Whenever we’re building our daily lineups, we hunt for those diamonds in the rough that will free up some salary to buy the studs at the top of the list. You want Alvin Kamara? You want Kyler Murray? Devante Adams? Great! They’ll get you a long way. The issue is, spending that much of your budget on only a couple players you’ll be stuck with a couple New York running backs. If it gets real dicey, you might be forced to start a Patriots receiver. You need to find those productive cheap plays.

They key to using those big name stars is finding the cheap players that are actually going to contribute to your lineup. Ten to fifteen points goes a long when you want to finish at the top of a tournament, and you have to sift through those dreadful names to find those useful flex plays.

Cheap Running Back Plays

Wayne Gallman Jr.

Gallman gets the nod as the lead back for the Giants coming into a tough matchup vs the Eagles since the Giants are sending Devonta Freeman to the IR. Since Week 7, Gallman has been very effective out of the backfield, scoring 16, 13 and 14 points. The 16 he scored in Week 7 was against those Eagles, and he was serving as the backup until Devonta Freeman got hurt early in that contest. His matchups have been tough since Week 7, but the Giants have showed a strong effort to get the offense going through the ground game. He is going to get his touches, and he has scored in three straight, so he’s got a realistic chance of finding the end zone again. He’s going for a cool $4,500 on DK, which is probably my favorite cheap play overall.

J.D. McKissic

Another player from the NFC Least? Really? Well, Washington is facing up against the Detroit Lions this week, who are the best matchup for opposing running backs. McKissic get most of his work in the run game, as he had 14 targets last week against the Giants, catching nine for 65. 14 targets was 6 more than anyone else on the team. I know its only one matchup, but he’s only had less than six targets once in the last four weeks. I can easily see a path to 13 PPR points for McKissic, which you would surely take at $4,900.

Leonard Fournette

Fournette managed to put up over 30 fantasy points when the Bucs took on Carolina back in Week 2. He seems to be eating into Ronald Jones’ role more and more each week in the run game, and is certainly the pass catching back in Tampa Bay. He’s gotten over six targets in each of the last four contests. He also showed productivity on the ground until last week. The Bucs had to abandon the run game pretty quickly after getting completely destroyed in the first half vs the Saints, so its pretty hard to analyze anything about that matchup.

Josh Kelley

I can’t really endorse Kelley too much. He did not come through last week when Jackson was ruled out right before game time, and the backfield picture is a little murky. Just throwing him in at the end here cause he’s an extremely cheap play at $4,400 and has a solid role carved out for him.

Cheap Receiver Plays

Curtis Samuel

Samuel has had a very fortunate run the last few weeks finding the end zone. I’m not so sure he will continue to find pay dirt, but the production should be there for Samuel anyway. His efficiency in the passing game has been off the charts. In the last three games, he’s caught 6 of 6, 4 of 5, 9 of 9. That might not keep up, but it will certainly give Teddy some confidence when throwing it Samuel’s way. It helps that DJ Moore seems to leave his helmet in the locker room until the end of the fourth quarter. Samuel is quickly becoming Teddy’s second favorite target, and he carries a price tag of $4,900

Emmanuel Sanders

Sanders only saw five targets in his return from the COVID list, but he made the most of them. He ended with 4 catches for 38 yards and a touchdown. That’s a solid output for Sanders, considering it was his first game back. They also had the game in the bag by halftime, so there was not much production to be had in the second half. The Niners have showed that they have a really hard time covering anyone the last few weeks, and I think Sanders can easily put up around 15 points this week.

Prior to landing on the COVID list, he had three starts in a row with at least 15 fantasy points. “Can’t Guard Mike” looks like he might return this week, but he has missed a lot of time with leg injuries, so I think Drew will look to spread the rock out. Sanders is priced at $4,800 on DK.

Cole Beasley

I think a lot of people expected Beasley to have a productive game against the Seahawks last week, and surprisingly, he was the only pass catcher on the Bills who did close to nothing. This week, the Bills will be matched up against the Cards, so I am thinking there will be another shootout. Diggs and Brown might get most of the production, but I think there is enough to go around for Beasley. He’s scored double digit fantasy points in all but three matchups this season, so I think he can deliver at his $4,700 price tag.

Tight End

Evan Engram

Engram has had a very rocky season this year, and most people will think of his drop vs the Eagles a few weeks ago that could have sealed the game. The one thing that fantasy owners should be able to rely on going forward is his target share. The last three games, Engram has seen 9, 10 and 10 targets. He hasn’t been stellar with his catch percentage, but he has put up 10, 12 and 15 fantasy points respectively. I think his catch percentage will increase a little bit naturally, and at $4,500, daily fantasy players should feel comfortable he will return on that price.

Ross Dwelley

Well, tight end is always a pretty thin position, but I didn’t want to throw out only one option. You can never feel too comfortable endorsing a backup tight end, and he hasn’t done all that much since Kittle went down a few weeks ago. That being said, he’s got plenty of athletic ability as far as tight ends go, he is in a matchup against the Saints where you think they will be playing from behind most the game, and he has plenty of chemistry with Nick Mullens. At $3,800, he might be able to bring back his value.

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