Everyone is always hunting for values when playing DraftKings but you can’t fill your lineup with all value players. The $50,000 salary cap should be completely utilized when you enter your contest.
Let’s take a look at what line-up may produce the best points in Week 2. This will not include Thursday’s game, only the Sunday/Monday games.
As a preface, I try to throw a stack into every lineup, whether a QB/WR combo or TE/DEF combo, I find them valuable. This week will be no difference.
QB: Tom Brady $7900
RBs: Tarik Cohen $4100 | Ty Montgomery $5800
WRs: Keenan Allen $5800 | Jarvis Landry $5500 | Cole Beasley $4300
TE: Rob Gronkowski $6900
FLEX: Tyreek Hill $6200
D/ST: Oakland Raiders $3500
Kicking things off is the stack of Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. The New Orleans Saints host the Patriots in a match-up of defenses that looked totally over-matched in week 1. The Saints made Sam Bradford look like the second coming of Peyton Manning while the Patriots turned Alex Smith and Kareem Hunt into top fantasy players.
I’m going with Brady/Gronk over a stack of Brees/Thomas simply for the fact that I trust them to rebound with extended rest against a team going on a short week. I also think the Saints will look at the ease at which the Chiefs ran on the Patriots and feed the ball to Mark Ingram and Adrian Peterson.
Both players are at the top of their respecitve positions, which means we will be bargain hunting throughout the rest of the lineup. I find the best values this week are at running back.
The Chicago Bears rookie sensation Tarik Cohen impressed in his debut against Atlanta especially as a pass-catcher hauling in eight catches for 47 yards. The Bears used him all over the field, and given DraftKings PPR scoring he will continue to rise in price. This week at $4100 he is too good to pass up in a game where Chicago will likely be trailing again.
Speaking of pass-catching running backs, the Green Bay Packers’ Ty Montgomery faced the same Falcons defense that let Cohen catch all those pass last week. This will likely be a shootout between two fantastic offenses. A game like that gives the converted wide receiver Montgomery plenty of opportunity on the ground and in the air.
Wide receiver is where I tried to spread the wealth out a bit more, but always looking at players that will receive a lot of targets. Starting in Los Angeles where the Chargers and Dolphins meet. Both teams’ top options both find themselves in this lineup at a similar price. Again, this is about the fact that both are PPR monsters and neither secondary is particularly scary. Allen caught a touchdown in his debut back from an ACL injury last season. Landry has yet to see the field after being postponed last week.
The two other wide receivers to make the team are Cole Beasely and Tyreek Hill.
Beasley has an obvious connection going with Cowboys’ quarterback Dak Prescott. With his ability to play inside, it should steer him clear of Denvers’ lock down corners. I expect the Cowboys to lean on the run and leave Prescott with short yardage conversion chances. That is where Beasley excels.
Hill welcomes the Philadelphia Eagles to town, a team that just lost it’s best corner in an already weak secondary. The speedster is always a possibility to score and this week should be no difference. Coach Andy Reid will line him up all over the field and put an emphasis on getting him the ball. Again, opportunity abound for him.
Finally, the Oakland Raiders defense and special teams unit gets the nod. They are DraftKings sixth-ranked defense but the Jets are one of the league’s bottom three offenses. The Raiders defense was a mediocre unit last season but looked very good against the Titans Sunday. Defensive player of the year candidate Khalil Mack and the rest of this attacking defense should feast on this bad offense and force them into turnovers.
Next: Week 2 Fantasy Football Starts & Sits
That total line-up comes out to exactly $50,000. The big spending on Brady/Gronk will really decide whether this line-up is successful. The abundance of pass catchers at a good value has me excited for week 2!