Getty Gallery: 2/5
Top DraftKings Week 6 Quarterback Value Plays
– Jameis Winston ($5,800) vs. Falcons
– Jared Goff ($6,000) vs. Broncos
– Russell Wilson ($5,700) vs. Raiders
– Baker Mayfield ($5,500) vs. Chargers
– Derek Carr ($5,100) vs. Seahawks
To be completely transparent, I'm not a big fan of playing Jameis Winston in fantasy football. I don't typically draft him in season-long leagues and I hardly ever use him in DFS. But the matchup this week is tough to ignore. The Buccaneers face a Falcons team who's allowed 1,435 yards and 12 touchdowns to opposing quarterbacks. They've also given up 113 rushing yards and two touchdowns to signal-callers, giving Winston at least a somewhat realistic opportunity to score on the ground.
If that's not quite enough to persuade you on Winston, look no further than his career numbers against the Falcons. In five games played, the Buccaneers quarterback has completed 66.9 percent of his passes with 12 touchdowns and just two interceptions, per StatMuse. He should have no problem throwing for at least 250 yards and two scores.
Oh, no. Did Jared Goff come crashing back down to earth in Week 5? Any encore performance to a game in which you throw for 465 yards and five touchdowns while completing 78.8 percent of passes is going to be a drop-off of sorts. Sure, Goff threw just one touchdown and had his first multi-interception game against the Seattle Seahawks, but still totaled 321 passing yards.
Even in the type of showing you'd expect from a normal NFL quarterback, Goff managed nearly 20 DraftKings points. The Los Angeles Rams quarterback now draws a Denver defense which just allowed rookie Sam Darnold to toss three touchdowns and grab such a large lead he only threw 22 times.
And then we have Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson taking on the struggling Oakland Raiders. On the season, the Raiders have allowed 1,378 yards and nine touchdowns to opposing quarterbacks. While those numbers aren't bad, it's going to be tough sledding against the Seahawks quarterback.
Just last week, Oakland allowed Philip Rivers to complete 22-of-27 passes for 339 yards and two touchdowns in a game the Chargers had total control of. Rivers attempted his second-fewest pass attempts dating back to Week 2 of the 2016 season and still had a huge day. Wilson should have no problem with the Raiders secondary.
Tier Two of Value of Quarterbacks
In the second tier of quarterbacks, I'm going to be pretty straightforward on these names. In most cases, they have upside and a solid matchup, but a bit more risk.
For Baker Mayfield, though, I don't see a ton of risk aside from the obvious. Using a rookie quarterback always comes with a few question marks. Regardless, I'll be rolling out Mayfield and his very nice $5,500 price tag in a home game against a below-average Chargers group. The No. 1 overall pick draws an opponent who's allowed 1,421 yards and 11 touchdowns to quarterbacks this season.
The matchup is there for Mayfield, and even going beyond that, the coaching staff is allowing him to air it out early and often. Over the past two games, the Browns quarterback has tallied 84 total passing attempts and even after throwing just one touchdown in Week 5, he scored just under 22 DraftKings points.
And then there's Derek Carr.
So much upside, yet so much pressure in Jon Gruden's offense. It has to be tough for the Raiders quarterback, and although he's thrown an interception in four of five games (including two multi-interception games), his fantasy numbers aren't bad. From Week 2 on, Carr has posted at least 14 DraftKings points with a 35.58-point showing in Week 4.
The Seahawks pass defense is solid, there's no questioning that, but at $5,100 and a floor that sits around 15 fantasy points, I'm more than happy to use Carr in big tournaments.
*All stats for defense vs. position courtesy of ESPN.