NFL DFS Building Blocks Week 14
As I head into Week 14, I’m really thinking about a couple of different paths for my main builds. The first is deciding how I want to handle Buffalo. I’m leaning toward having two primary builds – one built around James Cook, and one built around Josh Allen. It feels like one of them is going to matter on this slate, and I don’t want to miss the side that ends up hitting.
I’m also looking at Indianapolis the same way. I might treat Jonathan Taylor as his own path – one lineup that’s built around Taylor as the focal point, and another lineup built around the Colts’ passing game instead. I don’t know which version of their offense will show up yet, but it makes sense to separate them the same way I’m separating the Bills.
On top of that, there are a number of cheap quarterbacks and cheaper game environments that we can target this week. That means ownership becomes even more important, because I’m not ruling out any of those cheaper builds until I see where the field is going. If we can find a low–owned cheap quarterback tied to a concentrated offense, that might open a completely different lineup path.
So we’ll let ownership drive us and see where we get to.
Quarterback
At quarterback, as we would expect, Josh Allen leads the way in ownership, coming in around 15%. He’s the only clear elite option on the slate.
After Allen, we get down to Jacoby Brissett. We would also expect him to be high – he’s still at a reasonable price tag and throwing a ton. You could definitely go there this week if you want to. I’m going to shy away. I’m thinking the Rams defense will slow Brissett down, and he will not have his big game that he has been having, so I will probably stay away from that stack.
Then we get Matthew Stafford on the other side of that. He is perfectly viable, but again, I do not think they are going to have to press the issue in this game. I will probably stay away.
Jayden Daniels comes in next. I do not want any part of him in his first game back, going against a pretty tough Minnesota defense. This ownership is a little bit surprising to me. He is a little bit cheap, and if he can perform to his potential, he is definitely worth it. But I am going to stay away from there.
Beyond those top four, there is no clear ownership advantage to anyone else, so it is really take your pick and see what your lineup is able to provide.
Jordan Love and Trevor Lawrence are both feasible.
Bo Nix is feasible, but I would rather play a couple of his cheap pass catchers alone.
Tyrod Taylor comes in again. He is still cheap, he is not overly owned, so you could go back to him this week if you want, especially if you are going to Devon Achane on the other side.
Sam Darnold is a little bit sneaky. If you are going to Jaxon Smith–Njigba (JSN), pairing him with Darnold is a really nice play.
Baker Mayfield – I will stay away.
I would rather go all the way down and play Tyler Shough on the other side of it, just knowing how good the Bucs rushing defense is and how much Shough will have to throw. He could be the Tyrod Taylor this week. He could put up a Jacoby Brissett type of performance. He is not as good as Brissett, but he could get similar volume. And he has nice stacking partners like Chris Olave and Juwan Johnson.
J. J. McCarthy – I really do not want to play him.
Caleb Williams is a little bit interesting to me, coming in way down the ownership list. If we are going to play somebody like Josh Jacobs, or we are interested in the Packers side of things, we should take a look at him coming in much lower owned than Jordan Love and a little bit cheaper.
Running Back
At running back, James Cook going against the Bengals is to be expected at the top, coming in around 25%. Then we get Josh Jacobs, also in a nice matchup against the Bears in an important divisional game.
Then we get to Quinshon Judkins. I really like Judkins this week paired with the Browns defense in a game I expect them to dominate. And when you have Shedeur Sanders as your quarterback, the way you want to dominate a game is by leaning on your running back.
After that, we have Breece Hall and Devon Achane in the same game. Either of those also makes a fine case for your top running back, followed by RJ Harvey. Any of those six, I would be comfortable playing either two or three of them.
After that tier, things get more questionable.
Bijan Robinson – I do not want him in this matchup.
Kenneth Walker – I would rather go back to JSN.
Aaron Jones – again, no interest in that Minnesota–Washington game.
Bucky Irving is pretty interesting, especially in Tyler Shough lineups or paired with the Saints passing game.
Then we get down to Kyren Williams, Jonathan Taylor, Derrick Henry, Ashton Jeanty.
Taylor around 10 percent ownership, price coming down a little, Daniel Jones banged up – they will want to lean on him. He is the last running back I am considering this week.
We do get Devin Neal under 5 percent, but I want nothing to do with that against Tampa Bay.
Running back is the most predictable position. It is the position the field gets right the most. So I have no problem eating chalk here. Any of those top six are completely feasible.
I am probably starting with James Cook and Josh Jacobs, and then I am on the fence between Quinshon Judkins, Devon Achane, and Breece Hall for the third.
The knock on Judkins is that the Browns defense might do so well that they limit their own offensive volume in a low–scoring game. But if you are trying to jam in three top backs, it is tough at their prices. You could fit Josh Jacobs, Quinshon Judkins, and Breece Hall. You could go cheaper and add RJ Harvey.
So in my Josh Allen lineup, that is probably exactly what I will try to do:
- Josh Allen
- Josh Jacobs
- Quinshon Judkins
- and either Devon Achane or Breece Hall
If I struggle with value, I will drop to Josh Jacobs, Quinshon Judkins, and Breece Hall instead of Achane.
Wide Receiver
At wide receiver, Michael Wilson is coming in really highly owned. With Marvin Harrison Jr. and Greg Dortch out, this is to be expected. He should get volume, but so will Trey McBride. I am expecting the Rams to control this game, and for Arizona to come back down to earth. I will gladly fade Michael Wilson at this ownership and eat chalk at running back instead.
Adonai Mitchell is also coming in really highly owned. We liked him last week, and he had that big game that we thought he could have. But at extremely high ownership, I will fade him as well, because we know he is not a consistent player.
Some value options that I see:
Christian Watson is pretty highly owned, but he is worth it this week in that nice matchup against the Bears. If you are not going to Josh Jacobs, he makes sense. And if you are going to a full game stack, you could go with Josh Jacobs and Christian Watson, and come back with Luther Burden, Colston Loveland, and Caleb Williams.
Some other names that make sense at lower ownership:
Ja’Marr Chase is coming in at much lower ownership than we would expect. If we are looking for the Bills to put up a lot of points, either through Josh Allen or James Cook, I would have no problem firing up Ja’Marr Chase this week.
You could go down to Tee Higgins at a little bit lower ownership and with a little price savings, but it is not such a big ownership difference that I would prioritize Higgins over Chase.
Puka Nacua makes sense.
Alec Pierce makes sense, especially if you are going to game stacks there.
Devaughn Vele for the Saints also makes sense. If you are going in a game stack there with Tyler Shough, I would definitely play any of Chris Olave, Devaughn Vele, or Juwan Johnson.
Way down the list we get some of the Broncos players. RJ Harvey is going to be popular at running back, so if you do not get him in, I would fire up a Pat Bryant, or even a Marvin Mims. We know the Raiders give up big plays. I could even see a Bo Nix–led lineup built around those cheap pieces.
Tight End
At tight end, Kyle Pitts is coming in number one in ownership. This is not unexpected with Drake London out again this week. I am a little torn in this spot. Pitts has a history of disappointing us, and if he is going to be chalk at the position and the Seahawks can game plan for him with Drake London out, I am a little bit more inclined to go away from him in this spot. If you want to go there, you certainly can. If we are going to Sam Darnold and JSN, we do not have to force a bring back, but Pitts would make sense on the other side of that lineup.
Some others that make sense this week:
Tyler Warren makes sense for the matchup.
Then going down a little bit with some ownership leverage, you have Juwan Johnson, you have Colston Loveland, you have Brenton Strange on the other side of Tyler Warren. A lot of players make sense at tight end this week.
I really wanted to get to Dalton Kincaid. I am not sure he is actually going to play this week, and he might be banged up a little bit still, so I am more likely just to stick to James Cook or Josh Allen but you can add Dawson Knox for a nice cheap fill-in. I am not afraid to give Josh Allen the old Tom Brady naked treatment and not pair him with anyone, just expecting him to get some of his value through rushing touchdowns and then spread the ball around enough that you do not have to have one of his wide receivers.
Defense
At defense this week, similar to last week with the Seahawks, there is no reason to pay down. Just make your lineup and then force either the Cleveland Browns or the Denver Broncos into it. There are some people getting down to the Washington Commanders. I am okay with that, but I would definitely prefer to stick to the Browns or the Broncos this week.
Final Lineup Thoughts
As I look at how I actually want to build this out, I am leaning toward a Caleb Williams stack as one of my main approaches, specifically because it lets me get to the running back group I want.
With Caleb coming in at low ownership and a reasonable price, I can build something like:
- Caleb Williams
- James Cook
- Josh Jacobs
- Quinshon Judkins
and then fill in the rest with the wide receivers and tight end combinations we have already talked about. From there, I can still pivot off one of those running backs and move to Devon Achane or Breece Hall if I like how the rest of the build is coming together or if value opens up in a different spot.
This is also a week where it makes a lot of sense to drop down in price at quarterback and play multiple lineups. There are a number of games that could produce:
- The Bears–Packers game with Caleb Williams and the Green Bay side
- The Broncos–Raiders game with Bo Nix or the cheap Denver wide receivers
- The Dolphins–Jets game with Tyrod Taylor and Devon Achane or Breece Hall
- The Colts–Jaguars game if you want to build around Jonathan Taylor or the Indy passing game
So instead of forcing everything into one single lineup, I would drop down in entry price and build separate lineups around a bunch of different scenarios and then see what you actually like when you look at them side by side.
One lineup built around Josh Allen.
One built around Caleb Williams and the triple running back build with Cook, Jacobs, and Judkins.
One with a cheaper quarterback like Tyler Shough to unlock a different mix of studs.
From there, you can decide which path you want to prioritize for your main contests and which ones make more sense for tournaments where you are embracing more variance.
