Although Yahoo is third on the pecking order of DFS platforms behind DraftKings and FanDuel, their big weekly football GPP is probably the best contest in the game. Not only does it have an extremely flat payout structure, but it also features a 2X minimum-cash prize. That alone would make it one of the more advantageous DFS contests in the industry. Yet, it doesn’t stop there.
On top of not charging a management fee as DraftKings and FanDuel do, they put extra money into the prize pool resulting in the contests to overlay, guaranteed. This coming week it is $200,000 of guaranteed overlay. Sometimes the contests may not even fill, on top of it. I personally would not enter any considerable volume in NFL DFS on any other site until I max entered the weekly Yahoo GPP. The top prize is not as big as it might be on DraftKings and FanDuel for their biggest GPPs, but it is a hefty $100,000 to first. Not to mention, due to the flat payout structure, it is $50,000 to second, $25,000 to third, and so on down the line.
Pricing on Yahoo is different week-to-week than DraftKings and FanDuel, and there will sometimes be plays that are particularly advantageous from a point-per-dollar perspective on Yahoo that may be less on other sites. I’m going to go into some of the best Yahoo-specific plays for week eight. That isn’t to say some of these may not be just as good on other sites, but this is a Yahoo-focused analysis. These are highlighted based on a combination of point-per-dollar value based on industry projections and ceiling in combination with point-per-dollar value.
Quarterback
Jalen Hurts – $33 (Value + Ceiling)
Jalen Hurts is among the top point-per-dollar plays around the industry at $33 on Yahoo and also offers a considerable ceiling for large-field tournaments. Even when he “takes him a deuce,” as he once put it in the first half, he doesn’t just “sit there and look at it.” Instead, he demonstrates a keen ability to “flush it and move on,” get it going in garbage time and still manage to drop, at minimum, a serviceable DFS score. This looks like a particularly good opportunity against a bad Lions team. If we get a full game worth of prime Jalen Hurts post-deuce production, this could be an opportunity for a real ceiling performance for him.
Matt Ryan – $24 (Value)
While Matt Ryan doesn’t have the ceiling of many of the quarterbacks on this slate, his price is just too low to ignore on Yahoo. At only $24, he’s in the same price range as Taylor Heinicke, Jared Goff, and Jimmy Garoppolo. It isn’t a great matchup against Carolina, but he has more than serviceable receiving weapons that also come at great price tags on Yahoo. The Atlanta passing stack as a basis for lineups leads to the ability to pay up elsewhere for a lot of the top plays on the slate. We may not even see terribly high ownership on him due to the narrative that “he’s dust.” This is despite him averaging over 300 passing yards over his last four games with 10 touchdowns and one interception.
Running Back
Darrell Henderson Jr. – $23 (Value + Ceiling)
Darrell Henderson Jr. is in a smash spot against a Texans run defense that ranks among the worst in the league. He’s among the top point-per-dollar plays on the slate while also offering top-five ceiling. At $23, his Yahoo price is simply criminal considering his current role in the Rams’ high-powered offense. The only reason not to play him in every single lineup you make this week on Yahoo would be ownership. Even at current projected ownership at around 30%, it is still too low.
D’Andre Swift – $22 (Value + Ceiling)
Swift is simply too cheap considering that he projects right up there just below the top ceiling running backs on the slate. The inept Lions with Jared Goff at the helm are forced to rely heavily on Swift in both the running and passing game. On top of it, he makes for a perfect Lions bring back to Jalen Hurts stacks, with Hurts also being one of the top values on Yahoo this week. We will have to monitor his status as he is listed with the Q tag with a lingering groin injury heading into week eight. This same injury hasn’t stopped him from crushing so far this season, so there is little concern if he does indeed suit up.
Wide Receiver
Brandin Cooks – $15 (Value)
It seems like every week, Brandin Cooks continues to project as one of the best values on the slate and gets considerable ownership. Yet, we’ve been burned by him as often as not, and he’s yet to put up a ceiling score all year. This is the same situation as usual. The price tag of $15 on Yahoo is just too low based on his projection for him not to pop as one of the best value plays on the slate. The added benefit is that you can pair him with Darrell Henderson Jr. as one of the other best values for a perfect secondary correlation in your lineups.
Calvin Ridley – $21 (Value + Ceiling)
We haven’t seen a ceiling game from Ridley yet this year, but the targets have been there, with him seeing over 10 in his last four games active. Now is the perfect time to buy low on Ridley, particularly when you can pair him with arguably the best value quarterback play on the slate in Matt Ryan.
Tight End
Kyle Pitts – $21 (Value + Ceiling)
While there are a few tight ends with better raw point-per-dollar projections, Pitts provides the best combination of value and high upside ceiling on the slate. He’s seen over eight targets in each of his last three games and appears to be coming into his own as the elite tight end he was touted to be coming into the league. To top it off, it just so happens that he also plays for the Falcons, and the combination of him, Ridley, and Ryan makes for a perfect three-man stack all comprised of excellent values on the slate. Chuba Hubbard and Robby Anderson project great on the Carolina side of the game, making this a perfect game to stack.
Defense
Jacksonville Jaguars – $10 (Value)
Since defense is so unpredictable in the NFL, most defenses will project pretty close to each other. For that reason, we are generally looking for value in our defense slot. The Jaguars are a bare minimum of $10 on Yahoo and get to take on the offensively-challenged Seahawks with attackable Geno Smith at the helm. They are arguably the worst defense in the league, which is why they are cheap, but defense is unpredictable, and the matchup makes them an excellent point-per-dollar play on Yahoo.
San Francisco 49ers – $14 (Value + Ceiling)
The 49ers are an above-average defense and get to face the woeful Bears with Justin Fields at the helm. For an idea of relativity, the Bills defense is $21, and Buffalo projects almost identically. There is a lot of upside in this matchup against the inexperienced Fields, who just threw three interceptions last week against Tampa Bay.
I'm a DFS player (JackG1111), DFS content provider, and musician.
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