Daily Fantasy Football Running Back Values for FanDuel and DraftKings - Week 3  9/22/16

We covered our main cash game plays in our Week 3 Picks where we touched on DeAngelo Williams, Lamar Miller, Ezekiel Elliot and Melvin Gordon. For this piece we will touch on some of the cheaper targets you can use for salary relief and/ or GPP upside.

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You can grab a free trial to test out yourself.

RUNNING BACK VALUES

Cameron Artis-Payne FD 4800 DK 3000
Opponent MIN
Proj Points FD - 10.91 DK - 11.5It’s tough to trust really any coach at this point when they say so-and-so is going to be “The Guy” when it comes to the backfield. That’s what Ron Rivera said about CAP even though dude hasn’t even suited up in the first two weeks. Some of that could have been special teams/ roster size constraints. But you don’t typically see too many guys just not play and then all of a sudden get thrust into main role on offense. So label me skeptical. That being said, Artis-Payne is coming as cheap as you’ll ever see a starting running back on DraftKings with a $3000 tag and the $4800 on FanDuel doesn’t break the bank either. I still think he splits heavy time with Fozzy Whitaker who got a decent workload last week when J-Stew went down. Payne is a decent cheap option here if you think he creeps right above double digit rushes.

Theo Riddick FD 6400 DK 4900
Opponent GB
Proj Points FD - 11.76 DK - 13.63
This isn’t the All-injury Edition for nothing. With Ameer Abdullah out for at least a couple of weeks the Lions will have to make up some of his production in a timeshare. Riddick took the bulk of the carries last week going 11/37. The yards per carry might be an issue as he doesn’t have much size to run between the tackles. But the Lions can keep him out there a little more because he is a threat in the passing game. It’s the latter piece which gives him so much value considering he has 10 targets in the first two weeks while only playing in limited snaps. The usage should increase here with no Abdullah though it’s worth mentioning that Riddick isn’t exactly cheap.

Matt Asiata FD 4600 DK 3000
Opponent CAR
Proj Points FD - 5.84 DK - 5.84
Jerick McKinnon FD 5300 DK 3800
Opponent CAR
Proj Points FD - 7.5 DK - 8.16
The bad news is both of these guys stink. The good news is they should get ample opportunity to prove it. Adrian Peterson’s injury leaves ample room in the running game for one of these guys to emerge. I suspect they spend this first week testing the waters and splitting the carries. One may emerge with a “hot hand” narrative but again neither are particularly good. McKinnon is more a third down back and Asiata is such a low yards per carry guy. The matchup isn’t great either though both are coming cheap. I think you can take a stab in a tournament on either in the hopes one emerges as the clear guy on the depth chart.

Devonta Freeman FD 7400 DK 5800
Opponent NO
Proj Points FD - 13.96 DK - 14.84
Tevin Coleman FD 6400 DK 4500
Opponent NO
Proj Points FD - 11.02 DK - 12.36
Because this is the new NFL, teams don’t need to rely on just one workhorse back to get things done. Splitting times more than suffices and keeps bodies fresh. The Falcons are using this strategy this season with Freeman and Coleman as they’ve split playing time right down the middle.

For the season their lines are:
Freeman 70 snaps for 28/113 rushing 4/20 receiving
Coleman 62 snaps for 20/68 rushing 7/120 receiving

Freeman has the advantage in the running game while Coleman dusts him in the passing game. I don’t see much changing about their roles in the short term. But if you want to take a tournament shot on one (or both) the matchup here against the Saints is choice with New Orleans ranking basically at the bottom of the league in team defense. The game has the highest over/under of the slate and it’s conceivable one of these guys goes off. It’s just hard to trust in cash games.
Again, you can grab a free trial of our NFL DFS suite of tools including full projections, optimal NFL lineups and our Player Lab, which includes filters to help you create NFL lineups for FanDuel and DraftKings for any format. It’s a set of tools well beyond anything we’ve ever had, and something we feel will help our users crush it this daily fantasy NFL season.

You can grab a free 2 WEEK trial to test out yourself.