Mike's Week 7 Player Grid

Welcome back to my (Mjohnson86) Player Grid. The format will vary slightly from JM’s Player Grid, as we each see things slightly differently and play in slightly different contests, but should complement his thoughts and content very well for those looking to build their lineups for the week. The format of this article will vary slightly from my FanDuel Player Grid, which will be more direct in terms of which players I like. Enjoy!!

The Core

This is a list of players that stand out to me at each position from using my “Checking the Boxes” criteria outlined in my course you can find in our Marketplace. This list is a starting point, from which I build out lineups using game theory and roster construction concepts (which we will also touch on) with the mindset being to find the best plays with big ceilings. Low ownership is a bonus, but not a must. This section will focus primarily on three positions – running back, tight end, and defense – as the other two positions (quarterback and wide receiver) tend to have more dependent tendencies which I try to attack from other angles (which we will get into in the other sections). I like all of these plays on all sites unless otherwise noted:

Running Back ::

• Jonathan Taylor – JT is in the midst of a potentially historic running back season and has a terrific matchup against a poor run defense and fast-paced offense. 

• Quinshon Judkins – Judkins is the workhorse for a team that is likely to run, run, run, and he is facing an incredibly bad Miami run defense.

• Saquon Barkley – The Eagles are struggling this season and the reality is that their dominant 2024 season was propelled by building their offense around Barkley. They are likely to try to get back to their roots here and Barkley’s ceiling is 35+ points.

• Jacory Croskey-Merritt – “Bill” also has a terrific matchup this week and just set a season high in snap rate and touches, while playing in the game with the highest projected total on the slate by far.

• Josh Jacobs – Over 30 DK points in consecutive games and the centerpiece of his team’s offense, playing in a game where his team is favored and expected to score points. 

• Kimani Vidal – This is a back that has an explosive skill set and thrives in the passing game as well. His salary doesn’t represent the upside that he possesses in a strong offense and explosive game environment. 

For The MME Crowd :: This week’s slate presents a wide-open running back situation, which leaves me open to playing more RBs than I would in a usual week and looking to build my rosters in specific ways around them. Here are a few of the “others” who make sense to me as a part of game stacks and/or strategy pieces.

• Breece Hall – Hall started the week projecting to be the highest-owned RB on the slate and basically everyone in the industry, in unison, said “easy fade!!” I suspect he will end up much lower-owned than expected, and the reality is that initial projection was probably where they were for a reason.

• Javonte Williams – We can’t ignore the workhorse running back playing in the game with by far the highest implied total on the slate. Javonte has a very high floor in this spot and has paths to multiple touchdowns and hitting the 100-yard bonus. If Williams is posting a big score, this game is almost certainly going wild.

• J.K. Dobbins – Dobbins has been extremely consistent outside of last week’s dud. The Broncos could smash the Giants this week, and New York’s 31st-ranked run defense could give us the high end of outcomes for Dobbins this week.

• Rhamondre Stevenson – The Patriots might really run it up on the Titans if they get the chance and Rhamondre appears to be their top choice at running back.

Tight End :: 

• Tyler Warren – Warren just keeps churning out production and now has a likely bump to his target share with Josh Downs out.

• Trey McBride – The Cardinals are likely to throw at a high rate and McBride is coming off his best game of the season. 

• Mason Taylor – The price is right on Taylor, who will play the entire game and has a massive outlook for targets with Garrett Wilson out.

Defense :: 

• Broncos – Sorry to rain on the Giants “Bash Brothers” parade, but traveling into Denver to face that defense is not going to be the same as facing an injury-ravaged Eagles team on a short week. 

• Patriots – This one feels personal. New England head coach Mike Vrabel returns to the franchise that gave him an unceremonious release and happens to have the worst offense in the league.

• Browns – An elite defensive front playing in extreme conditions against a team from Miami with Tua’s noodle arm at QB.

• Chiefs – Geno Smith is going to be forced to throw a lot and the Chiefs could tee off on his mistake-prone ways.

Premium Passing Game Stacks

Denver Broncos (NYG)

I like Bo Nix quite a bit. He has had a somewhat shaky season to date with two very good games, one poor game, and three “OK” games. Last season, Nix had fluctuating performance as well, but showed a massive ceiling in games Denver controlled. Down the stretch of 2024, Nix had games of 29.8, 31.8, and 36.5 DraftKings points. In those games, Denver won 28-14, 38-6, and 38-0. In short, when the Broncos roll, it is often heavily through Nix and the team tends to really lay it on. I think he is quietly one of the top QB options on the slate. New York has a strong pass rush, but its poor run defense should allow Denver to move the ball consistently and set them up for some big plays. I think Nix can be stacked with any combination of Courtland Sutton, Dobbins, Marvin Mims, and Troy Franklin.

Los Angeles Chargers (IND)

The clear second-best game total this week has a lot of paths to turning into the game of the week and stealing the show. The Chargers’ defense has allowed opponents to move the ball relatively easily this year but relied on stopping teams in the red zone, while the Colts have the scheme and personnel to turn those drives into touchdowns. Last week, in their first game without Omarion Hampton, the Chargers faced a putrid Dolphins run defense that allowed them to stay more balanced. This week, they face a solid Colts run defense, get Quentin Johnston back on the field, and the Colts secondary is missing multiple key pieces. The last time the Colts were in L.A., they let Matthew Stafford throw for almost 400 yards.

GPP Game Stack Of The Week

Washington Commanders // Dallas Cowboys

This spot has been discussed ad nauseam this week and stands out as the optimal game environment of the week. I believe there are paths to build rosters with no players from this game and betting on production being very spread out on both sides, but there are also scenarios where this game has 70+ points and building rosters with five or six players from this spot becomes +EV. A lot of ways to play this one and there are enough questions around the injury situations for Washington and the uncertainty around Lamb’s return to the Cowboys that I actually think it won’t go overboard in terms of how the “field” approaches it.

UNIQUE COMBOS

Breece Hall + Mason Taylor 

Everyone is ready to write the Jets offense off, and for somewhat good reason, but Hall and Taylor will still be somewhat popular due to how well they project with large workloads. What people likely won’t do much, however, is play the two together, as clicking submit with two Jets on your roster feels very uncomfortable. However, if either of them is posting a strong game, it likely means the Jets offense is actually having some success. If the Jets offense is having some success, then both of these guys are likely to be producing. Hall + Taylor is only $9.7k. The matchup isn’t as difficult as some people are making it out to be – Carolina has given up 24+ points in five of six games and ranks 23rd in yards per play allowed.

Saquon Barkley + Jordan Addison

The Eagles need to get their season on track and Saquon Barkley is how they are going to try to do that. Minnesota’s defense is likely to get Blake Cashman back this week, which should help, but their scheme has been susceptible to letting opposing rushing offenses break big plays so far this season, which is Barkley’s bread and butter. On the flip side, the Eagles will almost certainly have Quinyon Mitchell shadowing Justin Jefferson in this matchup. While that doesn’t mean Jefferson will just disappear, the matchup for Addison is juicy and in the scenario where Barkley pops off and the Eagles play from ahead, that could spring Addison for a huge game (he had two massive games last season). 

Jacoby Brissett + Marvin Harrison Jr. + Tucker Kraft

Last week against the Colts, Brissett scored just under 25 DK points and threw for 320 yards despite losing Harrison for most of it. MHJ has been playing better and is quietly an elite GPP option this week due to his price and the fact that he is so easy to overlook after early-week assumptions that he wouldn’t be active. Kraft brings it all together as an explosive tight-end option who could spring the game environment. This group plays out well in any game script as well, which makes it even more appealing. All three players are projected for sub-5% ownership and have ceilings far above their salaries, while the “story” of a big game for any of them correlates very strongly with the outlook for the others. This is the stuff GPP dreams are made of.