Montreal's 8-1 and their fantasy assets are just as unstoppable as their record.
Four games on tap this week — Edmonton hosts Winnipeg in a West heavyweight clash, Toronto and Hamilton fight for East relevance, Saskatchewan visits BC in a playoff-seeding game, and Montreal gets to feast on the winless Redblacks one more time. That Montreal-Ottawa game is the smash-spot of the week, and your lineup should reflect it.
Must-Start Players
These four are locks regardless of salary. Pay up, don't overthink it.
- Tyson Philpot (WR, Montreal) — $11,000: 74 catches, 1,154 yards, seven touchdowns, and he gets to do it again against a Redblacks secondary that's been torched all season. He's the highest-priced receiver on the board for a reason.
- Justin Rankin (RB, Edmonton) — $8,900: 697 rush yards, 479 receiving yards, nine total touchdowns. Rankin is a bell-cow in a pass-heavy offense, which means he's printing PPR points every single week. Winnipeg's front seven is stout, but Rankin's receiving work makes him matchup-proof.
- Brady Oliveira (RB, Winnipeg) — $9,300: 735 rush yards and 215 receiving yards against a Bombers-tough slate. He's the workhorse of the league and gets a revenge shot at an Edmonton defense that's given up chunks on the ground.
- Travis Theis (RB, Montreal) — $9,500: 700 rush yards, six touchdowns, and 24 catches out of the backfield. Against Ottawa's league-worst run defense, Theis is a smash play at every price point on the slate.
Top Value Plays
Here's where you find the salary to afford your stars up top.
- Larry Rountree (RB, Hamilton) — $6,000: 509 rush yards and 147 receiving yards on 29 catches. Zero touchdowns kept the price down, but the volume is real and Toronto's run defense has leaked yards all year.
- Tyler Kahmann (WR, Toronto) — $5,400: Five touchdowns on just 33 catches for $5,400 is a joke. He's Chad Kelly's red-zone weapon and this salary doesn't reflect it.
- Kaion Julien-Grant (WR, Edmonton) — $5,200: Three touchdowns, 366 yards, and he's the field-stretcher in an Elks offense that's been humming. Winnipeg's secondary has had trouble with speed all year.
- Greg Bell (RB, Ottawa) — $6,200: 30 catches out of the backfield means Bell is going to catch checkdowns all game long as Montreal's pass rush forces Ottawa into obvious passing situations. Volume floor, even in a blowout loss.
- Maximilian Mang (TE, Hamilton) — $2,500: Three touchdowns on nine catches. That's a touchdown every three receptions. At the TE minimum price, that's the best ratio on the board.
Sleeper Picks
Cheap dice rolls with real touchdown equity.
- Daniel Adeboboye (RB, Ottawa) — $3,800: 11 catches and two rushing touchdowns on the season, and Ottawa is going to be trailing big against Montreal, which means garbage-time targets and short-yardage scores are coming his way.
- Cole Spieker (WR, Montreal) — $6,300: Three touchdowns on just 16 catches. He's the third option in the league's best offense and still finds the end zone at an absurd rate.
- Bryce Perkins (QB, Winnipeg) — $6,500: Four rushing touchdowns on the season out of a backup role. If Collaros sits or Winnipeg leans on the ground game against Edmonton, Perkins is a touchdown-vulture at backup-QB pricing.
Players to Avoid
- Jake Maier (QB, Ottawa) — $10,000: 11 interceptions against 12 touchdowns on a winless team facing the league's best defense. This salary makes no sense — fade with confidence.
- Chase Brice (QB, BC) — $6,500: Four picks in just three games. Saskatchewan's defense has been opportunistic all year, and Brice hands out turnovers like candy.
- Kalil Pimpleton (WR, Ottawa) — $7,900: 31 catches and zero touchdowns. He's priced like a red-zone threat and plays like a possession receiver with no punch. Skip it.
Budget Lineup of the Week
The strategy here is simple — pay for the two locked-in Elks pieces, then surround them with cheap touchdown equity from Hamilton, Toronto, and Ottawa's garbage-time backfield.
| Position | Player | Team | Salary | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Bryce Perkins | Winnipeg | $6,500 | Rushing TD equity at backup-QB pricing |
| RB | Justin Rankin | Edmonton | $8,900 | Dual-threat bell-cow, floor and ceiling |
| RB | Larry Rountree | Hamilton | $6,000 | Volume monster vs a leaky Toronto run D |
| WR | Kenny Lawler | Hamilton | $7,300 | Five TDs on 33 catches, red-zone lock |
| WR | Tyler Kahmann | Toronto | $5,400 | Underpriced TD magnet |
| TE | Maximilian Mang | Hamilton | $2,500 | Best TD rate at the position, minimum price |
| FLEX | Kaion Julien-Grant | Edmonton | $5,200 | Speed weapon vs a beatable Winnipeg secondary |
Total Salary: $41,800 / $50,000
Final Thoughts
The theme this week is obvious — stack the Montreal offense against Ottawa and don't apologize for it. Theis, Philpot, and Spieker can all pay off in the same lineup because Ottawa's defense has no answers, full stop. Contrarian angle if you're playing a big-field tournament: fade the chalk on Rourke and Fajardo and build around the Hamilton-Toronto shootout instead, where both offenses have shown touchdown equity at a fraction of the price.