2023 NFL DFS Week 14 Contrarian Plays: Top DraftKings & FanDuel Picks
Week 14 of the NFL season is here and with it comes an 11-game main slate on DraftKings and FanDuel. This slate is loaded with top tier talent and teams such as Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Christian McCaffrey, Justin Jefferson and Travis Kelce. While its certainly OK to roster players figure that figure to be popular this week, the point of this article is to find some contrarian plays with similar upside that can help differentiate you in your GPP contests this week. So, with that said, let's look at some players projected to be less than 10% rostered this week.
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Top FanDuel & DraftKings NFL DFS Week 14 Contrarian Plays
Josh Allen, QB Buffalo Bills
Let's kick this one off with a bang! The top priced QB on the slate this week is expected to be less than five percent rostered this week in large field GPP tournaments. This is quite surprising seeing as we are looking at a matchup against the Chiefs that has a slate high 48.5 game total with just a one-point spread. Generally, we are looking to get exposure to these types of matchups and definitely the QB's in these matchups. Allen is coming off of a game where he had four total touchdowns, two rushing and two passing. That kind of elite upside can be the difference maker you need to take down a GPP tournament this weekend.
David Montgomery, RB Detroit Lions
Yes, I know the Bears have had an improved run defense over the past few weeks but Montgomery continues to have a nose for the end zone and the Bears secondary is not likely to completely shut down the Lions passing attack which means Montgomery should continue to get his fair share of carries in the red zone. If you are looking for another reason to play Montgomery then consider the narrative here this week as he returns to Chicago for the first time as a visiting player after the Bears let him walk in free agency this past offseason. Montgomery found the end zone against the Bears in their first meeting this season and I'd expect at least another touchdown performance here in Week 14.
Mike Evans, WR Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I honestly can't figure this one out. Nearly every week this season we've seen Mike Evans in this contrarian article because nobody ever plays the man. He's already gone over 1,000 yards for the season and has 10 touchdowns. He was the first person I put in my lineup this week with Tampa Bay taking on the Atlanta Falcons.
Gerald Everett, TE Los Angeles Chargers
With Joshua Palmer ruled out again the Chargers passing offense will continue to spread around the targets once we get past Keenan Allen. Everett has seen a handful of targets each week since Palmer went down with the injury and the Broncos are a team that has struggled against opposing tight ends. We know that Everett has the ability to make plays, having catches over 25+ yards in each of the last two games and he's even seen some increased red zone usage of late as well which only adds to the appeal for me this week.
Player News
Broncos signed No. 20 overall pick CB Jahdae Barron to a four-year contract.
Barron is one of the last first-round picks to sign, getting a four-year, $18.07 million deal with a fifth-year option. He joins a secondary with star CB Patrick Surtain leading the group. His last season out of Texas, Barron won the Jim Thorpe award for best defensive back and now is slated for the Broncos’ slot role. This leaves the Bengals’ Shemar Stewart as the last first-round pick unsigned. The Broncos have just RB R.J. Harvey unsigned among their rookie class - he is one of the 30 second-rounders unsigned due to contract guarantee disputes.
Bills placed EDGE Landon Jackson on the PUP list.
Jackson will be able to be activated off the PUP list at any time during training camp, but apparently will not be ready as camp starts. If he remains on the PUP list through the 53-man roster deadline, he’ll be locked into missing a few weeks at the beginning of the season.
Falcons OC Zac Robinson said Michael Penix Jr. “opens up a different avenue within the offense.”
This is in the context of stretching the field a little more than the Falcons did in 2024, something they struggled to do at times with Kirk Cousins under center. The Athletic’s Josh Kendall also adds “The coaching staff won’t ask Penix to curtail his aggressiveness. In fact, it’s the trait they are most excited about.” A more balanced offensive approach could raise all ships in Atlanta — and it’s something that might be necessary for them as they try to stave off regression with almost no new players added to the room.
The Athletic’s Daniel Popper believes if Najee Harris misses time in training camp, the possibility of Omarion Hampton becoming the lead back is “even more likely.”
“Hampton has a chance to be an immediate difference-maker in the run game, a player with the explosiveness to score anytime he touches the ball. And he could be getting the bulk of the first-team work early in camp,” Popper continues. This is hardly an endorsement that Hampton is going to be RB1 in Los Angeles from Week 1, but Harris’ eye injury has at least complicated things early in training camp. There’s a non-zero chance that Hampton takes the baton and runs with it before Harris is ready to come back.
ESPN’s D.J. Bien-Aime reports C.J. Stroud worked on his speed to help him evade defenders in the pocket.
Stroud attributes his shoulder soreness from early OTAs and minicamps that kept him from throwing the ball to “extra work” with the Texans training staff this offseason, which is the main reason this is notable. “I’ve been working really hard on getting my body right -- losing body fat, trying to be faster, stronger,” Stroud told Bien-Aime. Stroud is an interesting QB2 this offseason, perhaps someone who could get back to QB1 status if everything clicks in Nick Caley’s new offense. The price makes him an ideal superflex investment at the moment.
The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue believes rookie second-round TE Terrance Ferguson is a potential breakout player in 2025.
“To be clear, Rams coach Sean McVay finally has to commit to a significant increase in 12 personnel for Ferguson, a rookie second-round pick, to truly emerge this season. But the offense has trended that way at times, especially last season,” Rodrigue adds. It would be surprising for Ferguson to emerge immediately, but perhaps the Rams are getting ready to zig their offense in a new direction in 2025. The rookie tight end is lightly-drafted and best-approached as a dynasty asset, but it should at least be on the radar that he produces sooner than expected.