2023 NFL DFS Week 5 Contrarian Plays: Top DraftKings & FanDuel Picks
Published: Oct 08, 2023
Week 5 of the NFL season is here which means it's time to take a look at the DraftKings NFL and FanDuel NFL main slates to figure out which players we should be looking to build our lineups around for our NFL DFS Tournament contests. If you want to take down the big NFL DFS contests you need to find those high upside contrarian players to put into your lineup that will help you differentiate yourself from the rest of the field and while you don't need to go completely contrarian with your lineup builds it is generally a good idea to find one or two players to put into your lineup each week that may go again the majority of the field in hopes that it will give you a leg up on the competition.
Be sure to check out the rest of the NFL DFS Coaches and DFS Watch List throughout the week!
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Player News
Chiefs signed fourth-round WR Jalen Royals to a four-year contract.
Royals doesn’t have an obvious and open spot in the receiving corps to build short-term fantasy value with Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown, and Rashee Rice operating in the opening 11-personnel package. He may or may not play his way into WR4 duties depending on how the team feels about JuJu Smith-Schuster. Royals has plenty of talent and Brown is on a one-year deal, so there is a future where Royals is more than a bit player for the Chiefs. It likely won’t happen in his first season without injuries in front of him.
Matthew Judon said he “probably” won’t return to the Falcons in 2025.
The Falcons, of course, drafted both Jalon Walker and James Pearce in the first round. In an exclusive interview with CardPlayer.com — not to be confused with our PokerNews.com James Cook scoop a few days ago — Judon said that his sack total was down because “I dropped (into coverage) on 60 percent of the plays. It’s hard to get a pick and a sack on the same play.” Judon also told Kyle Odegard that “a couple” teams had expressed interest in him but he was in no rush to sign.
Jets released P Thomas Morstead.
Austin McNamara and Kai Kroeger will compete for the Jets punter job this year. The 39-year-old former Saint was the league’s oldest punter last season. If he wants to keep punting, he can absolutely join the tryout circuit or a competition elsewhere. But this is probably a sign that the Morstead’s 16-year career is close to an end at this point.
Lions offensive coordinator John Morton said it’s “going to be a breakout year” for Jameson Williams.
Morton said he’d never “been around someone that fast,” then quickly corrected himself to note that Jhamyr Gibbs is also that fast. Williams came on strong last year with a 58/1001/7 receiving line, but offensive coordinator praise could mean even more targets are coming. It would likely come at the expense of Amon-Ra St. Brown’s production if Williams were to truly break out, though there’s plenty for St. Brown to give and still be a top-flight fantasy wideout. It’s risky to read too much into statements like this in the offseason, but the new offensive coordinator telling you he thinks it’ll be a breakout year for Williams is certainly noteworthy.
Free agent CB Rasul Douglas is visiting the Seahawks on Tuesday.
It’s been a slow offseason for the veteran corner after a rough year with the Bills where he finished with just a 51.6 PFF coverage grade. The Dolphins have reportedly been in contact with Douglas, but this is the first known visit for him. He’d likely fit as a depth piece in Seattle, perhaps one that pushes Josh Jobe for a starting job outside in a best-case scenario.
Jets signed fourth-round WR Arian Smith to a four-year contract.
The good news for Smith is that he has a lot of depth chart runway. Garrett Wilson is the obvious No. 1, but neither Josh Reynolds nor Allen Lazard qualifies as a locked-in WR2 at this stage of their careers. Smith’s blazing speed has intrigued Aaron Glenn, who noted how fast he was in rookie minicamp over the weekend by simply noting “Arian has some juice.” The tough news is that as long as Justin Fields is the starter, it’s hard to believe he’ll be seeing many deep shots that aren’t schemed wide open. Still, Smith has some appeal in deeper leagues and could make an interesting dynasty stash.