Week 12 2023 DraftKings picks — Pickard’s ‘pick-six’

“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s much more serious than that.” – Bill Shankly.

Week 12 ‘Pick-Six’ Picks: 

1) Desmond Ridder QB, ATL $4,800 – Imagine losing your job only to watch your replacement be worse than you. Ridder is dirt cheap, with as much upside as most QBs to the $6,400 price range. Ridder is not afraid to run the ball, and he averaged 30 passing attempts until their week 9 bye. At home with a bit of fire in his belly, this is a chance to get in on some cheap QB play and pay up elsewhere. 

2) Jerome Ford RB, CLE $5,600 – “Ford is expected to have a significant role Week 12 against the Broncos, Zac Jackson of The Athletic reports.” Even though Denver’s DST has been far more significant than their week 3 collapse, they are atrocious against the run, still averaging 160 rush yards allowed per game. Ford is used in the redzone and has proven he can rush for over 100 yards in a game. Now healthy, this is an excellent pivot at RB. 

3) Davante Adams WR, LV $7,800 – The kitchen sink of this offense right now. Throw everything at him and see what sticks. In Adams’s last two games, he has 26 targets. Although he has not been the most effective with his targets, they are the targets we are targeting. The game script states they should be behind the Chiefs, who are projected to be the highest-scoring team of the week. With four WRs over the $8,000 range, this gives the same upside, and we save some needed cash to spend on other high-end WRs.

4) Cade Otten TE, TB $3,200 – Otten is currently trending as TE#5 on the main slate. You can pay up and get a higher upside but I like Otten to get a TD and save the week because when you look at his endzone efficiency he is tied with the likes of T.J. Hockenson, George Kittle, and Hunter Henry. The Colts DST is not that scary giving Baker Mayfield and Co a chance to move the ball downfield. 

5) Drake London, ATL $5,000 – London’s best success has come from Ridder and I am going full send on this stack. CB Lattimore is out and it’s time to bring out your inner Jermaine Dupri and “Welcome to Atlanta”. Not a lot jumps off the paper for London’s stats but he does run 82.3 % of the offensive routes and receives 22.8% of the target share. London goes over 100 yards for the second time this season and savors it with a TD. 

6) Texans DST, HOU $2,600 – Why? Because picking a DST is like picking the lottery-winning numbers. Anything can happen and the Texans are tied 2nd for the least amount of TDs thrown against them. They also rank 6th best against the run and 6th for forced fumbles. They lack a little on the interception side but with Trevor Lawrence feeling good, this is my real pick-six pick of the week.