Week 5 was a pretty good week overall, but man did I miss on my Matt Ryan/Julio Jones stack. That may have been one of my worst calls this season! Good thing my Andre Johnson, DeAndre Hopkins and Devonta Freeman calls balanced things out. Looking ahead to Week 6 there are a couple of tough match ups that we are going to have to contend with, but overall I think there is enough value to build a good roster. So let us get to it…

Explosive Play – In the real-world NFL an explosive play is defined as any play over 20 yards, and those type of plays will typically win you football games. In the DFS world, an explosive play is a player that I think has the potential to put up huge fantasy production, based on his matchup, recent performance, and his history against the opposing team. Theses are the plays you need to win in the DFS world.

Deep Threat – A deep threat is a second or third tier player that I think will outperform their price on FanDuel, giving you the best Return on Investment (ROI).

Punt Play – This term is pretty universal — typically a GPP play only. It’s a player that has an outside shot to have a great game and will most likely me low-owned in large tournaments.

Missed Tackle – A missed tackle is a first or second tier player that I’ll be avoiding — be it because of match-up, weather conditions, or recent performance.

*note* I will not include kickers, because, well, they are kickers.

Fanduel Week 6 2015 Free DFS NFL Picks

Quarterbacks

Explosive Play Carson Palmer, Cardinals ($8000)

Palmer only completed 11 passes last week….three of them were touchdowns. Philip Rivers lit the Steelers secondary up last week, and I’m expecting Palmer to continue his early season dominance. Is Palmer a legit MVP candidate this year?

Deep Threat Blake Bortles, Jaguars  ($7300 )

I had Bortles as my punt play last week and boy did that pay off, with him scoring 29.22 fanduel points. He makes the Deep Threat list this week facing a team that just had a 40-year old quarterback with the flu light them up.

Punt Play  Brian Hoyer, Texans ($6700)

For my punt play I’m looking across the field from Bortles to the latest edition of the Houston rotating quarterback magazine. Hoyer wasn’t amazing against the Colts last week, but still ended up with nearly 21 fanduel points. This week he gets the Jags, a team that made Jameis Winston look like a starting quarterback.

Missed Tackle Peyton Manning, Broncos ($8100)

The match up looks juicy with the Browns on the schedule, but so did the Raiders game and how’d that work out? Manning should have retired after their Super Bowl losing season. Does anyone think they have a legitimate shot at winning a Super Bowl this year? Does Manning?

Running Backs

Explosive Play Adrian Peterson, Vikings ($8900)

Peterson’s opponent this week, the Chiefs, ranks at No. 13 overall against the run, but that number is a bit skewed by who they have played. They faced the Arian Foster-less Texans, the struggling to run the ball Broncos, the less-then-100-percent Eddie Lacy who also happens to be struggling and the struggling to run the ball Bengals. They finally faced a team that has shown they have a legit running game, the Bears in Week 5, and Matt Forte had over 100 total yards and a TD.

Deep Threat Dion Lewis, Patriots ($7200)

Going back to the quarterback position for a second, I really wanted to put Tom Brady over Carson Palmer as my Explosive Play as I think this will be the revenge game for Brady and Bill Belichick. I decided on Palmer based on his cheaper price tag. With that said, I expect the Patriots to throw a ton in this game and prove to the Colts that a deflated ball had nothing to do with the outcome of last year’s playoff game. Dion Lewis is there passing down running back, so I expect him to be on the field a lot catching a ton of fully inflated footballs.

Punt Play Lamar Miller, Dolphins  ($6400)

The new intern coach Dan Campbell seems like a guy that wants to run the ball. Listening to his press conference he had a lot of “tough guy talk”, and that tells me he is a run first kinda guy. I could be way off, and the fact that I’m basing my decision to play Lamar Miller on the words of a coaches press conference is crazy. But what’s not crazy is Lamar Miller in 2014 had the second highest yards per carry in the league behind ProFootballFocus’s worst ranked run blocking offensive line. That’s impressive. #FreeLamarMiller

Missed Tackle Le’Veon Bell, Steelers  ($9000)

I’m basing this decision on the thought that Ben Roethlisberger will not playing in this game, which from what I’m reading there is a possibility that he does. Assuming he doesn’t, expect the Cardinals defense to force Mike Vick to beat them. They will do everything in their power to stop Bell, and force Vick to throw the ball. Bell might have a good game here, but the price is a bit steep for me in a bad matchup.

Wide Receivers

Explosive Play  DeAndre Hopkins, Texans ($8500)

Four out of five games this year Hopkins has had over 20 fanduel points, including his last three games. Those would be great numbers for a quarterback! I will have at least one lineup this weekend with a Hoyer/Hopkins stack for sure.

Deep Threat Julian Edelman, Patriots ($7900)

Continuing the narrative of the Patriots wanting to throw a ton in the Deflate-gate revenge game, Edelman will be good for 12-15 targets in this one. He may not score like he did last week, but he will get a ton of volume for sure.

Punt Play Willie Snead, Saints ($6200)

Brandin Cooks is still the No. 1 wide receiver on this team, but in title only. Snead has quietly become Drew Brees‘ favorite target. He exploded for 6 rec and 141 yards last week. This week he’ll find the end zone.

Missed Tackle Antonio Brown, Steelers ($8600)

How could he not be this week’s Missed Tackle? Michael Vick seems hell bent on ruining Antonio Browns value and it’s working. Please come back Big Ben!

Tight Ends

Explosive Play Rob Gronkowski, Patriots ($8200)

Are you sensing a theme here? I’m starting to question my decision to put Carson Palmer ahead of Brady. But I’ll stick with my gut and stay with Palmer, but Brady was a really close second. You’ve heard enough of it by now. Revenge game…passing a lot…blah blah blah.

Deep Threat Antonio Gates, Chargers ($5500)

Gates’ welcome back party was spoiled by the last second heroics on Le’Veon Bell, but because Gates played Monday night, FanDuel didn’t have time to raise his price tag and at $5500 he is a near must play.

Punt Play Jacob Tamme, Falcons ($5100)

With Julio Jones and Leonard Hankerson dealing with injuries in Week 5, Tamme went out and had a great game. Jones is still dealing with a hamstring issue and there is potential he doesn’t play after a short week. If Jones sits, Tamme may be the most targeted receiver on the field Thursday. I like him slightly less if Jones does play, but I think he is still worth the price tag.

Missed Tackle Jimmy Graham, Seahawks ($6300)

By my count 13 tight ends are currently averaging more fanduel points per game than Jimmy Graham and those names include Crockett Gillmore and Gary Barnidge. Not exactly household names.

Defense

Explosive Play Denver Broncos ($5000)

The best defense in the league this season without a doubt, and they get the Cleveland Browns this week.

Deep Threat New York Jets ($4800)

Second against the run. Eight against the pass. Second overall. And they get Kirk Cousins and the Washington Redskins.

Punt Play Miami Dolphins ($4400)

I picked the Dolphins to be one of the best defenses in the league in the preseason and so far I was dead wrong. I think they are better than they have played and will show up in Tennessee this week.

Missed Tackle Seattle Seahawks ($5000)

Just not quite what they used to be. Still very good, don’t get me wrong, but for $5000 I prefer the Broncos.

Flex

Flex players are just additional players I like, but just didn’t make the cut to be featured.

• QB Tom Brady, Patriots $9000
• QB Jay Cutler, Bears $7500
• RB Arian Foster, Texans $8500
• WR Jarvis Landry, Dolphins $7300
• WR Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals $7500
• TE Martellus Bennett, Bears $5800

Thank you for reading my “Fanduel Week 6 2015 Free DFS NFL Picks” article. You can follow me on Twitter by clicking the icon below. Good luck this weekend.

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