DraftKings 2025 Week 7 UFL DFS Tournament Plays

A lack of NFL football, or football in general, is a terrible thing. But football is still hanging around, thanks to the UFL! And since DraftKings is offering DFS tournaments, it’s time to discuss the top plays and contrarian options so we can bink some UFL tournaments.

I’ll go position by position, highlighting my favorite plays for tournaments. I'll include a TL;DR for those who don’t want to read my reasoning and just want the top-value plays. I’ll also include teams’ implied totals directly below to help readers understand the offenses Vegas thinks will put the most points on the board.

Team Totals

DC Defenders (22.5) @ San Antonio Brahmas (14.0)

Michigan Panthers (22.5) @ Arlington Renegades (20.0)

Houston Roughnecks (16.5) @ Birmingham Stallions (22.0)

St. Louis Battlehawks (21.5) @ Memphis Showboats (17.5)

TL;DR

In the TL;DR, I’ll list the top plays in order of value (according to me). This isn’t super strict, it does not factor in ownership, and in some cases, it’s sort of arbitrary. It also doesn’t matter nearly as much as my readers think it does. What matters is maximizing the correlations within your lineups, and ensuring you include at least a few players on each tournament team who should be on the lower end of ownership (I highlight a few in my write-ups). Get creative!

Plays ranked in order, with tier 1 in bold, and assumes notable questionable players suit up…

QB: Bryce Perkins, Jordan Ta’amu, Max Duggan, Jalan McClendon, Case Cookus, Luis Perez, Dresser Winn, Kevin Hogan

RB: Dae Dae Hunter, Zaquandre White, Wes Hills, Jashaun Corbin, Toa Taua, Jacob Saylors, Deon Jackson, De’Veon Smith, Ricky Person, CJ Marable

WR/TE: Chris Rowland, Justin Smith, Ra’Shaun Henry, Justin Hall, Malik Turner, Hakeem Butler, Braylon Sanders, Jaylon Moore, Marquez Stevenson, Jace Sternberger, Lawrence Keys, Siaosi Mariner, Daewood Davis, Jonathan Adams

QB

Jordan Ta’amu ($10,500) – DC is still pacing for the modern spring record in plays per game (67.8), and they are still incredibly aggressive throwing the ball downfield (Ta’amu’s 12.8 aDOT is the highest we’ve seen since Josh Johnson in the 2020 XFL). But what’s different in Week 7 is that they have the best possible matchup. San Antonio allows 7.5 YPA (+17% worse than the next-worst pass defense) and 339.8 YPG (worst by 38.0 YPG). And the Brahmas' offense is downright awful and has only averaged 42.0 plays per game over the last two weeks. Maybe I’m overrating the matchup; the Brahmas might be so bad that they can’t push Ta’amu to a decent score. But the inefficiency of the San Antonio defense, combined with the pace and downfield aggression of DC, suggests one of the better spots of the year for a DFS blowup game.

Bryce Perkins ($10,300) – Perkins is the easy front-runner for league MVP and fantasy MVP after his performance last week. The highlights were absurd, and Perkins finished the day with 31.1 DraftKings points thanks to 188 passing yards (2 TDs) and 76 rushing yards (1 TD). He’s the league’s best passer by YPA (8.5), completion percentage (72%), and passer rating (112.1). And he’s the league’s best runner by yards after contact per attempt (5.1) and missed tackles forced per attempt (0.44). (Only Deebo Samuel has posted a higher missed tackles forced per attempt rate than Perkins over the last four years of pro football.) Perkins has a tough matchup – Arlington ranks as the league’s toughest defense by YPA allowed (5.2) and YPC allowed (3.3) – but I said the same thing last week about DC’s defense and it didn’t matter at all. I love clicking the guy who is a lock to sign an NFL contract in ~6 weeks.

Max Duggan ($9,700) – Duggan is just an RB playing QB at this point. He’s averaged 10.3 carries per game over the last three weeks, but just 8.0 completions per game over that stretch. The results haven’t been great for fantasy (15.6 DraftKings FPG), but we can’t forget Duggan had a 30.0-point game in Week 5 – so there is some upside here. He’s a QB I can only play naked or single-stacked with Hakeem Butler (who has earned 31% of the Battlehawks' targets since returning from injury).

RB

Full Season Weighted Opportunity:

Week 6 Weighted Opportunity:

Toa Taua ($7,800) – Taua earned 56% of Michigan’s backfield weighted opportunity last week, despite a healthy Nate McCrary ($6,300). Over the last three weeks, Taua (who was working on a golf course a month ago) has led all RBs in DraftKings FPG (17.0) and inside the 5 carries (4). His receiving workload has been nonexistent (0.7 targets per game over that stretch), but it hasn’t mattered when he’s the lead RB on the best offense in spring football. Efficiency may be hard to come by against an Arlington defense allowing just 3.3 YPC, but Taua should push for close to 20 carries if Michigan can maintain a lead. I love him within game stacks or paired with the Michigan defense.

ZaQuandre White ($7,700) – Kirk Merritt ($6,100) got pretty beat up in Week 6, and I’m not sure if he will be able to suit up in Week 7. If Merritt plays, you can disregard this analysis and assume a rather gross, three-man committee led by White. But if Merritt sits, this should be a true bellcow workload for White. In the three weeks where one of White or Merritt has missed a game, the remaining RB has earned 81% of backfield weighted opportunity in a backfield that’s worth 18.3 WO/G (5th-most). And that might be underselling it a bit – Jalan McClendon (who has only played the last three games) is currently the check-down king of the NFL, targeting RBs on 21% of his throws (1st among active QBs). If Merritt sits, White is right there as the best RB play of the slate.

Update: Merritt is out. Wheels up for ZaQuandre White.

Dae Dae Hunter ($6,200) and De’Veon Smith ($5,000) – Kalen Ballage is sadly lost for the season due to a shoulder injury, which should make this a two-man backfield in Week 7. If you exclude Ballage, Hunter has earned 85% of backfield WO this season, while Smith has only earned 8 carries, but 6 of those have come inside the five. We could see a true split here (like what we saw previously between Ballage and Hunter) where both players struggle to exceed ~65% of backfield WO. Or, we could see a true bell cow workload for Hunter, with Smith only coming in for short-yardage opportunities or to give Hunter a breather. Given how few touches the team has awarded Smith, I side more with this being a bell cow game for Hunter – but we will need to consider both possibilities as we build our lineups this week.

Wes Hills ($6,000) – Hills was signed last week and immediately stepped in as the lead back in Memphis ahead of Deneric Prince ($6,600). In Week 6, Hills earned a 65% snap share (3rd-best), 13.9 WO (2nd-best), 59% of backfield WO (6th-best), and 10.5 DraftKings points (7th-best). He’s an obvious value at RB13 on DraftKings, especially after HC Jim Turner said, “I thought Wes Hills ran well, he was a great addition to our offense… I know Wes Hills because he was the leading rusher in the league when I was with New Orleans. He’s a beast.” It’s a tough matchup against a St. Louis run defense that’s only allowed 3.3 YPC (toughest), but Hills is still a strong value as the lead RB in Memphis.

Deon Jackson ($5,800) – It finally happened. Jackson has usurped Abram Smith ($7,300) as the lead back in DC. Last week, Jackson (10.4 WO) more than doubled the weighted opportunity of Smith (4.8), while earning more snaps (51%), and 75% of backfield red zone opportunities. I’m not sure we can call this anything more than a 55/45 committee as things stand right now, but that’s still moderately valuable for DFS given Jackson’s price tag, DC’s willingness to use him at the goal line (100% of backfield goal line carries since Week 4), and the matchup. No team has allowed more rushing YPG (127.7) or plays per game (63.0) than San Antonio. This plays right into what DC wants to do. They are pacing for the most plays per game (67.8) in modern spring football history, and they have been relatively run-heavy (52% pass rate) when leading. This will likely be one of the best opportunities to pair Jackson with the DC defense.

Jashaun Corbin ($5,300) – Things are looking rather bleak for Anthony McFarland’s Week 7 availability after he suffered a shoulder injury and could not return to the Brahmas’ Week 6 game. McFarland only logged a 12% snap share, while Corbin picked up most of a vacated workload, leading the backfield with 70% of WO and a 74% snap share. We need to remember that the Brahmas are among the worst offenses in spring football history, so a bell cow workload in San Antonio is arguably less valuable than anywhere else. But this is basically the discounted version of what we expect from Arlington’s backfield this week. Corbin should handle the vast majority of RB touches, while Aidan Robbins ($4,000) will steal goal line carries and serve as the spell back. Corbin profiles as a strong value if you believe San Antonio’s offense can be semi-competent in a tough matchup against DC.

Update: McFarland is out.

WR/TE (Quick Hits)

The San Antonio Brahmas

So much has changed with this group of pass catchers in the last two weeks.

Justin Smith ($3,500) and Ra’Shaun Henry ($3,000) profile as two of the best low-priced WR values we’ve seen all year after both players logged route shares over 95% in Week 6, and are listed as starters in Week 7. I dropped my best piece of insider info last week on Henry, but Smith emerged as the target hog, leading the team with a 33% share (compared to 4% for Henry). I still think it’s highly likely that Henry emerges as the better player between the two – but this group is in flux.

Jontre Kirklin ($8,200) is off the injury report but weirdly ran just 2 routes last week. And Jacob Harris is out this week, but also rode the pine in Week 6 with 2 routes. I’m not sure what to expect from Kirklin this week. He’s a listed backup, which doesn’t make sense if he’s healthy. His floor is zero (although he did drop a wide open 45-yard TD in Week 6), and the ceiling is probably ~50% of routes (which is almost worthless in an offense this bad).

And Marquez Stevenson ($4,900) is the only slot receiver left standing, as both Greg Ward and Matthew Sexton are out this week. He’s a lock to run almost every route from the slot.

The team also traded for Dee Anderson ($4,600) on May 5th, although I doubt he’s comfortable enough within the offense to earn more than a part-time role this week.

This is weird and largely uncharted territory for the Brahmas pass catchers, but I’m fine with taking shots in tournaments on all of Smith, Stevenson, and Henry – granted Smith and Henry are my favorite options in this anemic offense.

Chris Rowland ($8,700) somehow isn’t the most expensive WR in the UFL after averaging 22.1 DraftKings FPG over the last three weeks. Over this stretch, he has +6 more targets (33) than the next-closest player (Justin Hall), +102 more receiving yards (267) than the next-closest player (Deon Cain), and +18 more routes (113) than the next-closest player (Braylon Sanders). He’s primarily benefitting from DC’s breakneck pace (67.8 plays per game), an elite screen game role (7 screen targets since Week 4, 2nd-most), and plenty of downfield targets (5th-most deep targets since Week 4). He’s a cash game lock and offers the best floor of any pass catcher.

Hakeem Butler ($8,300) has led the UFL in target share over the last two weeks (31%), but that’s only amounted to 10 targets (11th-most) because of how little St. Louis is passing the ball. We know Butler can break a slate on just a few targets, so I’m still more than happy to play him in tournaments. But if no other Battlehawks’ WR can push for 4-plus targets in an individual game, Butler is really your only option if you want to stack Max Duggan.

Siaosi Mariner ($8,000) feels due for a blowup game. He’s a great player (2.19 YPRR in his spring career) and plays with the best QB in spring football on the best offense in spring football. His recent volume has still been fairly strong; Mariner has earned the 10th-most targets (19), and the 3rd-most receiving yards (195) since Week 3. His costly price tag will subdue ownership, but he’s a great way to lower your cumulative ownership on Bryce Perkins stacks.

Tyler Vaughns ($6,900) confusingly earned a route on just 48% of dropbacks last week, after leading Arlington in target share in Weeks 4 and 5. He’s not on the injury report, so this is probably just a fluke and an opportunity to grab discounted exposure in Week 8. But if Vaughns is in the dog house for some reason, it will make things more concentrated around JaVonta Payton ($5,600), Deontay Burnett ($6,700), Isaiah Winstead ($7,100), and Sal Cannella ($7,600).

Cornell Powell ($5,700) was on the injury report last week and only earned a 33% route share – easily surpassing his previous season-low of a 68% route share in Week 3. I don’t think Powell has played poorly enough to justify an outright benching, so I’m still excited to roster him in tournaments in the hope that Week 6 was a one-off, especially because he’s off the injury report this week. From Week 2 through Week 5, Powell ranked 5th in targets (27). And over the full season, he leads all players in targets of 20-plus yards (12).

Cade Johnson ($3,300) led Birmingham in targets (6) last week, and he logged the 3rd-highest route share (55%), behind only Deon Cain ($7,900) and Jace Sternberger ($4,100). I don’t think this signals much of anything – I still only really want exposure to Cain, Sternberger, and (to a lesser extent) Davion Davis ($5,100) on my main slate Birmingham stacks. But Johnson does project as an acceptable value for the Sunday-only slate.

Kai Locksley ($3,000) is a bit interesting for his respective showdown slate after he logged a 72% route share and 11% target share in Week 6. Memphis has been extremely erratic with rotating their WR3 and WR4; Isaiah Washington ($3,400) earned a 71% route share in Week 5, but that fell to 28% in Week 6. So, there is some risk here, especially if Eli Stove ($3,000) is active (Stove earned a 64% route share in Weeks 1 and 2). But for the main slate, the only Memphis WR I trust is Jonathan Adams ($9,300).

Update: Locksley is a listed starter, but something far more shocking can be noticed on the Memphis depth chart – Kwamie Lassiter is out, and Daewood Davis is a listed starter. Davis is a mediocre play for the main slate but a pretty compelling tournament option for Sunday-only contests.