Hayden Hurst

NFL DFS Sleepers for Conference Championship Week (2023) – 4 Value Picks to Trust In

NFL Conference Championship week has arrived. Nobody should be too shocked at the final four, either, as both conference’s top seeds have made it, and then there’s also the Cincinnati Bengals.

Cincy won’t apologize for making it this far, nor should they. I personally thought the Bills would be here, but predicting three out of four isn’t too shabby.

Nobody cares about that, though. You’re here for some value for your daily fantasy football lineups. Check out my latest NFL DFS picks for my favorite plays, and then join me as I go over some of my favorite sleepers for Sunday’s action.

Brock Purdy, QB, San Francisco 49ers ($5.3k)

Do I actually feel amazing about Purdy? No, but he’s the cheapest option on the slate, and anytime you can get someone at 11% ownership on a two-gamer, you should take notice.

Purdy is projected to go overlooked for a reason. For one, he’s a rookie quarterback, and they tend to struggle in this spot.

On top of that, he’ll be on the road and gets an aggressive Eagles defense that ranks 6th against fantasy passers on the year.

So, why use him? Well, there’s a perk in playing from behind in NFL DFS. Purdy can absolutely suck and still rack up fantasy points, and there’s a decent chance that is what happens here.

Beyond that logic, he does still have a plethora of weapons at his disposal. And to his credit, he’s had 15+ fantasy points in every start but one this year.

Samaje Perine, RB, Cincinnati Bengals ($4.5k)

You can also look at the cheap Philly backs and Eli Mitchell (if he plays), while Mitchell’s possible absence could even open the door to the Niners spare rushers.

I’d rather trust a cheap play that’s a tad more reliable. That could be Perine, who is appealing regardless of game flow. Here are his two paths to success.

  • Bengals trail and he racks up catches
  • Bengals lead and he sees more carries

It sounds too simple, but it’s true.

The latter game flow allowed Perine to get seven carries against Buffalo, and yet he was still involved as a receiver, catching five passes for 31 yards.

This is also the perfect scenario for Joe Mixon to get vultured, and the Bengals probably won’t play favorites with a second straight trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

Oh, and Kansas City gave up 22 fantasy points to running backs per game this season, so the matchup looks beneficial, too.

Quez Watkins, WR, Philadelphia Eagles ($3.1k)

This is a deep GPP dart if there ever was one. However, there’s sound logic to it. First off, Watkins is pretty talented, and he has a knack for getting past the defense.

Secondly, the Eagles face the league’s best run defense this weekend.

Need another reason? The 49ers can be vulnerable to big plays down the field. We saw that last week when CeeDee Lamb racked up 117 yards and had a 46-yard play.

I’d agree that most of the passing game production will go to Devonta Smith and/or A.J. Brown, but the Niners will also be aggressively game-planning to slow those guys down.

Insert Watkins, who can go yard on any play, and is almost the bare minimum price at Draft Kings.

Hayden Hurst, TE, Cincinnati Bengals ($3k)

I am probably paying for Kelce or Kittle on this slate, but let’s not ignore Hurst completely. He’s still the Bengals’ top tight end, and KC will undoubtedly spend most of their time trying to stop Cincy’s wide receivers.

That could give Hurst a bigger role than expected. He’s responded well when called upon, too. Hurst stepped up with a big game last week, after all.

Just monitor his status, as he was a late addition to Cincinnati’s injury report this week.

Hurst’s performance against the Bills was just his fifth game over 10 fantasy points this season, but he’s probably the cheapest tight end option we can realistically feel good about rostering.

Of course, be sure to pay mind to Kelce’s status. I don’t doubt he plays, but he’s dealing with a back issue. If for some reason he’s limited, firing up punts like Noah Gray or Blake Bell (both $2.5k) isn’t out of the question.

That wraps up my favorite NFL Conference Championship week DFS sleepers. There’s a lot more value than you’d think on a small two-game slate. It just comes down to who we play, and which studs we pay up for.

Hopefully my NFL DFS sleepers find you well this week. Good luck!

DFS Keanu
Stephen Curry Previous post Best NBA PrizePicks Plays for Friday, 1/27/23 – 6 Fantasy Props to Target
Jayson Tatum Next post NBA DFS Ownership Analysis for Saturday, 1/28/23 – How Many Mavs is Too Many Mavs?