Word to the wise: If I say play Josh Allen in this space, you should play Josh Allen.<\/p>\n
Allen has scored 13 touchdowns the last three times I\u2019ve included him in The Lineup.<\/p>\n
He had 40.28 DraftKings points in Week 15 last season in an epic 48-42 victory over the Detroit Lions. He had 24.4 DK points to help secure the Buffalo Bills\u2019 AFC East title in a 40-14 win over the New York Jets two weeks later.<\/p>\n
And last week, Allen produced 47.68 DK points on his way to becoming the only player in NFL history to throw for three TDs and run for three TDs in the same game twice in his career. The only other player to accomplish the feat once was Otto Graham in the 1954 NFL Championship game in a 56-10 victory by the Cleveland Browns over the Lions.<\/p>\n
Alas, despite Allen\u2019s heroics, last week was a microcosm of my season. There\u2019s been a lot of hits, but they\u2019ve rarely aligned on the same roster.<\/p>\n
This week, the \u201cmeta\u201d revolves around the Lions in a bounce-back spot against the New York Giants. I\u2019m perfectly fine with onslaughting them. Detroit hasn\u2019t lost back-to-back games since October of 2022, and has won by 17, 31, 15 and 22 points following its previous four losses.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll have a piece of that pie, but I\u2019m playing a little looser this week.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s less correlation than most weeks. I\u2019m relying more on my ball knowledge.<\/p>\n
The Preamble<\/p>\n
Devising the perfect Daily Fantasy Sports strategy for the NFL can be a challenge, which is why I\u2019m here weekly to assist.<\/p>\n
On DraftKings, it\u2019s important to remember you\u2019re playing full-point PPR with bonuses if a player surpasses 300 passing yards, 100 rushing yards or 100 receiving yards.<\/p>\n
Here is my optimal lineup for today\u2019s NFL $2.5 million Fantasy Football Millionaire contest, but it can be utilized as a foundation in other games and platforms.<\/p>\n
All prices listed are courtesy of DraftKings with a $50,000 budget.<\/p>\n
The optimal lineup has netted $120 this season, so I\u2019m in the red $85 with an average score of 134.46 points through 11 weeks.<\/p>\n
Year-To-Date Results<\/p>\n
Week 1: 95.52<\/p>\n
Week 2: 124.90<\/p>\n
Week 3: 181.44<\/p>\n
Week 4: 142.88<\/p>\n
Week 5: 162.24<\/p>\n
Week 6: 117.24<\/p>\n
Week 7: 116.46<\/p>\n
Week 8: 158.26<\/p>\n
Week 9: 146.94<\/p>\n
Week 10: 114.44<\/p>\n
Week 11: 118.68<\/p>\n
Week 12 lineup<\/p>\n
QB: Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs ($6,800)<\/p>\n
Mahomes is averaging 26.62 DK points per game at home this season, second only to Allen (31.43). The matchup with the Colts will feel like a playoff game with Kansas City currently ninth in the AFC at 5-5. Plus, the Chiefs have never lost three straight games with Mahomes. This just seems like the type of situation that calls for the greatest quarterback of his generation to produce a vintage performance.<\/p>\n
RB: Derrick Henry, Ravens ($7,600)<\/p>\n
Baltimore\u2019s in a similar situation as the Chiefs, sitting at 5-5 and currently out of the playoffs, but K.C. actually owns the tiebreaker courtesy of a 37-20 win in September. So maybe things are a little more dire overall, but this week the Ravens face the rudderless Jets and are heavy favorites (-13\u00bd) at home. Henry\u00a0has played in eight games with Baltimore as a 7\u00bd-plus point favorite, and he\u2019s averaged 19 carries for 103 yards and a TD. According to StatRankings.com, Henry has averaged 3.75 yards per carry in games without Lamar Jackson and 5.5 yards per carry in games with Jackson.<\/p>\n
RB: TreVeyon Henderson, Patriots ($6,700)<\/p>\n
The dark side of Mike Vrabel\u2019s trust in Rhamondre Stevenson clouds everything, but Stevenson is returning after missing three games with a turf toe injury. Turf toe doesn\u2019t just go away. Ask Joe Burrow and Brock Purdy. Regardless, running backs go nuclear against the Bengals. Cincy has allowed an average of 37.32 DK points to opposing backfields in its last six games, and Stevenson returning has likely scared the field away from an obvious smash spot.<\/p>\n
WR: CeeDee Lamb, Cowboys ($7,900)<\/p>\n
Elite ceiling, suppressed ownership. Lamb\u2019s been good, but he hasn\u2019t had an eruption this season. He had a pretty bad drop against the Eagles in Week 1 that cost Dallas a shot at the upset. I\u2019m pretty sure that\u2019ll be top of mind in the rematch.<\/p>\n
WR: Luther Burden III, Bears ($3,600)<\/p>\n
Burden finally passed Olamide Zaccheaus in three-receiver sets for the first time in Week 11. He\u2019s played at least 44% of Chicago\u2019s offensive snaps in two straight games after not topping 28.8% in his previous seven. According to Fantasy Pros, the Steelers have allowed the seventh-most PPR points per target and the eighth-most receiving yards per game to slot receivers since Week 7.<\/p>\n
WR: Isaiah Hodgins, Giants ($3,300)<\/p>\n
Hodgins had a nice rapport with Jameis Winston last week against the Packers, catching five balls for 57 yards on six targets. I\u2019m expecting Winston to sling it, as per usual, while the G-Men chase points all day at Detroit. Darius Slayton also returns this week after missing time with a hamstring injury, but a hamstring is such a fickle thing.<\/p>\n
TE: Pat Freiermuth, Steelers ($3,200)<\/p>\n
I joked last week offensive coordinator Arthur Smith would likely funnel all the targets through Pittsburgh\u2019s third tight end Darnell Washington after I double-stacked Freiermuth and Jonnu Smith to take advantage of a premium matchup against the Bengals. Freiermuth and Smith combined for one reception for 19 yards and only three targets. Washington finished with four receptions on five targets for 67 yards. Hilarious. The Bears secondary is banged up, and they\u2019ll be missing their top three linebackers against the Steelers, so I\u2019m humbly running Freiermuth back.<\/p>\n
FLEX: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Lions ($8,000)<\/p>\n
The Giants inexplicably play the most man coverage in the NFL. St. Brown managed just two receptions in a difficult matchup at Philly last week, but he still saw 12 targets. Of all the Lions, he\u2019s the one who needs to get right the most ahead of a huge Thanksgiving matchup with Green Bay.<\/p>\n
DST: Cleveland Browns ($2,900)<\/p>\n
Myles Garrett vs. the Raiders\u2019 offensive line. That\u2019s all I got.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Word to the wise: If I say play Josh Allen in this space, you should play Josh Allen.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66027,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[29632,39377,29636,39375,11177,11178,39372,11174,39373,39379,6131,39378,11175,39371,752,39370,34458,39374,74,76,75,39376,39369],"class_list":["post-66026","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-amon-ra-st-brown","tag-ceedee-lamb","tag-cleveland-browns-defense","tag-derrick-henry","tag-dfs","tag-dfs-lineup","tag-dfs-week-12","tag-draftkings","tag-draftkings-week-12","tag-isaiah-hodgins","tag-lineup","tag-luther-burden-iii","tag-milly-maker","tag-milly-maker-week-12","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-week-12","tag-pat-freiermuth","tag-patrick-mahomes","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-treveyon-henderson","tag-week-12"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66026","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66026"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66026\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}