Lineup Breakdown: Analysis of Week 15 Winning Lineups

There were monster winning scores for the FanDuel Sunday Million and the DraftKings Millionaire Maker in Week 15. There also weren't many similarities between the two winning teams as there were only three players who appeared on both rosters. This is a fun week to look at the winning rosters as it provides some proof that there are many ways to skin a cat.

"dank18" loved the shootout between the Steelers and the Broncos. Five players from that game were on this roster and accounted for 135.84 points from this roster or 59.9% of the team's points, if you prefer. Also, hat tip to colleague Zach Qualtieri for pitching the Broncos as a contrarian stack.

QB - Brock Osweiler ($6,700) at Pittsburgh Steelers (0.4% owned) - The diamonds in the rough on this team kicked off with the uber-low-owned Osweiler. He tossed three touchdown passes and ran for another while ripping off 296 yards passing and 19 yards rushing. He did throw an interception, but over 30 fantasy points at under $7,000 on such a low ownership was a big game-changing pick at QB.

RB - DeAngelo Williams ($7,000) vs Denver Broncos (10.1% owned) - Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. That's not to say "dank18" luck boxed this GPP win, because they didn't. What I mean is that this game likely didn't go as "dank18" planned. This roster construction suggests the winner expected the Steelers to race out to the lead and the Broncos to be in catch-up mode, and that line of thinking would've lined up nicely with the spread entering the game. As it turned out, it was the Broncos that raced out to the big lead using their passing attack, and Williams ended up being a moderately successful contributor with only 26 rushing yards, but he had 30 yards receiving on five receptions and a touchdown run that saved the day for his scoring output.

RB - David Johnson ($6,500) at Philadelphia Eagles (31.2% owned) - There weren't many big showings from running backs in Week 15, but Johnson went nuts. He was super chalky, and not even his most ardent supporters could have projected 40-plus fantasy points with a straight face. That said, Johnson's proving to be one of the more explosive all-purpose backs in the game and he rushed for 187 yards and three touchdowns while adding four receptions for 42 yards receiving. Chris Johnson did a solid job of keeping the starting running back seat warm, but the rookie Johnson doesn't figure to give the starting job away anytime soon.

WR - Emmanuel Sanders ($7,100) at Pittsburgh Steelers (0.8% owned) - Sanders joined his quarterback, Brock Osweiler, as a sub-1% owned game-changing performer for this winning roster. The former Steeler rewarded the handful of gamers who used him, and he erupted for a 10-181-1 line with 24 yards rushing.

WR - Demaryius Thomas ($7,700) at Pittsburgh Steelers (4.3% owned) - The Broncos stack didn't end with Osweiler/Sanders, it also feature DT. Thomas didn't put up a gaudy reception or receiving yard total with five and 61, respectively, but he didn't reach the painted part of the field twice reeling in a pair of scores. In all, it was good for more than 20 fantasy points, and that's plenty good enough.

WR - Antonio Brown ($8,800) vs Denver Broncos (7% owned) - With every game Brown plays with Ben Roethlisberger, Richard Sherman's strong showing looks all the more impressive. Brown is the unquestioned class of the receiver position and he made magic happen with Big Ben once again. Brown ripped off 16-189-2 on 18 targets. He's matchup proof and worth every penny to spend up on. After torching a loaded Broncos secondary, don't expect his ownership rate to drop below 10% in GPPs again this season.

TE - Jordan Reed ($6,300) vs Buffalo Bills (16.6% owned) - Reed was a chalky play at tight end, and he delivered. The apple of Kirk Cousins' eye caught seven passes, two for scores, for 84 yards receiving.

K - Jason Myers ($4,700) vs Atlanta Falcons (4% owned) - Myers was the low scorer on this team, but he didn't derail it from the GPP win.

DST - New England Patriots ($5,000) vs Tennessee Titans (8.8% owned) - The elite pass rush of the Patriots did what it was supposed to against the inept pass protection of the Titans, and New England recorded five sacks. They added three forced turnovers, a defensive touchdown and held the Titans to 16 points. They were one of my elite defense selections in The Blitz last week, and they delivered for "dank18."

Interestingly, while the FanDuel Sunday Million roster was horse powered, the DraftKings Millionaire Maker winning lineup featured zero Broncos. "Cflanders002" stacked his quarterback with a wide receiver from the same squad and they were joined by a pair of pass-catching teammates who were super cheap. Every member of this team scored in double figures, but it was three players who anchored this team and accounted for over 53% of the team's scoring. Add in the fourth highest scorer on the roster, and those four players accounted for 66.86% of the winning roster's scoring.

QB - Cam Newton ($7,800) at New York Giants (8.5% owned) - Holy hell, Cam. Talk about taking your team on your back. Newton threw five touchdown passes and netted a 300+ yard passing bonus with 340 yards passing. But in the words of every infomercial pitchman ever, but that's not all! CaMVP also rushed for exactly 100 yards and nabbed that 100+ yard rushing bonus. He wasn't perfect and lost a fumble, but scoring nearly 50 DraftKings fantasy points is damn near perfect. Hat tip to you, Cam, and you, "Cflanders002" for being one of the 8.5% of gamers who used Newton.

RB - David Johnson ($5,700) at Philadelphia Eagles (28.6% owned) - Johnson's herculean effort was discussed above, but with the 100+ yard rushing bonus at DraftKings, he, too, nearly netted 50 fantasy points. Two players into this roster and nearly 100 fantasy points between them, I'd say that's a good start.

RB - Danny Woodhead ($4,200) vs Miami Dolphins (2.1% owned) - This was one of the key diamond in the rough hits for this winning lineup. Running back produced some ugly lines from the most touted options in Week 15, and with a full point for each reception, Woodhead's six grabs netted him six points before accounting for yardage and everything else. And by everything else, I'm talking about the three touchdown receptions that accompanied his 50 yards receiving. He rushed for just 10 yards, but he made those count by adding another score on the ground. What a big effort from the diminutive back.

WR - Antonio Brown ($8,700) vs Denver Broncos (5.8% owned) - No need to go more in depth on Brown's line since I covered it above, but he was also low owned at DraftKings and was the third player on this roster who flirted with 50 points. He was also the high scorer for the team.

WR - Ted Ginn Jr. ($4,600) at New York Giants (11.5% owned) - Ginn Jr. was the stack partner with Newton that "Cflanders002" opted to turn to, and that turned out to be a wise move as the speedster reached the end zone twice. He was targeted often, had a bad drop, but still managed six receptions for 85 yards with his pair of scores. In all, his 26.5 fantasy points were a great get at his bargain price.

WR - Allen Robinson ($7,600) vs Atlanta Falcons (10.7% owned) - A-Rob is a touchdown scoring machine. He caught just three passes for 57 yards, but one of those receptions was Robinson's 13th touchdown grab of the year. Even in a down game by his standards, the second-year wide out reached the tens in fantasy points.

TE - Jordan Reed ($5,900) vs Buffalo Bills (9.9% owned) - Reed was a great pick at tight end for this roster, too. As an added bonus, Reed was featured on a lower percentage of rosters in the Millionaire Maker than in the FanDuel Sunday Million.

FLEX - Dontrelle Inman ($3,000) vs Miami Dolphins (1.2% owned) - Inman didn't score a touchdown, and his three receptions for 78 yards are ho hum, but double-digit fantasy points at the minimum salary allowed for some serious roster flexibility and studs that powered the team to the top of the Millionaire Maker.

DST - Houston Texans ($2,500) at Indianapolis Colts (14.2% owned) - The Texans kept the Colts offense in check, and Matt Hasselbeck and company couldn't get anything going. They scored just 10 points. The Texans recorded three sacks and forced two turnovers. In all, they scored 11 fantasy points at a bargain price.