Quarterback

Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs, $8,400

Patrick Mahomes started off the NFL season with three straight games of 27 or more Fanduel. Getting 25 points isn’t a ceiling game for Mahomes, it’s just another day at the office.

He scored at least 18 points in every game he played until getting injured and he was more than $8,400 every time he was on the main slate.

Most people paying up at quarterback are going to go for Drew Brees or Lamar Jackson. This week is going to be the cheapest you’ll get Mahomes this season and the lowest owned you’ll get him. 

Running Back

Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns, $7,900

The popular way to attack this game and the entire slate is going to start with Devin Singletary. He’s a great play in cash games but there are ways for him to fail and those ways tend coincide with Nick Chubb being successful.

The Browns are favorites at home against a Buffalo team that has turned the ball over 1.5 times per game, 11th in the NFL.

Chubb is top-5 in the NFL in touches per game (22.4) and faces a Buffalo defense that has allowed the 12th most points per game to opposing backs. The Bills have allowed the third-fewest points to receivers. 

Alvin Kamara, New Orleans Saints, $8,300

Kamara hasn’t topped 17 fantasy points in four games (seven weeks because of a bye and two missed games) and he’s been under 14 in four of his past five. Not so coincidentally, those five games were all played with Teddy Bridgewater under center. He’s averaged 11.9 Fanduel points with Bridgewater at quarterback.

Now he returns to the lineups with Brees throwing him passes and the reversion to his 2018 form is going to hit harder than most realize. He averaged 20.4 points per game last year and Brees played in all of Kamara’s outing.

Moving off of Michael Thomas and onto Kamara also leverages the heavy ownership Thomas is going to see without sacrificing much correlation.

Wide Receiver

Marquise Brown, Baltimore Ravens, $5,300

This generation’s John Brown faces arguably the worst pass defense in the NFL this week: Marquise Brown and the Ravens get Cincinnati. The Bengals are allowing their opponents to throw for 8.6 yards per attempt, worst in the NFL.

Plus, Brown has a 13.4 average depth of target, top-30 in the NFL. He’s a high variance play with a high floor and ceiling matchup in Cincinnati. Brown’s simply underpriced for his upside against the worst team playing football right now.

Calvin Ridley, Atlanta Falcons, $5,300

Julio Jones is priced up relative to the volume he’s been seeing and our tight end positioned is tied down with another stack. That means we’re looking at Calvin Ridley to run back with Kamara this week. The Atlanta/New Orleans game currently has the second-highest total on the slate a 51.5.

The Falcons have also relied almost exclusively on the pass this season. They have attempted 45.5 passes per game and lead the league in passing percentage. Atlanta has passed on 71.1% of their snaps.

As 13-point dogs this week, the Falcons are in play to lead the slate in pass attempts. That sets up Ridley for a great week and makes him a solid correlation play with Kamara.

Tight End

Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs, $6,700

Paying up for the Mahome/Kelce stack is one way to move off Christian McCaffrey, who may end up being rostered by one-third of the field on Fanduel. McCaffrey is a good play but anytime a player costs more than $10,000 and is going to be that popular, you have to consider the downside and how to leverage that. Spending up at quarterback and tight end is a great way to do so.

Kelce has not had the same fantasy season as he did last year but there has been very little change in the volume he’s seeing:

• 74 targets - 1st
• 732 air yards - 1st

He’s the most used tight end in the NFL and he’s projected to get the best quarterback in the NFL back under center.

Defense

Cleveland Browns, $3,500

If you’re running Nick Chubb, there’s really no reason not to run it back with Cleveland’s defense. They’re the cheapest home favorite on the main slate.

The Browns are 8th in the NFL with 25 sacks and their bye week is already behind them. Conversely, Josh Allen is top-10 in sacks taken at 21. The Browns would be the chalkiest defense of the week if they didn’t have the name brand of a dysfunctional franchise. Leverage that and stack them with Chubb.