Oh the joy of daily fantasy. If you were quick enough to get Jonathan Williams in your lineup for the Thursday night game, kudos to you. Jay bird was a whopping $4,200 for a fat 24.10 points. Marlon Mack wasn’t on the field but it seemed like the presence was still there.

This week I attempted something different for the DFS Lineup. Last time I wrote this article I played heavy into the WR column, this time I began with the reverse. RBs were my first picks but follow my madness as I began to create this monster lineup. This DFS article is for the DraftKings option for Sunday – Monday games.

Week 12 Fantasy Football Optimal DFS Lineup

Quarterback

Nick Foles @ Tennessee Titans – $5,400

Nick Foles’s debut back from injury might have been an above-average performance but it wasn’t exactly what fantasy coaches wanted to see. Foles didn’t top 20 points but he still showed some QB brilliance keeping other fantasy facets valuable. This week Foles goes against the Titans who have been a mid-tier defense against opposing QBs. Their middle of the pack rank shouldn’t lead you to fear however, they average 19.2 points a game to QBs making Foles a viable option.

Alternative QB: Ryan Fitzpatrick @ Cleveland Browns – $5,000

Running Back

Christian McCaffrey @ New Orleans – $10,500

For McCaffrey’s dollar value, you know you’re getting the biggest bang for your shiniest buck. McCaffrey has gone 30+ points in seven of 10 weeks, 40+ in three, and 50+ in one. There are obvious routes you could take to easily shave off $1K or $2K but with Kyle Allen slowly burning out, the Panthers need to lean on someone. McCaffrey has been that someone since Cam Newton’s injury earlier this year. Since their bye, Week 7, the Panthers McCaffrey hasn’t slid under 29 fantasy points. Consider the hit in the wallet for McCaffrey.

Alternative RB: Nick Chubb vs Miami Dolphins – $8,100

Alvin Kamara vs Carolina Panthers – $8,200

Surprised I managed to fit McCaffrey and Kamara on the same lineup? Me too. This dynamic duo was definitely one that took some time to piece around, but the deed is done. Kamara has no doubt been underwhelming this season, which explains his $8K floor, but this week the Panthers offer a juicy matchup that is hard to pass up. Carolina is the 3rd worst in points to RBs with 24.3 and leads the league in TDs scored on the ground with 15. Kamara could have his resurgence of fantasy points this week and you’re going to want a piece of it.

Alternative RB: Josh Jacobs @ New York Jets – $7,400

Wide Receiver

DJ Chark Jr. @ Tennessee Titans – $6,400 ­

With Chark and Foles remaining on the same page this past weekend, the pairing of the two should be a must. Chark has surpassed Dede Westbrook as the fantasy option of the Jaguar receiving corps and his $6.4K value hasn’t seemed to catch up just yet. Chark is the 6th overall WR so far this season and that’s with two different starting QBs. The Titans have the 14th ranked defense opposing WRs but that still seems fruitful for a player coming off 15 targets last week. Start Chark and go to the next WR slot.

Alternative WR: Jamison Crowder vs Oakland Raiders – $6,200

D.J. Moore @ New Orleans Saints – $6,400

If we’re talking about targets, there’s no way we could not speak of D.J. Moore and his share of targets these past weeks. I know I said the Panthers have been leaning on Christian McCaffrey, but Kyle Allen has been leaning on DJ Moore. In the last five weeks, Moore has had 55 targets for 36 receptions. On receptions per game alone (7.2) D.J. Moore is averaging more than a TDs value.

This week especially might become a high scoring game between division rival Drew Brees and the Saints so I want a few parts of that pie. D.J. Moore has a high floor with the opportunity of bursting through his low ceiling.

Alternative WR: Jarvis Landry vs Miami Dolphins – $6,300

Jordan Matthews vs Seattle Seahawks – $3,500

The old star of Philadelphia’s past has come back and in his debut, he had six targets for one reception. At first glance, this looks fairly pathetic but after looking at the box scores for last week’s game against the Patriots, Matthews was the second-highest WR in targets. Team leader Nelson Agholor had nine but overall the Patriots held the entire Philly corps to 7.5 fantasy points. Matthews comes during a time where the Eagles have few healthy options at the position and could see some usage in the close future.

Alternative WR: Anthony Miller vs New York Giants – $3,500

Tight End

Ben Watson vs Dallas Cowboys – $3,100

A lot of talk this week about the Cowboys and Patriots have been around what Bill Belichick plans to do about Dak Prescott and the Dallas offense. There hasn’t been much chatter about the struggling Tom Brady because of his red hot defense. But Brady hasn’t been the same guy that he was in all those other Super Bowl victories and defeats.

Sure he has Julian Edelman but with Dallas’ secondary being only behind the Patriots in fantasy points allowed to WRs, even that might be a tough matchup. Ben Watson, however, gets the fluffier side of the Dallas defense. Currently, the Cowboys are the 4th worst against TEs averaging 15.1 points a week. This is definitely a place where Brady’s magic will be heading so get Watson for his low price.

Alternative TE: Dawson Knox vs Denver Broncos – $3,000

FLEX

Jamaal Williams @ San Francisco 49ers – $4,500

The handcuff of all handcuffs, Jamaal Williams, has got to be the steal of the week. $4.5K and you get a player who has gone four of five weeks with double-digit fantasy points of 13+ or more. There is no doubt that Aaron Jones is the lead back for this Packer offense but with the 49ers stout defense, Jones may run short for some fantasy goers.

Jamaal Williams, on the other hand, I would say, definitely has the upper hand this week. The one week where Williams had less than 13 points was last game when Jones went off for 3 TDs, so that could give you some ease. The usage is clearly there, play Williams for the low budget value.

Alternative FLEX: Danny Amendola @ Washington Redskins – $4,400

D/ST

Miami Dolphins @ Cleveland Browns

Well, if you’ve been following me down this sublime path of picks you’d know that we have only $2K to spare. Luckily the Dolphins have such a low value but they are going against a team that has had a lot of drama circulating around them.

To add, the Browns haven’t had much of a blend on offense: Odell Beckham Jr. isn’t the top-rated pick we thought he would be, Jarvis Landry is emerging from OBJs shadow at a turtles pace and Nick Chubb has proven to have some slippery fingers. The Browns have the potential to grab a big lead but with their lack of fluidity, they can easily remain one of the league’s biggest upsets.

Alternative DST: N/A

I didn’t realize until now but I did not select any players from the Monday night game. So this article could go for the Sunday games only option on DraftKings, but if you go for the Monday game, I do like Lamar Jackson’s matchup against the Rams defense. The Ravens defense as well would be a good selection, they’ve been pretty hot recently so I could see riding the wave.

As I mentioned, I did go for an RB heavy scheme but you could easily take out McCaffrey for Chubb and open up $2K. You could even sub out Kamara for Derrick Henry for the Chubb – Henry pair and open up another $1.3K, for $3.3K in savings.

This week I think Julio Jones and Mike Evans/Chris Godwin have a good matchup against one another but I would favor Jones because of his secure spot as the Number 1 receiving aspect on his team.

Tyler Lockett looks like he might be game ready against the Eagles so that’s another one I might try to get into my lineup if I were to switch around some players. Hopefully I tried something you hadn’t seen and improved your thoughts of your own roster.