 Hello, and welcome into the fan duel. Hurry up. I'm Maria Marino for fantasy sports network and number fires Jim Sonnis is on hand to preview the Pro Bowl slate on fan duel in the NFL That's right. The Pro Bowl is at three o'clock Eastern on Sunday And with this special slate Jim has a handful of different strategies that he recommends you use starting with Your MVP spot in this slate in this format and he suggests Using a wide receiver or a tight end there Jim. Why don't you elaborate? Yeah, it's kind of weird the Pro Bowl is so radically different than every other slate We have the entire year because generally if we're filling out a single-game roster We want to have either a quarterback or a running back in our MVP slot because those are the two most predictable positions But for the Pro Bowl it has different rules Basically, they're required to have one tight end and one running back on the field at all times and For the tight ends there are only two tight ends on the entire roster So if they're required to have at least one tight end on the field that means we can reasonably expect the tight ends to play Around half the snaps or so and that's higher than what you'd see a running back Where it's about 33% of the snaps and a quarterback where it's the same thing So I just kind of want to use players will be on the field more often We look back at past Pro Bowls looking specifically at the past five Pro Bowls the highest scoring player From a fandal point of perspective has been a wide receiver three times and a tight end twice Yes, tight ends are actually good for Pro Bowl DFS because again, they're on the field just more often So when you're looking at a single-game roster for the Pro Bowl, you're essentially saying I want to pinpoint The player I think will be the highest scoring player for this game and for past Pro Bowls That has always been a wide receiver or a tight end So to me, I think when you're filling out your roster starting off with an MVP slot I think you just want to zero in on a wide receiver or tight end who you think will do well in this game Plug them in and go from there I think in general you just want to focus on wide receivers and tight ends here as we'll talk about throughout this show But it's really radically different than what we see usually where these tight ends and wide receivers are kind of just The golden unicorns of this single-game slate any players you recommend Jim Yeah, I think that juju Smith Schuster is pretty interesting if we're looking at the ASC side because juju is always just fun As you know, Marie, he's a super fun guy. It seems like the Pro Bowls may be his type of format So I like juju. I think he's pretty interesting But I'm also not opposed to George Kittle who we'll talk about tomorrow We do the full player discussions if you want to go tight end Kittle getting good quarterback play here in the Pro Bowl we know what he can do after the catch so I think juju and George Kittle are two interesting names I want to keep an eye on here juju throughout this season was targeted 166 times pretty wild look to him to be even more active come Pro Bowl time All right, so another strategy that Jim likes for Pro Bowl DFS Targeting wide receivers specifically for floor. Why don't you explain what you mean by that Jim? Yeah, a lot a part of it does revolve around what we discussed at the top there Where they're just gonna be on the field more because a lot of times you'll see three wide receivers in the field And there are only four wide receivers on each roster Which means they're gonna play more snaps which does lead to a really good floor But also just from a raw scoring perspective wider severs have been good Especially when compared to quarterbacks and running backs over the past five Pro Bowls There have been 38 total players who have scored double-digit fan dual points in those Pro Bowls and 15 of them have been wide receivers 10 have been tight end so in general if you want a player to get you double-digit points Your best bet is going to be a wide receiver There have been only seven quarterbacks who have had double-digit points in this five game sample and only six wide Or six running backs So in general if you want a good floor you want to go to your wide receivers and towards your tight end So I think when I'm feeling out of roster to me that says I'm really okay with only using wide receivers and tight ends Like if I fill out a lineup where it's three wide receivers and two tight ends I'm gonna feel pretty good about it. So me personally I think that I do want to shoot for the floor there guys like Adam Thielen who have some skill I've had some time off since their most recent game, too I think that they're the guys I'll focus on most when I'm trying to identify players We have a good floor for this format Sounds good and you mentioned Adam Thielen by way of example He had over 1300 yards this past season, which really was a breakout year for him And should be a good opportunity for him to sort of celebrate that come Sunday Up next using multiple tight ends Jim We've already discussed how valuable tight ends are when it comes to Pro Bowl DFS and you're telling us we need more than one Yeah, I think when you look at those initial numbers Maria You could say okay, cool. I can actually you know go with a tight end here You're not required to use any position at all with this single game format So you could say I don't want to use a tight end at all like you could hypothetically do that But if you look at what's been successful in the past for Pro Bowl Slates It using a tight end is basically been a requirement to have success What I did was looked at the past five Pro Bowls Looked at the five highest scoring players reach those Pro Bowls and solid position they play in all five of those games Two of the top five highest scorers played tight end look at the past two years There have been two tight ends and three wide receivers in both So for the past two years there's been neither a quarterback nor a running back among the top five scores in the Pro Bowl So to me that says I do want to lock in two tight ends for my roster They've also got a bit upside because we look at those that five game sample once again the past five Pro Bowls There have been five tight ends who have scored at least 15 fan dual points and there have been only four wide receivers Two quarterbacks and one running back So it's not just the fact that they can they've cracked up in the top five scores But they also have a pretty good amount of upside So you know when you look at the rosters for tight ends You see a guy like Jared Cook and he's not necessarily gonna get you super excited But he is one of only two tight ends on that team alongside Eric Ebra Maybe you could think the same thing about Austin Hooper where I don't really I'm not really drawn towards this guy But I think given the format of the Pro Bowl given the way the rosters are constructed I think it does make sense to use those guys So you want to pair Jared Cook with Austin Hooper pair Jared Cook with George Kittle and make those combinations Getting those two tight end line-ups out there because in the past that has been a rather fruitful strategy I like how you brought up Jared Cook who at age 31 pretty much had a career year This past season in the NFL now in talking about this format more I'm getting the theme in terms of you know We usually expect our quarterbacks or our past catching running backs to be the highest Producers in terms of points and it's not that way you mentioned wide receivers and tight ends are super valuable And that brings me to your next strategy, which says be wary of running backs I also wonder Jim. Is this a factor? Is there a factor that has to do with? running backs not wanting to really risk too much in this somewhat meaningless Exhibition game, you know what I think that's gonna be a big part of it Maria That's for sure and honestly who can blame them because I if I were running back if I'm Zeke Elliott And I got maybe a big payday coming down the pipeline I'm probably not gonna try too hard during the Pro Bowl and risk getting injured I don't blame these guys, but it also just comes down to the fact that running backs just don't score a whole lot in the Pro Bowl If we look at the past five Pro Bowls only six running backs have scored double-digit points again It's compared to 15 wide receivers and 10 tight ends only one running back has scored more than 15 points Which is fewer than we've had at any other position So in general the points just really aren't there for running backs going back to our discussion Or looking at the top five scores because I think when you look at this slate You're probably not going to use all your salary so you can it's instead Focus on finding the players you just think will be the highest scoring players that hasn't generally involved running backs Running backs have been among the top five scores only twice in the past five years There was one in 2013 one in 2014 there was never more than once if you do decide to include a running back I probably would not go with more than one They just don't have a lot of upside and the floor is not as good as you'll find at wide receiver or tight end So for me personally, I think that guys like Zeke Elliott are very tempting Alvin Kamara is also very tempting because we know how Talented these players are but in general just keep in mind that running backs in the Pro Bowl aren't going to get as much volume And they won't be on the field as much So it's okay to be a bit cautious about using them to to heavily as Zeke Elliott may have led the league in rushing This season, but he's not top of mind for Jim Sonnis as he puts together his Pro Bowl DFS lineup I'm curious Jim if you anticipate using a running back at all I know you said you don't have to and You're you're saying it's okay for us to use maybe one But are you specifically you Jim? Are you gonna use a running back? I think I will in some lineups because I think that it's Advantages to do so in case one of them does go off But like if I'm trying to you know figure out on how many lineups I will use a running back It's probably not gonna be a huge number like for most of my lineups Maria I'm probably just gonna use wide receivers and tight ends because again That's been the go-to strategy for these past five years And I think if I'm looking between quarterbacks and running backs I probably do favor quarterbacks there. So I'm gonna use running backs I want to give me some sake on Barkley because it's fun to root for those guys But more often than not I'll probably be avoiding this position. Very interesting. This is like an alternate universe So the next strategy if you do decide to use a running back We know generally in fantasy past catching running backs are much more valuable But you're saying for Pro Bowl DFS. It's past catch or nothing It really is a must like absolutely a must for running backs to catch passes in this game because there's just so little Volume for running backs if we look at a little volume as a rusher I should say because we look back at those six running backs who scored double-digit Fandal points in the past five Pro Bowls again only six of them three of those six caught a caught a touchdown So how to receiving touchdown the other three all had at least five receptions So either five receptions or receiving touchdown for all six of those players And again six isn't a huge number to begin with but basically the way to get there is via receiving production There's been only one player in these past five Pro Bowls who has had more than nine carries that guy was Mark Ingram He is also the only player who has had more than 43 rushing yards That's 4.3 points and even despite that even though Mark Ingram got 11 carries and had 72 yards rushing He didn't score double-digit fandal points because he didn't do a lot as a receiver There are only been three rushing touchdowns in the past five Pro Bowls two of those by running backs one of those by Cam Newton So I think that if you're looking at running backs You're not gonna expect much production or much volume for them as rushers if you're gonna get them to succeed It needs to be as a receiver out of the backfield So you know guys like James Connor he did get used as a receiver this year, but it's not necessarily his biggest strength So I think I'd be a little bit wary of guys like that and if I do decide to go running back I might skew more towards guys like say Kwan Barkley like Alvin Kamara who have this just insane talent as a receiver and skew more towards them as opposed to guys like James Connor honor did have a nice year, but I agree say Kwan Alvin Kamara these are players who you know their game is centered around also being that receiving threat We have one more strategy to discuss and we've already talked about that quarterbacks Again are just not as valuable and when you think about the Pro Bowl in general You don't quite know what you're gonna get from certain quarterbacks. They could go in for a series or two So you say be sparing when picking quarterbacks Yeah, I think that I do rank them above running backs for this Pro Bowl slate So there is at least that there is a one minor favor or factor in favor of quarterbacks that they're ranked above running backs But I think still like like you said Maria. We had to be used unsparingly when we do decide to plug them in because it's not really just a super optimistic Output here for quarterbacks, especially the past two years Quarterback scoring has been really down in those past two years And because the scoring in the game in general has been lower Now you look at the quarterbacks who are slated to play in this game got Aaron Rodgers You got big Ben Patrick Mahomes will be there too So there are some good names at quarterback And I think that that makes me more inclined to use them than I would have been last year I'm not going to overreact to the quarterbacks being excluded from the top five scores the past two years But overall even when the Pro Bowl was higher scoring in previous years, you know quarterbacks weren't putting up a ton of points We look back to the the previous seasons back in 2015 and 2014 There was a quarterback among the top five scores in both those years But there was only one and there weren't any quarterbacks among the top five scores in 2017 2016 or all the way back in 2013 either So I think that if you do Maria decide to go with a quarterback in your lineup It's probably best to go with just one generally in single-game formats. I want both quarterbacks like next week We'll talk about the Super Bowl. I probably do want to get both Tom Brady and Jared Goff in a lot of my lineups together But I think for the Pro Bowl, you're probably not going to see more than one quarterback go off from a fantasy perspective So I think that in the lineups where I do decide to go to the quarterback Maybe I want to get some Patrick Mahomes out there. Maybe I want to get some Aaron Rodgers It's probably going to be just that one quarterback Then I'll focus on wider receivers and tight ends for the other four slots This is the ultimate example of game script dependent because of course Pro Bowl is not like any other game Although I feel like every time I watched Patrick Mahomes like on a drive. He ended up scoring I know that's an exaggeration, but maybe if he does get a chance to get in there You will get some points on the board, especially after that crushing defeat in the AFC championship All right, Jim Sonis of Number Fire. Thanks so much for explaining this whole thing to us Pro Bowl DFS It's a new phenomenon for me. Anyway a little bit backwards when it comes to strategies And that's why it's so important to know going in what you're getting into That's gonna do it for that section of the fan duel hurry up But we still have a lot to get to we're gonna switch gears to the NBA Actually, Corey Parson is gonna give his picks for this evening. So don't go anywhere Welcome back to the fan duel hurry up It's Maria Marino once again with fantasy sports network this time I'm joined by Corey Parson as we preview some NBA spreads that are going down tonight And the first game we want to discuss the Cavaliers are visiting the Celtics. It's a 730 p.m. Eastern tip and Boston is favored by a whopping 16 and a half points, but Corey this isn't that outlandish is it? No, it's not that outlandish considering who the opponent is the Cleveland Cavaliers who One of the worst teams in the NBA might be one of the worst teams in the NBA like ever The thing with this is this is a big number considering the fact that Boston to be without Al Horford and Kyrie Irvin tonight I'm gonna go ahead and back to Cleveland Cavaliers in this one The Cavaliers all pretty good against the spread especially on the road That's because they're catching big numbers every night This number right here is real big for a team that it's gonna be without Kyrie and Al Horford Give me the Cavaliers and cross your fingers Interesting. I'll certainly be crossing my fingers. Like you said the Cavs aren't good But the Boston Celtics will be under man, which makes that number just seem even bigger The next matchup we want to talk about the Houston Rockets are visiting the New York Knicks That's a 730 p.m. Eastern tip Houston here is favored by seven. What do you think of this spread? Yeah, the New York Knicks are in full tank mode right now You got the Houston Rockets team coming in hot even though they're coming off a loss against the Philadelphia 76ers They take a short trip up the turnpike to Madison Square Garden where the Knicks are in full-on tank mode as I said I don't want to get in front of James Harden in this rocket team right now Numbers real short with seven even though it's on the road at Madison Square Garden You know the fans come to Madison Square Garden to see the other team play So James Harden to get a big ovation night the fans to be chairing them on give me the Houston Rockets to lay that 7 against the Knicks tonight. I got you and I don't blame them I kind of want to go just to see James Harden. I definitely don't see them having trouble covering that number The next matchup on tap. How about the Orlando magic? Coming to Brooklyn to take on the Nets the Nets here are favored by six and a half points They've been playing really well by the way this one tips at 730 Eastern. How do you feel about it? Yeah, this number keeps getting higher and higher a lot of people on a new Jersey now I mean, excuse me the Brooklyn Nets right now getting behind that steam with the Brooklyn Nets D'Angelo Russell playing like an all-star nice home court advantage even though nobody shows up They're playing very good basketball. This number is pretty steep But you know what I'm gonna go ahead and lay it with the Brooklyn Nets last week these two teams played in Orlando Orlando jumped out to a 21 point lead the next came the Nets came back and won the game I don't think Orlando has a chance to get that kind of lead tonight. I think Brooklyn makes light work of them Give me the Nets There you go. Even though there's a little jab in there about people not showing up to Brooklyn I think more and more people are gonna be showing up and they're in a really good place against Orlando Up next the Charlotte Hornets are visiting the Memphis Grizzlies tip off 8 o'clock Eastern The Grizzlies are the underdog Hornets are favored by just two points though Yeah Well actually the Hornets were the underdog coming in when this line was when this line was first drop But everybody hopped on the Charlotte Hornets in this one Listen the bottom line with the Memphis Grizzlies is talking about trading off Gasol who may not play tonight Mike Connelly also going to be gone So we already see what the Memphis Grizzlies are trying to do there in full-time tank mode also now the New York I'm excuse me the Charlotte Hornets on the other hand Kimba Walker and his team fighting for a playoff spot I think there's a team that will be in the Eastern Conference playoffs They're playing good ball you get Kimba down there and that crew down there in Memphis I think it's an easy win. Give me the Charlotte Hornets and sprinkle something on the money line. I love it It'd be pretty cool if Charlotte was able to make it into the playoffs. They certainly have the star power Advantage especially when as you mentioned Memphis their stars could be on the trading block Moving on the Los Angeles Clippers are in Miami playing the heat tonight That is a 7 30 p.m. Eastern tip The heat are favored by four and a half points. What do you make of this spread? Yeah, this is one of the tougher ones all that you have on the docket tonight Miami heat getting their first home game after being on the road for about four straight The heat play about 500 ball at home as a matter of fact the Clippers play about 500 ball on the road When you look at the Clippers they are team that sits in there and they fight and they grind and they struggle each and every night So you know what I'm gonna take the Clippers to cover this number I think Miami wins the game, but give me the Clippers to cover this number right here tonight Interesting the Clippers certainly have been competitive if not as successful in the win-and-loss column as they would like So once again Corey a fan of the Clippers possibly covering the number And I I tend to agree, but let's move on one more matchup to discuss for the evening 7 o'clock Eastern tip between the Raptors and Pacers in Indiana Interestingly the Pacers are favored by five and a half points. I what is the status of Kawhi Leonard? It's really the big question. The status of Kawhi Leonard is what the status of Kawhi Leonard is most nights Kawhi Leonard will be out on a rest night Nobody needs more rest in the NBA than Kawhi Leonard. Kawhi Leonard didn't play a whole season last year And he was perfectly healthy yet and still that was the case listen the Toronto Raptors are the NBA's best road team The Indiana Pacers on the other hand are notorious for laying in spreads on nights when they should but this one right here That number is six one thing about the Raptors when Kawhi does not play they still show up They play well without Kawhi Give me the Raptors to cover this number in the game the Pacers win closely not one But two knocks on any shot Kawhi Leonard would have in the MVP race Resting and the team seems to do just fine when he's out like you said they are good on the road All right, Cory pars and a fantasy sports network. Thanks so much for joining me Hey, if you want more content, just go to fan duel comm slash the dual click on videos Also subscribe to our YouTube channel at the fantasy sports network. We'll see you next time on the fan duel hurry up