Everyone loves fantasy football, but DFS can be challenging. Cash games, in particular, have gotten especially tough. You can try your luck in 50/50s or double-ups, but those contests are full of some of the best DFS players in the world. You can try head-to-heads, but there’s no guarantee that you’re not going to get scooped by a shark.
Luckily, StatHero gives DFS players a new option for cash games. Instead of playing against an unknown opponent, you can play against a set lineup of your choosing. That means you know exactly who you’re facing in advance and can build your lineups to target them.
You can fade a specific player, fade a specific lineup construction, or you can even fade Michael Rapaport. I don’t know about you, but I definitely like my chances against the guy from Deep Blue Sea using the Fantasy Labs NFL tools.
One thing to note is that some of the scoring settings are different than they are on DraftKings or FanDuel, so make sure to check them out before building your lineups.
Let’s dive into some of the most appealing players to target and teams to fade on StatHero in Week 1.
Players to Target
Quarterback
Jalen Hurts – QB19 on StatHero, QB7 on FantasyLabs
Hurts was one of the biggest edges on StatHero last week, and he remains a huge edge in Week 2. His matchup vs. the 49ers is significantly tougher than last week’s, but he still owns the second-highest median and ceiling projections among early slate quarterbacks. His production with his legs is outstanding for a quarterback – he’s rushed for at least 62 yards in each of his four full NFL contests – and he diced up the Falcons with 264 passing yards and three touchdowns last week.
Hurts’ current salary on StatHero makes him $100 cheaper than Jimmy Garoppolo and just $100 more expensive than Andy Dalton. That is borderline criminal.
Flex Plays
CeeDee Lamb – FLEX26 on StatHero, FLEX6 on FantasyLabs
This is another repeat player from last week, and while Lamb has gotten a bit more expensive, he’s still massively underpriced. The Cowboys’ offense is primed for a monster season. They scored 29 points against one of the best defenses in football last week, and Lamb was at the center of it. He finished with 15 targets, which he turned into seven receptions for 104 yards and a touchdown.
Lamb and Amari Cooper should both be busy again vs. the Chargers. Michael Gallup is on short-term IR, so both players could absorb a few additional targets in his absence.
Najee Harris – FLEX27 on StatHero, FLEX10 on FantasyLabs
Harris is coming off a somewhat disappointing performance in his NFL debut, but his usage projects future success. He played on a perfect 100% of the Steelers’ offensive snaps last week, and he racked up 16 carries and three targets.
He should find himself in a more favorable game script this week vs. the Raiders. The Steelers are currently listed as 6.5-point favorites, and large favorites tend to dominate at the running back position.
Tyler Higbee – FLEX54 on StatHero, FLEX54 on FantasyLabs
You may be thinking, “how can Higbee be a value on StatHero if he’s ranked exactly the same on FantasyLabs?” It’s a fair question, but remember that StatHero is a TE-premium scoring site. That means the tight ends get 1.5 points per reception instead of 1.0, and we currently have Higbee projected for more than five receptions. That’s an extra 2.5 fantasy points that aren’t being factored into his projection, which pushes him up the rankings.
Higbee could be looking at a big year for the Rams. They lost Gerald Everett to the Seahawks during the offseason, which leaves Higbee as the clear-cut TE1. He posted a 100% snap share last week vs. the Bears, and he ran a route on 21 of the Rams’ 26 pass plays. His 23.1% target share was also the fourth-highest mark at the TE position in Week 1.
Kenyan Drake — $3,500 on StatHero
You’re going to need one super-cheap player to round out your lineups on StatHero, and Drake is the guy I like this week. He’s priced just $500 above the minimum, and he should serve as the Raiders’ feature back this week with Josh Jacobs out of the lineup.
There are reasons to be skeptical about Drake in the traditional DFS format, especially given his projected ownership. That said, we don’t have to worry about those on StatHero. He doesn’t need to do more than catch a couple of passes to keep us alive in these contests, and a potential ceiling game could lead us to an easy victory.
Teams to Target
6 vs. 6 – Chubb My Back (Christian McCaffrey, Ben Roethlisberger, A.J. Brown, Nick Chubb, Melvin Gordon, and Mecole Hardman)
We can duplicate two of our opponent’s picks in this contest, and I like the idea of using McCaffrey and Chubb. Chubb is a particularly nice value as just the 13th-most expensive flex option given that the Browns are massive 13-point favorites. McCaffrey isn’t as necessary as Chubb, but I like the idea of turning this into a 4 vs. 4 with my opponent’s remaining core. The group of Roethlisberger, Brown, Gordon, and Hardman feels very exploitable.
We can save a bit of money compared to our opponent by using Hurts and Lamb instead of Roethlisberger and Brown, despite the fact that our players are projected for better performances in our Models. If we also use Drake, that allows us to squeeze Harris into our final roster spot. Overall, the four-man grouping of Hurts, Lamb, Drake, and Harris is projected for 73.2 points in our NFL Models, while our opponent’s is projected for just 59.9. That’s very tasty.
You obviously don’t need to use that exact lineup combination – there are plenty of better four-man combos that are possible – but it’s one example of how duplicating two of our opponent’s better plays and turning it into a smaller contest is advantageous.
3 vs. 3 – Mr. Anderson (Nick Chubb, Matthew Stafford, Robby Anderson)
This is an early-only contest, but it’s another one of my favorite lineups to target. I will once again be choosing to duplicate Chubb in the MVP spot, leaving a 2 vs. 2 against Stafford and Anderson.
Stafford is the third-priciest quarterback on the early slate, but he’s projected for 2.5 fewer fantasy points than Hurts. We can save $1,000 with that pivot, which allows us to use a number of different players who are projected for more points than Anderson. Deebo Samuel, D.J. Moore, Devonta Smith, and Jarvis Landry all fit that description.
