FanDuel Single-Game Daily Fantasy Football Helper: Week 6 International Series (Ravens at Titans)

The NFL's final trip to London in 2023 won't feature the Jacksonville Jaguars, but an AFC South rival will be the "home" team for this neutral field clash as the Tennessee Titans battle the Baltimore Ravens. With both teams losing one-score contests a week ago, who will get back on track?

According to the NFL odds at FanDuel Sportsbook, the Ravens are a 4.0-point favorite in this one, and its projected total is 41.5 points.

For those unfamiliar, single-game slates feature five flex spots with identical scoring to the main slate. However, kickers are included in these contests, and there is an "MVP" roster slot. The MVP receives 1.5-times his total fantasy points, making this spot crucial.

FanDuel Research's Brandon Gdula has done a deep dive on single-game strategy, and numberFire has projections if you select the game from the slate tab. It's worth checking out both before making your lineups.

MVP Candidates

If this was 2019, this slate would be bursting at the seams with fantasy football's best players. In 2023, it's certainly a bit tougher to find top-tier studs.

Of course, Lamar Jackson ($17,000) has a salary that matches the obvious top fantasy play in the game. At -0.14 expected points added per drop back (EPA/db), Jackson hasn't had the most efficient passing season on paper, but he's certainly been hurt by drops and injuries all around him, and there's -- of course -- so much more to his MVP candidacy. He averages 54.0 yards per game on the ground and has earned 29.2% of Baltimore's red zone rushes. The Titans are numberFire's fourth-worst schedule-adjusted defense through Week 6, and if Baltimore is dismantling them, #8 will almost certainly have a hand in it.

I'd absolutely being looking Lamar's way before Derrick Henry ($16,000) in the midst of Henry's worst season as the full-time running back. Henry is averaging -0.19 EPA per carry and hasn't looked dynamic, either. Baltimore, as usual, has a top-10 rush defense in numberFire's metrics, so King's path to a worthy choice at MVP is pretty simple -- multiple short touchdowns. I'd rather not bank on that.

With that said, it won't be easy pickings for Ryan Tannehill ($13,500) or DeAndre Hopkins ($12,500), either. The Ravens are numberFire's third-best pass D, which is a shame considering these two just got on the same page last week against the Indianapolis Colts. Hopkins lassoed in 8 of his 10 targets for 140 yards, and that's a workload to buy before his first score of the season. George Pickens just cracked a main slate perfect lineup against this defense, so it's not crazy to think Hopkins could continue that success.

Tannehill's case is a bit tougher given an EPA/db near Lamar's (-0.10) but with none of the rushing upside (8.0 yards per game) to make up for it in a tougher matchup. If he wasn't projected to be popular, you might be more intrigued by an under-the-radar quarterback, but some project him as the second-most popular choice behind Jackson on the slate.

Some might also loft Mark Andrews ($14,000) into this tier, but he's been reliant on scores to really pad his fantasy totals in 2023. He's scored three times in four games but has drawn just 18.7% of the Ravens' air yards with more weapons in the fold this year. He'll need a lot of those dinks and dunks to beat out the rest of the MVP contenders.

Flex Breakdown

Without factoring in salary, I'd rather have Zay Flowers ($11,500) than Andrews, so he makes for a zany MVP choice in tournaments if we're stretching that far. The former Boston College Eagles great has transitioned nicely to the NFL, drawing a 28.6% target share and 30.7% of Baltimore's air yards in his first campaign. The speedster will bust a long touchdown at some point, too.

Baltimore's backfield is a pretty gnarly spot due to injuries. Justice Hill ($10,500) played 55.2% of the snaps in Week 5 but drew just seven carries. Gus Edwards ($11,000) led the running back room in carries (12) but only logged 38.8% of the snaps and earned just one target. Hill also got three red zone chances to Edwards' one, so he's the standard process play of the two at a lower salary -- but nothing is safe here.

Nick Westbrook-Ikhine ($10,000) has a salary that makes zero sense when he drew just three targets in Week 5 and ran only 58.3% of Tennessee's routes. I'd rather use a kicker. Presumably, his bump is because Treylon Burks (knee) will sit again this weekend, but Chigoziem Okonkwo ($8,000) was the biggest beneficiary of Burks' absence with nine targets, and two of those were in the red zone. If Baltimore's stout secondary funnels targets short, Chig will benefit.

I also think Tyjae Spears ($8,500) benefits in these tough matchups as a low-average-depth-of-target (1.3 aDOT) option. Spears has this interesting role playing over half of the Titans' snaps (50.2%) while drawing 5.4 carries and 3.8 targets per game. Of course, the third-round rookie would pivot to an every-down role should something happen to Henry, and that's also worth considering in a single-game setting.

Darts exist in the rest of Baltimore's pass-catching group. Nelson Agholor ($8,000) played the most snaps (39) and saw the most targets (5) of anyone outside of Flowers and Andrews last week, and he's played ahead of Odell Beckham ($7,500) and Rashod Bateman ($7,500) all season. Bateman's snap share last week (38.3%) just isn't enough for the salary when he only got three chances to touch the football.

Justin Tucker ($9,500) is headed to Canton one day, but Baltimore's 77.2% rate of scoring touchdowns in the red zone has capped his ability to kick many field goals. Tucker has also, uncharacteristically, missed two of seven attempts in 2023. The better kicking option might be Nick Folk ($9,000); the sack-happy Titans have converted red zone trips to touchdowns at the fourth-worst in the NFL (35.3%).

Speaking of the sack potential in this one, the Baltimore D/ST ($9,500) has a great matchup with the Titans ceding the fourth-highest pressure rate (30%) in the NFL. The Ravens' 29% pressure rate isn't amazing, but they're due for regression with just 10% pressure-to-sack conversion rate so far. I discussed how poor the Tennessee D/ST ($9,000) has played this season earlier, but Baltimore has let eight turnovers loose (tied for eighth-most in the league), so it wouldn't be a total stunner to see them have a decent day on FanDuel.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.