Open Rants by Semaj

Here we are again folks, learning from our mistakes and trying to get from $100 to $1000.

Week 11 was probably the hardest time I have had building a cash game line up all year.  With no real guaranteed value on the slate, following the news and making accurate projections became all the more vital to building a successful line up.  I in no way, shape or form claim to be an expert at DFS, this is just what I think based on what I read, see and hear.

QB: Ben Roethlisberger ($6800)
- 31.42 pts, 6%

I wasn't going to let the "Dallas' pace of play" talk scare me off of Big Ben at home.  I thought he'd be able to exploit the Cowboy's injured defensive back field, and with a game total of right around 50 there was going to be plenty of points to go around.  Another thing I loved about him was his home/road splits.  He averages a whole 12 more DK points at home than on the road!

RB: Darren Sproles ($4300)
- 15.6 pts, 56%

I had seen a report that Sproles had gotten so much work the past two weeks because the situation dictated 3 WR sets for the Eagles, in which Sproles is used most.  Still, with Atlanta being so bad against RBs catching balls out of the back field, and with there being no real value on the slate, I was fine with Sproles at $4300.  He didnt disappoint for cash, I'm just glad I faded him in tournaments.

RB: David Johnson: ($8400)
- 27.1 pts, 96%

Here was the no brainer, plug and play play of the week.  The best RB in the league (in my mind) against the worst rush defense in the league at home.  It's amazing that at 27 pts people would agree that he under produced.  That just shows how easy of a play this was.  However, there was an interesting situation I had with Johnson, which i'll explain below.

WR: Alshon Jeffery ($6600)
8.7 pts, 70%

Outside of David Johnson, Jeffery was the only other must play of the week for me.  He had one of the highest target floors against one of the worst secondaries.  I'd probably make the play 99 out of 99 more times, though obviously I wish I could've gotten off of him, but his 8.7 pts were shared by 70% of the field, so it didn't hurt me that much.

WR: Adam Humphries ($3700)
9.8 pts, 2%

My initial thoughts were that Evans would be the top WR of the week.  However, a podcast I listen to brought up a very good point.  Vic Fangio is a very good defensive coordinator, the Bears were coming off a bye and weren't gonna let Winston chuck it to Evans 18 times and be successful doing it.  I figured some of that work load would go Humphries way.  but it was Brate who benefited from the Bears scheming against Evans.

WR: Rishard Mathews ($4200)
- 15.3 pts, 24%

I wanted to attack the Packers funnell defense, and since I already had Ben as my QB, I had to go with one of the Titan's wideouts for my exposure.  Having surpassed T. Sharpe on the depth chart and becoming one of Mariota's primary red zone targets, I was fine with Mathews at just $4200. What more is that he was the same price as JJ Nelson, which I predicted to be pretty popular.  It gave me a nice pivot for my head to heads.

TE: Lance Kendricks ($3000)
-1 pt, 44%

I had some exposure to Kendrick last week, and he seemed to be growing into Keenum's #2 target behind Kenny Britt.  The match up against the Jets was favorable, and since I couldn't find enough salary relief to go up to Zach Ertz, I settled with Kendricks.  The total of this game scared me, but I liked the match up, and at 3K he didn't need much to pay off his salary.  Of course, he did nothing, but it didn't end up hurting me that much as he was so cheap and almost half the field had his dud as well.

FLEX: A Brown ($8900)
- 37.4 pts, 24%

I tinkered with the idea of getting off of Brown to go to DeMarco, but I didnt want two Titans in my line up and didn't want to get off of R Mathews.  I opted to stick with Brown, as him and Ben gave me a little more votality for my head to heads.

DST: Vikings ($3600)
- 4 pts, 2%

The Redskins missing Trent Williams made me like the Vikings this week.  For the longest this was Philly's D, but since i moved down from Ertz to Kendricks (to avoid having 2 Philly players in my line up) I figured I'd spend it on a defense because why not.

So about the David Johnson thing.  I was pretty far behind after the 1pm ET only games, so I figured I needed to get off DJ and hope whoever I pick outperforms him.  I would love to say it worked, however when I went to go make the switch the line ups had already locked.   

Without the switch I still managed to cash in all of my double ups and won about 75% of my head to heads.  Had I been able to make the switch it would have gotten me to around 85% for head to heads.  Not complaining though, I just wanted to illustrate the importance of late swap on DK.  Your FLEX should always be in the latest possible game, and if you find yourself far behind after the first wave of games, dont be afraid to make a change.  I didnt think LeVeon Bell or Ezekiel Elliot were better plays than David Johnson.  In this case, I just had to hope I was wrong and go with it. 

As always thanks for reading!  Twitter and email account down below feel free to get in contact with me at any time

Twitter: @semaj0789

email: jamesaguirrejunior@gmail.com