Monday/Thursday Slate Week 2
We have an interesting short slate or small slate, as they are called this week. This is one of those slates we can make any lineup we wish practically on DraftKings. You can use the highest players at every position, except defense on this slate. Fanduel it is a little more difficult, but if OBJ is out makes it very easy to construct lineups. Other times on short slates, it is hard to get in several of the highest priced players, let alone all of them. Look for my short slate advice article coming soon. This slate is one of the ugliest mini slates I have ever seen, but that isn’t going to stop us from playing it and making money. I am going to break it down by position this week as opposed to by teams.
New York Giants vs Detroit Lions (Giants -3.5, O/U 42)
San Francisco 49ers vs L.A. Rams (Rams -2.5, O/U 40.5)
Quarterbacks:
BEST: Gross, go Matthew Stafford or Eli Manning
This is not the slate we get to choose between Matt Ryan, Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady. I like Matt Stafford, but he is going on the road, off the turf, against what should be a tough Giants defense. I do not like either QB in the Thursday game, so that only leaves him and Eli Manning. In general, if there are no stud options on the slate, you want to choose QBs from the Monday night game. I will be rolling out these two in my lineups, mixing them both in a few different ones. The Giants offense looked horrible last week without Odell Beckham. Even if he returns to action tonight, I am not banking on a great night from OBJ or Eli.
WORST: Jared Goff, Brian Hoyer
The game play on Thursday night’s the past few seasons has not been very good for the offenses, especially the passing attacks. I am not high on either of these quarterbacks in general, let alone playing and game planning on short rest. Stick to one of the Monday night QBs.
HIGH RISK/HIGH REWARD: None
Running Back:
BEST: Todd Gurley; Carlos Hyde
Unfortunately, the two best running back options on the slate play on Thursday night. In addition, neither one of them really excites me, but I do have them projected higher than the backs on Monday. Gurley would be my top option, because he has the better matchup of the two. Also, he has been getting the touches and has scored in each of the first two games.
WORST: Giants running backs
Shave Vereen I guess is in play due to the amount of catches he got last week, more on DraftKings with the full PPR. However, neither he nor Paul Perkins are great options. Vereen didn’t carry the ball once last week and Perkins only got eight attempts. Without OBJ, this offense looks pitiful. If Beckham plays, I would have more confidence in Perkins, but we are still in wait and see mode.
HIGH RISK/HIGH REWARD: Detroit running backs
Theo Riddick and Amir Abdullah also don’t get me too excited. Abdullah at least got the carries last week, though he did nothing with them. He only rushed for 30 yards on 15 carries. That’s a whole two yards per carry. Encouraging though was he did get four targets, catching three of them. If however, the Lions are in catch up mode, Riddick will be in the game. He caught six of his seven targets last week including a touchdown. Either one of them is viable, choosing which one is the hard part.
Wide Receiver:
BEST: Golden Tate, Pierre Garcon
This slate is really looking worse and worse as I go along. We have one stud wide receiver on the slate and he may not even play. If Beckham doesn’t play, Golden Tate is your next best option. He caught 10 balls last week on 12 targets for 107 yards. However, that was at home on the turf and they were throwing the ball all second half. There are no real stars on the Lions offense, Tate is about as close as there is. Pierre Garcon is my second favorite option, though don’t love it. Garcon goes from playing with Kirk Cousins last season to Brian Hoyer this season. Certainly, a downgrade in my mind. Can he get going this week versus the Rams? I don’t know, but we don’t have very many other options. Sterling Shepard and Brandon Marshall are in play, but I don’t love either of them.
WORST: Rams Wide-outs
Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, Sammy Watkins and Tavon Austin are the four wide receivers currently for the Rams. Watkins has seven catches for 88 yards through the first two games. Austin has two catches and Woods has four so far. Not what we are trying to target at the wide receiver position. Kupp is the only one that has scored so far, catching four balls week one with a score. As bad as our options are this week, I don’t see me going to any of these guys unless maybe in a super large field GPP.
HIGH RISK/HIGH REWARD: Kenny Golladay
Week one Kenny Golladay had a huge game catching two touchdowns with four catches for 69 yards. I had heard good things about him, but is he going to score two touchdowns again this week? I highly doubt it. But, sometimes when a quarterback starts to get in the end zone with a certain receiver, he tends to look for him more often. He did play 44 snaps week one, only 10 less than teammate Marvin Jones. My concern is that he will be more highly owned than he should be due to his big game last week. Jones may be the lowest owned of the three Lions and could be sneaky as well.
Tight End:
BEST: Evan Engram; Eric Ebron
Evan Engram looked decent last week, catching four of his five targets, including a run and catch for 31 yards. He is probably the most talented of the tight ends on this slate. Look for the Giants to get him involved especially if OBJ is out. I liked Eric Ebron as a sneaky play last week. That didn’t turn out so well as he only caught two balls for nine yards. He does have the talent and rapport with Stafford, so I could see him getting back on track tonight.
WORST: Rams tight ends
Tyler Higbee and Gerald Everett are the two tight ends on the Rams. They have a combined six catches for 112 yards. However, most of those came yesterday as Everett had 95 yards versus the Redskins. I don’t see that performance repeating itself this week. I have no confidence with either of these guys and would only throw Everett out if doing a bunch of lineups to be different.
HIGH RISK/HIGH REWARD: George Kittle
George Kittle hasn’t gotten off to a great start either, with only seven catches for 40 yards through two games. However, he is the only really option on the 49ers, and they don’t have a lot of weapons in the passing game. He did get six targets week one, so I feel like he at least has the potential to do something. If trying to get different somewhere, this may be your best bet.
Defense:
All four defenses are in play for me. However, if you are loading up on Monday night’s game I would play either the Rams or 49ers on Thursday night. In addition, these games tend to be lower scoring with more mistakes for defenses to capitalize upon.
