A Fools Gold Game Plan for the Gold Rush (#FantasyFootball)

It’s @TheBLeagueSays here with this week’s ‘Game Plan, where I give you plays to make for seasonal and daily roster construction, prop bets, and dynasty evaluations. Before you make any start and sit decisions this weekend make sure you check out our weekly rankings also.

Thank you, and enjoy!

Screen Route

Now, I ain’t sayin’ she a gold digger…

Yes, this looks like a desperate play… but it’s no more of a desperate play than a middle-aged married man saying ‘do you know who I am’ at a bar that looks as sticky as it smells, as he preaches discipline and commitment (that he doesn’t have himself) in front of the billion-dollar owners and the players that hurt themselves for him daily; only to waste the blue pills he probably got off ‘the back of the truck’, just to hit on a desperate housewife ‘Becky with the good hair’ as she’s wiping back the tears knowing there’s an old man’s half a chubb waiting for her in the back of her ’99 Corolla that neither know what to do with nor know how to get rid of. He got caught this time but I’d find it hard to believe that there weren’t many more times prior. The guy is a schmuck plain and simple.

Look it would be hard as a player to look your embarrassed and ashamed Head Coach in the eye and give your all for someone who you probably lost respect for, so to me, if the Jaguars come out with the wrong attitude this one could be over quick and fast, so yes, I’m banking on game script working heavily in Tennessee’s favor from the get-go with this.

The game currently has a modest 48.5 points set, and I’m looking at games to target in DFS this week that people may avoid this week and this one is right up there.

I’m currently looking at lineup Derrick Henry ($9000 with 28.1 ppg average vs OPRK 27th to running backs) for the Titans with Trevor Lawrence ($5800 with 15.8 ppg average vs OPRK 27th to quarterbacks) and Laviska Shenault ($4800 with 10.1 ppg average vs OPRK 32nd to wide receivers)for the Jaguars, who happened to find a bit of form as D.J. Chark was hurt early in their Thursday night matchup last week.

Hail Mary

Cleaning a gold bar isn’t as hard as it sounds…

So for those who don’t know, I happen to work in the jewelry industry. And I’m pretty sure I know how to clean two types of gold. The first to do so is by using a polishing compound remover in an Ultrasonic cleaner. Shameless plug, but whatever, it’s my article.

The second way to clean gold is by having Jaire Alexander potentially miss this week’s game while adding Tee Higgins back into the Bengals lineup as well. Currently, the Bengals are +3 home underdogs and under normal circumstances, I’d easily concur.

But this is the Hail Mary section and I’m swinging here – Bengals not only cover with the +3, but they win outright at home, as they and the Packers smash the 51 points bar that is currently set.

Comeback Route

From the golden shards of exile…

Now here is a guy that was completely shunned by the end of the 2020 fantasy football season, often described in conversations like ‘I’d only want him in best-ball and ‘he would have to drop so far for me to consider drafting him’ – so if this was you or someone you know, I hope the humble pie tastes terrible.

Marquise Brown is currently despite a brutal, brutal week against Detroit where he couldn’t even catch a flea at a dog park – is the WR10 in fantasy football this season.

He has the 10th highest yards per game (81.5 ypg), the 6th highest yards per reception in the league (17.2 ypr), with a 24% target share on his team.

Now I know what you’re thinking: tHe RaVeNs DoN’t ThRoW tHe BalL aLl ThEy Do Is RuN’ and yeah sure I guess but they’re 22nd in the league at throwing it to the receivers and that’s not as bad as what you would think it has been, considering the amount that they’ve thrown it to their receivers is relative to what other teams in the league have been also. For example, Baltimore thrown it to their receivers (75 targets) more than Seattle (73 targets) has, Atlanta (70) has, Philadelphia (68) has, and so on. I mean Jameis Winston in four games has only 41 targets to his wide receivers too, something none of us saw coming.

If Brown was a guy that you didn’t think could return value with a trade in 2020, then with his current form, I’d suggest that window to get more for him has again opened right back up.

Slant Route

Bully on, bullion…

I’m not his biggest fan in redraft/dynasty but for DFS this week you could do worse than grabbing Mike Gesicki ($4200), who has had a Jeykll and Hyde-like start to 2021. 

In his opening two games of the season with Tua Tagovailoa (I get he got injured in week two, I know), he was flailing with a 93-41 stat line, as opposed to his time with Jacoby Brissett and a staggering jump to 18-15-143-1 numbers. 

This week the Dolphins are in a must-win game against Tampa, who are 29th against the tight ends, allowing 17.0 draft kings ppg to the position, with an average of 7-for-60 as a nice baseline. 

In a game that they’ll likely be chasing, and with Will Fuller on the IR and the rest of the ‘Phins receivers (aside from DeVante Parker and rookie Jaylen Waddle) hardly contributing, I’d suggest that we can expect more of the (recent) same from Gesicki for another week.

Out Route

You’ll at least get a nugget of some form in this one…

The week the NFL travels over to the U.K. to play in that beautiful new Tottenham Hotspur Stadium that opened up a year ago, but due to COVID-19, well.. you know the rest!

But the NFL spared no expenses on the itinerary sending over their finest teams in the New York Jets at the Atlanta Falcons.

Yes, I said ‘at’, it’s technically a Falcons home game and they’re technically the ‘home field favorite’ by the -3 tag they’ve been slapped with as the odds opened up.

The Jets got their first win in overtime last week in a gutsy performance against a Titans team who hobbled into the week and it showed, in the first half they gave a discombobulated of a performance I’ve ever seen – but that’s making excuses for what was a pretty exciting win for Zach Wilson, his first as an NFL Quarterback.

The Jets allow the second-most receptions to running backs (credit Justin Bruni), and the Falcons scored four passing touchdowns last week – three to Cordarrelle Patterson, one to Mike Davis, both running backs – so if you’re looking for something to give you an edge this week, those two guys could be it.

The Go Route

It’s gold, Jerry, gold!

I am a Giants fan and reside in the big apple. My kids were born in Dallas. So every time the Giants and Cowboys meet it holds a special sort of place in my heart. I’ve been to ATT&T Stadium and Metlife for this game and seen some of the best go at it in this matchup. And this week I couldn’t be more excited. I’m more excited that we don’t see Andy Dalton in a Cowboys kit ruining this one, as the Giants got the nod over them in a half meaningless game in Week 17 last year.

I’m just as excited for Daniel Jones who has silenced his critics for another week.

Jones, currently sits as the QB6 in fantasy football (23.79 ppg), who has already hit 40% of last years passing yards after four weeks and has hit 36% of last years passing touchdowns, he’s also nearly halfway to beating his rushing total as well going from 30 ypg to 47 ypg on the ground himself – not to mention having only two turnovers this year – one fumble and one intercept – which has been a stigma dogging him since he got into the league.

He’s gotten much, much better despite the W/L column not being in his favor.

And I’m super excited that he gets to meet Dak Prescott (the current QB12 with 21.01 ppg) who got hurt in this very game last season and he is in ridiculous form against the Giants with a career 7-2 record – and those two losses came back in 2016 when he was a rookie.

In five of those seven wins, Dak and his ‘Boys have put up over thirty points those games.

But what’s even more impressive? Since Dak took over – at home – the Cowboys have hit the over 61.36% of the time.

This game has an O/U currently set at 52 which I can see going over pretty easily. If you can’t tell by now, I’m pretty excited for this one.

Flat Route

It’s a gold (and black) drought…

Yeah I have said it before and I will say it again, Ben Roethlisberger looks like a statue with lungs and somehow, somehow managed to stay in the NFL for one more year. Good for him at least for taking a pay cut for what seems like a nice gesture that is too little, too late.

Still, the answer in 2022 is without a doubt, not Mason Rudolph or Dwayne Haskins, however, I would expect one of them to still be on the roster grooming the incumbent starter.

But within the inner turmoil that poor results have brought us, is an opportunity to get some of their guys on your roster now while the form of the collective has dropped.

Juju Smith-Schuster is talented, and will almost certainly test out free agency again, and that could be a buy-low investment to make. If the word about him turning down Kansas is true – and if that is still on the cards – then I would be trying to get in on that now. It is a bit of a gamble, but one that could pay off.

Chase Claypool has been a victim of a quarterback who can’t get the ball out far enough to where Claypool makes his money, and if there is someone who has him rostered that is getting frustrated with his numbers then that too is a nice buy-low opportunity.

Lastly, tight end Pat Freirmouth who has come along nicely could potentially get more work at the end of the year IF Eric Ebron enters free agency also. He’s doing the little things right that have seen him attain a nice 50% snap share, and as a rookie tight end with the weapons the Steelers have, I’d insinuate that this is no small feat. I would try and get him to stash now and hope this pays off at the end of the year as well.

Again, there’s some opportunity here to get some very good players on your roster now as the production for them may not be that great. It’s worth an ask at least!

I want to thank you for checking this article out! As always you can follow me at @TheBLeagueSays and feel free to check out my @GothamCity_STR podcast out (Linktree) – subscribe, rate, review, share, and listen.

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