This is a strange week in terms of pricing for players over at DraftKings.  I am not sure if they made their pricing “easier” this week to make the Millionaire Maker contest more appealing to the average player, but I still have my reservations on how players are priced.  The middle tier is heavy this week as a lot of the mid ranged quarterbacks ($7,000-$8,000) have good matchups.  I will do my best to do break down whom you should use and you should fade.

Tier One – Elite

Tier one is reserved for quarterbacks in the $8000-$9000 price range.

Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos, $9,200 – It’s good to see Peyton back this week.  He draws a decent matchup at home against the Arizona Cardinals – a team that is a middle of the pack pass defense (ranked 18^th).   The reasons I like Peyton this week are that he’s at home, he has too many elite options at receiver, and his last name is Manning.  There is no reason you can’t use Peyton as your GPP or cash game QB; he arguably has the highest floor of anyone every week and can easily throw five TD’s in one game.

Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints, $8,900 – Another elite option this week is Brees.  The Saints go back home for a game against division “rival” Tampa Bay.  The Saints are a whole different team at home historically, and, although it hasn’t worked out that way thus far, I like this spot for them.  The Bucs pass defense is absolutely atrocious, giving up 272 passing yards per game.  Brees should really feast on their secondary and put up a nice amount of points.  If this doesn’t happen, I would seriously start to worry about the Saints.

Tier Two – Value

Tier two is reserved for quarterbacks in the $7000-8000 price range, typically quarterbacks I would recommend for cash games.  I base my picks based on price, skill set, matchup and who will return the best value.

Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers, $7000 – I expect Rivers to be one of the most popular cash game options this week.  Not only has he been great this season, but he also has a very favorable matchup against a poor Jets secondary.  The Jets are usually my favorite team to target when choosing wide receivers, but I will make an exception this week and take the quarterback as well.

Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks, $7,600 – Wilson is a pretty safe bet most weeks, and his matchup this week is excellent.  If you haven’t learned by now, it’s pretty clear that Washington is a team you can stream quarterbacks against with confidence.  I love Wilson in this spot as he takes on Washington in DC.  This is a primetime game and Wilson lives for these moments.  Washington allows about 21-22 fantasy points per game for QB’s and seems to be trending downward.

Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers, $7,400 – Big Ben has been pretty solid this season other than that forgettable Thursday night performance against the Ravens. Roethlisberger is on this list for two reasons – 1) The Steelers face the Jacksonville Jaguars, 2) He has Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell, and Heath Miller at his disposal.  I doubt I really need to go in to depth on how bad the Jaguars are, and why Roethlisberger is on this list.  This is a great cash game play, and if you don’t feel comfortable with the other two options, this is a great third option.

Tier Three – Contrarian 

Tier three is reserved for contrarian plays; their price range is from $5000-$7000.  These players are typically quarterbacks I forecast won’t be heavily used in tournaments.

Mike Glennon, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, $5,500 – Glennon is a great tournament option based on price and matchup.  The New Orleans Saints are ranked 26^th in terms of giving up points to QB’s, and I don’t expect that to change this week.  If you want to save some money and pair Glennon up with one of his receivers you can build a pretty damn good lineup.  As mentioned, this is strictly a tournament play.

There are not too many good contrarian plays this week, but another quarterback you can look at this week is Kyle Orton of the Buffalo Bills. He is priced at $5,000 and could be a high risk/high reward play against the Detroit Lions.