DFS Gut Plays week 2 2017

By JJ Buck

If you’re reading this, you are amid a whirlwind of fantasy opinion and football statistic overload. With this article, we are looking at matchups that standout after a quick look over of the schedule and prices; going with your gut. Here we’ll look at DraftKings (DK) and Yahoo Sports (YS). As always, be sure to know the scoring settings; DK is a PPR league as opposed to .5 PPR for Yahoo.

Quarterbacks

Russell Wilson – Seattle (DK $6,700 – YS $31)
The Seahawks return home as -13.5 point favorites over San Francisco. A shaky offensive line and questionable running back rotation mean Wilson is going to shoulder the load of covering that spread. Wilson is priced in the middle of the pack on YS and sets up to be a good stack candidate with either of his top targets, while he is the sixth most expensive choice on DK.

Philip Rivers– Los Angeles Chargers (DK $5,800 – YS $36)
There are no style points in fantasy. Rivers only put up 192 yards, but salvaged his day with two late touchdown passes (3 TD – INT). He’s the opposite of Wilson as YS has him as the fifth highest priced QB on the board, but is in play to free up salary on DK if you like to bet on the River. Miami will be playing their first game of the season in L.A. and I expect it to be close, meaning Rivers will sling-it.

Jameis Winston – Tampa Bay (DK $6,300 – YS $31)
Can Chicago take their week one fight on the road in Mike Glennon’s revenge? There is a lot weighing on everyone in Florida so seeing Winston roll out his new additions on offense will be a welcomed sight for Bucs fans. As -7 point home favorites I like Winston’s chances at multiple TD’s and a nice yardage day.

Running Backs

Melvin Gordon – LAC (DK $7,000 - $29)
The Le'Veon Bell train will be full and Kareem Hunt steps into the void left David Johnson this week. Gordon is a three-down threat and showed good burst against Denver. He caught five-of-six targets and rushed 18 times. The yardage will go up and the TD potential remains high.

DeMarco Murray – Tennessee (DK $6,300 – YS $27)
Being held to 44-yards on 12 carries at home against Oakland will set off early season fantasy alarms. A week one let down and a road matchup against a game Jacksonville defense should keep his ownership numbers low. I expect Mike Mularkey to feed Murray early and often as they try to get their exotic smash mouth rhythm back.

James White – New England (DK $4,000 – YS $17)
We all watched what Sam Bradford did to New Orleans in week one. The Patriots will be a popular stack at the Saints and with Mike Gillislee stealing the headlines; I’ll take a cheap flyer on White. A red zone receiving score, that’ll be the hope after five targets and 10 rushing attempts week one.

Jacquizz Rodgers – Tampa Bay (DK $4,400 - $21)
I included Rodgers because he’s a cheap starter and we’ve seen the success, but also to expand on how wild running back ownership could be this week. There are plenty of value plays leaving roster flexibility and I will be messing with stud/value, two studs, etc. combinations until 10:59 a.m. MT Sunday morning.

Wide Receiver

Doug Baldwin – SEA (DK $6,700 – YS $30)
You’re paying up for Baldwin on YS, but I like his chances at a TD and plenty of looks in the passing game.

Paul Richardson (DK $4,200 – YS 14) caught 4-of-7 targets for 59-yards.

Golden Tate – Detroit (DK $6,800 – YS $22)
Kenny Golladay backed up the hype and with his price tag (DK $4,000 – YS $16) he’ll be highly owned on slates involving the Monday night game at the New York Giants. Tate has Mathew Stafford’s eye, caught 10-of-12 targets week one and in a game where their run game could be stymied, give me those Tate receptions.

Mohamed Sanu– Atlanta (DK $4,500 – YS $18)
Sanu averaged 43.5 yards per-game last year and caught six passes for 47 yards in week one. This week I like his chances at adding a TD to his totals as an up-tempo game at home against the Packers bodes well for all involved.

DK Receptionists– Adam Thielen ($5,000), Randall Cobb ($5,900), Demaryius Thomas ($5,900).

YS Touchdown Makers – Michael Crabtree ($21), Mike Evans ($31),

Tight Ends

Jimmy Graham – SEA – (DK $4,900 – YS $21)
Hash-tag stack squad. Outside of paying top dollar for Rob Gronkowski, Graham is my favorite pay-up TE play.

Jared Cook – Oakland – (DK $3,300 – YS $18)
The issue with Cook is can he steal a red zone target from Amari Cooper or Crabtree? He caught all five of his targets for 56-yards week one. There’s no threat to his playing time and Derek Carr could have a first half field day at home against the New York Jets.

Defense

Last week was too easy as we went with the Rams who were affordable and dominated Scott Tolzien and the Colts. You’ll have to pay-up for this week’s Colts opponent, Arizona. The top plays under $4,000 on DK; BAL $3,700 vs CLE, OAK $3,500. Running back the Rams (DK $3,000 – YS $16) could be sneaky as Kirk Cousins is going to be throwing the football a lot on the road.

Yahoo Cup Review

After one week I sit 18,625 out of 265,145 entries, after posting 118.94 points.

QB – Marcus Mariota (18.84) – His legs saved the day with a rushing TD.

RB – Todd Gurley (18.10) – A 5-56 receiving line is encouraging for his season long status, but 10-40 on the ground continues to be a concern. Got the expected rushing TD vs. Colts.

Le'Veon Bell – (6.20) – Who wasn’t burned by Bell week on?

WR – Amari Cooper – (14.70) – The only bright spot among my WR picks; 5-62-1.

Kelvin Benjamin – (3.00) – I questioned fantasy life for a moment after one catch for 25-yards.

Eric Decker – (2.50) – Eight targets, two in the red zone, I went a little too far outside the box.

TE – Austin Hooper – (19.80) – Two targets is awesome if you break one for an 88-yard TD.

Flex – Ted Ginn – (7.80) – It was a very disappointing night across the board for the Saints.

DEF – Rams – (28) – If only I picked better wide outs.

Odds from VegasInsider.com