Vikings Territory Daily Fantasy Football Begins
My obsession with fantasy football is borderline unhealthy. (My wife would tell you it is not borderline.) Just a few months ago, I was insistent that I not get involved in too many leagues this year. I had a variety of reasons: it’s too difficult to manage all the different teams, the drafts are too time consuming, it’s hard to root for (or against) any one particular player because you own them all, etc… I told myself I was only going to play in three full-time leagues this year. I was positive I could resist the temptation to not over-allocate myself.
As of yesterday, I’m in eight different leagues.
I can’t even tell you how it happened; I’m ashamed of myself. It’s like I blacked out and, while unconscious, drafted all these incredible teams. It’s honestly ridiculous. I’m in so many different leagues with so many different players on my team that I now just basically root for everybody on Sunday and don’t even bother checking the scores of my fantasy teams until the sun has set and the dust has settled.
Nevertheless, I love it. And when I thought fantasy football couldn’t get any better, a few years ago I stumbled across Daily Fantasy Football. Everyone knows the best part of fantasy football is the draft. So when I found out that fantasy football existed in a format where I could draft multiple teams every week it was too good to be true.
You all undoubtedly have seen the commercials. Everyday Joe, just like you and I, wins millions of dollars by playing fantasy football. Joe is now able to quit his job and retire at age 30, never having to work again, and rides off into the sunset in a carriage drawn by Andrew Luck, Antonio Brown, Rob Gronkowski and, of course, Adrian Peterson. I’m not going to lie to you… While the odds are certainly better than playing the lotto, it’s difficult to win big money in these contests. Now, that doesn’t mean it’s not fun. And that certainly doesn’t mean there isn’t money to be won at all. Last season, I placed pretty well in a few contests and ended up being able to pocket about twice as much as I started with. So, while winning millions of dollars is highly unlikely, as long as your expectations are relatively realistic, Daily Fantasy Football can be a tremendous amount of fun.
That’s why this year we’ve decided to partner up with DraftKings. Throughout the 2015 season, we are going to be holding weekly contests here at Vikings Territory. These contests will be relatively small in nature and require a small buy-in, keeping the amount of money you need to enter low and the chances of you winning high. I’m going to give you guys all the information you need for the contest we are holding this week, some links to join into the bigger contests DraftKings is hosting and then wrap up by looking at some of the values to be had with various Vikings players.
Week 1 Vikings Territory Contest
Okay, so here’s the deal on the Week 1 Vikings Territory Contest. We’ve created a 20 team league with a $5 dollar entry fee. The teams that finish within the top-3 will be paid as follows:
1st Place – $45.00
2nd Place – $27.00
3rd Place – $18.00
Entering is pretty easy. Use the link below to go to the contest page. If you don’t already have a DraftKings account, create one. While creating your account, make sure to use the promo code: vikingsterritory. (Using our promo code will get you a deposit matching bonus up to $600 and a $3 free game voucher .) Once registered, logged in and at our contest page (use the link above again if needed), you will now create your team. If you’ve done an Auction Draft before this step should be pretty easy for you. Even if you haven’t though, it’s pretty straight forward. Simply select the players you want on your team, filling each roster spot, while staying within the confines of your $50,000 “salary cap.” The scoring system is pretty standard (full rules and scoring here) but keep in mind when building your team that your players will receive a point for every reception (PPR, Point Per Reception).
And that’s it! Once your lineup is submitted, come back once all the action starts Sunday and see how your team does. DraftKings will immediately pay out your winnings to you if you’re so lucky. In order for the contest to go live though, we have to fill it up with 20 people. If we don’t, the contest will not go live and all money will be refunded. So if you decide to play, make sure you share it with your friends and family and let’s get this thing full. We’re starting off with a lower number of spots to gauge the interest level in something like this. If it fills quickly, we will likely decide to open it up to more people next week. In other words, get in while you can! First come first serve.
Enter the Week 1 Vikings Territory Contest Now!
Featured DraftKings Contest
Every week we will also feature a popular DraftKings Contest in case our personal Vikings Territory contest above doesn’t pique your interest. This week, DraftKings is going pretty big as it’s the first week of the season. They are offering a completely free contest with a first place prize of $10,000. Again, this contest is completely free to enter. It only requires that you register with DraftKings and tweet about the contest to your followers. (So a Twitter account is required to enter.) Outside of the huge first place prize, DraftKings money will be awarded to the top 25,550 participants. We thought this would be a great contest to feature our first time in case you were hesitant about the whole thing and wanted to “try before you buy,” so to speak.
Click here to enter this FREE $100,000 contest.
Click here to enter the $10M Millionaire Maker contest.
Vikings Players Fantasy Outlook
In these weekly posts, I’ll also be including a quick look at some of the different values of various Vikings players and my own personal opinion on whether or not it’s a good deal and worth a start in daily fantasy formats. This first week is going to be difficult because we don’t have any past games from 2015 we can look at and the 49ers roster has been so decimated it’s essentially an entirely different team. With that being said, here we go:
Adrian Peterson, RB $7,700
Peterson is the third most expensive running back on DraftKings this week. The 49ers run defense doesn’t particularly concern me so you’d think starting Peterson is a no-brainer. Personally though, I’m avoiding Peterson this first week of the 2015 season. The Vikings run blocking has looked horrible all preseason. Part of me believes this will be a non-issue once Peterson is the one running the ball. The other part isn’t so sure… There are a lot of question marks surrounding how Peterson will do in his first NFL action since a year ago. I learned a long time ago never to doubt what Peterson is capable of, there are just other players out there I’m more sure of this week.
Teddy Bridgewater, QB $6,600
Teddy Bridgewater is a great add if you’re like me and look for ways to save at quarterback. At only $6,600, there are 17 other options more expensive than Bridgewater. At a relatively cheap cost, Bridgewater has more upside than other options at the position and could easily go off against a suspect 49ers defense that allowed 824 passing yards and 6 passing touchdowns in the preseason. (That’s 10 more yards and one more touchdown than the Vikings in one less game.)
Mike Wallace, WR $6,000
Though not an expensive pick, I’m not sure Mike Wallace offers great value at wide receiver when we’re really not sure if he’ll even be the most productive wide receiver on the team. Teddy and Wallace managed to hook up for a deep pass once in the preseason (at the Dallas Cowboys) but outside of that never really seemed to be in sync. Granted, it’s the preseason and the Vikings could have been (and probably were) relatively conservative in their play-calling. Still, I think a better, cheaper option exists with…
Charles Johnson, WR $4,900
Charles Johnson at only $4,900 offers a better value than Mike Wallace. Arguably Teddy’s favorite receiver, Charles Johnson has impressed throughout training camp and the preseason and looks to be Bridgewater’s go-to target. If I’m being honest though (and taking my heart out of it), neither Mike Wallace or Charles Johnson will be on any of my daily rosters this week. I tend to believe that Teddy is the type of quarterback that spreads the ball around more than creating a stand-alone fantasy stud. And I just think there are better options out there that offer a little more upside.
Kyle Rudolph, TE $3,500
Kyle Rudolph on the other hand is a decent play at tight end this week. Though Rudolph wasn’t really featured in the preseason, we all know that when the Vikings get within the red zone, he’ll become a top target. With tight end, unless you have Gronkowski (or maybe Graham), you’re looking for a guy that can consistently score touchdowns. Rudolph has shown that when he’s healthy, he can be that guy. Don’t expect big yardage contributions from Rudolph but I’m betting he walks away from this game with at least a score.
That’s all for this week! Hope to see you guys in the Vikings Territory Week 1 Contest. A few people from our team will be participating (Brian Hall, Austin Belisle, Adam Warwas and myself). Come show us you’re better than us!