This week's DFS build comes down to one obvious truth: Ottawa is 0-12 and Calgary's offense should feast.
Three games on the board this week — Montreal at Hamilton, Edmonton at Toronto, and Calgary at Ottawa — and none of them look particularly competitive on paper. That's great news for anyone building lineups, because when the score gets out of hand, volume follows. Montreal and Edmonton are both fighting for the top seed, Calgary gets a Redblacks defense that has lost every single game this season, and Hamilton just can't stop anybody through the air.
Must-Start Players
These four are the backbone of any winning lineup this week. Build around them and fill in the rest.
- Davis Alexander (QB, Montreal Alouettes) — $9,900: 4,196 yards, 27 touchdowns, just 3 interceptions all season. He's a career 4-0 against Hamilton and 14-0 against East opponents. This isn't a matchup to fade — it's a matchup to build your whole slate around.
- Tyler Snead (WR, Montreal Alouettes) — $10,300: 75 catches, 1,242 yards, 11 touchdowns, plus he can throw it. Snead is the priciest receiver on the board for a reason — he's Montreal's alpha and Hamilton hasn't found an answer for anybody in that receiving corps all year.
- Justin Rankin (RB, Edmonton Elks) — $8,600: 852 rush yards, 9 rushing touchdowns, and 50 catches out of the backfield. That's a bell-cow with a PPR floor built in. Edmonton needs this game to protect its grip on top spot in the West, and Rankin is the workhorse getting the ball.
- Dedrick Mills (RB, Calgary Stampeders) — $8,200: 937 rushing yards on the year and now he gets a Redblacks defense that has lost 12 straight. This is the single best matchup on the board this week. Mills should carve up the defense from start to finish.
Top Value Plays
Finding cheap production is how you win DFS. These guys are priced like role players but play like starters.
- Kevin Mital (WR, Toronto Argonauts) — $5,000: 64 receptions, 735 yards. That's borderline WR2 production at a price tag that lets you spend up everywhere else.
- David Ungerer III (WR, Toronto Argonauts) — $7,600: 851 yards, 6 touchdowns, and he's sitting right on the doorstep of his 100th career catch. Milestone games tend to bring extra targets — take advantage.
- Kaion Julien-Grant (WR, Edmonton Elks) — $5,100: 33 catches, 435 yards, 4 touchdowns on a bargain salary. He's the boom piece in Edmonton's passing attack.
- Erik Brooks (WR, Calgary Stampeders) — $6,000: 53 catches on the season, and now he gets to feast on an Ottawa defense that can't stop anyone. Stack him with Mills for a Calgary onslaught.
- Greg Bell (RB, Ottawa Redblacks) — $6,200: 40 catches, 286 receiving yards. Ottawa is bad, but Bell's the pass-catching outlet and he'll see plenty of garbage-time volume if this one gets away from them early.
Sleeper Picks
Low-owned, high-upside options that could take over a GPP lineup.
- Cole Spieker (WR, Montreal Alouettes) — $5,600: 26 catches, 3 touchdowns as Montreal's third option. When Snead and Philpot draw the coverage, Spieker eats.
- Isaiah Smith (RB, Toronto Argonauts) — $6,600: 351 rush yards and 10 catches out of the backfield at a cheap price. He's a safe flex piece against Edmonton.
- Keric Wheatfall (WR, Hamilton Tiger-Cats) — $6,800: 709 yards on the year, and he's the one Hamilton weapon who keeps producing no matter who's throwing him the ball.
Players to Avoid
- Chad Kelly (QB, Toronto Argonauts) — $10,500: 20 interceptions on the season is alarming, and now he runs into an Edmonton secondary that's produced two of the league's top five interception leaders in Tyrell Ford and JJ Ross. Kelly's ceiling is real, but so is the turnover risk. Pass at this price.
- Jake Maier (QB, Ottawa Redblacks) — $9,100: 14 touchdowns against 14 interceptions on a team that's lost every single game this year. There's no juice here, and the price tag doesn't match the product.
- Larry Rountree (RB, Hamilton Tiger-Cats) — $6,400: One rushing touchdown in 12 games. Hamilton's offense has looked lost for weeks, and Rountree's volume hasn't translated into anything resembling fantasy production.
Budget Lineup of the Week
This build leans hard into the Calgary-Ottawa smash spot while still grabbing a stud QB and stacking cheap volume everywhere else. It comes in well under cap, leaving room to pivot if news breaks before kickoff.
| Position | Player | Team | Salary | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Vernon Adams Jr | Calgary Stampeders | $9,400 | Faces the league's worst defense — huge volume and rush TD upside |
| RB | Dedrick Mills | Calgary Stampeders | $8,200 | Best matchup on the slate against Ottawa's run D |
| RB | Isaiah Smith | Toronto Argonauts | $6,600 | Cheap flex-caliber back with pass-catching upside |
| WR | Kevin Mital | Toronto Argonauts | $5,000 | 64 catches at a $5K price tag — pure value |
| WR | Kaion Julien-Grant | Edmonton Elks | $5,100 | Cheap big-play upside in a good Elks offense |
| TE | Maximilian Mang | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | $2,500 | 12 catches, 3 TDs at minimum salary — a steal at the position |
| FLEX | Erik Brooks | Calgary Stampeders | $6,000 | Second piece of the Calgary stack vs Ottawa |
Total Salary: $42,800 / $50,000
Final Thoughts
The theme this week is simple: fade Ottawa's opponents' worries and stack Calgary. Mills, Adams Jr., and Brooks all get the same juicy matchup, and there's no reason not to load up. On the other side, Montreal's offense against Hamilton is close to a lock, so pairing Alexander with Snead gives you a stack that's hard to pass on even at premium prices. The contrarian move? Fade Chad Kelly. Everyone will roster him because of the yardage totals, but 20 picks on the season against Edmonton's ball-hawking secondary is asking for trouble.