Daily Fantasy CFL Drafkings Picks Week 18 - 10/21/16

Hello my fellow CFL fans and everyone new to the Football League of the North. This week we have a 4 game slate on Jones-ing for NFL and can't wait until Sunday? CFL has you covered. DraftKings starting at 6 pm central time on Friday evening. It is getting closer to the end of the regular season, and there are a couple of games in particular that have huge playoff implications.

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Current CFL Vegas odds from www.thescore.ca

Hamilton @ Ottawa -3.5 Total = 53.0

Toronto @ Calgary -17.0 Total = 52.0

Montreal @ Saskatchewan -6.5 Total = 49.0

Edmonton @ BC -2.0 Total = 58.0

Quarterback

Mike Reilly Edmonton 11,600

I am going to begin by saying that this is an easy choice for me, so if and most likely when he turns in an outstanding performance this week, I will not be deserving of a medal or a trophy. They just collect dust anyways, and if I didn't mention Reilly first, then I would deserve a swift kick in the pants. Ha don't we all remember that saying when we were kids? Anyways the stud pivot out of Edmonton should be fresh this week coming off of a bye, and before that he surpassed the 5,000 yard passing mark on the season. He is 2nd in the CFL narrowly behind Bo-Levi Mitchell with 5054 yards, and has 25 passing TD's which is also narrowly behind Bo-Levi. In his last 3 games Reilly has thrown for 1001 yards and 5 TD's as well as running the ball in himself for 2 scores. 30.9, 26.2, and 26.9 are his last 3 dk scores, which makes him impossible for me to fade this week in cash games and smaller tourneys. The projected total for this game is 58 points which is the highest of the year so far, and in my opinion this game could reach 70 points. The Lions of BC have been struggling on Defense during the last half of the season, and Reilly is matchup proof anyways, so feel very comfortable this week when you lock him into your lineups.

Jonathon Jennings BC 9400

And here we have the opposite end of the spectrum with the Lions signal caller. I wanted to go with Burris here, but he just doesn't have the upside that Jennings has with the ability to take down a large tourney this week. Like I said with Reilly, this game has a projected total of 58 points, and it should be an exciting back and forth affair. He can be painful to own at times because of his ability to forget which colour of jersey his fellow teammates are wearing, and then gets all flustered, and oops there goes his confidence, as evident by his 5 interceptions thrown in his last 2 games. He is growing as a QB as I speak though and this week could be a perfect storm for him. In his last 3 games he has thrown for 1097 yards and 5 TD's,  and he could match or exceed his top dk score of 40 points. Edmonton is 2nd last in passing yards allowed (301.6) and 2nd last in yards per pass allowed (12.1). With Jennings' boom or bust nature, he will make a great tourney play this week, especially to get away from Reilly's high ownership levels.

Running Back

Joe McKnight Saskatchewan 5100

Yes this is the same Joe McKnight that played in the NFL with the Jets and the Chiefs. He was the AFC's kick return yards leader in 2011 and came to the CFL this year because the guy just wants to play football. Edmonton signed him but he only played one game where he fumbled twice, and was released. I'm not so sure that was a good idea. The Riders picked him last week and he ran wild 17 times for 150 yards which was good for 19.3 dk points. This week he faces Montreal who is so bad against the run, it's not even funny, it's hilarious. Ha that wasn't nice. Enough said though seriously, the Riders are going to feed him the ball over and over again to see if they are going to keep him around next season or not. At this price McKnight is my favourite running back in all formats this week as he has history catching passes and obviously returning kicks.

Chris Rainey BC 5600

The "Rain Man" is the perfect cash game play from week to week because he is the best return man in the game. Well Brandon Banks may argue with me here, but he's suspended 2 games for taking hallucinating drugs. We won't even go there because I don't know why you would want to do that and how it would gain you advantage from a sports perspective, so Rainey is currently the best without question. Actually Rainey has gained some upside in the last 3 games, as he's been more involved in the offense by rushing 4 times for 66 yards, and catching 8 passes 73 yards and 2 TD's. He has 7 total TD's so far this season, and his last 3 dk scores were 22.3, 24.9, and 19.4. Of course he is involved in the game with an insanely high total, with a ton of kicking in the cards,  so he is a must play in cash games, and I'm even thinking he will be a near impossible fade for me in my tournament lineups this week.

John White Edmonton 7900

This guy has burned me the last 2 weeks because I didn't roster him, probably because he heard me say that I hate the running back position in the CFL, but I'm slowly changing my mind before I go broke by not playing him and other high performing backs this season. Good ol' John Boy was injured for a few games but then he comes back and goes off in an absolute gigantic way with 40.8 and 35.8 dk points. That's crazy man!! Running backs can be unpredictable in games with high totals because of game flow situations, but he's going to be a tough fade in all formats this week. I am seriously considering rostering him just to keep my sanity incase he explodes for another million points again. I like the first two guys from a salary perspective but if you can roster a team comfortably around him, then you go "ALL IN" on White.

Wide Receiver

Adarius Bowman 11,100, Derel Walker 10,000, Brandon Zylstra 3500 Edmonton

Well what do we have here folks? 3 WR's from one of the teams in a game where 100 points could be scored this week. Am I exaggerating a little bit? Yes but you just never know. Ha ha could you imagine? I'm going to start sounding like a broken record, but there are going to be balls flying all over the place in Vancouver, British Columbia on Saturday. So of course we are going to be seeing a lot of players being mentioned from this game. Let's start the WR poisition off with Bowman. He leads the CFL in receptions (109,) targets (152,) total receving yards (1609,) yards per game (107.3,) and 2nd in TD's (8.) He's the man and in his last 3 games, he has been taking care of business as usual with 20 catches for 330 yards and 2 TD's, which works out to an average of 23.3 dk points per game. He is expensive and for good reason, and with the value surrounding us elsewhere this week, Bowman is my top choice in all formats.

Derel Walker is 2nd in the CFL behind his teammate in every category I just mentioned (expect TD's where he's tied with 8.) Like I've mentioned in my previous columns though he can disappear at times and can be frustrating to own. In his last 3 games his dk average is 19.4, but his highest is 28 and his lowest is 14 points. At his hefty price tag for cash games we need more consistency, so I will pass there, but on that note his upside vs BC is through the roof this week and pairing him with Reilly and Bowman is a smart idea in tournament lineups.

Brandon Zylstra is a great flex play lineup filler at this super cheap price. He has played in Edmonton's last 3 games, and in his first 2 he caught 8 passes for only 77 yards, but last week he hauled in 6 of Reilly's passes 104 yards and a TD which works out to 25.4 dk points. He looks like he's entrenched as Reilly's #3 WR, and there will be a lot of love to go around for the Eskimos this week, so lock him into your lineups and spend elsewhere.

Terence Toliver Hamilton 8400

Wow do injuries and suspensions ever affect teams a great deal at times. And Hamilton is feeling the pain, which is bad timing considering that they are playing for 1st place in the weak east division vs Ottawa who they played last week. Toliver looks like the only healthy half decent WR this weekend, but he is turning into a real good one before our eyes. Masoli and the Tiger-Cats are going to have no choice but to force feed the ball, but he is a tall dude and can overcome double teams by simply out leaping the smaller corners. Last week was his first full game back from injury and he proved that he was 100% healthy by hauling 6 passes for 96 yards and a score. His floor will be at its highest this week based on the high target volume alone, and he can have monster games as evident by his 9/183 2 TD 42.3 dk performance earlier in the season vs the Stampeders who is the best team in the league. If you have salary left to spend up at WR then lock this guy in, but at the very least get him in to a few tourney lineups as I think he will be low owned due to the Edmonton/BC game.

Bryan Burnham 5800, Emmanuel Arcenaux 9500 BC

Ok let's put this out there right now. These guys are not for the faint of heart in DFS. We are risking our hard earned cash here, and even with the crazy high total for this game, it is not good for the health to watch these guys play, at least not when you're looking for safety. But what I am doing here is recommending the top 2 WR's from the Lions so you can pair one or both with Jennings and with the game probably turning into a shootout early, they can possibly help you take down a couple tourneys. Even with the high total I much prefer the Edmonton side of things in cash games because of Jennings' ability to disappear and then spread the ball around like a yo-yo. If you must play one of these guys in cash games, I like Arceneaux more because of the higher target volume per game. Last week he put up a dud with 3.6 dk points, but in his 3 games before that his dk scores were 28, 16.4, and 38.4. He caught 21 passes for 378 yards and 3 TD's during that span, so I supposed we can give him a mulligan this time. Arceneaux has 8 TD's which is tied for 2nd in the CFL.

Burnham on the other hand is a strict tourney play because he only has 2 TD's this season, and in 2 of his last 3 games he scored under 10 dk points. His other game during that span was explosive as he caught 9 passes for 208 yards but no TD's. This could be a perfect storm for these two WR's this week, so mix and match them or play them both with Jennings, and you could be thanking me later.

Ricky Collins Saskatchewan 4200

Since it is not smart to fade Reilly and his high salary this week in cash games, we need a nice cheap flex play to complete our rosters. Collins is our man this week. It's been a "next guy up" situation in Saskatchewan, well actually half of the league can relate to that especially this season. Collins and Durant have rarely been healthy at the same time, but earlier in the season they showed great chemistry together, and last week they hooked up again for 7 catches, 113 yards, and a touchdown. Montreal isn't bad at defending the pass, but this is simply a value play for your final cash game flex spot, and maybe the odd tourney lineup.

D/ST

Saskatchewan 5000

You may wonder why Calgary is no where to be found here this week. It's very simple. Ricky Ray is back for the Argos, so that makes Saskatchewan an easier choice for me here and they're $500 cheaper. When the Vegas odds came out earlier in the week, I think even they forgot about Ricky Ray. (The total opened at 17, and it is still at 17???) I don't know how we could forget about this guy. He must be sad. All jokes aside though, he's one of the best QB's to ever play in the CFL. But he's currently fighting through multiple injuries, and he's ready to play, even when his team is totally out of contention. We all like this kind of stuff as the caring human beings we are, and his team will rally around him the best they can this week, and I can see them giving Calgary all they have to try to keep it close. Also the Stamps lost their best defender (Mayo) last week, and they already have the entire regular season title all but clinched, so they will most likely rest most of their starters for most of the 2nd half. Oh yes Saskatchewan. They've won 4 in a row and are playing their hearts out right now with minimal talent, and this week they play Montreal, who just benched their QB Cato, who will probably try to beat someone up over that. Some guy off the street is starting at QB, and they just released Duron Carter who was supposed to be the best of the best. Last week the Riders D/ST finished with 18 dk points vs Toronto, and I expect the same kind of result this weekend against a team that just can't wait to hit the warm beaches. Trust me, it gets cold way up here. Can we blame them??

Good luck this weekend everyone. It is a great week to play CFL on DraftKings because there are 2 games on Friday and 2 games on Saturday, which is sandwiched right in the middle of the awesome action of the NFL.

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