FanDuel Studs to Target in Week 8

Antonio Brown

FanDuel Price:$8,400
numberFire Projected Points:16.68

Antonio Brown started off this season red hot, but when his partner-in-crime and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger went down, his numbers went down dramatically too. Luckily for him, and truthfully, all of us fantasy footballers, it appears that Big Ben will be making his return this weekend. If so, Roethlisberger's return should once again return Brown to the top of the wide-receiver cash game mountain.

It's worth stating that before his Week 5 and Week 6 boondoggles with Michael Vick at the Steelers' helm, Brown hadn't had a game since 2012 that didn't include at least 5 catches and 50 yards, and in recent seasons his floor had become much more durable than that, having not posted a game with less than 70 receiving yards since late in the 2013 season. Yes, Brown had become about as matchup proof as a receiver could be, leading him to post the second-best overall season for a wide receiver since 2000 in 2014.

And Brown's still been very good this season despite his two down weeks; to date he currently ranks sixth in the league among receivers in terms of Reception NEP having added 55.64 points above expectation-level at an efficient rate of 0.84 Reception NEP per target. And this week, assuming Roethlisberger returns, Brown gets to square up against the middling 16th-ranked Cincinnati Bengals' pass defense, who per Football Outsiders, ranks 29th against teams' number-one receivers. With the slight discount Brown comes available at given the absence of Roethlisberger in recent weeks, fitting Brown back into your lineups if Roethlisberger does return is smart strategy for both cash games and tournaments.