DFS Dreamers for Wild Card Weekend – DeAndre Washington Piracy; Paul Richardson & Luke Willson Take Flight in GPPs

by Eric McClung ·

By now you’ve listened to the DFS podcasts, read the articles, and optimized your personal player model; or something like that. Well, here are a couple of other plays to consider for Wild Card Weekend as the clock inches toward lineup lock and you make final adjustments to your tournament rosters. If you are also playing cash games in DFS, — or competing in a playoff-long contest where it’s one-and-done per player, like what Scott Fish is running — go heavy on the Pittsburgh Steelers in a likely romp hosting the Miami Dolphins, who are being starved of fish.

Quarterback

Russell Wilson is the top value at quarterback on both DraftKings and FanDuel. He provides significant savings from the similarly priced options at the top with Aaron Rodgers and Ben Roethlisberger. The pass defense of the opposing Detroit Lions allowed an epic completion percentage of nearly 73 percent this season, close to six percent worse than the next team. After months of grinding through ankle and knee injuries with very mixed results, Wilson is now contemplating shelving his knee brace for the playoffs. Over the last two weeks, the Lions saw Dak Prescott (4 carries, 35 yards) and Aaron Rodgers (10 carries, 42 yards) successfully run against them. Rodgers took off against Detroit back in Week 3 with 5 carries for 22 yards. A few weeks after that, Case Keenum and Kirk Cousins scored rushing touchdowns during the consecutive weeks in which they faced the Lions.

Running Back

Fake bell cow Lamar Miller (ankle) is a fade even though he has been resting for two weeks to face an Oakland Raiders run defense that just got roughed up against a struggling Denver Broncos backfield. Rookie Devontae Booker scored both a rushing and a receiving touchdown while Jurassic back Justin Forsett tore off this long run. Miller is supposedly healthy now, but has been dented and dinged nearly all season. Being overburdened by the sixth-most carries in the league has also exposed Miller’s lack of dynamic play-making ability. He’s a woeful 66th in Production Premium and 72nd in Juke Rate. Miller also provides very little in the pass game, averaging 2.2 receptions per game.

DeAndre Washington Advanced Stats & Metrics Profile

DeAndre Washington Advanced Stats & Metrics Profile

DeAndre Washington is the discount back to target for Wild Card Weekend. He’s the minimum on FD, and only $300 above the ceiling floor on DK. Following multiple weeks of being inactive, Washington found himself being featured for part of the Week 16 game against Indianapolis. In total, Washington ran for 99 yards and two touchdowns on a dozen carries versus the Colts, half of which came in the third quarter as the Raiders rode the hot hand. Last week against the Denver Broncos, Washington led Oakland’s three-man backfield with 21 offensive snaps; compared to 16 for Latavius Murray and 11 for Jalen Richard.

Wide Receiver

Anquan Boldin is barely averaging more than 35 yards per game, so he needs two touchdowns to crush a tournament lineup. However, at age 36 he just recorded the second-most red zone receptions during the regular season. As a member of the San Francisco 49ers for three seasons, Boldin had a pair of 90-yard games against Seattle in six regular season games, scoring his lone touchdown against them in the 2014 NFC title game.

Kenny Stills has caught a touchdown in four straight games and was targeted seven or more times in three of those contests. He’s the perfect DK late swap option for Eli Rogers in the same game. With an eye toward a high-scoring shootout, any tournament lineup heavy on Steelers players ought to return fire with at least one Dolphins receiver: Jarvis Landry, DeVante Parker, or Stills.

Paul Richardson is now playing the Tyler Lockett role in the Seahawks offense and has been targeted a dozen times over the last two weeks. As a junior at Colorado, Richardson caught 83 passes for 1,343 yards and 10 touchdowns; more than doubling the output of the next best receiver on the team in yards and scores. While Richardson lacks size and has a below-average Agility Score, DFS investors simply want to see his 79th percentile Burst Score tearing off a long touchdown at near-minimum cost.

Tight End

[Luke Willson]-Tight End-Seattle Seahawks

Luke Willson Advanced Metrics Profile

Luke Willson could be the source of the cheapest touchdown scored during the Wild Card Weekend on DK. He’s scored two touchdowns over the last three games (Weeks 15 and 17) and played on an equal number of snaps to Jimmy Graham in each of those contests. His Workout Metrics are quietly awesome (see above) while his college production was firmly capped by playing behind Vance McDonald all four years at Rice.