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We’ve got playoff baseball to win or go home and Thursday Night Football on tap tonight, and the NBA season is just a few days away. Today’s Winners Club covers all of that and more to help you set up your fantasy lineups and set up your weekend bets.
Read on for the picks, fixtures, and player rankings, but we begin with a spotlight on the two biggest players in tonight’s game between the Eagles and Buccaneers.
Thursday Night QB Battle: Tom Brady vs. Jalen Hurts
Two of the best quarterbacks in fantasy football face off tonight in Philadelphia. The Buccaneers ‘Tom Brady is the number one quarterback in fantasy football, while the Eagles’ signal caller Jalen Hurts is in sixth place. Stylistically, they couldn’t be more different, yet they’ve seen individual fantasy hit this season anyway.
Tim Heitman / USA TODAY Sports
Brady is 44 years old and in his 22nd NFL season. Hurts, 23, is just a few games away from his sophomore season. Tampa Bay is 4-1 and a legitimate Super Bowl contender. The Eagles sit at 2-3 and are trying to buy some time with first-year coach Nick Siriani as they wait to see if Hurts is the type. Brady leads the NFL in passing yards (1,767) while Hurts leads his team in rushing yards (256). What I’m trying to say is that there are very different ways to be an elite fantasy football quarterback, and these two embody completely opposite methods of climbing that mountain.
Hurts has run for a touchdown or thrown multiple touchdowns in every game this season. However, their performances have not been exactly pretty. The Eagles’ final game against the Panthers saw Hurts en route to a single-digit performance at halftime, only to be rescued by a pair of rushing touchdowns in the second half that fueled his fifth straight 20-point outing. . But whether it’s throwing a trio of touchdowns against Atlanta, rushing for 82 yards against the 49ers, the season’s best, or passing for 382 yards against the Chiefs, the season’s best, Hurts is giving you points.
Brady, on the other hand, gets his points pretty one-dimensional. But there is nothing boring about passing for 15 touchdowns and 1,767 yards in five games. His only failure this season was against New England, his former team. Brady stayed out of the end zone and was unusually inaccurate. Other than that game, he has passed for five touchdowns in a game twice this season, including last week against the Dolphins when he scored 37.7 points (which was somehow not QB1’s performance thanks to Justin Herbert and Lamar Jackson).
Hurts and Brady will probably smash each other’s defenses tonight like they have against the rest of the league. Tampa Bay’s defense has not been what it was thought to be in the offseason and will not feature linebacker Lavonte David. Philadelphia has been strong against passing despite facing Dak Prescott and Patrick Mahomes this season, but Brady may be the first quarterback to pass 300 yards this season against Philadelphia tonight.
Kim Klement / USA TODAY Sports
Read
Giants-Dodgers Game 5 betting: Matt Ehalt has all the information you need to place your bets on tonight’s game between Los Angeles and San Francisco. See who’s on the mound, how each offense has fared, and who Ehalt is picking.
TNF Player Accessories: Jennifer Piacenti has a four-player pick and fixture for tonight’s game between Philadelphia and Tampa Bay. I really like the risky bet on Tom Brady scoring a no-pass touchdown. See what the other bets are and place them on Sports betting YES.
Start ‘Me, Sit’ Me: It’s the weekly series you know and love from Michael Fabiano and there are some TNF players that are on the “start” list. Find out who and configure your lineups accordingly.
College football compound: The Richard Johnson CFB model has dozens of picks for this weekend’s game roster. There were plenty of high-profile surprises this past week, and there are few favorites of the model in these games, including UCF +21 against No. 3 Cincinnati.
Best NBA MVP bets: Basketball kicks off Tuesday night and I’m defending some of the favorites for every individual NBA award all season. I started with MVP: look what it would take for Giannis Antetokounmpo or Stephen Curry to win their third MVP and which bet I like the most.
Fantasy Player Rankings: Shawn Childs has detailed rankings and stat projections for every fantasy football start or bench option you can think of to help you figure out your lineup decisions. Christian McCaffrey, who is a game-time decision for Sunday, is back at RB’s number one spot.
Subscriber Questions
Send your questions about the fantasy football lineup to [email protected] For a chance to get a response in Sunday’s newsletter! You can also contact me on Twitter. @Kkylewood or tweet to @ SI_Fantasy for business advice or alignment concerns.
The game of the day and the games I’m watching
Game of the day: I like it DeVonta Smith at DFS tonight. The Bucs’ high school is sold out. Cornerbacks Sean Murphy-Bunting and Carlton Davis are on injury reserve and safety Antoine Winfield Jr. was ruled out of Thursday Night Football with a concussion. Tampa Bay has the worst air defense in football so far this season.
Smith has 14 receptions for 199 yards in his last two games and is clearly Jalen Hurts’ top receiving threat. The Bucs’ trio of receivers is more expensive than Smith. For the volume alone, it is sure to beat its relatively modest DFS price. If you score for the first time since your debut, it will more than justify the investment.
Games I’m Watching: You know what they say about SEC football? It just means more. The last time an upstart SEC team traveled to Athens, the Bulldogs demolished Arkansas. Maybe this week will be different, maybe not. Either way, I’m interested in seeing No. 11 Kentucky battle No. 1 Georgia Saturday at 3:30 pm ET on CBS. The Wildcats proved their mettle against Florida and Saturday presents an even bigger and tougher opportunity.
John Reed / USA TODAY Sports
There is a QB controversy in Norman, Oklahoma, for the Sooners. (Shout to the Daily OU!) Still, OU remains in the top four in the nation after last week’s epic win against Texas. Can No. 4 Oklahoma keeps up against TCU Saturday at 7:30 pm ET on ABC, regardless of who is behind the center.
That’s it for today, folks. I’ll be back bright and early Sunday before another game in London.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.