Top DraftKings plays for XFL Week 5

Week 5 of the new and improved XFL is here. We have one matchup that will likely be the focus of DraftKings daily fantasy players, as Dallas hosts Houston in the highest over/under game of the week. With the fantasy community rightfully flocking to that game to glean fantasy points, finding good pivots will be useful to separate yourself from the pack.

Of course, last week, pivoting from P.J. Walker and Cam Phillips wasn’t a fun endeavor, but their prices continue to rise while many will do their best to roster both after their back-to-back huge performances. That isn’t the worst plan you can have, but it’s going to be tight getting under the cap.

Banking on Cardale Jones returning to form isn’t a sure shot, but it’s one place to deviate from the crowd while relying on a Josh Johnson led offense could be beneficial, if you can figure out who is getting work for the Wildcats.

Quarterbacks

P.J. Walker, Houston Roughnecks ($12,000)

Walker’s price didn’t rise after his worst game of the season, but it didn’t go down, as his worst game still gave his backers 21 DK points. This week he heads back home after two straight road wins to take on a poor Seattle Dragons pass defense. The Dragons have allowed the highest completion percentage, second-most yards per attempt and total passing yards. Walker should be good to go.

Josh Johnson, LA Wildcats ($10,500)

Johnson has been lights out of late and leads the league in QB Rating while also hitting 25 and 25 DK points in his last two games. Johnson ranks third in total passing yards despite missing Week 1 and has a great TD to interception ratio at 7 to 1. The Vipers have held quarterbacks numbers down, but they haven’t faced anyone strong other than P.J. Walker, and when they faced him, they gave up a huge game with over 300 yards passing and three touchdowns.

Running Backs

De’Veon Smith, Tampa Bay Vipers ($7,900)

If I pay up at running back this week it will probably be Smith. Despite not scoring a touchdown, Smith leads all running back in total yards and has seen the fourth-most targets. We can’t expect the workload he got last week, as the Vipers are more likely to trail, unlike last week, but Smith is the preferred receiving back between himself and Jacques Patrick, as he ran 19 routes to Patrick’s 10 last week. He is due for a score, but even if he can’t find the end zone, his workload should be good and he’s facing a team that has allowed the most rushing yards and the second-most yards per carry in the Wildcats.

Darius Victor, NY Guardians ($5,800)

Last week had 18 rushing attempts and one target while Tim Cook had eight rushing attempts and two targets. Victor continued to look like the better back and it seems his coaches agree, as he finally took over as the lead. We can’t count on that continuing, but the odds are good, as Victor helped the team to their first win since Week 1.

Dujuan Harris, LA Wildcats ($3,400)

Harris led the Wildcats running backs in snaps, touches and routes run last week and played well enough to continue seeing work. He saw all that work ahead of Elijah Hood and Larry Rose by a big margin as well. If Martez Carter returns this week, things get a little tougher to predict.

Wide Receiver

Tre McBride, LA Wildcats ($9,700)

McBride’s price has shot up, but if Nelson Spruce is out again, he’s still too cheap based on his usage and production to date. Cam Phillips dog walked cornerback Anthoula Kelly, catching 8-of-10 targets for 194 yards and three touchdowns, with seven receptions over Kelly in Week 3. Josh Johnson leads the league in deep ball accuracy, with an adjusted completion rate of 52.2 percent and a QB rating of 126.1 on passes over 20 yards. McBride has seen six of those deep targets and caught four for 134 yards and two touchdowns despite dropping the other two!

Nick Holley, Houston Roughnecks ($7,100)

Holley isn’t cheap anymore, but a price jump was expected after he caught 8-of-10 targets for 97 yards and a touchdown last week. Holley doesn’t have a drop this season and is second on the team in first down receptions. He’s quickly becoming a go-to receiver for P.J. Walker.

Jordan Smallwood, LA Wildcats ($6,200)

Smallwood got a nice bump in work last week with Nelson Spruce out and if Spruce remains out, Smallwood becomes a strong play at his price. He was second on the team last week with seven targets, of which he caught five for 75 yards. With Johnson playing so well, I am all about grabbing his wide receivers this week.

D/ST

LA Wildcats ($4,500) vs Tampa Bay Vipers

The Wildcats host a Vipers team coming off their first win in the friendly confines of Raymond James SStadium to now head cross country to take on the Wildcats on the west coast. The Defenders didn’t put up much of a fight against the Vipers, which let them give the ball to their running backs for 45 rushing attempts. I expect the Wildcats will put up more of a fight offensively than Cardale Jones was able to last week, so Taylor Cornelius will be asked to do much more than hehad to last week. Cornelius has thrown two touchdowns to four interceptions.