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Zach Ertz Should Be In Your Week 8 FanDuel Lineup

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By @RoKnowsDFS

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In the world of weekly fantasy football, it is very important to get as much value out of your selections as possible. This requires searching and analyzing every player’s price and fantasy point-per-game production in relation to their price. When this is done correctly, several underpriced and favorable options should be available and usable in order to fit higher-priced studs such as Aaron Rodgers in your lineup. One position where a great deal of value can be found is the tight-end position. There are several good options this week with favorable matchups. However, when looking at the prices, there is a selection that rises above the rest and that is Zach Ertz of the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Eagles, coming off of a bye week, get to square off against the Arizona Cardinals in a battle of teams with 5-1 records. If anyone remembers what happened in this matchup last season, Ertz had a great day with five catches, 68 yards and two touchdowns. This was against a Cardinals defense that was historically bad against the TE position last year and ranked last in the league by a wide margin. The 2014 version of the Cardinals’ defense is still bad against TEs, but not the absolute worst in the league. Currently, they’re giving up the seventh-most fantasy points per game to TEs, but that ranking would probably be worse if Oakland Raiders QB Derek Carr targeted Mychal Rivera more than once last week. Despite the one target, Rivera still ended the game with one reception for 18 yards. Therefore, the potential was there for Arizona to give up more production to another TE and it’s the safest bet this week that Ertz will see more than one target. As a matter of fact, he’s averaging five targets per game this season.

When you consider the fact that Ertz is the 16th most expensive TE on the FanDuel price list at a cheap $5400 price, it’s hard not consider him a must-play. Some may make a legitimate argument for Jordan Reed of the Washington Redskins to be a slightly better pick for the TE slot especially since he’s $200 cheaper than Ertz and faces a Dallas Cowboys defense that’s been worse than Arizona against the TE. However, with Colt McCoy as the QB, Reed won’t see as many deep-play targets as Ertz will see with Nick Foles. McCoy is known for throwing an abundance of short passes and Dallas has done an excellent job of limiting the offensive snaps of their opponents. Therefore, Reed’s opportunities will be a bit more limited than usual. Additionally, the Arizona safeties struggle mightily against TEs on seam routes and those will be the plays where Foles and Ertz capitalize the most. It also helps that Philadelphia averages the third highest offensive plays per game — simply meaning more opportunities for the former Stanford All-American.

It may seem like a stretch to project another two TD performance from Ertz, but that’s what I feel will happen again. Arizona has done nothing to improve their ability to guard TEs and will be doomed to repeat the history they haven’t learned from yet. Therefore, with a projection of five catches for 75 yards and two TDs, Ertz should literally triple the value of his salary. Therefore, when it comes TEs, he is the guy you must have in your FanDuel lineup this Sunday.

Roje Smith is a Fantasy Sports writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @RoKnowsDFS, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

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