NFL DFS Optimal Lineups: Mon-Thurs (Week 7/8)

With Week 7 nearly in the books, it's time, once again, to check out the possibilities of the Monday-Thursday slate and see if we can't pinpoint some potential top performers to load into our GPP lineups. Again, it's not that I don't like playing cash games on a short slate, but the paylines tend to be higher due to the heavy amount of overlap. I usually just try to hang out in the GPP contests.

We've got an interesting pair of match-ups here as the Monday night game between the Eagles and Redskins looks like it could be a tasty place to eat while the Miami/Baltimore game is likely to be considered low-scoring and a whole lot of yuck. Maybe. I still see some interesting possibilities.

This week, I'm going to walk you through the thought process at each position and see if that helps you either embrace these lineups or gets you to pivot in another directions should you feel like I might be misreading the situation. The lineups themselves won't be posted until later in the day, NO LATER THAN 7 PM ET.

Quarterback -- I feel forced to use either Carson Wentz or Kirk Cousins here. I'm certainly not going to use Joe Flacco and while I would love to maybe get Matt Moore in there, with Jay Cutler sidelined 2-to-3 weeks with cracked ribs, there are some tough situations to monitor for Miami over the next couple of days. Will Laremy Tunsil be healthy enough to play? Were Jay Ajayi's struggles due to the wet surface and poor field conditions or did he tweak something in his leg that might be deemed more serious upon further evaluation? Not to mention, the Ravens actually give up the sixth-fewest fantasy points to the QB position. It might be the move to make in a GPP, but I feel more secure going after the points in tonight's action. The Redskins and Eagles give up close to the same fantasy points per game to quarterbacks, but I may just tilt to Wentz given the injuries to Washington's secondary.

Running Back -- Again, waiting on more info regarding Ajayi's leg and the condition of the Dolphins' offensive line. Even with Brandon Williams returning to the Ravens' offensive line, they still allowed over 100 yards to Latavius Murray, so I would like to try and get Ajayi in if I could. Other than Baltimore, however, the run defenses are pretty solid for the other teams. LeGarrette Blount seems like a decent play, especially on FanDuel, with the goal-line carries coming his way but you can't expect big yardage numbers. The, of course, there's the question of how much work Wendell Smallwood poaches. He averaged 11 carries in his last two games and obviously catches a few passes as well. Maybe Blount for FanDuel and Smallwood for Draft Kings? Robert Kelley is expected to return tonight, but the Skins are calling for a three-man committes with him and Samaje Perine serving as the early-down backs while Chris Thompson remains the third-down, pass-catching back. That might put Thompson on my list for Draft Kings simply for the PPR option. As for the Ravens, I feel like Alex Collins might be the guy you want on FanDuel while Javorius Allen and all his catches skew more towards the full-point PPR scoring on Draft Kings. I'm leaning towards a combination of Blount, Ajayi, Thompson, Allen and Collins right now which probably means that Kelley will end up with 100 yards and a TD. Doh!

Wide Receivers -- With the Redskins secondary banged-up, I'm really liking the Eagles receivers here, but for the TD upside in a GPP, I'm leaning more towards Nelson Agholor than I am Alshon Jeffery or Torrey Smith. His match-up with Kendall Fuller seems ripe for the picking. I'm tilting away from Terrelle Pryor and Jamison Crowder due to their lack of consistent targets, but Josh Doctson and Ryan Grant are getting a heavy look. The match-up is decent and these two, particularly Doctson, are seeing strong red zone targets. For Miami, Jarvis Landry almost feels like a no-brainer on Draft Kings given his target volume, but as we just witnessed, the TD-upside for Kenny Stills is pretty darn strong. Ravens receivers? I don't think they have any.

Tight End -- It looks like Zach Ertz or bust here, another reason for a likely tilt towards Wentz. The Redskins give up the third-most points to the position and the rapport between Ertz and his QB is phenomenal. Jordan Reed is always in play as a red zone favorite, but even last week, he saw fewer-than-usual targets. Not to mention, the Eagles have been strong in covering the tight end. Julius Thomas could be an interesting play here as well. The Ravens give up the seventh-most fantasy points to the tight end and he's seeing consistent targets.

Kicker -- Tough call here as all four kickers are in play. None of the four teams give up an unusual amount of points, so I'll be studying potential game flow, consulting my Magic 8-ball and ultimately deciding between a hearty game of Eeenie-Meanie-Miney-Moe and Ink-a-Dink.

Defense -- How do you not love the Miami defense against that seriously inept Ravens offense? Conversely, what about the Ravens defense which haqs been very opportunitstic on the turnover front. Matt Moore is certainly prone to mistakes, isn't he? Decisions, decisions.

Several hours later.....

OK. I've weighted the pros and cons, thought about contrarian moves for GPP contests, thought about potential game flow and took some of the recent injuries into account. I don't want to totally fade Jay Ajayi because if he is fine, then the match-up against the Ravens should be decent for hium. But with concerns over his health, I'll throw him down into the flex and leave myself a number of possibilities to pivot -- Jarvis Landry and Alex Collins seem most likely. If you're wondering why no Landry in the lineups, it's a combination of TD upside (yes, he's caught one in each of the last three games, but it was Cutler throwing and not Moore) and ownership projections. The receivers I've chosen either see a heavy dose of red zone looks or have connected on touchdowns for long yards.

That all being said, here are my lineups for those playing in GPP contests for the Monday-Thursday slate: