Monday, August 31, 2015

Wisdom of the Crowd and Week 1 Pricing

Sometimes, the wisdom of the crowd is just that: The wisdom of the crowd.

Other times, following the crowd -- especially in GPPs -- is the quickest way to kill your week.
And when it comes to Week 1 -- and especially because of the pricing that came out before training camp battles were won and lost and injuries knocked out some big names -- the wisdom of the crowd is going to have a strong pull.

If you’re playing cash, sure, fine, go with the crowd. But if you’re a tournament player, you need to swerve. No two ways about it.

And for Week 1, I see a minefield out there of inexpensive players who are going to be widely owned. Generally speaking, these are players I’m staying from in order to differentiate my rosters.

QB: Sam Bradford at $7800. He’s the 17th-ranked FanDuel quarterback this week, and he could easily end up being the number one guy by the time the week is over.  I’m probably going to play a few lineups with him, but I do expect his ownership in GPPs to be in the high teens. At this price point, you can go Ryan Tannehill ($8,000) at Washington or Teddy Bridgewater ($7,200) at San Francisco and probably see ownership in the low single digits. You will give up some upside, but if Bradford turns in a good, not great, game, you’ll be fine.

RB: Alfred Blue ($5,800) against the Chiefs and Ameer Abdullah ($5,900) at San Diego. Blue is the clear lead back while Arian Foster is out, and Abdullah is the pre-season sizzle machine. While I expect both backs to be serviceable week 1, I think the better play in this price range are the less sexy Christopher Ivory at $6,400. He probably won’t see work on passing downs, but against the Browns, he could be in line for a 20-100-1 day, which I think will trump his slightly-lower priced rivals.

WR: I think Davante Adams at $5,500 will be the highest owned player Sunday. As such, he won’t find his way into any of my lineups. I’m willing to risk he’s not going to blow up. Give me Terrance Williams against the Giants at $5,300, give me Nelson Agholor against Atlanta for $5,500, give me Charles Johnson against the 49ers for $5,600, give me John Brown against the Saints for $6,000. I think all of them offer the same or more upside than Adams and at a fraction of the ownership.

TE: I feel like Travis Kelce at $6,000 will be the hot pick, and he very well might explode. I’ll have some exposure to him, but at a notch below, Greg Olsen at $5,900 against the Jags feels like the safer play.

K and DEF: Man, do I wish I didn’t have to deal with kickers and defense. I hate it. My tips include: Try to match them together if you can, even better if you can match them with a RB, even better if you can match them against lousy opposing offense.

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Quick Musing on Tampa's Disastrous Third Preseason Game - Still Excited for Winston at FanDuel Week One?

I still may insert a QB Jameis Winston ($6,900)/WR Vincent Jackson ($7,200) stack in some of my lineups at FanDuel during Week 1 of the regular season, but the performance by Tampa's first-team offense on Saturday was less than inspiring. 

"You'd like to maintain a certain level each week, but normally it doesn't happen like that," coach Lovie Smith said after the 31-7 loss to Cleveland on Saturday. "That's why you can't get too high after last Monday night's game, and you can't get too low. We're somewhere in the middle; that's where we are right now. To become a good football team, you have to know you're going to have days like this. It's not all bad to have this bad feeling in our stomach right now." Jameis Winston struggled against the Browns' first team, going 6 of 15 for 90 yards passing, zero TDs, and one interception, while taking four sacks for -36 yards on the day. "I've got to get the ball out faster. They brought a lot of pressure. I've got another thing to learn from, from a blitz-protection standpoint. I've got to see things and get us in the right protection call."

On the flip side of the coin, the Tennessee secondary was as predictably awful without left cornerback Jason McCourty. Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith looked like Brett Favre in his prime against Tennessee, posting an easy 16 completions on 18 attempts for 171 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions, with no sacks taken during his time on the field against the Titans. He hit wide receiver Jeremy Maclin for a 29-yard score and hit tight end Travis Kelce for an eight-yard touchdown. The Tennessee defense is in disarray entering the first regular season game, making that contest a bounce-back opportunity for Winston and Jackson.

You can be sure I'll follow practice reports regarding Winston and Jackson closely in the run-up to Week 1 of the regular season!

REAL NFL Football is almost HERE!

Saturday, August 29, 2015

FanDuel Consistency Rankings: Wide Receivers

Wide receivers offer the most flexibility within our lineups but also bear the responsibility of carrying our team a lot of weeks. If you hit all three your chances of cashing are high, even if you miss somewhere else.

The pool of pass catchers is larger than all other positions, so hitting the right combination on any given weekend is difficult. Finding a balance between an expensive superstar and a low-priced wildcard is key. Looking back at how players ranked, with tournament value as our focus, helps us make that distinction.

You can check out consistency rankings for quarterbacks here, and running backs here. We’ve also created a lovely Google Sheet of every player for every week if you’re into that.
Here are the top 55 wide receivers ranked by average value

But, just like with running backs, we prefer a weighted value that takes more than just salaries into consideration. We’ve ranked them accordingly in the table that follows, where Ave EV is a player’s expected value and Ave AV is his actual value. To look behind the curtain and get a better understanding of how value expectations work, go here

Rank
Player
Games
Ave Value
Ave Salary
Ave EV
Ave AV
1
Antonio Brown
16
2.31
$8,800
2.46
-0.15
2
Odell Beckham Jr
12
2.72
$7,400
2.97
-0.25
3
Demaryius Thomas
16
1.98
$9,000
2.36
-0.38
4
Jordy Nelson
16
2.04
$8,600
2.50
-0.46
5
Dez Bryant
16
1.97
$8,700
2.48
-0.51
6
Julio Jones
15
1.93
$8,500
2.53
-0.60
7
Emmanuel Sanders
16
1.96
$8,100
2.68
-0.72
8
Randall Cobb
16
1.88
$8,300
2.60
-0.72
9
Calvin Johnson
13
1.64
$9,000
2.38
-0.74
10
T.Y. Hilton
15
2.05
$7,600
2.87
-0.82
11
A.J. Green
13
1.66
$8,600
2.51
-0.85
12
Jeremy Maclin
16
1.96
$7,800
2.83
-0.87
13
Alshon Jeffery
16
1.73
$8,000
2.71
-0.98
14
Mike Evans
16
2.06
$7,000
3.16
-1.10
15
Julian Edelman
14
1.89
$7,000
3.08
-1.19
16
Brandon Marshall
13
1.48
$7,900
2.74
-1.26
17
Golden Tate
16
1.96
$6,900
3.24
-1.28
18
Roddy White
14
1.76
$7,100
3.05
-1.29
19
DeSean Jackson
15
1.70
$7,200
2.99
-1.29
20
DeAndre Hopkins
16
1.77
$6,900
3.13
-1.36
21
Kelvin Benjamin
16
1.79
$6,900
3.15
-1.36
22
Steve Smith
16
1.76
$6,700
3.25
-1.49
23
Mike Wallace
16
1.67
$6,800
3.16
-1.49
24
Anquan Boldin
16
1.72
$6,500
3.30
-1.58
25
Sammy Watkins
16
1.54
$6,900
3.12
-1.58
26
Torrey Smith
14
1.99
$6,000
3.63
-1.64
27
Eric Decker
15
1.76
$6,300
3.44
-1.68
28
Keenan Allen
14
1.44
$6,900
3.13
-1.69
29
Andre Johnson
15
1.48
$6,700
3.21
-1.73
30
Jordan Matthews
16
1.76
$6,300
3.51
-1.75
31
Brandon LaFell
15
2.04
$5,900
3.79
-1.75
32
Kendall Wright
14
1.61
$6,300
3.40
-1.79
33
Vincent Jackson
16
1.34
$6,900
3.14
-1.80
34
Mohamed Sanu
16
1.53
$6,400
3.40
-1.87
35
Marques Colston
15
1.66
$6,000
3.59
-1.93
36
Michael Floyd
16
1.40
$6,400
3.34
-1.94
37
Eddie Royal
16
1.74
$5,900
3.71
-1.97
38
Larry Fitzgerald
14
1.31
$6,600
3.29
-1.98
39
Rueben Randle
16
1.58
$6,000
3.63
-2.05
40
Reggie Wayne
15
1.21
$6,600
3.29
-2.08
41
Michael Crabtree
16
1.24
$6,500
3.33
-2.09
42
Pierre Garcon
16
1.22
$6,600
3.31
-2.09
43
Kenny Stills
15
1.77
$5,500
4.00
-2.23
44
Greg Jennings
16
1.53
$5,700
3.77
-2.24
45
Andrew Hawkins
15
1.53
$5,600
3.86
-2.33
46
Malcom Floyd
16
1.76
$5,300
4.10
-2.34
47
James Jones
16
1.62
$5,400
3.99
-2.37
48
Jarvis Landry
16
1.54
$5,600
3.93
-2.39
49
Robert Woods
16
1.48
$5,600
3.87
-2.39
50
Doug Baldwin
16
1.54
$5,600
3.94
-2.40









It’s no surprise to see who claimed the top five spots. And it won’t be surprising to see those same names at the top this time next year, with the obvious exception of Jordy Nelson. We’re truly going to miss Nelson—and all the wonderful low-risk upside he provides—this season. 

No receiver had a higher average salary than Calvin Johnson, yet he still cracked the top 10—a testament to how safe a play he was despite his cost.

Mike Evans is the only rookie not named Odell to make the top 15 (he ranked third in average value). Most of his value came in Weeks 9 through 11. Outside of those three weeks, however, his floor was dangerous. He opens the season as the ninth most expensive receiver. 

Looking forward, here are the top-40:

Player
Salary
Game
Julio
Jones
9000
PHI@ATL
Odell
Beckham Jr.
8900
NYG@DAL
Demaryius
Thomas
8800
BAL@DEN
Dez
Bryant
8700
NYG@DAL
Jordy
Nelson
8600
GB@CHI
Calvin
Johnson
8500
DET@SD
Alshon
Jeffery
8400
GB@CHI
Randall
Cobb
8400
GB@CHI
Mike
Evans
8300
TEN@TB
A.J.
Green
8300
CIN@OAK
Emmanuel
Sanders
8200
BAL@DEN
Keenan
Allen
7900
DET@SD
T.Y.
Hilton
7800
IND@BUF
DeAndre
Hopkins
7800
KC@HOU
Roddy
White
7600
PHI@ATL
Jeremy
Maclin
7600
KC@HOU
Sammy
Watkins
7600
IND@BUF
Kelvin
Benjamin
7500
CAR@JAC
Brandon
Marshall
7400
CLE@NYJ
Brandin
Cooks
7400
NO@ARI
Vincent
Jackson
7200
TEN@TB
DeSean
Jackson
7100
MIA@WAS
Golden
Tate
7100
DET@SD
Amari
Cooper
7100
CIN@OAK
Andre
Johnson
6900
IND@BUF
Jarvis
Landry
6900
MIA@WAS
Jordan
Matthews
6800
PHI@ATL
Steve
Smith
6700
BAL@DEN
Anquan
Boldin
6600
MIN@SF
Mike
Wallace
6400
MIN@SF
Victor
Cruz
6300
NYG@DAL
Michael
Floyd
6100
NO@ARI
Allen
Robinson
6100
CAR@JAC
Doug
Baldwin
6100
SEA@STL
Torrey
Smith
6100
MIN@SF
John
Brown
6000
NO@ARI
Larry
Fitzgerald
6000
NO@ARI
Eric
Decker
6000
CLE@NYJ
Malcom
Floyd
5900
DET@SD
Kendall
Wright
5800
TEN@TB

If you set early lineups when salaries were released several weeks ago, be sure they don’t include Nelson. He’ll remain in the player pool through the first week at least. Same is true for Kelvin Benjamin.

Going back to Evans, his price tag of $8,300 isn’t prohibitive, and the matchup is plenty juicy, but I’m inclined to grab Vincent Jackson and save $1,100. Note, also that Evans’ ownership will probably be high. 

Julio Jones is the fifth most expensive player on the board. It’s unfortunate that the Falcons have a receiver of his size and speed yet he’s never had more than 10 touchdowns in any given season. Last year he caught 104 of his 163 targets, of which only six were scores. It’s possible that changes this year but maybe not for Week 1:

On the other side of that game is sophomore Jordan Matthews. You’ll want to buy a piece of the Eagles’ offense most weeks and especially the first week where the over/under is 53.5 points. Pair him with Sam Bradford and you have high-ceiling stack for just 24% of the budget.

Both John Brown and Kendall Wright offer affordable services. Brown is the ultimate tournament play. He may not see a ton of targets but any one of them could be converted into an 80-yard touchdown.
 
Wright is sort of the opposite. He will see a ton of targets but touchdowns aren’t something we expect of small wide receivers in bad offenses. What makes him a good tournament play is A) low ownership, and B) he could end up seeing double-digit targets from his rookie quarterback. Their skill-sets blend well—all they need is a little chemistry.  

For a look at a few low-cost options, check out what Chad Parson wrote here

And if you haven’t already, be sure to download our Cracking FanDuel eBook. Opening kickoff is just few weeks away so time is running short. The Interactive Value Charts are also live. Familiarize yourself with that tool. We’ll refer to it a lot over the season.  

Extra Points:
DeAndre Hopkins' Week 13 was the most valuable of all receivers (5.68x)
Only nine receivers hit 5x value. Their average salary was $5,400.
Injuries notwithstanding, of players that had a top 10 ranking, none had more weeks of hitting less than 1x value than Calvin Johnson (five).  
Julio Jones came close with four. 
In Weeks 12 through 17, Odell Beckham Jr.'s Ave AV was .76 (six games).
The next closest was Antonio Brown with -.03 (five games).