Daily Fantasy Football Running Back Values for FanDuel and DraftKings - Week 5  10/9/16

We covered our main cash game plays in our Week 5 Picks where we touched on LeVeon Bell, Melvin Gordon, Jordan Howard, Demarco Murray and Terrance West. 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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RUNNING BACK VALUES

Jerick McKinnon FD 6200 DK 4000
Opponent HOU
Proj Points FD - 15.01 DK - 16.1
He won’t get the goal line carries at all, but he ripped off yardage at a solid clip last game and it appears the Vikings are fine giving him plenty of carries between the tens. The Vikings have a clear strategy for winning right now: slow the game down, manage a rather conservative offense and let the defense do the work. McKinnon’s averaged 17/65 in the last two games and has gotten a few looks in the passing scheme as well. The Vikings are -6.5 against the Texans this week who rank 30th in the league in DVOA against the rush. They’ve been shredded on the ground with Demarco Murray and LeGarrette Blount doing damage in the last two games. It could be McKinnon’s turn here if the Vikings get up early and want to just run the clock down on a weaker Texans’ offense.

DeAndre Washington FD 4700 DK 3400
Opponent SD
Proj Points FD - 11.93 DK - 13.41
Jalen Richard FD 4900 DK 3300
Opponent SD
Proj Points FD - 5.04 DK - 5.46
The Raiders’ running back situation is a little unclear right now with Latavius Murray sitting out of practice this week with turf toe. I’m not totally sure Murray sitting crystalizes the Oakland situation though. He only had eight carries last week with Washington going 5/30 and Richard 2/15. Murray wasn’t carrying the ball a ton up until this point and dividing up his touches between the other two doesn’t give either big upside. Washington would be the interesting guy considering the FD and DK prices if you think he merely sees 15 touches with some coming through the passing game. He has six targets up until this point and would likely see the per game numbers increase in an expanded role. The is one to keep an eye on leading into Sunday and if Washington was declared “the guy” then you could see him as a chalk play.

Frank Gore FD 6500 DK 5700
Opponent CHI
Proj Points FD - 12.07 DK - 13.66
Let’s clear something out of the way first: he stinks. Good? Good. But Gore is in an interesting situation this week against a Bears’ defense ranked 20th in the league in DVOA against the rush. The Colts are favorites and could lean on Gore if they get the lead early. We have some precedent for him seeing increased carries in the right situation with Gore getting more than twenty carries in Week 3. The yards per carry isn’t there but the volume could be as well as the looks in the receiving game with Gore seeing more than 4.5 targets per game out of the backfield. It’s that last piece that almost (almost, but not quite) pushes him into cash game consideration. His floor works out even if Indy falls behind because he’s an every down back. A bad every down back, but every down nonetheless.

Duke Johnson FD 5300 DK 4100
Opponent NE
Proj Points FD - 10.86 DK - 13.2
A deep pull here with Johnson considering he’s not the guy in Cleveland. But considering the possible game script, you could see much more Johnson this week. The Browns are huge underdogs (+10) against the Patriots and could be playing catchup from Jump Street. Johnson is second on the team in passing targets with 25 and could see a ton of snaps if the Browns need to pass significantly more than usual. Crowell’s makeup wouldn’t be as advantageous if the Browns are behind and don’t forget that Johnson is actually averaging more than 6 yards per carry. This is more a tournament pull and would work possibly with a Patriot stack on the other side.

Again, you can sign up for 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.

Sign up now for our new 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.