DeAngelo came through as the blue chip last week, and I’m going back to the well this week. As I stated in last week’s article, DeAngelo is producing at the same clip as Le’Veon Bell prior to his injury, yet his price is yet to rise. He continued to produce Sunday with 165 total yards on 26 carries and 4 catches. In the last 4 weeks, the Steelers have gained 522, 436, 459, and 597 total yards in each game. This week’s rivalry matchup against the Bengals is one the Steelers have been able to get up for in recent years. Since 2010, Pittsburgh is 8-3 against the Cincy, winning each game they score over 20 points. The game opened with a 47 point Vegas total, but has moved to 49.5. This giant line movement tells me a shootout is likely between these 2 teams who are both battling for playoff position. The Steelers are 8th in the league with 3.5 red zone attempts per game. Despite the number of scoring attempts, DeAngelo has only scored in 3 games. Running backs are the biggest beneficiaries of red zone attempts, so look for that number to increase as the season closes.
Shaun Draughn has played himself into one of the best positions of any back in the NFL. 2 weeks ago, Draughn played 100% of the Niners backfield snaps and followed that with 78% last week. Draughn has been consistent rushing and catching the ball since taking over the starting job. He has at least 12 carries and 4 catches in each of his 4 starts. The niners are 29th in red zone attempts per game, but Draughn was able to score in their only red zone trip in week 13. The Browns allow a league worst 4.6 points over the average to running backs, according to Fantasy Labs. The game has a low total of only 40, but San Fran has gone over game total in 5 of 6 road games this season. I see a sneaky shootout on Sunday with 2 bad defenses, and Shaun Draughn is in line to get the bulk of the work once again.
Theo Riddick has been nothing but consistent for the entire 2015 season. He has scored no fewer than 5.6 DK points on the year and has exceeded 10 DK points, on 7 occasions. Riddick is tied for 22nd in the league in catches with 60, and has more than Gronk, Randall Cobb, and Eric Decker. In Week 10 Jeremy Langford exposed the Rams as a receiving back with 7 catches for 109 yards and a score. Although he has produced all season, Riddick’s cheap price tag of $3600 is the highest it has been all year. According to Fantasy Labs, Riddick averages 5.6 PPG over expectation, which totals to 84% production over expectation for the season. Statistically Riddick is the safest running back in the league and I wouldn’t hesitate to use him in cash.
Since the halfway point of the season, the Falcons have done a great job of proving they were the most fraudulent team in the NFL for the first half. In weeks 3-6, Freeman averaged a monster 39.3 DK points per game, but since, he has only averaged a pedestrian 16.7, with most of that through the air. Though he has continued to put out relatively high raw scores, his scoring based on his price has yielded less than favorable results. Freeman has not scored a TD in his last 5 starts, and he faces a Panthers defense that has only allowed 8 rushing TDs thus far. The sputtering Falcons offense has only averaged 16 PPG since week 7. The price is too high and the matchup is too poor to spend up for Freeman this week.
