These articles will focus on games being played at FanDuel. Each week I will highlight some of my preferred plays of the week, plus some deeper “Tournament” plays who will be decent options to mix in for the larger field tournaments in an effort to differentiate your lineup from the similar higher owned lineup options.
For those of you who are not familiar with the format at FanDuel, here is a quick primer:
- Scoring: Half PPR with 4 point Pass Touchdowns, -1 for Interceptions and -2 for Fumbles Lost.
- Lineups: 1 Quarterback (QB), 2 Running Backs (RB), 3 Wide Receivers (WR), 1 Tight End (TE), 1 Kicker (K), and 1 Defense (D).
- Salary Cap: 60,000 with player salaries ranging from 4,000 to approximately 10,000 in any given week.
Different from some of the other sites, there is a small range of salaries from the top to bottom players, so rather than a “Stars & Scrubs” approach as many will take on certain sites, on FanDuel you are better off looking for value in the midrange and avoiding the bottom end players unless a clear value play emerges.
FanDuel Weekly Picks (Week 2)
Week 1 Rankings (These rankings are only for the Sunday/Monday FanDuel leagues, the Denver Broncos/Kansas City Chiefs game is not part of these rankings)
Quarterback Top Plays
- Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints (8900 vs. TB) – Brees is on the pricier side of the quarterback salaries, but coming off a loss to Arizona in Week 1, a home date against Tampa Bay is just what the doctor ordered. Despite three interceptions in their game in the Superdome last year, Brees still racked up 371 yards and two touchdowns.
- Sam Bradford, Philadelphia Eagles (7500 vs. DAL) – Bradford was listed as a Top Play in last week’s article, and he will remain here this week with a strong offensive matchup at home against the Dallas Cowboys
- Tyrod Taylor, Buffalo Bills (6300 vs. NE) – With 15.9 points last week, Taylor was one of the best value plays at the position; I see no reason to not give him another chance at what is still a big value in a game where Buffalo should need to throw even more than last week.
Secondary Plays
- Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys (8500 at PHI)
- Carson Palmer, Arizona Cardinals (7800 at CHI)
- Nick Foles, St. Louis Rams (6500 at WAS)
Tournament Plays
- Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks (8500 at GB)
- Andy Dalton, Cincinnati Bengals (6900 vs. SD)
- Jameis Winston, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6600 at NO)
Running Back Top Plays
- Marshawn Lynch (8500 at GB) – Lynch has destroyed the Packers over the past two seasons, with 267 yards and 3 touchdowns in two games against Green Bay, who also lost their starting inside linebacker last week while being torched by Matt Forte.
- Jeremy Hill, Cincinnati Bengals (8400 vs. SD) – San Diego was eaten alive by rookie Ameer Abdullah early in their Week 1 game; I think this week, the Cincinnati offensive line will be able to open up large running lanes for Hill.
- Ameer Abdullah, Minnesota Vikings (6400 at MIN) – Minnesota has been much better defensively against the pass in recent years. After Carlos Hyde rand roughshod all over the Vikings in Week 1, I began to salivate over Abdullah’s potential coming out party this week.
Secondary Plays
- Mark Ingram, New Orleans Saints (8000 vs. TB)
- Justin Forsett, Baltimore Ravens (7800 at OAK)
- Carlos Hyde, San Francisco 49ers (7000 at PIT)
Tournament Plays
- Doug Martin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6900 vs. TEN)
- Bishop Sankey, Tennessee Titans (650 at CLE)
- Lance Dunbar, Dallas Cowboys (4800 at PHI)
Wide Receiver Top Plays
- Odell Beckham Jr., New York Giants (8700 vs. ATL) – After a quiet Week One, I expect the Giants to try to get Beckham back on track in Week Two in a game that should figure to require a lot of points to win. Beckham Jr. should see a workload similar to Jordan Matthews’ performance on Monday Night, but he should add at least one score to the stat line.
- Brandin Cooks, New Orleans Saints (7400 vs. TB) – Similar to Beckham Jr., Cooks was a disappointment in Week One and the Saints are likely to try to get him going at home against a subpar opponent.
- Terrance Williams, Dallas Cowboys (6300 at PHI) – Williams will be widely owned in DFS this week with Dez Bryant shelved for two months, but unless you are a strong fader of highly owned players, I would advise sticking him into your lineups and moving on to a different roster spot.
Secondary Plays
- Julio Jones, Altanta Falcons (8800 at NYG)
- Jordan Matthews, Philadelphia Eagles (7000 vs. DAL)
- Cole Beasley, Dallas Cowboys (5700 at PHI)
Tournament Plays
- Jarvis Landry, Miami Dolphins (7100 at JAC)
- Pierre Garcon, Washington Redskins (5400 vs. STL)
- Tavon Austin, St. Louis Rams (4900 at WAS)
Tight End Top Plays
- Tyler Eifert, Cincinnati Bengals (5900 vs. SD) – I have been referring to Eifert as “Baby Gronk” all offseason and he was one of my top plays last week; this week Cincinnati has a home game against the Chargers who have notoriously had issues covering tight ends, including allowing 53 yards and a touchdown to Eric Ebron of the Lions in Week One.
- Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4500 at NO) – I guess 25.5 points is not enough to warrant a salary bump for Week Two; Seferian-Jenkins should be very well represented in the DFS market this week.
Secondary Plays
- Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots (8300 at BUF)
- Greg Olsen, Carolina Panthers (6000 vs. HOU)
Tournament Plays
- Martellus Bennett, Chicago Bears (6100 vs. ARI)
- Larry Donnell, New York Giants (5300 vs. ATL)
Kicker Top Plays
- Matt Bryant, Atlanta Falcons (5000 at NYG) – Another high scoring matchup for Atlanta should result in another good opportunity for Bryant to score some points.
- Zach Hocker, New Orleans Saints (4500 vs. TB) – Hocker is going to be on a lot of my rosters with a dome game that New Orleans should score often in, only danger is that he does not get more than one field goal because New Orleans is able to convert on all of their red zone trips.
Secondary Plays
- Cody Parkey, Philadelphia Eagles (5000 vs. DAL)
- Dan Bailey, Dallas Cowboys (5000 at PHI)
Tournament Plays
- Graham Gano, Carolina Panthers (4600 vs. HOU)
- Josh Brown, New York Giants (4500 vs. ATL)
Defense/Special Teams Top Plays
- Baltimore Ravens (5000 at OAK) – After shutting down Peyton Manning in Denver, a game against Derek Carr and the Raiders should seem like a bye week.
- St. Louis Rams (4900 at WAS) – It is a road game, but playing Kirk Cousins and the Redskins is a much easier task than Russell Wilson and the Seahawks.
Secondary Plays
- Miami Dolphins (5100 at JAC)
- Carolina Panthers (4700 vs. HOU)
Tournament Plays
- New Orleans Saints (4500 vs. TB)
- Indianapolis Colts (4500 vs. NYJ)
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