Living in the world of the everyday game for any sport requires a lot of work with little reward for the casual gamer, unless the stars align on a magical day. Most everyday homeowners need to decide whether they want to be a grinder or a swing-for-the-fences player. One path keeps you alive for more days of action with the idea of slowly building your bankroll. The other has a feeling of giving as he offers a pot of gold at the end of a distant rainbow.
Ever since the daily sites started offering the million dollar jackpot, I’ve been trying to find my get out of jail card. The goal is to put the main soccer team at a disadvantage on Sunday and invest in the best possible mix of core players. If my key players are successful, I will be on the hunt with many teams. Every football season, I hope to be in the mix in four to five weeks.
All the players listed belong to the main Sunday games list.
Heading into the final week of the 2022 NFL season, I was unable to win a million dollars in daily games for the 10th year in a row. My ticket to paradise probably came during the last two weeks when my two biggest investments (Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase) had their best moments. Unfortunately, my bankroll lacked zeros and my motivation to play barely had a pulse.
This week, many NFL teams will rest players, creating some identifiable plays. As a result, Sports betting YES list only one game (ARI-SEA – 48) with an over / under 45 on the main list. The Browns and Bengals will be starting backup quarterbacks. Cincinnati has already ruled out Joe Mixon (COVID-19), and the Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins combo will see minimal action. The Washington-Giants showdown has a low below (38), which points to a boring scoring game for most players. The betting line for Green Bay (-3.5) against Detroit indicates that the Packers will rest their top three offensive players.
In Week 18, Josh Allen, Kyler Murray, Matthew Stafford and Davis Mills are the only quarterbacks of interest. The Bills, Cardinals and Rams need to win to take over their divisions. Mills appears to be the low-value option based on success in his last four starts at home (312/3, 310/2, 331/1, 254/2), which was against the Patriots, Rams, Seahawks and Chargers.
I want to build my team around these three players: Jonathan Taylor, Devin Singletary, and Cooper Kupp. I featured Taylor and Singletary in my DFS Report earlier in the week.
Kupp needs 12 receptions to break Michael Thomas’ NFL season record (149). Plus, he has a shot at 2,000 receiving yards (he needs 171), but only 135 yards to pass Calvin Johnson for the NFL record. In his first meeting against the 49ers, he had 11 receptions for 122 yards. However, his high salary nearly forced him to break both thresholds and score two touchdowns to fill his salary bucket.
I would need to cheat the quarterback position by bringing in these three players and at the same time finishing my roster with low-paying players in the remaining spaces of the lineup.
After trying to build my best roster, I fired Taylor to create salary cap relief. I came up with this lineup:
I targeted Mills with Brandin Cooks and his low-value tight end (Brevin Jordan). D’Andre Swift was a flop in Week 17. The Lions had him on the field for 54% of his plays, but he produced just 39 yards with two catches on six touches. Terry McLaurin has been absent in action in his previous six games (4/51, 3/22, 0/0, 2/51, 3/40, 7/61), but dominated the Giants in Week 2 (11 / 107/1). I settled on Allen Robinson as the last filler spot in my lineup based on his previous resume before 2021. The Bears had him on the field for 70% of his plays in Week 17, and I hope Chicago will involve him more in the final game of the year.
After reviewing this lineup, there are advantages at some positions, but I don’t see enough star power or reason to chase underperforming players to the season finish line. So I went back to the drawing boards.
In the end, I was left with the two best impact players plus the runner with the best matchup. The Texans trio of players is a better fit with my remaining salary. I handed over the Bills defense for Gabriel Davis, who shone in Week 15 at home (5/85/2) and had his best yardage game (3/105) against the Jets earlier in the season.
After a three-game suspension, Deonte Harris worked as WR3 for the Saints last week. He brings the ability to play big, but his goals tend to fall short in most games. In his best four games (2/72/1, 1/72/1, 3/84 and 4/96/1), Harris averaged 32.4 yards per reception. The Falcons rank 27th as defenders of wide receivers (218 / 2,555 / 18).
Based on my lineup, I need about 100 points from Taylor, Singletary and Kupp. If my Houston stack scores 60 fantasy points, my team should be competitive in Week 18.
This week’s screenings will have many changes in the second update that will be released on Saturday.
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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.