Sleepers - Daily Fantasy Football Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings, DraftDay and Draftster for Week 9

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A peek ahead at week 9

Looking for the week 9 picks? Follow the link! I go position by position and give you whom I believe to be the best plays, dollar for dollar, for Week 8's games. This article is going to be a little bit different. Instead, I'm going to focus on particular lineup formation strategies that might help you get some separation from the field and get those value plays and sleepers that will let you spend money elsewhere while cashing in for cheap.

 

Sleepers

Weekly disclaimer:
The whole concept of a sleeper in one week fantasy football games needs to be adjusted. First of all, there's no real such thing as a "sleeper," in that you're not really going to sleep on a guy until he wakes up. What you're looking at with cheap plays are guys who are priced very reasonably who could go off if all things break right. Sniffing out the best cheap plays with upside is really the only way to have a chance in hell at taking down some of these utterly massive NFL tournaments. You'll pay up for the big names, and then hope your bargain plays pay off. That's where we come in - here are some sleepers that we love for Week 9.

A note on week 9

Bye week hell, part deux has us left with very little in the way of great cheap options this week. A lot of them, like Jerick McKinnon, are not "sleepers" in that no one is sleeping on him, but he is still a value play. So, this article will focus as much on value plays as it will guys people are "sleeping on." A lot has changed even since we did our week 9 podcast, though, so let's get started.

Jeremy Hill - FD 5200 DK 4000 DD 9050 DFSTR 3800
With Rotoworld announcing that Giovani Bernard is officially out for Sunday's game, Jeremy Hill will be a huge percentage start. And rightfully so. The large Bengals tailback is certainly capable of a full rushing load, and Jacksonville's defensive struggles are well documented. I think the Bengals are able to get up comfortably, and then turn it over to Hill from then on. I was set to recommend Hill regardless of Bernard's official status because he had ALREADY had 12 red zone touches this year. This basically just makes him a must-play in cash games, and a very strong play in GPPs as well.

Bobby Rainey - FD 6200 DK 4400 DD 7850 DFSTR 3900
With Doug Martin looking doubtful to play, Bobby Rainey may get his chance to spread his wings once again. Rainey has averaged an excellent 4.6 yards per carry this year, and has proven to be a comfort target to Glennon in the passing game as well. Cleveland has allowed the third most yards on the ground this year, and one would think that their offense isn't the type to have the Bucs dead in the water after the first half the way many teams would. A great spot to grab Rainey at a very reasonable price - a precious commodity in a week that lacks punts with great playing time.

Alfred Morris - FD 6800 DK 3900 DD 7800 DFSTR 4700
This is largely a Draftkings play, but Morris has tremendous upside as simply "the guy" who will get lots of touches through the game, and goal line carries as well. If he puts together 71 yards and a touchdown again that will be 13 points, which would absolutely suffice on these prices. There's obviously room for more, too. I'd call Morris a pretty safe buy candidate for cash games.

Shane Vereen - FD 6600 DK 4600 DD 10150 DFSTR 6100
With people flying in the direction of the new starters in Rainey & Hill, don't forget about Shane Vereen. Denver has been excellent against the run this year (both in terms of yards allowed, and yards per carry), and I imagine the Patriots will transfer a lot of their between the tackles running back into the short passing game in which Vereen excels. Especially on higher PPR sites like DraftKings, you're looking at a terrific opportunity to rake in 6-10 receptions to go with a similar amount of carries.

Rueben Randle - FD 6400 DK 5400 DD 9650 DFSTR 5400
I believe I wrote about him in our main picks article for week 8, so if I did, spare me. Rueben is the Giants' #1 receiver. He's one of the most targeted receivers in the entire NFL in the red zone. He costs as much as huge flier guys like John Brown. At some point this season he'll have a monster game - I think there's a good chance it will be on Monday night against a banged up Colts secondary.

Anquan Boldin - FD 6300 DK 5000 DD 9450 DFSTR 6100
Boldin has been targeted more than Michael Crabtree in each of the last 3 games, and the comfort level he has with Kaepernick is obvious. He hauled in 7 catches for 94 yards and a TD against the Rams in their last meeting, and I don't see why a similar game isn't well within the realm of possibility for this week. He's not a true #1 WR in the sense that he probably doesn't have a MONSTER game in him, but on these prices, a merely great game would help you crush a GPP and spend big elsewhere. I think he's safe for any format.

John Brown - FD 6400 DK 3800 DD 6650 DFSTR 4000
All of this "Michael Floyd... he'll be back soon!" talk has me wondering if people haven't just noticed that John Brown is getting the targets once designated for Michael Floyd. He's not the big physical presence that Floyd is, but his speed is unreal, and Palmer certainly looks comfortable trying to find him down field. Obviously no match up will be as good as the one Brown had against the lousy Eagles secondary, but, and it's "bold prediction" time, I think Brown has a chance to lead the Cardinals in targets for the rest of the season going forward. Not a safe play, mind you, but a solid shot at a home run.

Cordarrelle Patterson - FD 6300 DK 4800 DD 7550 DFSTR 5100
Getting into seriously more speculative territory here - but one has to wonder if there wasn't an intentional piece of coaching guidance that saw Patterson receive 12 targets last week. Listen - no one questions the talent or the big play ability. Just Bridgewater and company's ability to get him the ball. The furthest thing in the world from a safe play, but I can picture all the hate emails I'd get if he wound up crushing and he wasn't on this list 🙂

Donte Moncrief - FD 6200 DK 5300 DD 7400 DFSTR 4300
Wayne continues to get "days of rest" and what not, and Moncrief showed us that he's plenty comfortable with Luck last week. With Richardson continuing to be banged up I could see the Colts sticking with a short-passes-as-a-running game strategy, which could lead to another game where we see Moncrief playing a major role. The big red flag here is going to be the game script against Pittsburgh. Highly unlikely that the Colts trail big in this game, so this could limit Moncrief's role.

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