TAKE CHARGE
Look to Rivers & Co. if fading popular DFS picks
Every summer, there seems to be a litany of big-action blockbusters. They muscle into the theater one after the other, promising thrilling visuals, stunning stunts, great balls of fire but little in the way of story or character.
The Patriots-Saints and Packers-Falcons games Sunday are blockbusters. Their trailers are filled with big bangs and star power. One is a big Marvel superhero movie, the other is its DC counterpart.
But wha t if Patr i ot s - Sai nt s turns out to be more “Thor” than “Avengers”? What if Packers-Falcons is more “Suicide Squad” than “Wonder Woman”? What if neither lives up to its potential?
That is why you should look for this week’s football version of “Girls Trip” — the surprising comedy that rakes in cash because it is different, because it has substance, and because sometimes it pays to be contrarian.
A roster full of chalk means you get no separation from the pack. We want to be in position for a big score in the event both games are fantasy busts. We start with QB Philip Riv
ers ($5,800 Draft Kings). The Dolphins are had their opener postponed because of Hurricane Irma, and we saw a Texans team dealing with similar issues struggle in their opener. It could happen again.
We like to stack at l east one or two targets with our DFS QB. Expecting the Chargers to try to get
Antonio Gates ($3,000) the TD he needs to set the record for most ever by a tight end, we tab him, along with top target
Keenan Allen ($5,800). Ezekiel Elliott ( $ 7, 8 00) gets a Denver defense that isn’t nearly as strong against the run as it is versus the pass. The
Raiders ($3, 500) are the cheapest of the defense/special teams who are facing terrible offenses, so we take them against the Jets.
We grab Mike Evans ($7,700), in a great matchup, and Martavis Bryant ($5, 500), aiming to get a piece of home Steelers action. That leaves us with an RB spot and a Flex to fill. Hey, the Madman tried avoid the two chalky games, but James White ($4,400) is just too cheap to pass up. That leaves us with $6,900 left to spend. As we scroll down, we realize we are going to leave a chunk of cap space on the table simply to appease our fade fascination. So we break our one rule again and tab Rob Gronkowski ($6,900) as our Flex. So our roster fails to deliver a complete fade, and maybe we can bring ourselves to be more loyal to our mission with a few cheap throwaway entries. But if you’re playing with limited rosters, we think this one is just contrarian enough to give you separation should this week turn into a fantasy “Girls Trip.”