USFL DFS plays for Week 7

The USFL playoffs are just a few weeks away, believe it or not. There has been quite a bit of roster movement prior to the Week 7 games as teams make their final push for the postseason. I will key in on any edge DFS plays created from these moves and help you build the best lineup possible for all formats.

In this breakdown, I will be highlighting my top 2-3 plays at each position while also providing any soft PrizePicks lines that we can take advantage of together. Let’s dive in.

Vegas Odds Team Odds Team Odds Total New Jersey -165 (-4) Tampa Bay +145 42.5 New Orleans -260 (-6) Michigan +210 41.5 Birmingham -760 (-12.5) Pittsburgh +525 41 Philadelphia -170 (-3) Houston +150 44 Quarterbacks Clayton Thorson, Houston ($8.6k) This is the first time all season I’ve given serious consideration to rostering Thorson, but the combination of price, matchup and expected gamescript make him an elite option this week. His pass volume is on the lower end of the spectrum when compared to other QBs, but he is making his attempts count lately but finding the end zone. He is coming off his best performance yet last week when he completed 15 of his 19 throws for 171 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Gamblers are going up against Philadelphia this week, which is a team that frequently winds up in shootouts. This pushes Thorson further up my priority list, and he should be considered a leverage play with most of the industry looking elsewhere. Jordan Ta’amu (333 yards/4 TDs) and J’Mar Smith (203 yards/2 TDs) have recently posted solid games against the Stars defense. It’s worth noting that Philly has been cooked on the ground as well and Thorson has a little rushing upside which further solidifies this play. For the sports bettors out there, I’m all over Houston +3 this week.

Jordan Ta’amu, Tampa Bay ($11k) It took a couple of weeks for Ta’amu to settle in, but he has become one of the best players in the USFL, which is something we expected when the Bandits first drafted him. He has scored at least 19 fantasy points in three of the last four weeks, which was punctuated by a massive Week 6 performance against Philly. In that game he threw for over 330 yards, rushed for over 60 yards and accounted for 4 touchdowns. He has returned to his dominant XFL form and clearly has the highest upside at the position.

Additional GPP/MME Targets Vad Lee, Pittsburgh — The Maulers waived Kyle Lauletta and have cleared the way for Vad Lee to be their unquestioned QB1. He is a reasonably priced $7.4k and has sneaky dual threat upside. The matchup against Birmingham isn’t ideal, but he will get plenty of opportunities to rack up fantasy points regardless with no fear of being benched — barring injury of course. *knocks on wood*

J’Mar Smith, Birmingham — Unfortunately, Smith is still splitting reps with Alex McGough, which hampers his top-end upside but as an electric player in a strong matchup he makes sense as a high-level tournament play. He now has an 8-2 TD to INT ratio and is inching closer to the 1,000 passing yards mark. The Stallions like to put their QBs in a position to run as well so dual threat upside exists for Smith and even McGough if you really want to get sneaky. Smith has rushed for 116 yards and 2 scores while McGough has 83 yards/2 TDs on the ground. Expect Birmingham to keep their foot on the gas in this cake matchup and score lots of points.

Running Backs Bo Scarbrough, Birmingham ($6k) Scarbrough was our top RB play last week and he rewarded us with a 23-fantasy-point performance. He toted the rock 16 times for 105 yards and 2 touchdowns while also catching both of his targets for another 15 yards. He was surprisingly sub-30% rostered as well, which was truly shocking for me considering how cheap he was. CJ Marable was ruled out, which paved the way for Scarbrough to get carries and he out-touched Tony Brooks-James 18-8. Marable is trending toward missing another week and that would make Scarbrough a lock button play in all formats at just $6k.

Darius Victor, New Jersey ($7.1k) It sounds like De’Andre Johnson is going to be out for quite some time, which is further confirmed by the fact that the Generals went out and signed Pittsburgh castoff Kyle Lauletta for QB depth. Johnson has rushed for almost 300 yards this season but with him on the shelf the Generals RBs will get the majority of the rushing touches. Lauletta and Perez have a combined 17 yards on the ground this season so don’t expect either of them to slide into the Johnson role. Victor is splitting work with Trey Williams, but both are seeing around 15 carries a game while being targeted 1-3 times. Williams is $9.4k while Victor is $7.1k, so I’ll just take the discount there and shore up the rest of my build. Victor also has the better touchdown equity as he has outscored Williams 8-1.

Additional GPP/MME Targets Mark Thompson, Houston — The Stars rush defense is atrocious and now they have to try to contain one of the most violent runners in the league. Thompson showed an added element to his game last week by catching 3 of his season-high 5 targets for 25 yards and 2 scores. If Thompson is going to be more involved in the passing game going forward his upside becomes stratospheric. He is second in the league in rushing yards with 422. There are other RBs out there with much better touchdown equity, but Thompson’s touches are secured, and he makes up for with his ability to eclipse 100 rushing yards.

New Orleans Breakers RBs — Jordan Ellis is typically a bell cow back for the Breakers, but a nagging ankle injury has opened the door for backup Anthony Jones to get touches. He rushed for 102 yards on 22 attempts a week ago while also scoring a touchdown. He also was active in the passing game by catching 2 of his 3 targets for 20 yards. Ellis is probably priced out for me at $9.2k with his backup looming but I don’t mind taking a few shots at Jones at just $4.4k. He could wind up going back to afterthought, but the risk is mitigated thanks to his meager price tag.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends KaVontae Turpin, New Jersey ($8.3k) Turpin will be the most rostered player on the slate and it’s for good reason. Not only is he being peppered with targets, but the team is also giving him 2-3 carries per game. He has eclipsed 100 receiving yards in back-to-back games and hasn’t been below 5 targets since Week 2. With their rushing QB out with an injury we could even see Turpin get additional work on the ground which pushes his potential ceiling to an even higher level. Through six weeks he has an impressive 29-341-2 stat line through the air and 107-1 on the ground. I’ll be eating this chalk and matching the field’s exposure.

Tre Walker, Pittsburgh ($4.7k) Bailey Gaither, Pittsburgh ($8.8k) (Walker has been suspended.)

These two are a staple in this section each week, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Walker was targeted another 9 times last week but was only able to bring in 2 of those passes for 31 yards. Hopefully box score watchers gloss over him this week but that target I’m going to keep chasing that target share. He is now third in the league in targets with 51 behind only Victor Bolden (61) and Lance Lenoir (52). Bailey Gaither is much more expensive but you’re essentially paying for touchdowns with him as he added another one to his total last week bringing him up to 4 for the season. Gaither has missed time this year for various reasons and has only been able to fully play in four games, so the touchdown equity is obvious. These two have done well with below-average QB play and now that they have an adequate passer in Vad Lee their numbers will continue to soar.

Additional GPP/MME Targets Bug Howard, Philly — 4-36-2 last week and remains the top red zone option for the Stars. He won’t do much in terms of actual yardage, but he can rack up the PPR points and is a solid option at just $4.2k.

Jonathan Adams, New Orleans — Adams is still my preferred option in the NO passing game even with Poindexter listed as probable this week. He has brought in 19 of his 38 targets for 299 yards and 2 scores thus far. The price has come up slightly so he will be very low owned and is an ideal target for large field GPPs.

Marlon Williams, Birmingham — Always a strong tournament play due to his field-stretching ability. Marlon has touchdowns of 88, 47 and 74 this season. Victor Bolden, Osirus Mitchell and the newly acquired Jeffrey Thomas are all going to get usage, so I tend to avoid this receiver room in my main build. That said, any of the Birmingham wideouts can win you a tournament this week as they’re expected to light up the scoreboard against Pittsburgh.

Defense/Special Teams I won’t be prioritizing the DST slot at any point this season — it’s really going to be a spot we take shots at with our remaining salary. I do find myself typically targeting whichever DST is facing the pass-heavy Philly Stars and that happens to be the Houston Gamblers this week. They’re the second cheapest DST on the slate at $3.5k but happen to be the highest scoring unit in terms of fantasy points in the USFL. The heavy pass attack of Philly offers plenty of opportunities for the Houston defense to rack up defensive stats. The Birmingham DST will be a popular option going up against Pittsburgh but they’re quite spendy at $5.5k and the Maulers offense is looking better lately. Michigan waived No. 1 overall pick Shea Patterson recently and are rolling a combination of newly acquired Josh Love and a chronically injured Paxton Lynch at QB. They have a collegiate stud from EWU on their roster in Eric Barriere, but he is still sitting on their inactive list. The Panthers lack of continuity on offense could lead to a big performance from the NO Breakers DST.

Core Mark Thompson Bo Scarbrough (monitor CJ Marable’s status) KaVontae Turpin PrizePicks Plays Garrett Groshek UNDER 30.5 Rushing Yards KaVontae Turpin OVER 49.5 Receiving Yards Clayton Thorson OVER 12.5 Fantasy Points Bailey Gaither OVER 10.5 Fantasy Points

Team	Odds	Team	Odds	Total
New Jersey	-165 (-4)	Tampa Bay	+145	42.5
New Orleans	-260 (-6)	Michigan	+210	41.5
Birmingham	-760 (-12.5)	Pittsburgh	+525	41
Philadelphia	-170 (-3)	Houston	+150	44

USFL DFS plays for Week 7

Vegas Odds

Quarterbacks

Clayton Thorson, Houston ($8.6k)

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