 Welcome in to the FanDuel, hurry up, it's Maria Marino for Fantasy Sports Network and Jim Sonnis of Number Fire is on hand as we preview the divisional weekend of the NFL playoffs. We have a little bit of a different format. We did this last week as well this time around, but with FanDuel having a Saturday slate and a Sunday slate, we're going to go through each day and start by giving you three studs and three values for the Saturday slate. Of course, the Colts are visiting the Chiefs and the Cowboys are visiting the Rams. So Jim, let's get into it and your first stud of Saturday is Jared Goff. Yeah, I think when you look at this Saturday-only slate, everything at quarterback will revolve around the Indian KC game and it makes sense because Patrick Mahomes is a baller, got Andrew Luck there as well and he has been awesome the second half of the year. I do want to make mention of Jared Goff though because I think that there are two things that align really well for Goff to make him a pretty solid play for this week and the two things that align are the Cowboys defense on the road and Goff at home. Starting off with Goff at home so far this year, he has averaged 25 FanDuel points per game at home that is compared to 13.6 FanDuel points per game on the road. So when they're in the Coliseum, Jared Goff tends to do pretty well. This Cowboys pass defense, if you remember, a couple weeks ago they shut down the Saints and they played really well in that game and it was kind of this change for the Cowboys where it seemed like they became this defense that was a force to be reckoned with but that game was in Dallas and when they've been on the road this year, they've allowed 0.18 passing that expected points per drop back to opposing passers that is an above average mark and at home it's done a 0.05 so they're a pretty drastic team from a home road splits perspective facing a quarterback who has pretty drastic home road splits as well and both those splits line up positively for the Rams this weekend. I think the big concern you could have for this game is it's not the matchup. For me it's actually the Cowboys trying to run the ball a ton and keep the ball out of Goff's hands but I still think that with that being a concern, you could still use Jared Goff this weekend. Goff is rested, that offensive line has gotten healthier, Todd Gurley is now healthier than he was before too. I kind of think things line up really well for the Rams to have a good game here and if they do, Jared Goff will likely go off. So yes, if I'm starting a Saturday lineup I'm probably going to go with Mahomes more often than not but I kind of think that Goff deserves consideration too especially when you consider that his salary is much lower than Mahomes. A lower salary as you mentioned the home road splits heavily favoring Jared Goff and he has every weapon at his disposal, hopefully rested and healthy. On to a stud at the running back position. It's the same one that we talked about last weekend, Ezekiel Elliott. Yeah, I think that we talked before about the Cowboys having these weird home road splits and I think that that's a concern for Dallas because if they get behind early they're not going to run the football and that's where Zeke Elliott gets most of his volume but even with the Cowboys struggling on the road this year it hasn't killed Zeke Elliott especially since Amari Cooper came over because his volume has just been so good. Zeke played three games on the road after Amari Cooper came over and in those three games they actually got shut out in one of those games but Zeke still averaged 26.5 fan dual points per game. He has 21% of the team's targets since Jeff Swam got hurt outside of week 17 in that game where Zeke did not play. He has 26% of their red zone targets in that time and what that says is that when they do get behind Zeke Elliott will still be part of the game plan because he can get dump balls out of the backfield and do work that way as well. The other part about this is that when this game is close the Cowboys are probably going to run the football and they could do so effectively. Wade Phillips the defensive coordinator for the Rams is known for encouraging opposing teams to run the football and it makes sense because in general passing is more efficient than rushing so you can understand why Phillips would do so but with Zeke I kind of think that that's going to lead to efficient volume and good volume when this game is close. There is risk that the Rams get out front early and that could wind up hurting Zeke quite a bit but as mentioned his role in the passing game is so good that he could still wind up paying off regardless so at running back you got concerns around Todd Gurley don't really know what Damian Williams role will be with Spence aware potentially being back and then there's also Marlon Mack in a game where the Colts could fall behind so I think it really does start once again with Zeke Elliott both for the Saturday slate and for the four game slate too. The pass catching upsides certainly makes Zeke Elliott pretty foolproof. He's right now projected to reach over 114 yards as well as over 18 fantasy points on FanDuel. Up next a stud at the tight end position who else but Travis Kelsey. Absolutely Travis Kelsey is always a fun play and I've always wanted to use him but I think it makes sense here even though we do have Eric Ebron of this exact same slate in that game I don't mind Gerald Everett as a cheaper play from the Rams but with Travis Kelsey I think it's just kind of too good to pass up they're facing the Colts during 23rd against the pass so far this year and they have struggled to stop opposing tight ends they've you know faced Zach Hertz, Rob Grunkowski and Evan Engerham three guys who have you know have gotten good volume this year and all three of those guys had at least five receptions for 70 yards against this Colts defense and Kelsey has a better role than all three of those guys have now the one factor here is that Sammy Watkins probably going to be back for this game he practiced in a limited fashion on both Tuesday and Wednesday so I would assume Watkins is out there once Saturday rolls around but even when Watkins was healthy earlier this year Kelsey still had 26% of the cheese targets he had 32% of their deep targets and 25% of their red zone targets basically he was used as a wide receiver in this offense and I think that that's what allows you to be more comfortable with Kelsey at his salary which is $7,500 for a tight end that is a lot of salary but if you miss being a wide receiver that is okay Kelsey is used like a wide receiver so I'm totally okay with that he helps fill the most gruesome position on the board here so Travis Kelsey yes the price is very high but I think he's still worth it and I don't think that's a super hot take to say so by the by any means gets the access to this cheese offense and fills a tough position so Kelsey a really hard guy to avoid even with some good options on this slate I agree with you out of every offensive threat on that Chief's team Travis Kelsey has been the most consistent and he's really been the centerpiece and and as we know with the tight end position being tough to fill it's kind of nice just to spend the money and worry about filling out everything else now let's talk about some value plays you have three you want to discuss starting with Damien Williams of the Chief's what about him is appealing for value yeah I think when you look at Damien Williams for this week a lot of people maybe a little bit scared because Spencer Ware also like Sammy Watkins got an unlimited practice on both Tuesday and Wednesday so I would assume because they had that by week that where we'll be back out there for this weekend but I don't think that should be enough to totally push us away from Damien Williams the first reason that I think that is because Ware in week 17 actually got in a full practice the entire week it seemed like he'd be back and then he wound up being inactive for that game now after a by week he is suddenly limited again I don't think he is fully healthy yet which bodes better for Damien Williams the other part is that they signed Damien Williams to a two-year contract extension prior to week 17 that says that this is a guy they believe in and are willing to use not just for this year but also beyond that so I think that that is another reason why we could potentially still get to Williams even with Spencer where potentially being back he's just $6,100 and I think that that is another thing that helps safeguard you just in case Spencer where it does play a role when he comes back Williams has a role in the passing game he has at least five targets in three of the past four games and where did play in one of those games as well so yes there was some certainly some risk around Damien Williams but again Spencer where seemed to be fully healthy back in week 17 did not play Williams got the contract extension and he will get work in the passing game and he gets you access to this chief's offense for just $6,100 so I think he checks enough boxes to be worth the risk even though there is there are some red flags here for sure interesting tidbit about that extension Damien Williams projected to at least reach double digit fantasy points on Saturday so let's talk about Josh Reynolds of the Rams next and he's another value play tell me why yeah I think there are two potential value plays in this Rams offense one of them is Gerald Everett if you want to spend down a tight end he is $4,800 the other guy is Josh Reynolds Reynolds is $5,600 if we look at this Rams offense since Cooper Cup got hurt Reynolds has had a pretty good role he is third on the team in targets and that's not great by any means he never won a guy who's third in the in the pecking order for targets but Reynolds has gotten a lot of high leverage targets in that time he actually leads the Rams in both deep targets and red zone targets since Cooper Cup got hurt Reynolds in week 16 saw a snap rate go down it was around 50% as the Rams decided to go with more two tight end sets in that game but back in week 17 Reynolds snap rate was back up to 96% I think there is some risk here where the Rams could go with more two tight end sets and if that does happen Reynolds would be the guy who comes out the field so I don't think you can use both Reynolds and Everett within the same lineup but I think you can use either of them by themselves or in a stack with Jared Goff uh Josh Reynolds $5,600 Gerald Everett is $4,800 a couple of value plays getting you access to this Rams team they help you afford guys like Ezekiel Elliott like Travis Kelsey like Patrick Mahomes and I think that they get you there without taking a big hit to your ceiling with both Reynolds and with Gerald Everett leading in deep targets and red zone targets huh who knew Josh Reynolds okay and one more value play we want to talk about it's on the Colts this time Don Trell Inman Don Trell Inman last week had a pretty solid game but he had just four targets in that one so you may think that after the touchdown on that one it's a little bit point chasey and maybe you'd want don't want to go after Don Trell Inman but I think there were other things there in that game against the Texans that could lead you to still go to Inman this week as they go on the road to face the Chiefs the first thing is that the Colts probably gonna have to pass a little bit more in this game than they did against the Texans that game they got up big early and were able to run the ball late with Marlon Mack this time they're on the road they are five point underdogs they're facing the Chiefs who are on rest and they're facing Patrick freaking Mahomes which probably means we're not going to see a heavy dose of Marlon Mack for this week in that game for Don Trell Inman he had four total targets two of those where at least 16 yards downfield and he played 71 percent of the snaps Inman down the stretch of the season had a pretty good role in this offense he had five or more targets in three of the past five games and also for the past six games that has included some deep targets he also had three red zone targets the final two games of the regular season so Inman gets targets some of them will be high leverage targets so I kind of think that at six two hundred dollars Inman is pretty expensive but I think there is enough there where you can use him again I think the big thing with Inman is that he allows you to afford guys like Tyree Kill and Travis Kelsey while still getting exposure to Andrew Lux right on which something that I definitely want to do for this weekend I love Eric Ebron I love Ty Hilton but if you need to spend down a little bit more I will not talk you out of Don Trell Inman catching a touchdown in each of his last three games not too shabby for Don Trell Inman especially if you need to save a little salary all right that does it for the Saturday side of things but we still need to talk about the Sunday slate we're going to take a quick break and do that when we come back we're back on the FanDuel hurry up Maria Marino for Fantasy Sports Network once again and Jim Sonnis of Number Fire it's time now to talk about the Sunday Slate on FanDuel for the NFL divisional round of the playoffs of course the Chargers are visiting the Patriots first and then it's the Eagles visiting the Saints we're going to give you three studs and three value plays the first stud being at quarterback and Drew Brees yeah I think when you look at this two game slate Maria it is really hard to avoid Drew Brees at quarterback because you've got that Patriots Chargers game that game is outdoors this game is indoors and the matchup for Drew Brees is really good this Eagles team finished 17th against the pass and they were much worse down the stretch after all those injuries piled up and I know that the the Eagles secondary has performed adverbally given the fact they've been signing guys off the street essentially but at the end of the day they have still allowed a lot of production to opposing wide receivers we saw Deshaun Watson light them up up in Philadelphia Dak Prescott has 455 yards against them that game was also indoors this one will be in the Superdome look at it Drew Brees I think we could be concerned about him because he did struggle down the stretch of the season but it's always important to remember the context behind those games three of the final four games that Brees played in the regular season were outdoors and as we know he has really heavy home road splits the one game he played indoors was that game against the Steelers and the Saints offense put up more than 30 points in that game he played well there even the fantasy output was just okay with around 16 fan dual points in that game Brees has massive home road splits so whenever you see him have this weird stretch but a lot of that weird stretch comes outdoors you can kind of overlook and I think that's what I'm doing here with Drew Brees against the Philadelphia Eagles I love the matchup I love the fact this is indoors and I think that when you look at the other quarterbacks on the slate I'm very much okay paying the piper for Drew Brees finding the salary to get up to him and plugging him in and trying to find value from there the Saints have a true home field advantage of course that rings true for Drew Brees he's projected to reach over 24 fantasy points on fan dual up next a stud at the running back position it's another saint Alvin Kamara yeah it's gonna be pretty hard to avoid the Saints you're playing the Sunday only slate here I think pretty much across the board they've got guys every position that you would want to use and Kamara to me I think is the best running back on this slate because last year in the playoffs we saw the Saints really commit to Alvin Kamara they've been playing around 50 or so percent of the snaps prior to that and then the playoffs things got cranked up to around 63 percent Kamara's been playing 63 percent of the snaps basically ever since Mark Enger came back and I kind of think we could see that go up once again in what is a must win game for the Saints obviously with this being in the playoffs and the thing that I love about Kamara is how well he matches up with this Philadelphia Eagles defense they're not bad against the rush but against past catching backs they can allow a lot of production 76 receiving yards to Todd Gurley 79 to Zeke 83 to TJ Yelden 99 to Saquon Barkley 66 to Deon Lewis and Kamara you know he didn't get a lot of work in the passing game against the the Eagles we did have a 30-7 yard touchdown in their first meeting Kamara down the stretch from the season had 27 percent of the Saints targets from week 13 to week 16 he had 28 percent of the red zone targets as well so he is a dynamic player and whenever the Saints have him on the field and give him the football really good things can happen so to me I think Alvin Kamara is easily the top running back on the Sunday only slate he is either 2a or 2b for the full forward game slate behind Zeke Elliott I think that Kamara is a really hard guy to avoid $8400 pretty lofty salary but to me he is very much worth that worth it when you're projected to reach over a hundred yards and 17 fantasy points on FanDuel. Moving on one more stud that we like on the Sunday slate it's Melvin Gordon of the Chargers why is this game environment not scaring you for Melvin Gordon it does scare me that is for sure but I think if we're trying to find a running back here on this slate who could and I say could have a really good role Melvin Gordon is probably the cheapest one he has $7400 and you know last week Melvin Gordon got banged up he left that game early he's got a lot of injuries whether it be his knees I think he had an ankle injury at one point as well in week 17 so there are a lot of injuries but if we get Melvin Gordon healthy for this game then the salary I think is just way too low $7400 that is the same salary as James White who hasn't been nearly as involved ever since Rex Burkhead came back it is just $100 more than Marlon Mack if we're looking at the full four game slate and Mack is more dependent on the game script the Patriots defense likes to invite teams to run the football they want you to run the football and test your patience against them and the Chargers are so efficient running the football that they very well could oblige them and just pound the rock with Melvin Gordon now I think with Melvin Gordon more so than pretty much anyone you need to watch the reports entering this weekend if he gets in a full practice on Friday I think that Gordon then wants it being a really good play for both the the four game slate and for the Sunday only slate especially because we may not get official word that he's going to play until Sunday morning you may get lower ownership on him as a result the Patriots have struggled as a team without Josh Gordon too which could lead to positive game script from Melvin Gordon so it is risky for sure you know he could wind up seating passing down work to Austin Eckler the same way he did last weekend but I still think that Melvin Gordon can be worth it because his salary has been adjusted down so far so Melvin Gordon definitely scary definitely risky but I think he's worth it to me okay I'll amend my previous statement you're not really super scared maybe a little bit scared but again that price adjustment helps for Melvin Gordon we have to move on to the value plays for the Sunday slate and first up it's Chris Hogan of the Patriots he's had some magic in the playoffs in the past what can we expect this time yeah I don't really know what to expect from Chris Hogan like a baseline expectation for him is like the shrug emoji basically I don't know what's going to happen with this guy but in week 17 we saw something different from me he's been running routes pretty much the entire year he has been on the field but he hasn't been getting targeted but in that game in week 17 which for the Patriots was essentially a must-win game because they wanted that first round buy and needed to beat the Jets to get it I we saw a lot of Chris Hogan in that game he had 11 targets and four of those were deep targets two of them were in the red zone now the matchup here is pretty tough the Chargers have really good cornerbacks but I still think that we know Chris Hogan will be on the field there is a possibility he will get a lot of volume the same way that he got in week 17 against that Jets defense that's also not necessarily a civ matchup either because the Jets are pretty good against outside wide receivers there is a path for Chris Hogan to having a really good game I don't think he is a cash game player by any means because in week 16 also without Josh Gordon Hogan had zero targets so the floor here is zero the upside is much better than that based on what we saw in week 17 so Hogan he's a he's a kind of a weird dude to try to figure out and I don't have a lot of conviction in him but as we saw in week 17 there is a scenario in which Chris Hogan gets a good amount of volume and for a cheap wide receiver on the Sunday only slate I will certainly take that because I think that Hogan's upside is better than most of the other guys in his salary tier someone in the offense on a Bill Belichick coach team is hard to figure out you know hard to predict shocking shocking however Hogan like you said definitely has some pros moving on to another value play this time it's a running back on the Eagles Darren Sprouls yeah you look back to last week against the Bears and Darren Sprouls didn't really do a whole lot he had just fewer than five fandal points and that's kind of scary but I think that there was a lot of underlying stuff in that game that lines up really well for Darren Sprouls especially in a spot where the Eagles could be trailing against the Saints the first thing that I loved about Darren Sprouls in that game against the Bears is that he played 55 percent of the snaps that is just a massive number for a running back especially for a team that has been a committee team in the backfield pretty much the entire season so the snap rate was there Sprouls got 13 carries he had three targets some of those carries were in close to the goal line as well which means he's got a decent chance at plunging into the end zone for a touchdown as well now we look at the game script here for Sunday against the Saints the Saints have a high powered offense they're on a buy they've got their offensive line rested up and healthy they could hang a pretty big number on the Eagles here once again if that does happen we could see a lot of Darren Sprouls in this game all the way back in week 11 when the Eagles faced the Saints yes they got down big early but in that game they used their running backs heavily Eagles running backs had eight targets in that game two for Corey Clement and six for Josh Adams Darren Sprouls is a better back in the passing game than either of those guys you do not want to run on the Saints team so I think if we're trying to get inside the mind of Doug Peterson it would make sense to have Darren Sprouls out there and use him out of the backfield as a wide receiver also Maria we cannot forget this is a revenge game for Darren Sprouls facing his old team and obviously that is the biggest selling point we could possibly have on Darren Sprouls or revenge game for a guy he should play a lot of snaps and there's just $5,400 sign me up for that for sure Jim thank goodness you're here not only did you remind me what I forgot which is it's a revenge game for Darren Sprouls you're helping me get into the mind of coach Doug Peterson there's no one else I would trust in that scenario okay we have to talk about one more value play last but not least it's Ted Ginn Jr of the Saints and we already talked about him as flying a little bit under the radar earlier this week yeah I think that that's something that could be appealing for Ginn because like he didn't play week 17 he's barely played the entire second half of the season so I don't think people will be super willing to click on his name now he's getting buzzed this week so I'm not saying he will be some super low-owned guy but there are reasons to be skeptical of Ted Ginn but there are also a lot of reasons to like this guy quite a bit he is minimum salary on Fandle and $4,500 and that is despite having a pretty good role when he did come back in week 16 in that game Ginn ran 20 routes but on those 20 routes got eight targets five of those targets really 16 yards down building Ginn before his injury this year had a really good role this offense in the first three games this year Ginn had six seven and six targets respectively he had eight deep targets in those three games combined he had two red zone targets he also had a couple of red zone targets in week four before he got hurt and then eventually went on injured reserve. Ginn did miss week 17 potentially a slight concern but I kind of thought that was just due to rest and it seems that is the case because he was limited in practice on Wednesday which means that he should be good to go for Sunday now Ginn plays a highly volatile role so I don't think he's a guy you can necessarily build around build an entire team around but he should be on the field we know that he has big upside with the targets he gets and this Eagles defense can be beat down the field so to me Ted Ginn we don't often find guys who are minimum salary who make a lot of sense I think that's Ted Ginn for this week and I'm very much willing to use him so Ted Ginn if you need to save some salary on the Sunday only slate or for the Saturday three Sunday slate a really good option at $4,500 a good option for Drew Brees and a good option like you said to save money as you build your DFS lineup with his salary being just $4,500 all right that's it all the studs all the values for both the Saturday and Sunday slate Jim Sonnis of Number Fire thanks so much and thank you all for watching for more content be sure to go to fan duel dot com slash the duel and click on videos also subscribe to our youtube channel at the fantasy sports network enjoy