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The Divisional Round is in the books, and what a week it was. Probably the best Divisional Round we have ever seen. The Bengals kicked things off with a huge road win in Tennessee, and then the Niners and their special teams took down Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in Lambeau. Saturday was awesome, but then Sunday happened. The Rams kicked things off with a big lead on the Bucs to see Tom Brady bring them back, but Matt Stafford had some more in his arm, hitting Cooper Kupp and leading the Rams to a huge victory. The first three games were all decided by a walk-off field goal. It couldn't get in better, right? Oh, it did as the Bills and Chiefs played a game for the ages. It was a back and forth heavyweight fight and needed overtime where Patrick Mahomes and company went straight down the field and won on a Travis Kelce touchdown. Nevertheless, it was a fantastic week, and now we get Conference Championship Weekend to see who goes to the Super Bowl.
There is a 2-game slate to attack for the Conference Championship weekend, which is not always the most ideal for cash, but we will do it anyway. For cash, we will stick with the usual game plan of looking for a solid floor and going from there, especially when it comes to value plays. Value this week is quite spread out. The popular moves will be paying up for Cooper Kupp and likely Travis Kecle. Patrick Mahomes will get a lot of attention as well. Most of the cash game focus will focus on the AFC matchup between the Bengals and the Chiefs, but there are plays between the Niners and the Rams in the NFC game. Remember to pay attention to injury news and roster rates heading into the weekend to build your optimal cash game lineups.
This article will look at some of the value plays for each week of the NFL. However, when you look at value plays for GPP, you are somewhat swinging for the fences. Here, I will be focusing on cash games and the necessity for slightly more safety as you are just looking to finish in the top half or so of the competition. Therefore, we are looking for cheaper players who should see a decent workload, passing attempts, targets or carries. So, let's look at the cash value plays for Conference Championship Weekend.
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Quarterback DFS Value Plays - Conference Championship Cash Games
Joe Burrow, CIN at KC | DK: $6,600, FD: $7,500
Most will pay up for Mahomes, and some may even save a bit of money to play Matthew Stafford, but we are all about Burrow this week. Burrow brings a great floor into this Sunday's game, scoring 16 or more fantasy points in four straight games. It's also nice knowing Burrow has faced the Chiefs this season, actually only a few weeks ago in Week 17. He threw for 446 yards, four touchdowns, and 37 fantasy points in that game — a pretty solid resume coming into Sunday's action.
He will face a Chiefs defense that ranks 31st on the season versus opposing quarterbacks and 32nd, dead last, over the previous four weeks. Over the last four games, they allow an average of 288 passing yards, 2.5 passing touchdowns, and nearly 30 fantasy points per game. The Bengals are seven-point underdogs this weekend with an implied team total of 24. They should have to throw early and often lead Burrow and company to become some nice DFS plays.
Running Back DFS Value Plays - Conference Championship Cash Games
Cam Akers, LAR vs. SF | DK: $5,000, FD: $6,200
This week, Joe Mixon and Elijah Mitchell are the top options in cash, but we can take some chances if you want to save some cash. That first chance is Akers. Sure, he fumbled twice last week, which would lead some coaches to bench their back, but Sean McVay continued to run Akers out there on Sunday. Akers has looked pretty solid over the two playoff games, racking up a total of 41 rushing attempts and four receptions. Akers has been involved in 68% of the snaps with 60% of the carries. He is also receiving nine of the 15 red zone carries for the Rams backfield. If he can get into the end zone, he could be in for a monster game. The matchup may be tough against the Niners' defense, but the workload will be there, which usually leads to cash game goodness.
Jerick McKinnon, KC vs. CIN | DK: $5,100, FD: $6,200
McKinnon may be risky as CEH will be back for his second week, but honestly, I am not too concerned after last week's distribution between McKinnon and CEH. McKinnon had ten carries, which is not much, but he added five receptions on seven targets after catching all six targets last week. McKinnon has scored double-digit PPR points in both playoff games thus far, and in a matchup with the Bengals, he could see another excellent game.
In Week 17 versus the Bengals, his teammate Darrel Williams scored nearly 26 PPR points, and there is a chance McKinnon could get a nice piece of that pie on Sunday. The Bengals defense ranks 30th over the last four games versus opposing running backs, allowing nearly 30 PPR points per game. McKinnon may be better set for a GPP lineup, but there is an excellent value even in cash on a 2-game slate.
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Wide Receiver DFS Value Plays - Conference Championship Cash Games
Odell Beckham Jr., LAR vs. SF | DK: $5,100, FD: $6,300
OBJ has put together quite the set of games in recent weeks. He has four or more catches in four of the last five games, with touchdowns in three games and double-digit PPR points in four of five games. He has been second on the Rams in targets, red-zone targets, and receiving yards over the first two postseason games. He only caught two of five targets in Week 18 versus the Niners, but the fact he had five targets is a positive. OBJ has a great floor entering Sunday's game and could have a monster game if the game turns into a potential shootout like Week 18.
Brandon Aiyuk, SF at LAR | DK: $5,000, FD: $5,600
Hopefully, many pay attention to last week's game for Aiyuk, where he had ZERO receptions on only one target. That was definitely out of the ordinary and primarily due to the weather and overall game flow. Now he returns to a more favorable offensive environment and will look to return to being a target monster. Before last week he had five or more targets and four or more receptions in four straight games. Aiyuk had double-digit fantasy points in all four games, including Week 18 where he caught six of seven targets versus the Rams for nearly 20 PPR points. Expect Aiyuk to get into action versus this Rams defense that ranks 24th versus opposing wide receivers over the last four games. I love Aiyuk's floor for cash this week.
Byron Pringle, KC vs. CIN | DK: $4,300, FD: $5,700
Pringle has been a solid option for cash in recent weeks and makes for a great value again this week. Pringle has been targeted seven or more times in four of the last five games and has scored double-digit PPR points in each of the four games. Pringle also has three touchdowns over the previous two games and five over the last five games. In addition, he has been a popular target in the red zone with five red-zone targets over the previous three games. Pringle is third in targets behind Kelce and Tyreek Hill and first in red-zone targets in the playoffs. Everyone flocks to Hill and Kelce, and some still love Hardman, while Pringle has been a steady target machine with the touchdown upside. He makes for a solid cash game value.
Tight End DFS Value Plays - Conference Championship Cash Games
C.J. Uzomah, CIN at KC | DK: $3,400, FD: $5,600
Uzomah has been a man on a mission of late, and that should not change in a shootout versus the Chiefs. Uzomah has been targeted at least six times in each of the last four games and has at least four catches in each game. He has posted seven or more PPR points in each game and has double-digit fantasy points in each playoff game. He is second on the Bengals in targets, receptions, and receiving yards in the playoffs, all behind Ja'Marr Chase. He'll take on a Chiefs defense that ranks 16th over the last four games versus opposing tight ends as they are allowing 12 PPR points per game over that stretch. Uzomah makes for a great cash game value if not paying up for Kelce or going two tight ends in your builds.
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