500) and Michael Crabtree ($6900) have a good matchup with the Chiefs and should see high ownership. Doug Baldwin ($6500) is far too cheap, and will likely find his way into many lineups as a result of his price and matchup. Sammie Coates ($4700) could see more ownership as a result of his performance last week, and still has that same upside in this matchup against the Dolphins. Finally, Cameron Meredith ($4100) should see high ownership after taking over for the injured Kevin White last week.

 

LOW OWNERSHIP – I wonder how much Allen Robinson ($7800) has fallen out of favor with daily fantasy players, but I think he could excel in this contest. Jeremy Maclin ($6300) hasn’t really produced what we know he is capable of thus far, so I think he could see some lower ownership. DeSean Jackson ($5800) falls into the same category, and there was some chatter about it within the Redskins front office this week, so he could either end up like John Brown or Golden Tate, both who had dramatically different results after management said they needed the ball more. Michael Thomas ($4300) could go overlooked with all the options in New Orleans, but I think I like him the most this week, especially at his price. With all the attention on Benjamin and Olsen, could this be a sneaky week to throw out Ted Ginn Jr. ($3900) in tournaments? With all the injuries going on in Baltimore, Kamar Aiken ($3000) and Breshad Perriman ($3000) could be good value plays.

 

HOW I’M USING THEM IN CASH GAMES: Baldwin/Meredith/Cooper/Brown/Maclin

 

HOW I’M USING THEM IN TOURNAMENTS: Jackson/Thomas/Ginn/Crabtree/Coates

 

TIGHT ENDS

 

HIGH OWNERSHIP – I wouldn’t be surprised to see Greg Olsen ($7000) and Rob Gronkowski ($6700) combine for 40-50% of ownership, and rightfully so. Behind them, I think we will see high ownership for Jimmy Graham ($4900), as he has the same upside as the other two at a much lower price. Delanie Walker ($5500) will also see high ownership as the Browns are awful and I do think he is still the top option on the team. I think Martellus Bennett ($4500) will also see the high ownership that occurs because of a player having a huge game.

 

LOW OWNERSHIP – Truthfully, I don’t know if I am going to be looking outside of some of those options above, but I think you could find some good options. Travis Kelce ($5000) strikes me as one of those guys, and should be on your radar in tournaments. Coby Fleener ($3500) is priced well, and could be in good position against the Panthers in what should be a high scoring game. Finally, there is some appeal to Jesse James ($3000) though I do think his upside is capped some, as he doesn’t get the same type of attention Olsen, Gronk and Graham could get.

 

HOW I’M USING THEM IN CASH GAMES: Olsen/Gronk/Graham

 

HOW I’M USING THEM IN TOURNAMENTS: Walker/Graham/Gronk

 

DEFENSES

 

HIGH OWNERSHIP – As usual, the defense playing the Browns will see high ownership, so expect the Tennessee Titans ($3300) to be highly owned. Miami also has a really bad offensive line situation, so I think we’ll see the Pittsburgh Steelers ($3400) at high ownership. For those who like to hit the bottom barrel for defenses, I could see high ownership of the Indianapolis Colts ($2200) as the Texans haven’t looked great on offense.

 

LOW OWNERSHIP – I could see this going either way, but I’m hoping the Buffalo Bills ($3700) will see a reduction in ownership with people maybe thinking Kaepernick is going to tear things up. I am in the opposite camp and hoping no one is thinking like me. The Philadelphia Eagles ($3100) are still one of the better defenses, and I think they’ll go overlooked with options around them in better spots. Finally, I think the Cleveland Browns ($2600) have some appeal against the Titans and Marcus Mariota, who has been much worse at home and this team has given up a lot of points to defenses in the last two years.

 

HOW I’M USING THEM IN CASH GAMES: Bills/Titans/Steelers

 

HOW I’M USING THEM IN TOURNAMENTS: Bills/Browns/Steelers

 

I hope you enjoyed this article, and I will be back next week. I hope to see you on the leaderboards!

 

Nicholas Volinchak is a correspondent at FF Nation. To read more from Nicholas, follow him @researchandwin. You can find more of Nicholas’ football work at Research Fantasy.