Every Sunday in the weekly fantasy chats, I get asked about my favorite plays of the week or who is my player pool that weekend for DFS.
This article series covers exactly that.
I will go through the players I am targeting as core plays for all formats here. I will cover tournament plays and games to target for stacks in other posts.
The idea is that this will paint a clearer picture of framing lineups.
Week 16 DFS Content:
Our core players are the players that we will have the most exposure to in their positions.
They can be played in cash games and tournaments and are the players we are primarily building our lineups with.
I will have some analysis on the player selections and game writeups, but check out the Week 16 Worksheet for a fully detailed breakdown of the players and games.
Quarterback
Justin Fields ($7,100 DraftKings/$8,300 FanDuel)
Fields stands out this week as the main slate has been reduced to nine games with nearly all the dual-threat fantasy options at quarterback absent.
We have consistently targeted Arizona because they are not an aggressive defense.
They are blitzing at the league’s lowest rate (14.8%) and have pressured passers on just 31.2% of dropbacks, 30th in the league.
Pressure has been Fields’ biggest issue this season.
When kept clean, he is averaging 8.2 yards per pass attempt (sixth in the league) with a 71.3% completion rate.
When pressured, Fields is averaging 4.6 yards per pass attempt, ahead of only Bryce Young.
His 47.6% completion rate under pressure is 19th.
Arizona is 31st in points allowed per pass attempt (0.511) and 27th in passing points allowed per game (15.6).
Baker Mayfield ($6,000/$7,300)
Mayfield is a solid option in that nebulous price zone where we are not completely paying down but are not paying up, either.
Outside of Fields, the other high-priced options on this slate are Dak Prescott and Tua Tagovailoa, who each come with risks at their cost.
As has been the case the past few weeks on the main slate, the quarterback position is open to pay down because the class of elite options has been thinned out and are open to be arbitraged even if they do hit.
The Jaguars have allowed a QB1 scorer in five of their six games since their Week 9 bye.
The only exception was Will Levis.
To be fair to Jacksonville, they have faced a rough gauntlet of passers over that stretch in Brock Purdy (23.8 points), C.J. Stroud (30.9 points) and Lamar Jackson (18.5 points), but that list also includes Jake Browning (26.7 points) and Joe Flacco (20.3 points).
Over that span, Jacksonville is allowing 8.4 yards per pass attempt (31st), a 69.8% completion rate (31st), and a 6.3% touchdown rate (30th).
The best part about Jacksonville is they have sustained stopping the run over that stretch, pushing more volume through the air.
