The Hall of Fame Game. It’s like the first snow or a great appetizer. With it, you know exactly what is coming next, and the excitement is tough to contain. It’s also likely that it underwhelms compared to what follows it, but the idea remains … we are moving closer to the main attraction.
DFS is a tough enough game when you have a general idea of depth charts and roles, but in a game like this, one that is added to an already daunting preseason regime for players and coaches alike, well … it can get ugly. But it’s ugly for everyone. Understanding that, here is a brief look at some of my core plays tonight.
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Hall of Game Game: DFS Captain Options
For me, I have three players who I am considering for this spot and all three will be in my daily fantasy football lineup. It’s just a matter of prioritizing one to earn 1.5x of his fantasy points.
Israel Abanikanda, RB, New York Jets
Volume. Volume is the name of the game at all levels of fantasy football, and this one shouldn’t be any different. Of course, projecting said volume is a much more difficult task. Usually. In the case of the New York Jets, I’m not sure they have a ton of options.
New York’s star running back, Breece Hall, is still rehabbing from a torn ACL, and that makes healthy depth at the position entering the season critical for a team with lofty expectations. Michael Carter has averaged roughly 10 touches per game through two seasons and is the next man up in this backfield as the roster currently stands (Dalvin Cook news pending).
The fact that the team is looking at Cook tells me that Hall’s return to full strength isn’t imminent. If that’s the case, Zonovan Knight (98 touches in his seven games last season) is more valuable than most players occupying the RB3 spot on the depth chart. At the moment, I’d slate him as the RB2 entering the season behind Carter, who has never carried the rock more than 16 times in a game.
The moral of the story is that of the three running backs expected to see time tonight, two of them already hold a potentially valuable regular-season role. Israel Abanikanda is an impressive athlete (there aren’t a ton of 215-pound backs who sprinted for their high school track team out there) who averaged 6.0 yards per carry at Pitt last season. Abanikanda would be my clear bet to lead this game in touches, and that’s enough to put him on my Captain radar.
Dorian Thompson-Robinson, QB, Cleveland Browns
Reports out of Cleveland point to us seeing a lot of Kellen Mond and Dorian Thompson-Robinson under center for the Browns as they compete for the QB3 job. Mond is entering his third professional season and is expected to start the HOF game, but that might actually hurt his value.
Not only will he be opposing defenders higher up on the Jets’ depth chart than DTR projects to in the second half, but he’s also likely to lose some early reps to Joshua Dobbs, a veteran backup who came over from Tennessee this offseason.
Everyone is aware that many teams script the first dozen or so plays to get their quarterback comfortable and in the groove of the game. My train of thought is that the Browns will approach the start to both halves as the start to a new game — send out their QB with a game plan tailored to them and allow them to settle in.
If this is the case and DTR opens the third quarter under center, what is to stop him from finishing the game? That gives Thompson-Robinson the volume edge over any other QB in this game, and his athletic profile (5.5 yards per carry last season) helps create upside. Also factoring into his ceiling is the size the Browns have at receiver.
Cedric Tillman, WR, Cleveland Browns
Cleveland just might have “a type” when it comes to filling their WR room. Amari Cooper and Donovan Peoples-Jones are both expected to be featured members of this passing game during the regular season and are north of 6’ tall. That’s great, but it won’t help us tonight.
There’s obviously a drop off in skill the further you go down the depth chart, but not in size. The Browns will turn to 6’2” Daylen Baldwin, 6’3” Austin Watkins Jr., and 6’3” Cedric Tillman to make plays against the Jets.
Tillman is the one who carries the most draft capital (third-round pick in April), so I think it’s possible that Cleveland wants to see what they have in the former Volunteer. He battled ankle issues last season, but Tillman proved healthy by the NFL Combine, and his 2021 tape was clearly still on the minds of the Cleveland staff (64-1,081-12).
Not only are those numbers impressive, the fact that 352 of those yards and two of the scores came against pseudo-NFL defenses in Alabama and Georgia is a nice note.
Due to how the pricing works for this game, you can (and I will) roster all three of these players and hope for the best. Due to the nature of the position and his skill set, I’m leaning DTR as my captain, targeting his upside and seemingly secure role.
I’ll stack him with Tillman and hope that their playing time intersects, but I want the mobile quarterback as my captain over his receiver, if for no other reason than he has a more clear path to production. I also think that once DTR gets on the field, he’s there to stay — something I’m less confident in for Tillman.
Filling Out Your Roster
Remember, nothing is off the table. Defenses and kickers are more in play now than in a “normal” week because they stand to accumulate points during the entirety of the game. With half of a lineup presented above, I’m going to let you fill out the rest, but not without some interesting notes from the past.
- Past seven HOF games: 28.4 total PPG (2022 regular season: 43.8)
- Last season, the Raiders and Jags combined to average under five yards per play.
- Four of the past five HOF games have seen both teams make a field goal.
- Past four HOF games, only one of 529 plays has gained more than 36 yards.
Best of luck … it’s go time!