Welcome to Super Wildcard Weekend! A three-day extravaganza of football, food, and gambling. Our friends at TopProp have some juicy matchups for us to dig into.
Remember, on TopProp you simply are predicting which player will score more half-PPR fantasy points. I finished the regular season with a winning record and the heater rolls right through the postseason. LET’S GOOOOOO.
Saturday’s two-game slate kicks off in San Francisco where the Seattle Seahawks visit the San Francisco 49ers. The story of this game will be about the weather. High winds and even a thunderstorm are predicted for today’s contest. With winds gusting over 30 mph I’m backing off the passing game and focusing on the rushing attacks.
The lead-back matchup pits Kenneth Walker (+7 bonus points) vs the best back in all of football Christian McCaffrey. Seven points is a TON. Honestly, I’m kind of scared to pick against it. But scared money doesn’t make money.
Seattle backdoored into the playoffs with back-to-back wins but taking a deeper look, they’ve lost five of their last eight games including a 21-13 loss to these Niners in Week 15.
Kenneth Walker in that loss carried twelve times for 47 yards. The San Fran defense held Seattle to just 70 yards rushing as a team. I don’t expect that to change today when the defense knows because of the weather you likely won’t drop back early and often.
McCaffrey in that same game totted the rock 26 times for 108 yards and a score. He also caught six passes for 30 yards.
I don’t see a way that Seattle keeps CMC out of the endzone and holds him under 120 total yards. McCaffrey covers this prop on his passing game work alone. It’s a tough pill to swallow giving seven bonus points but I’m riding McCaffrey to dominate touches as the Niners cruise.
Drake’s Take: Christian McCaffrey > Kenneth Walker (+7 bonus)
In the nightcap, I’m looking at a tight end battle that is sure to have bettors on tilt. Evan Engram, the PPR TE 5 on the season is getting 1.5 bonus points at home against Gerald Everett.
Engram had a phenomenal season but his last two outings have been subpar. Only five total grabs over the previous two weeks have left prop players wondering if we’re seeing the old Evan Engram emerge.
The Jaguars' tight end was really buoyed by a 39-point Week 14 performance. His two monster 100+ yard receiving weeks in my mind inflated his numbers and likely the perception in the market.
Los Angeles is very good against the tight end, allowing just 9.5 fantasy points per game on the season. All-Pro safety Derwin James will be locked onto Engram all day. For me, that’s enough to look elsewhere.
Everett stands to gain from Mike Williams's absence. Los Angeles will need Everett to step up and fill the void left by Big Mike but I’m not so sure he can. Everett of late has needed to find the end zone to come through. Over the final two weeks of the season, he did manage to score in both contests but he also combined for 23 yards.
Drake’s Take: Gerald Everett > Evan Engram (+1.5 bonus)
Be sure to follow us on Twitter at @DrakeFantasy and @TopPropFantasy so you won’t miss any of my plays this postseason.
Good luck.