The Week 15 NFL Dashboard
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Panthers at Redskins
The Panthers square off with the Redskins this Monday night in a game with one of the highest Vegas totals of the week at 51 points. Washington is a 4.5-point home favorite with an implied team total of 27.75 points. Carolina currently has an implied team total of 23.25 points.
Carolina Panthers
Writer: Tyler Buecher
QB – Cam Newton
Newton has struggled recently, throwing multiple touchdowns in just one of his last seven games and scoring fewer than 15 DraftKings points in five of those seven. He could have a bounceback game here against a Washington defense allowing the sixth-most passing yards on the season and 24.8 DK points per game to its last four opponents. Washington has also allowed over the last year an obscene +5.0 Plus/Minus to opposing QBs, the second-highest mark in the league. Priced at $6,400 DK, Newton is the cheapest he’s been this season and he makes for an intriguing tournament option given the high game total.
Newton (shoulder) is questionable for Week 15 but expected to play.
RB – Jonathan Stewart
Stewart’s TD-or-bust performances continued last week, when he was able to salvage a 66-yard outing with a rushing TD. The Redskins are tied for the second-most TDs allowed to RBs, but they’ve given up only four outings of 20-plus FanDuel points. Stewart has the seventh-highest ceiling projection at 24.3 points but a dangerous floor at just 3.6. He’s scored fewer than five points in three of his last six games.
WR – Kelvin Benjamin
Cornerback Josh Norman‘s first game against his former team will draw a lot of headlines, but we’ve seen X-receivers have some quality outings against Washington, which ranks 28th against WR1s in Football Outsiders’ Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA), with Dez Bryant, Odell Beckham, A.J. Green, and Antonio Brown all scoring 20-plus DK points against the Redskins. Benjamin is risky in cash games considering that Norman is one of Pro Football Focus’ top-20 cornerbacks. However, Benjamin has a season-low $5,500 DK salary and could have lower ownership in guaranteed prize pools given the matchup.
Benjamin (back) is questionable for Week 15 but expected to play.
WR – Ted Ginn Jr.
Over the second half of the season, Ginn has been the most consistent receiver for the Panthers. He has either five receptions and/or a touchdown in seven of his last eight games and has crushed value:
Per our Matchups tool, Ginn should run most of his routes against Quinton Dunbar, who has a horrible 46.5 PFF coverage grade. Ginn has a solid matchup and a 95 percent FD Bargain Rating.
WR – Devin Funchess and Philly Brown
Dunbar isn’t the only horrible CB on the Redskins. Rookie slot CB Kendall Fuller has struggled and was benched last week, when Bashaud Breeland moved into the slot and Dunbar was inserted into the starting unit. Breeland is also bad, ranking as PFF’s 98th CB and allowing 0.30 fantasy points per route.
Funchess and Brown haven’t been particularly effective as of late, but at least they have a plus-matchup.
TE – Greg Olsen
Washington has struggled in coverage against TEs. The Redskins are allowing the most receptions and second-most receiving yards, and they rank 26th in pass DVOA against the position. The Redskins just allowed the Eagles tight ends to combine for a 19-184-0 stat line last week, and they lead the league with a +7.9 DK Opponent Plus/Minus allowed to TEs over the last year. Olsen currently leads all TEs in projected ceiling (24.0 DK points) and has nine Pro Trends in his favor.
Washington Redskins
Writer: Kelly McCann
QB – Kirk Cousins
The Panthers this season have allowed the second-most passing yards (3,767), fourth-most passing touchdowns (24), and seventh-most FD points per game (18.6) to QBs. Cousins is currently the No. 1 QB in the CSURAM88 Player Model for FD, where he presently has both the highest ceiling projection and highest Projected Plus/Minus at the position. Cousins has thrown for at least two TDs in five of his last six games during which time he has averaged 22.67 FD points per game. Cousins is an excellent play in all formats this week.
RB – Rob Kelley
The Redskins’ offensive line is the No. 3 unit in Football Outsiders’ Adjusted Line Yards this season, and Kelley has averaged 96 rushing yards and 1.25 touchdowns per game in the four games in which he has rushed the ball more than 14 times. With the Redskins likely to have positive game script, it’s probable that Kelly will eclipse that 14-carry mark this week. Per Bryan Mears’ Market Share Report, Kelley leads the Redskins with a massive 75.56 rushing share and seven carries inside the 10-yard line over the last four games. Carolina is ranked eighth against the run in FO’s Defense-Adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA). It’s a tough matchup, but Kelley could be a contrarian Monday Night Hammer in the slates with the Monday game.
RB – Chris Thompson
Thompson ripped off a nice TD run last week but was still held to under 10 DK points for the sixth straight week. Cousins has as many rush attempts as Thompson has over the past month.
WR – Jamison Crowder
Last week, Crowder was held under 12.5 DK points for the first time since Week 4— a span of nine games. Prior to last week, Crowder had scored a touchdown or gained at least 100 yards receiving in eight straight games. Crowder’s expected to run most of his routes in the slot against Leonard Johnson, PFF’s No. 114 cover corner. Don’t hesitate jumping on the JC train, especially on FD, where he is currently the No. 2 WR in the Bales, Levitan, and SportsGeek Player Models.
WR – Pierre Garcon
Garcon has been targeted 43 times in the past six weeks. While he’s unlikely to explode for 30-plus points, he has at least five receptions in five of his last six games, averaging 15.56 DK points per game in those contests. The Panthers have allowed the sixth-most receptions (183) and fourth-most receiving yards (2,347) and DK points per game (40.3) to WRs this season. Garcon is the top-rated DK WR in the Levitan Model.
WR – DeSean Jackson
DeSean went over 100 yards receiving for the second time in three games last week, and he now has scored a TD in three of his last four games. If Jackson gets some shots at Daryl Worley — PFF’s 73rd-graded coverage CB — he’ll have a chance to make it four TDs in five games. Per usual, Jackson is a TD-dependent tournament option best suited for TD-heavy FD, where he maintains a 92 percent Bargain Rating.
TE – Jordan Reed
Reed was active last week but played on just 10 of 48 snaps and was targeted only once. His separated shoulder is clearly an issue, and you’ll need to monitor his status on our NFL News feed this week. The Panthers defense has allowed the second-most touchdowns to tight ends (10) this season and is ranked 22nd in pass DVOA against TEs. If Reed is limited or out, Vernon Davis would become an intriguing option.
News Updates
After this piece is published, FantasyLabs is likely to provide news updates on a number of players herein mentioned. Be sure to stay ahead of your competition with our industry-leading DFS-focused news blurbs:
