Every day here at The Fix you can find our ‘Daily Fix’ article which details the best value plays at each position for DraftKings daily fantasy contests. But today I’m going to put it all together by giving you some additional suggestions at each position and then giving you examples of what your lineup should look like depending on what type of contest you are playing in.

Quarterback

As was discussed in my podcast this week with Davis Mattek, it’s usually a good idea to try and save money on QB in big contests where you have to finish in the top 10-15% to cash. But in double up contests where you essentially have to finish in the top half to cash or in a head-to-head contest, it’s better to try and play it safe and make sure you get solid QB production.

In big contests this week I’m going with Joe Flacco. As you can see, my ranking of him this week represents the biggest difference between my ranks and the ranking of players based on DarftKings prices. If you happen to be playing on another site where two quarterbacks must be rostered, I’d probably go with Chad Henne if you’re going to use two cheap QBs. There’s a bigger difference between my ranks and the price on Mike Glennon, but the gap on Henne is large as well and I have Henne ranked several spots higher.

If you’re in a contest where you need to play it safe, Tony Romo and Andrew Luck are the best options. As you can see, I have them both inside my top five with good matchups against Wahsington and San Diego. And they still provide pretty good value as they’re within the top 11 in terms of cost per point.

Running Back

Whether you saved on quarterback or played it safe, one of your two running backs this week has to be DeMarco Murray. His opponent, Washington, allows the 2nd most fantasy points per game to running backs and are rated as the 7th and 3rd worst run defense in the league by Football Outsiders and ProFootballFocus, respectively.

If you saved money on QB, Eddie Lacy or Darren Sproles are your best choices for your RB2. I’m going with Lacy because Sproles’ matchup would be better for a back whose value was based on carries as New England is missing key players on their D-line. If you happened to have enough money left over, I’d love to go with Arian Foster at RB2.

But if you played it safe at QB and want to save a little cash at the RB2 slot, DeAngelo Williams and Willis McGahee are good options as both are essentially in my top 20 and the two best values in terms of cost per projected point. Of the two, I prefer McGahee. Neither one is a big pass catcher, so they’re not getting a boost from the PPR format DraftKings uses. But Willis does distinguish himself from DeAngelo in that he’s much more likely to get in the end zone. DeAngelo gets vultured by Cam Newton and Mike Tolbert while Willis has eight carries from the three yard line or closer in just three games. Willis’ price tag also gives me a little extra to spend on receivers.

Wide Receiver

There’s a big gap in cost per point between Stephen Hill and Vincent Jackson because there was a big bunch of players there that weren’t big time values and weren’t elite options with reasonable prices.

Because there weren’t two high priced running backs that looked like reasonable values, odds are good that you’re going to have money to spend on receivers whether you saved money at QB or bought Luck or Romo. As a result, I’m probably getting Torrey Smith in most leagues. He has a top ten price tag but I have him as a top five guy, and I especially want to double him up with Flacco in the lineups where I own the Baltimore QB.

Because of the PPR format, I always use a receiver at flex. The best options for your WR2 and Flex slots are Reggie Wayne, Vincent Jackson and Cecil Shorts. All three are ranked in my top 20 and are very nice values based on the difference between where I have them ranked and where the prices have them ranked. If you spent your money elsewhere for some reason, Stephen Hill and Michael Floyd are the cheap options I would target.

The only exception to this is that I would upgrade to Dez Bryant at $8,900 if I had the cash to do so because Bryant is my #1 ranked receiver this week.

Tight End

Tight end is a relatively easy choice this week because Garrett Graham is a borderline top ten play yet DraftKings has him priced as the 27th tight end. You can’t get better value than that. Normally I’d recommend getting Jimmy Graham if at all possible, but not this week with the other Graham being such a huge value. If you have money for a tight end and are insistent on not spending it elsewhere, I like Antonio Gates this week as well. But you really should be saving money with the lesser Graham and spending big at other positions.

Kicker

You should never spend more than the minimum ($3,000) on a kicker. This week I like Kai Forbath against the Cowboys.

Defense/Special Teams

If possible, you should try so spend the minimum on a defense as well. And if not the minimum, you should try to find the cheapest usable defense. But this week the Jets are going for the minimum price against the Steelers. That’s your play.

Lineup Examples