Minnesota Vikings - Fantasy News

Saints at Vikings DFS Sleepers

by Adam Markowitz

1/10/18

NFL

Minnesota Vikings

David Morgan

There will be just one ticket to punch to the conference championship games on Sunday afternoon when the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints kick off. This figures to be one of the more-competitive games of the weekend and could easily feature 60+ points as it could feature neither team getting into the 20s.

We've got our eye on a few buy-low candidates in the Saints/Vikings game that we can't wait to put on our Dober Play Cards.

Latavius Murray (9.69 Dober Fantasy Points Per Game)
Projected Fantasy Points vs. Saints: 11.5

Latavius Murray is quietly becoming the significantly better back in the Minnesota offense. Jerick McKinnon has only amassed 10.0 Dober Fantasy Points in his last two games. In that same span, Murray has 32.9 DFP.

Though Murray really doesn't fit under "sleeper" status, he should have a significantly higher Projected Fantasy Points total. He won't be a one-man band in the backfield, but he doesn't have to be. One touchdown, and we won't have anything to worry about.

Wil Lutz (9.75 Dober Fantasy Points Per Game)
Projected Fantasy Points vs. Vikings: 8.5

The Vikings arguably have the best defense in the NFL, and that could be really good news for the New Orleans kicking game. Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram are going to amass their yards, and the Vikings are going to be okay with that so long as drives end in field goals instead of touchdowns.

Lutz quietly kicked 31 field goals this year, including making 17 from beyond 40 yards.

Lutz booted four field goals in the opening game of the season between these two teams. It'll only take three field goals on Sunday to get Lutz to this Projected Fantasy Points total this week.

David Morgan (1.37 Dober Fantasy Points Per Game)
Projected Fantasy Points vs. Saints: 2.0

David Morgan is the No. 2 tight end in Minnesota, but he's been on the field a lot more often than Kyle Rudolph of late. Rudolph has been on the field for 88 snaps in his last three games compared to Morgan's 140.

Morgan only has five targets in that span compared to Rudolph's six, but if the Vikes are stuck in a close game, they might have no choice but to throw the ball a bit more. That could plausibly leave Morgan out of the game entirely, but we'll still take our chances that he'll eke out 2.0 Dober Fantasy Points.

Michael Floyd (1.24 Dober Fantasy Points Per Game)
Projected Fantasy Points vs. Saints: 1.5

The Vikings took a flyer on Michael Floyd even knowing he was going to be suspended for the first four games of the year. Floyd hasn't really played a huge role in this offense, but suddenly, he was on the field for 21 snaps in Week 17 against Chicago.

Floyd didn't catch a single pass on the day, but if he gets 20+ snaps again in this one, he's probably not going to get shutout. One catch could be enough to ultimately to get him past his Projected Fantasy Points total, and two will certainly do the job.

Willie Snead (1.02 Dober Fantasy Points Per Game)
Projected Fantasy Points vs. Vikings: 1.0

We're not all that sure why Willie Snead hasn't been a bigger part of the Saints' offense this season. He's getting plenty of playing time with at least 36 percent of the snaps for the New Orleans offense in seven-straight games.

Snead has superstar potential, but he's been the biggest loser this year with the emergence of Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram. If the Vikings buckle down against the ground game, perhaps this will be the week Snead has a much bigger output than his norm.