Daily Fantasy Football Top Stacks for FanDuel and DraftKings Week 14 - 12/10/17

Welcome back fantasy football fans. For most season-long players, it's the opening week of playoffs and for those of you missed the playoffs, welcome to daily fantasy football where the fun never ends! It's Week 14 is upon us and the matchups are getting tougher as the playoffs are approaching and it shows as there are no Vegas total over 50 this week. Before digging into the top stacks for GPP's, let's take a look at some of the injury news that could affect our decision making.

• Amari Cooper - He cleared the concussion protocol this week but is still dealing with an ankle injury and has yet to resume practicing. He is doubtful to play on Sunday. Expect a large target share for Michael Crabtree, who returns from a suspension, and Jared Cook.
• Matthew Stafford - Dealing with a hand injury after being stepped on last week but has practiced this week and is fully expected to play in a near must-win situation for the Lions.
• Tyrod Taylor - Will be a game-time decision this week with a knee injury.
• Rishard Matthews - Was upgraded to a full participant at practice on Thursday on is very likely to return to action after missing a couple games.
• Robby Anderson - Suffered a hamstring injury at Thursday's practice and is questionable for Sunday's game against Denver. Stay tuned for the Friday practice report.
• Joe Mixon - Still in the concussion protocol and has yet to practice this week. If he is not cleared before the game, Giovani Bernard would step in and have huge value this week.
• Zach Ertz - Was limited at Thursday's practice but has yet to clear the concussion protocol. He is likely to clear on Friday but is questionable at this time.
• Jimmy Graham - Similar to last week, he has yet to practice with an ankle injury but is expected to play.
• Ameer Abdullah - Limited in practice this week after missing the Week 13 game. If he does not return Theo Riddick would again hold some fantasy value as the likely starter.
• Adrian Peterson - Missed last week and was not present at practice on Thursday and is once again questionable.
• Delanie Walker - Has yet to practice this week with an ankle injury and is very questionable to play.
• Chris Hogan - Practiced in a limited fashion for the second straight day on Thursday and is likely to return to the field on Sunday.
• Sterling Shepard - Was limited at Thursday's practice with a hamstring injury but the interim coach is "hopeful" he will be on the field Sunday.

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New England Patriots

Quarterback - Tom Brady
Primary Target - Brandin Cooks
Secondary Target - Danny Amendola

The Patriots passing game let us down last week as the running game took center stage. Dion Lewis and Rex Burkhead combined for 170 yards and two touchdowns which left Tom Brady with just 258 passing yards and no touchdowns. He was efficient, however, as he completed 70% of his 30 passes and if you played Gronk solo you were likely happy as he tallied 147 yards receiving. Even without Gronk, who was suspended for a game, I am going back to the well with the GOAT this week. The game is on Monday Night Football so to use the Pats you will have to enter the Sunday/Monday slate which could also leave Brady and the Pats a bit lower owned than normal. While Brady didn't get the yardage two weeks ago against the Dolphins, he torched them for four touchdowns and 22.7 DK/21.7 FD points. Before last week's down game, Brady had tallied 20 or more DraftKings points in four straight games and has now seen his price drop to its lowest point(on DK) in four weeks and the second-lowest of the season. With Gronk soaking up all the targets and yards last week it left Brandin Cooks with just two catches for 17 yards and that could also leave him a bit lower owned this week as many are hit by recency bias when constructing lineups. He also had a good game two weeks ago vs. the Dolphins catching six of his seven targets for 83 yards and a touchdown. He could see a few more targets with no Gronk but my guess is that Danny Amendola gets more involved this week as he has historically seen almost double the targets and production with Gronk out of the lineup.

Kansas City Chiefs

Quarterback - Alex Smith
Primary Target - Travis Kelce
Secondary Target - Tyreke Hill

This stack feels a bit like chasing points as the Chiefs passing game exploded last week but hear me out as I think they have a great shot to repeat or at least get close to their production this week. First of all, the run game for the Chiefs continues to struggle in a huge way as Kareem Hunt has not scored since Week 3 and has not topped 100 yards since Week 5. This has put a ton of pressure on Alex Smith and while his success last week came against a weak Jets pass defense, he gets another near elite matchup this week. The Raiders have given up the 10th most passing yards per game this season(241.1) and despite being better recently the last two weeks were against Geno Smith and Trevor Siemian so take that with a grain of salt. Before that, they gave up 340 yards and three touchdowns to Tom Brady, 311 yards and three touchdowns to Smoking Jay Cutler, and two weeks before that gave up 342 yards and three touchdowns to, you guessed it, Alex Smith. He really only has two main targets in the offense and my favorite and the most consistent has been Travis Kelce. He leads all tight ends with 7.8 targets per game which also happens to rank 16th overall out of all positions. With two touchdowns last week, he now has seven for the season which is second to only Jimmy Graham at the position. On top of that, the Raiders have been worse against tight ends as they rank 26th in fantasy points against the position while ranking 15th against wideouts. Tyreke Hill is also coming off a big week as he caught six of nine targets for 185 yards with two touchdowns and showed his explosiveness with a 79-yard grab. He now has six touchdowns on the season with three 100-yard games but with a price back above $7K on DraftKings and over $7.5K on FanDuel he will likely be lower owned than Kelce making him a nice pivot with high upside.

Running Back/Defense Correlation Stack - Los Angeles Chargers & Melvin Gordon

Last week's correlation stack turned out ok as the Jags tallied two interceptions and four sacks while Leonard Fournette somewhat bounced back with 57 yards and saved his fantasy day with a touchdown. This week, I will be turning to the Chargers defense and Melvin Gordon who both could put up tournament winning fantasy points. The Chargers continue to be one of the top fantasy defenses this season. With their victory over the Browns last week where they recorded a pick, fumble recovery, and three sacks, they have now recorded double-digit fantasy points in four straight and five of their last six games. I don't think they will be super popular this week facing a Redskins team that ranks 12th overall in yards per game this season but consider this. They rank 5th in giveaways with 20 while the Chargers rank 4th in takeaways then add the Chargers elite pass rush that ranks 4th in sacks with 35 and you have yourself a strong fantasy option this week.

Melvin Gordon has not been spectacular lately as he has not broken 100 yards in four straight games but has done so twice this season and tallied double-digit fantasy points in three straight and nine total times this season with two huge upside games where he went for 30+ fantasy points. I feel that upside is there this week facing a Redskins defense that has given up the 11th most rushing yards per game(117.7) and seventh-most fantasy points per game to the running back position.

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