FanDuel Fantasy Football: Week 2 Picks

FanDuel Fantasy Football: Week 2 Picks

This article is part of our FanDuel Fantasy Football series.

Week 1 is in the books, and, unfortunately, it was not me who won the $1,000,000 top prize. However, there's another chance this week for someone to take home $1,000,000 for only a $4 entry. FanDuel will continue to run qualifiers for their World Fantasy Football Championship in which winner of each will receive an early advance of $10,000 as well as a seat at the finals. The finals will be made up 80 contests competing for $2,000,000 including a top prize of $500,000. Let's take a look at some picks for Week 2.

Quarterbacks

This week in cash games the easy call seems like Dak Prescott ($8,300). He'll get a Falcons team at home that was just torched through the air by Russell Wilson and company so it's not a surprise to see the 52.5 over/under here. There's a strong argument that Prescott has the best trio of wide receivers in the league in Amari Cooper ($7,000), Michael Gallup ($6,000) and CeeDee Lamb ($5,200). Cooper is dealing with a foot issue, and if he were to miss this game a Prescott/Gallup/Lamb stack would have an incredibly high ceiling. While Philip Rivers ($7,100) didn't look like the player we've been used to, he's got an excellent home matchup against the Vikings. Minnesota's pass defense looked horrendous last week, as Aaron Rodgers methodically picked them apart. Rivers has capable options with T.Y. Hilton stretching the field and Parris Campbell appearing to emerge. Rivers also loves to check down to his backfield, and has very good options there in Jonathan Taylor and Nyheim Hines. The long shot of the week for GPPs is the Chargers' Tyrod Taylor ($6,800). It was surprising to see him run for only seven yards in his debut for the team and he should improve considerably this week. The hope here is that the Chiefs turn this game into a shootout, which should benefit Taylor. Mike Williams ($5,800) looked fantastic last week, Keenan Allen ($6,900) gets open consistently on short/intermediate routes, and Hunter Henry ($6,100) is a good red zone target. This is a great stack to consider in single-entry tournaments.

Running Backs

Christian McCaffrey ($10,500) is in play every week, and if you make multiple lineups for tournaments, he should always be included in a few. However, this week Derrick Henry ($8,300) makes more sense when considering their respective prices. In fact, I'd guess there's a pretty good chance Henry out-scores McCaffrey given their matchups. It was encouraging to see Henry catch three passes Monday night, and it's not unreasonable to expect more than 30 touches out of the big man again. There's a high floor and ceiling here, as he should have no problem eclipsing 15 fantasy points. The Marlon Mack injury leaves Jonathan Taylor ($5,800) as the biggest beneficiary in the Colt's backfield. This means he should build on his 15 touches from last week and should get at least some of the work at the goal line over Nyheim Hines ($5,500). FanDuel's usage of a flex spot makes Taylor an obvious player to use in cash games. An unpopular pick who could be the centerpiece of winning a large GPP is Miles Sanders ($6,800). He's on track to return to the Philadelphia backfield this weekend, and the team will also welcome back offensive lineman Lane Johnson. At his salary, Sanders likely will not be used in many lineups, but he has a lot of upside if he gets the lion's share of carries right away.

Wide Receivers

It really depends on what happens with Chris Godwin and his concussion, but if Godwin sits this one out, expect Mike Evans ($7,400) to be a popular selection. Tampa Bay should bounce back at home against a suspect Panther's defense, and it's fair to expect Evans to get double-digit targets. Davante Adams ($8,600) rightfully has the highest salary this week after torching the Vikings, and he has another great matchup at home this week against the Lions. There are enough value options at running back to have two elite wide receivers like Adams and Godwin in the same lineup. Despite a tough matchup with the Ravens, it's tough to completely ignore Will Fuller ($6,100) this week. He had 15.2 fantasy points in the opener despite not finding the end zone, and his 10 targets clearly show he's the receiver to own in the Texans' offense. Michael Gallup is $100 cheaper than Fuller and a must-play if there is no Amari Cooper suiting up in Big D. If we are digging deeper, I have interest in DeSean Jackson ($5,500) this week. As stated earlier, Lane Johnson should help give Carson Wentz more time to throw, and the Eagles are favored in this game with home field advantage.

Tight Ends

Evan Engram ($6,000) does not have a low salary comparatively to the other players at the position, but he's in a great spot. T.J. Hockenson just had a good game against the Bears, and now Engram has that matchup. Hockenson had seven targets in the opening game and he should see the same amount with a high completion percentage. Should Chris Godwin sit out this week, Rob Gronkowski ($5,400) is definitely in play. That's such a weird sentence to write especially given his low salary cap price. If you have Tom Brady in a lineup sans Godwin, using him along with Evans and Gronk is an interesting stack. It may be the Bills fan in me, but Dawson Knox ($4,700) is basically a punt and has upside. Josh Allen just missed him in the back of the end zone on a play, otherwise he would have had a double-digit fantasy performance and would not have been this cheap this week. While the Miami cornerbacks are banged up, they're solid (Xavien Howard, Byron Jones), so the Bills should look at finding the mismatches for Knox.

Defenses

This is a great week to find some value at this position. The 49ers ($5,000), Bills ($4,900) and the Ravens ($4,800) round out the top three for salaries yet all are on the road. Looking at the Arizona Cardinals ($3,600), that seems like a wise choice given they're home and against a turnover-prone Dwayne Haskins and the Washington team that has to travel partway across the country. Tampa Bay ($3,800) has my interest as well given the matchup.

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Kevin Payne plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: Fanduel: kevinccp, Draft Kings: kevinccp, Yahoo: kevinccp.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kevin Payne
Kevin has worked for RotoWire over a decade and has covered basketball, baseball and football. A glutton for punishment, he roots for his hometown Bills, Sabres and the New York Yankees. You can follow him on Twitter @KCPayne26.
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