NFL Week 4 Winners Roundup

Continuing is our series on the weekly winners at FanDuel and DraftKings by our contributor James Gagnon

How The Winners Won Their Millions in NFL Week 4

DraftKings Millionaire “ChipolteAddict”

DraftKings’ $1.2 million winner, ChipotleAddict wins with Bortles and Hurns stack?!?! You’re kidding me, right?! And ‘he’ did it with 23 lineups entered, which isn’t exactly “Average Joe” territory, but it’s not necessarily “Pro” territory either. The 23 lineups; the odd number really jumps out at me as either a last minute, “oh what the hell, I’ll throw a Bortles/Hurns lineup out there,” or a “Hey Honey, would you like to pick a lineup for me?” I like to think it was the latter and his wife picked the lineup.

Bortles and Hurns?! Pa-Shaw!!!

By pairing Bortles($5,100 salary and 1% ownership) and Hurns($5,500 and 2.6%) with another cheap play in Charles Clay, ChipotleAddict spent $13,900, or 27.8% of the salary on 33% of the team for a return of 73.9 points, or 37% of the winning score of 200.02. By saving money at 2 premium positions and hitting at TE, CAddict was able to afford the most common RB matchup in the top-20 winning lineups; DaVonta Freeman and Matt Forte(owned by 7 of the top-20 DK teams). Along with other not-so-cheap options like DeMariyus Thomas, the 5th most expensive WR in Week 4, DeAndre Hopkins, the 10th most expensive, and Amari Cooper, at 18th on the WR salary list.

But who was the Defense, you ask? None other than Seattle, where Kam Chancellor’s last minute forced fumble, had ChipotleAddict jump into first and win the Millionaire Maker on one of the final plays of the game.

FanDuel Winner Brettrau24

Brettrau24’s lineup

• QB: Phillip Rivers
• RB: Devonta Freeman
• RB: Karlos Williams
• WR: DeAndre Hopkins
• WR Keenan Allen
• WR Demaryius Thomas
• TE Martellus Bennet
• K Graham Gano
• DEF: Carolina Panthers

FanDuels’ millionaire contest was a bit more milquetoast. Brettrau24 won the contest and $1 million dollar by pairing Phillip Rivers and Davonta Freeman. The top-7 places had this same combination, which isn’t surprising since the two players scored 61.62 combined points, accounting for 35% of brettrau24’s winning lineup. The win was also aided by Carolina and their 4 picks of Tampa’s Jameis Winston and Martellus Bennett’s 11 receptions, 83 yards and a touchdown.

Players Owned By the Top Teams in Each Site’s Main Contest

By Position
DraftKings top-20 Winners

QB
P Rivers – 7 of 20
A Dalton – 4
A Rodgers – 3

RB
D Freeman – 17 of 20
M Forte – 8
K Williams – 7
J Charles – 6

WR
D Hopkins – 11
J Maclin – 9
A Hurns – 7
AJ Green – 7
DeM Thomas – 6

TE
C Clay – 9
M Bennett – 6
C Fleener – 4

Def
Carolina – 9
Seattle – 6
Denver – 3

FanDuel’s Top-10 Winners

QB
P Rivers – 7

RB
D Freeman – 9

WR
D Hopkins – 7
J Maclin – 5
L Fitzgerald – 3
AJ Green – 3

TE
M Bennett – 5
C Clay – 3

Defense
Carolina – 6
Seattle – 2
Atlanta – 2

As you can see, Hurns was owned by 8 of the 30 teams, along with Bennett and Clay being rostered by 23 of 30 teams. This asserts Adam Levitans’ trends regarding “defensive leaks,” where his numbers suggests that the Raiders and Giants have issues against starting tight ends, and that the Colts are having issues covering the “slot” receiver.

The Raiders have given up 31-380-6 to the opposing teams’ starting TE through 4 weeks.
New York Giants aren’t far behind with 27-337-2.
Indy against the Slot is 31-387-4.

I’d like to add a defensive trend of my own, and that is the play of Carolina DB Josh Norman. I suggest being cautious when choosing WR1’s against him moving forward.

The following is directly from Levitan’s article
Raiders vs. TEs
Week 1: Tyler Eifert 9-104-2
Week 2: Crockett Gillmore 5-88-2
Week 3: Gary Barnidge 6-105-1
Week 4: Martellus Bennett 11-83-1
Colts vs. slot WRs
Week 1: Percy Harvin 5-79-1
Week 2: Eric Decker 8-97-1
Week 3: Kendall Wright 7-95-1
Week 4: Allen Hurns 11-116-1
Giants vs. TEs
Week 1: Jason Witten 8-60-2
Week 2: Jacob Tamme 4-70-0
Week 3: Jordan Reed 6-96-0
Week 4: Charles Clay 9-111-0

Other Trends

• Davonta Freeman was a must own in week 4
• Karlos Williams flamed out, but his ownership levels were astronomical and he hurt everyone just like he hurt you
• Week 4 was a week of busts from top receivers such as Julio Jones, Randal Cobb, etc…
• While receivers such as Vincent Jackson, Allen Hurns, and Tavon Austin all cost less than $5,000 on DraftKings
• Kam Chancellor – I love having players in the Monday Night game. The name of the game is to always build your best lineup. And none of the offensive players from Seattle or Detroit launched any teams into the top. But there’s no doubt that ChipotleAddict was sweating the final drive by Detroit and praying for a turnover, and when it happened, I imagine it was just like one of the commercials.

For now, we can only imagine that jubilation. But keep doing your homework and due diligence, and maybe let your wife chose you a Bortles/Hurns-type lineup every now and then and hopefully you can be the next Millionaire.

Sources & Related Links

• FFG’s Week 4 Recap
• FFG’s FanDuel Week 4 Recap
• DK’s own Week 4 Recap
• DK’s News and Notes Week 4
• DK’s Salary Charts Week 4
• Cracking DraftKings Quick Report

More Awesome Reads

• Fantasy Football Without A Salary Cap (My Review of DraftPot)
• This Weeks NFL Lines
• Fantasy Football Strategy Articles
• Latest NFL Content