NFL DFS Value Plays: Week 9 Bargain Bin for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo Including Aaron Rodgers and Travis Etienne

Welcome to the Week 9 Sunday main slate edition of RotoBaller's NFL DFS Bargain Bin, where the goal is to touch on some potentially mispriced players across the industry that find themselves in favorable match-ups and/or suddenly expanded roles.

Each week I’ll give you my thoughts on where there may be some value spots to exploit on the Sunday main slate and I hunt for value that might be site-specific on Yahoo, FanDuel, and DraftKings.

It's a particularly interesting week, as there are a total of six teams on bye, removing plenty of value options from the equation. However, players outperform their salaries each week across the NFL, and there's once again a solid amount of candidates that could fit the bill in Week 9 despite the abbreviated player pool. As customary, we have multiple candidates to consider at each position, including multiple site-specific selections in addition to the standard suggestions.

NFL DFS Bargain Bin Intro

Before we go NFL DFS Bargain Bin hunting, a few particulars about format and content.

The nature of the beast with value plays is at least a modest amount (and sometimes substantially more) of risk. Therefore, the Bargain Bin may prove to be a bit more of a roller-coaster ride on some slates than your typical “tout” article! Naturally, that doesn’t mean there isn’t an upside to be had. All of these selections are therefore suitable for GPPs and can also often serve as solid cash game plays, while often helping you accommodate multiple higher-priced studs into your lineup.

Typically, I’ll suggest players that are value-priced across three major DFS sites (DraftKings, FanDuel, and Yahoo). However, there are certainly occasions where one or more sites price a player significantly lower than others. Whenever possible, I’ll typically at least note those players as an “XYZ site special.”

This article is by no means intended to serve as an exhaustive list of all value options for the week. Rather, it’s meant to take a deeper dive into those I feel offer some of the best combinations of savings and upside.

The goal is to recommend truly affordable players, as opposed to, say, a player priced just $300-$400 away from the highest-priced option at his position. I don’t have set-in-stone price limits in mind for each site, but I do consider legitimate affordability a very important criterion.

Quarterback DFS Value Plays              

Aaron Rodgers, GB at DET | DK: $5,900, FD: $7,000, Yahoo: $27

Although the Green Bay air attack has been under constant scrutiny for mostly negative reasons this season, Rodgers' numbers have actually remained fantasy-friendly overall. The future Hall of Famer is working with a makeshift receiving corps week to week, yet he's still completed a solid 66.4 percent of his throws while generating 1,800 passing yards and a 13:4 TD:INT. He's also completed 27 passes of at least 20 yards, keeping on a pace to match or exceed last season's 54 in that category. While it remains to be seen what pass catchers will be available to him Sunday, he walks into a matchup he's traditionally dominated and that sets up to facilitate another fruitful performance for him.

The Lions have allowed an NFL-high 309 passing yards per home game, along with an NFL-high 12.4 yards per completion in that split as well. Detroit has also been very vulnerable to passing in the red zone, allowing a 23-for-34, 154-yard, nine-touchdown tally in that part of the field. Rodgers already has 34 pass attempts in the red zone this season and the Lions are giving up an NFL-high 86.7 percent red-zone TD scoring percentage at home, adding to the appeal of what is already an excellent matchup.

Justin Fields, CHI vs. MIA | DK: $5,300, FD: $7,400, Yahoo: $30

Fields was borderline unplayable in virtually any fantasy format over the first three games of the season, but he's averaging 19.6 DK/19.4 FD/19 Yahoo points while scoring seven total touchdowns (five passing, two rushing) and throwing just a pair of interceptions over his last five games. Fields' rushing upside is elite, and he's also progressively gained more weapons for his air attack over the last three games. Not only has N'Keal Harry, who caught his first Bears touchdown in Week 8, gotten into the swing of things following his recovery from an ankle injury, but the trade deadline just snagged the second-year signal-caller high-upside asset Chase Claypool from the Steelers.

The Dolphins have allowed 280 passing yards per road game and a co-NFL-high 13.5 yards per completion in that split as well. Miami has also given up a 34-192-2 rushing line to quarterbacks, which naturally could spell trouble against a quarterback with the caliber of Fields' rushing ability. The Fins' 12:4 TD:INT surrendered to quarterbacks also makes this matchup appealing, as does the fact Miami has only compiled 15 sacks, which implies Fields should have a solid amount of time to scan the field.

ALSO CONSIDER: Taylor Heinicke, WAS vs. MIN | DK: $5,400, FD: $7,200, Yahoo: $22

DK/Yahoo-Only Special: Kirk Cousins, MIN at WAS | DK: $6,200, Yahoo: $29

Running Back DFS Value Plays   

Travis Etienne, JAC vs. LVR | DK: $6,300, FD: $7,600, Yahoo: $27

It didn't take long for Etienne to wrest the lead-back job from the since-traded James Robinson, and the ultra-talented second-year back has already started to put his stamp on the offense as the main cog in the ground attack. Etienne is already averaging a stellar 6.2 yards per carry, as well as a productive 9.2 yards per reception. What Etienne has been able to do with the two highest-volume games of his young career is also noteworthy -- the 2021 first-round pick racked up 270 rushing yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns at 7.1 yards per carry in Weeks 7 and 8, recording 11 red-zone rush attempts and averages of 24.5 DK and 20 FD/Yahoo points per game in that span.

Jamaal Williams, DET vs. GB | DK: $5,900, FD: $7,500, Yahoo: $22

Williams scored his seventh and eighth touchdowns of the season in the Week 8 loss to the Dolphins, even with D'Andre Swift back in action. Swift should suit up again in Week 9, but Williams remains an intriguing option in a game where the Lions are projected for a solid 23 points and facing a defense that's above average against the pass but vulnerable to the run. Williams could also have a bit of extra incentive facing his old teammates, and given he's logged double-digit carries in each game and Swift is being handled with care (five carries in Week 8), He makes for an interesting option on a week with a reduced player pool.

ALSO CONSIDER: Devin Singletary, BUF at NYJ | DK: $5,700, FD: $6,000, Yahoo: $16

FD-only Special: Jonathan Taylor, IND at NE | $6,800

Wide Receiver DFS Value Plays      

Romeo Doubs, GB at DET | DK: $5,300, FD: $6,100, Yahoo: $14  

Doubs, while far from flawless, has been one of the few constants for Rodgers in his pass-catching corps this season, with the rookie seeing action in all eight games and parlaying 49 targets into a 30-296-3 line. The speedster has five receptions of at least 20 yards, and he's coming off having posted a 4-62-1 line versus the Bills in Week 8 that netted 16.2 DK/14.2 FD/Yahoo points. Doubs has logged at least seven targets in four games as well, and he could certainly be in for another busy afternoon in Week 9 with both Allen Lazard (shoulder) and Christian Watson (hamstring) very uncertain to suit up.

Joshua Palmer, LAC at ATL | DK: $5,100, FD: $6,200, Yahoo: $19     

Palmer missed Week 7 against the Seahawks while in concussion protocol, but he was able to jump back into practice as a full participant Wednesday and appears to be firmly on track to clear protocol in time for this game. His return would be especially timely, considering Keenan Allen reportedly suffered a setback with his balky hamstring during L.A.'s Week 8 bye, while Mike Williams (ankle) will remain out for this interconference clash against a vulnerable Falcons pass defense. Palmer has already had a couple of notable performances this season, and the circumstances could set up for him to replicate the feat Sunday.

Darnell Mooney, CHI vs. MIA | DK: $4,700, FD: $6,100, Yahoo: $16  

Mooney makes for an intriguing option to pair with Fields in tournament lineups, factoring in the weaknesses of the Dolphins defense when it comes to giving up sizable plays through the air on the road. Mooney has also been on an upward trajectory after an extremely slow start over his first three games that paralleled Fields' own early struggles, as he's now posted a 21-337 line on 33 targets over the last five games. Mooney has yet to find the end zone this season, but given his talent and speed, that's not likely to persist much longer, especially with the third-year wideout already having recorded six receptions (out of 25 total) of at least 20 yards.

ALSO CONSIDER: Tyler Boyd, CIN vs. CAR | DK: $6,300, FD: $6,900, Yahoo: $23

Tight End DFS Value Plays  

Robert Tonyan, GB at DET | DK: $3,800, FD: $5,000, Yahoo: $16

Tonyan is a second member of the depleted Green Bay offense that could deliver nicely on his Week 9 salaries, especially given his recent play and the matchup. The veteran has logged 22 targets over his last three games, producing an 18-157 line in that span and averaging 11.2 DK/8.2 FD/Yahoo points in that span. Tonyan posted a solid 3-52-1 line against the Lions in his one encounter with Detroit last season, and considering Lazard's and Watson's shaky statuses for Sunday's game, he figures to have a fairly prominent role again.

Evan Engram, JAC vs. LVR | DK: $3,300, FD: $5,200, Yahoo: $15

Engram is another bargain tight end that has been trending in the right direction of late, as he boasts a 19-231-1 line on 29 targets over his last four games, a sample in which he's averaged 12.0 DK/9.6 FD/Yahoo points per contest. Engram has been targeted on just over 23% of his routes during that span -- a nice bump over the 15.2% figure he'd generated in his first four games -- and he's posting a career-high 71.1% catch rate over his first eight games working with Trevor Lawrence.

FD/Yahoo-only Special: Gerald Everett, LAC at ATL | FD: $5,800, Yahoo: $18

DK/Yahoo-only Special: Kyle Pitts, ATL vs. LAC | DK: $4,500, Yahoo: $16

More Weekly DFS Analysis