Daily Fantasy Football Running Back Plays for FanDuel and DraftKings - Week 7 10/23/16

We covered our main cash game plays in our Week 7 Picks where we touched on Le'Veon Bell, Christine Michael and Demarco Murray. For this piece we will touch on some of the other strong plays to consider on a week chock full of RB's.

You can still access 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 *ahem* tackle the NFL season.

RUNNING BACKS

Jacquizz Rodgers FD 5600 DK 4300
Opponent SF
Proj Points FD - 15.31 DK - 16.86
I suspect he’ll be a pretty chalky play this week considering the price and the potential usage. Last game with Charles Sims and Doug Martin out of the lineup Rodgers carried the ball 30 times while also catching 5 balls out of the backfield. You won’t see that kind of volume from really anyone else and it’s out of bounds to consider him a favorite to touch it that many times this week. But he has a dream matchup against the 49ers who rank near the bottom of the league in run defense and doesn’t have anyone competing with him for touches. My guess is he’s the highest owned back on the main slate of games and probably for the whole weekend. No reason to fade him as you’re getting Rodgers at way below market value and he isn’t exactly sneaking up on anyone.

Mike Gillislee FD 5300 DK 3000
Opponent MIA
Proj Points FD - 12.07 DK - 13.19
I was hoping to have a bit more Shady McCoy news before posting this RB article, but alas the NFL news cycle doesn’t always conform to our publishing schedule. Jerks. But with McCoy looking increasingly doubtful there will be a lot of carries opening up for the Bills’ backfield. Gillislee isn’t in the same “last man standing” situation as Rodgers above, but he has gotten a majority of the secondary touches when McCoy hits the sidelines. There are other bodies in the mid though so I can’t call GIllislee safe even if Shady sits, with Jonathan Williams around for starters. But last game with McCoy a little banged up, Gillislee saw 10 carries (10/60/1) and has caught a few balls out of the backfield. Miami is a weaker defense (the performance against the Steelers last week aside) and the Bills are rather committed to the run.

Jeremy Hill FD 6800 DK 4000
Opponent CLE
Proj Points FD - 8.79 DK - 8.97
It's very tough to predict the Bengals' running plans on a week-to-week basis simply because they are so very game script dependent. If they are winning, then it's all Jeremy Hill as they look to run down the clock and get the hell out of the game. If they're losing, then Gio Bernard is the dude catching balls out of the backfield. Cincy comes in as one of the biggest favorites on the week against a total disaster of a Browns team. They are -10 favorites and it stands to reason they'll get up early and look to ground and pound to victory. That could spell good news for Hill who does have two games of 17 and 20 carries respectively. He isn't a great runner, but he's their workhorse in the right kind of game. The DK price is especially enticing for tournaments if the Bengals are operating more around the goal line.

Mike Davis FD 4500 DK 3000
Opponent TB
Proj Points FD - 9.33 DK - 10.09
Shaun Draughn FD 4500 DK 3000
Opponent TB
Proj Points FD - 4.52 DK - 5.22
With Carlos Hyde out this week the 49ers will have to employ somewhat of a RBBC approach with the below average dudes they’ve got hanging around the sidelines and running back meetings. Neither of these two guys are cash game plays because you simply can’t trust the volume, but either could be upside tournament guys if they get off to a hot start. It looks like Davis will start the game giving him the best shot at getting the majority of the carries. The Bucs are a below average defense this season though slightly better against the run ranking 14th in DVOA. Again, I can’t reiterate enough that neither of these guys are very good. But they are cheap and there’s some upside if San Fran commits to the run and can somehow get up early.

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.