DFS NFL Game by Game Breakdown, Week 2

Welcome into the Week 2 edition of the DFS NFL Game by Game Breakdown! We have a full 13 game slate this week so let’s get after it!

It’s a brand new week of DFS NFL football and we have a great 13 games this week and we finally should have some options instead of the crazy chalk Week 1 presented us. Last week was so bad that a 195 score on DraftKings didn’t even make the cut line in some of my cash games, which is the highest Ive ever seen not make any money. There’s a lot more players to exploit this week and the pricing is a lot tighter, which frankly I’m happy to see. Let’s see what advantages we can dig up this week!

DFS NFL – Chiefs at Steelers, O/U – 52.5, Steelers -5

Chiefs Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 30th, 28.9      RB – 31st, 37.3      WR – 25th, 31.7      TE – 20th, 5.7     D/ST – 12th, 10.0

We’re kicking off the article this week with some fireworks as this game has by far the highest over/under on the slate and the highest of the young season. Ben Roethlisberger may have been dreadful in Week 1 but he is in a fantastic bounce back spot in this game. The Chiefs defense got ripped up by Philip Rivers and that doesn’t even show the 40 yard touchdown pass that was dropped by Tyrell Williams. Big Ben always has a little bit of home cooking going as well and was worth an extra 0.5 touchdowns at home last year. He should be right up there at second on the price scale for quarterback. James Conner got massively priced up but I’m not sure it was enough.

He’s going to see virtually any snap on this Steelers offense and the Chargers just surrendered a total of 189 yards receiving and 103 yards rushing to the Chargers running backs. Conner is the whole show for Pittsburgh and should see a significant chunk of those totals. We all know what Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster are capable of. Even with “Road Big Ben” on full display last week, both these wideouts hit at least 19.5 points. They also accounted for 58.5 percent of the total targets and that number likely won’t go anywhere. The Pittsburgh offense is one of the best options on the day.

Steelers Players to Consider 

Cash Options – Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, James Conner

GPP Options – JuJu Smith-Schuster

Steelers Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 27th, 23.5     RB – 15th, 17.1       WR – 18th, 22.1      TE – 11th, 2.5       D/ST – 14th, 9.0 

On the Chiefs side, I think we know where we’re headed since their offense tends to concentrate around just a few players. I think perhaps the chalkiest quarterback is going to be Patrick Mahomes, who is coming off a four touchdown performance on the road and is still just the QB12 in terms of pricing. He also brings some upside with his legs as well with 21 rushing yards last week. The Pittsburgh defense struggled to contain Tyrod Taylor on the ground last week and that end of it doesn’t get any easier.

One of the bigger decisions is going to be if you wan to pay up for Tyreek Hill. I’m inclined to do so right now because the Steelers have nobody that can cover him. In fairness, not many teams do but he could explode again this week. What really catches your eye as Hill saw his aDOT jump up to 17.3 the first game when it was 11.7 last year. Hill also logged the two fastest recorded speeds last game, over 21.5 MPH twice. He seems like he’s in position to cook again. Don’t sleep on Travis Kelce either since he accumulated 92 air yards on his six targets last week for a 15.3 aDOT. He also played every offensive snap. The Steelers also gave up the second most rushing yards last week so Kareem Hunt is a fine play.

Chiefs Players to Consider 

Cash Options – Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill

GPP Options – Kareem Hunt, Travis Kelce, Sammy Watkins

DFS NFL – Dolphins at Jets, O/U – 44, Jets -3

Dolphins Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 4th, 4.3      RB – 20th, 20.1      WR – 6th, 7.9     TE – 26th, 10.1        D/ST – 5th, 13.0 

The Jets are coming off a fairly large upset on Monday night and rookie quarterback Sam Darnold looked pretty solid. I’m not sure I’d want to use him as it was a little hard to gauge how the Jets are going to treat him in a competitive game. He is one of the lowest priced starters on the board and I doubt anyone wants to start Sam Bradford or potentially Josh Allen this week. I can’t take the Dolphins defensive rankings at face since they dealt with a backup quarterback through most of the game. Quincy Enunwa is the receiver to play as he saw almost 50 percent of the total targets for the Jets. It’s difficult to know which direction to go with the running backs here as well. Both Isiah Crowell and Bilal Powell played 40 percent of the snaps and Crowell was the one that broke off a big run of over 60 yards. I think this situation is Darnold as a cheap punt and Enunwa while everything else is still settling into their roles.

Jets Players to Consider 

Cash Options – Quincy Enunwa

GPP Options – Sam Darnold

Jets Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 7th, 6.5       RB – 2nd, 6.9       WR – 24th, 31.3       TE – 5th, 1.2       D/ST –  1st, 26.0

Unless the Jets know what plays are coming for the Dolphins this week, I don’t expect another 26 points out of the defense. New York walked in and smashed the Detroit offense for the most part but they did give up plenty to the Lions receivers. Kenny Stills immediately jumps out as he’s one of three receivers that has two touchdowns and he was being targeted down the field with an aDOT of 16 yards. I would like to see him get more as the season goes on but it’s hard to complain about deep targets to a skilled receiver. If you believe in air yards, Jakeem Grant‘s line of 5/38/0 doesn’t look good but Grant led the team in air yards with 116. Kenyan Drake almost tripled Frank Gore in snaps so it seems like he is firmly the lead dog in the backfield. The Jets gave up the fewest rushing yards but that was against the Lions. Drake is a tournament option this week.I’m a Mike Gesicki guy but it’s not time yet. He only was on the field for 33 percent of the snaps last week. I kind of want to see what this Jets defense looks like before I attack it full speed.

Dolphins Players to Consider 

Cash Options – None

GPP Options – Kenny Stills, Kenyan Drake, Ryan Tannehill

DFS NFL – Eagles at Buccaneers, O/U – 43.5, Eagles -3.5

Eagles Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 10th, 8.84      RB – 14th, 15.5       WR – 16th, 19.8     TE – 9th, 2.4.    D/ST – 13th, 10.0 

Ryan Fitzpatrick is the highest scoring player in fantasy through one game but the matchup gets a good deal harder this week against the Eagles and their deep defense. Even though the Bucs have two receivers in the top five in scoring, there might be a glaring value this week in Chris Godwin. He’s just $4,600 this week on DraftKings and DeSean Jackson is in the concussion protocol. If He sits, Godwin has a clear path to extra targets and badly out-snapped Jackson by a 69.7 to 30.3 rate in this past game. When he sees the field, he flat out produces as Evan Silva illustrates –

That actually might be where my interest begins and ends. I’m not going to talk you off the ledge if you want to play Mike Evans as he caught every target for almost 150 yards in a tough matchup last week. Being seventh in salary does make him appealing but Godwin is such an easy fit that it’s hard to turn away. Peyton Barber is a fine volume play for the running back position but he’s likely going to need a touchdown to pay off. He was on the field for 48 snaps as opposed to 15 for Jacquizz Rodgers and even though he didn’t see a target, the backfield work is his right now. Rookie Ronald Jones was inactive last week so Barber has a pretty solid hold on the lead role. We’ll just find a different week to use it. O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate both saw two targets even though Howard saw the higher rate of snaps.

Buccaneers Players to Consider 

Cash Options – Chris Godwin

GPP Options – Mike Evans, Peyton Barber

Buccaneers Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 31st, 31.5     RB – 30th, 33.0      WR – 30th, 39.3       TE – 22nd, 5.9      D/ST – 17th, 7.0 

I really wish the Eagles were remotely healthy right now because this game would be a lot more fun. Players might see all those points given up to the running backs and go right back to Jay Ajayi but Darren Sproles is kind of attractive here as well. Nick Foles threw 34 passes on Opening Night but only 10 went 10 yards past the line of scrimmage. Sproles saw a 20 percent target share in part because the field isn’t being stretched. Sproles might not be at the level of Alvin Kamara but the Bucs shut down the ground game to the tune of 43 yards rushing for New Orleans. Kamara ripped them up for 112 passing yards and that’s the specialty for Sproles. Ajayi has to score touchdowns to pay off. Until they get healthier, Nelson Agholor and Zach Ertz are the only other players that are viable. They each saw 10 targets and carry PPR value only. Tampa did just lose cornerback Vernon Hargreaves for the season so the defense is not going to be good against the pass. It just depends on if Nick Foles can break his funk to take advantage of it. If the Bucs are this bad against the pass, maybe the turn a profit this week.

Eagles Players to Consider 

Cash Options – None

GPP Options – Jay Ajayi/Darren Sproles, Nelson Agholor, Zach Ertz, Nick Foles

DFS NFL – Browns at Saints, O/U – 49.5, Saints -9

Browns Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 10th, 9.0      RB – 28th, 29.2      WR – 22nd, 28.6     TE – 23rd, 6.0      D/ST – 3rd, 16.0 

Vegas does not care that the Saints got beat by the Bucs last week as they sit at nine point favorites yet again. Michael Thomas was on the field almost every single offensive play last week and while he’s a fine play, I think I’d rather play Antonio Brown. There’s only a $200 difference and the Browns have some talented defenders, notably Myles Garrett and rookie corner Denzel Ward. Garrett was a monster against Pittsburgh and Ward had two interceptions and multiple times that he covered Antonio Brown very well. The Chiefs have no such players right now. Thomas and Alvin Kamara combined for a 65 percent of the targets and both can very well dominate this week yet again. Tedd Ginn is always interesting and he’s clearly the starter opposite Thomas, taking 78 percent of the snaps and seeing 12 percent of the targets. He also led in aDOT by a considerable margin this past week. If you want a cheap tight end, look to Ben Watson. He was on the field for the third most snaps and saw five targets, including a red zone target. Cleveland was the third worst team against the tight end last season. Drew Brees makes the offense go and is a great option at home every single week.

Saints Players to Consider 

Cash Options – Drew Brees, Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas, Ben Watson

GPP Options – Tedd Ginn

Saints Defensive Ranks 2018

QB – 32nd, 42.2    RB – 4th, 7.8     WR – 32nd, 60.1      TE – 19th, 5.4      D/ST – 32nd, -4.0 

The Saints do have talent on the defensive side of the ball but it didn’t show up this past week against the Bucs. They got scorched and I think the Cleveland passing game is very interesting this week. Jarvis Landry is going to lead the pack for me as a cash game play as he dominated the target share last week with 15 while no other receiver saw more than four. He also could have had a much bigger game. He racked up 223 air yards, a 13.9 aDOT and saw a 46.4 percentage of his teams targeted air yards.

Those numbers will decrease a little bit as Josh Gordon continues to get integrated into the offense but Landry is being used differently than he was in Miami as far as we can tell. For reference, Landry’s aDOT last year in Miami was a pathetic 6.4 yards. I also am very interested in Tyrod Taylor again. Granted, he didn’t play very well against Pittsburgh but he brings the rushing upside and he should complete more than 15 of 40 passes this week. I don’t think I’ll have any running backs except for maybe Duke Johnson. He did see six targets this past week on just 41 snaps and this game projects to be high-scoring, which would fit with the strengths of Johnsons’s game well.

Browns Players to Consider 

Cash Options – Tyrod Taylor, Jarvis Landry

GPP Options – Josh Gordon, Duke Johnson

DFS NFL – Colts at Redskins, O/U – 45.5, Redskins -6

Colts Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 16th, 16.5      RB – 22nd, 21.8     WR – 17th, 22.1      TE – 20th, 5.7     D/ST – 27th, 5.0 

I should really not want to, but I find myself considering Adrian Peterson this week. He’s not going to do much in the passing game, despite breaking off a 56 yard reception last week. Peterson only played on 53 percent of snaps but also got 31 touches, which is hard to pass up on at this price point. The Colts gave up over 100 yards rushing last week and you would have to expect Washington will want to feed him the rock once again. Chris Thompson continued his wild streak of efficiency, rolling up over 100 yards and a touchdown on just 12 touches and a 41 percent target share.

The less time Colts quarterback Andrew Luck is on the field, the better it is for Washington. The trio of receivers is uninteresting for now as none of Paul Richardson, Jamison Crowder or Josh Doctson saw over 10 percent of the targets. That may change when Washington isn’t pounding the other team like they did the Cardinals, and the Colts patchwork secondary surprisingly allowed just 229 yards passing and only three explosive passing plays to the Bengals. Jordan Reed saw 12 percent of the targets and two red zone targets but I’m just not sure I’m comfortable spending $5,000 on Reed quite yet.

Redskins Players to Target 

Cash Options – Alex Smith, Adrian Peterson

GP Options – Paul Richardson, Josh Doctson, Jamison Crowder, Chris Thompson

Redskins Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 2nd, 2.8        RB – 15th, 17.5      WR – 6th, 8.0     TE – 7th, 1.9       D/ST – 9th, 13.0 

Luck and basically all the Colts this week are solid mid-range or cheaper plays. The yards per attempt don’t look great from Luck last week but the other metrics suggest that T.Y. Hilton could be dueler a breakout game. Hilton was the only player over 60 air yards and saw 33.9 percent targeted air yards which suggests that it might be a simple timing issue between Luck and his number one receiver. Hilton is only the 11th most expensive receiver on DraftKings so he’s very appealing. If he and Luck find their chemistry, he’s going to be way more expensive.

For the secondary weapons, there are some other areas to attack. Ryan Grant saw a 13 percent target share which isn’t a large number but the overall volume is going to make up for it. Nyheim Hines saw a 24 percent target share since Indy was behind on the scoreboard and he’s a DraftKings only play since it’s full PPR. The tight ends are going to draw some attention and they should. Just keep in mind that Eric Ebron played 45 percent of the snaps while Jack Doyle was on the field for 93 percent and saw double digit targets.

Colts Players to Consider  

Cash Options – None

GPP Options – Andrew Luck, T.Y. Hilton, Nyheim Hines, Jack Doyle, Ryan Grant

DFS NFL – Chargers at Bills, O/U – 43, Chargers -7.5

Chargers Defensive Ranks 2018

QB – 29th, 28.3      RB – 16th, 18.5      WR – 29th, 39.0      TE – 2nd, 0.6       D/ST – 31st, -3.0

Don’t be fooled into playing any Bills offensive player here. The team already started flip-flopping quarterbacks last week and neither Josh Allen or Nathan Peterman is worth the savings to play. LeSean McCoy might see some volume this week but you can’t be excited about any possibility to move the ball in this terrible offense. I wish the Chargers hadn’t been bumped up to the second most expensive defense on the slate but that’s going to happen a lot against the Bills this season. It’s potentially even more attractive with rookie Josh Allen making his first start of his career.

Bills Players to Consider 

Cash Options – None

GPP Options – None

Bills Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 28th, 26.6      RB – 26th, 25.5      WR – 25th, 31.7       TE – 27th, 10.3    D/ST – 30th, 0.0

Melvin Gordon might be the safest play on the entire slate this week. The Bills still haven’t figured out how to defend running backs and even if the unthinkable happens and the Chargers are losing in this game, Gordon saw 13 targets last week and continues to be an asset in the passing game. Gordon actually averaged 4.3 yards per carry last week which is solid. It was just a matter of Los Angeles having to chase the points. We might have started to see the emergence of Mike Williams, who had a 14.7 aDOT, six targets, and over 80 yards receiving. Gordon isn’t going to see 13 targets every game so he has a chance to be productive even though the matchup is tougher this week. Keenan Allen is always going to be solid as well with his safe floor and the only factor I can kind of pick on here is the dreaded West Coast team playing at 1pm on the East Coast. Even then, I can’t see the Chargers not controlling this game.

Chargers Players to Consider 

Cash Options – Keenan Allen, Melvin Gordon

GPP Options – Philip Rivers, Mike Williams, Tyrell Williams

DFS NFL – Packers at Vikings, No Line

Packers Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 16th, 14.0      RB – 11th, 15.4       WR – 8th, 10.0       TE – 9th, 2.4     D/ST – 22nd, 7.0 

The Packers defense played well last week but the Vikings offense is a lot better than the Bears. Jordan Howard was getting some good runs going against the Packers but coach Matt Nagy probably didn’t stick with him enough. Dalvin Cook saw 80 percent of the snaps and added in seven targets in the passing game, raising his weekly floor. The receivers were definitely surprising to me from the target perspective. Adam Thielen saw 12 to just six for Stefan Diggs and I don’t think that disparity continues. There might be games where one leads the other by a significant margin but they won’t happen too often. Green Bay’s new look secondary will be put to the test in this one. The only player that I really am not that interested in at all is Kyle Rudolph. Sure, he played 83 percent of the snaps but he also only saw two targets. Even with tight end being kind of a train wreck, you can’t play for two targets. I think Cook is the best cash game target and then the passing game options are more of a GPP option. Kirk Cousins is sort of in a weird middle ground where I’d rather spend up or down at the quarterback spot.

Vikings Players to Consider 

Cash Options – Dalvin Cook

GPP Options – Kirk Cousins, Adam Thielen, Stefon Diggs

Vikings Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 11th, 9.0     RB – 8th, 12.5     WR – 14th, 17.0      TE – 25th, 9.0      D/ST – 2nd, 18.0

This won’t be said very often, but I’m not sure I’m all that interested in the Packers this week. Aaron Rodgers will almost certainly still be hurt to some extent and you’re really not getting a discount. He’s only $400 less than the highest salaried quarterback on the slate. I don’t really want to chase Davante Adams if he’s going to see a lot of Xavier Rhodes. Randall Cobb had the next highest snap percentage among receivers and there is an interesting stat from our friend Scott Barrett –

Genronimo Allison is interesting since he saw about the same target percentage as Cobb in fewer snaps. Allison might possibly see the “easiest” of the coverage and would be a tournament option since he’s shown the ability to make big plays. Make no mistake, this is a tough matchup for Green Bay even if Rodgers was fully healthy. Minnesota should be able to hold Jamaal Williams in check and that’s going to put all the pressure on Rodgers and his receivers. Volume could come into play but don’t get fooled into thinking this side of the game is a cash play.

Packers Players to Consider 

Cash Options – None

GPP Options – Aaron Rodgers, Any of the three receivers with Allison being my favorite

DFS NFL – Panthers at Falcons, O/U – 44.5, Falcons -6

Panthers Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 8th, 8.7     RB – 10th, 15.1     WR – 10th, 13.6     TE – 6th, 1.8      D/ST – 12th, 12.0 

This is another team that’s going to be pretty easy to breakdown because there is only one player that I would really heavily consider and it’s Julio Jones. First off, Jones is just a bad man who is really good at playing wide receiver in the NFL. Secondly, he played well in this matchup last year through two games, logging a combined  23 targets, 11 receptions, 198 yards. In the one game we’ve seen hm so far, he rolled up 19 targets, 282 air yards(which is by far the most in the league, Jarvis Landry is 2nd at 223) and that was good for 31.0 DraftKings points. The rest of the offense has some issues. Matt Ryan looked pretty rough in Philly which maybe shouldn’t be too surprising considering they have a good defense. Ryan just looked off and was throwing some very poor balls. The running backs don’t do you any good either. Devonta Freeman is nursing a knee injury and he and Tevin Coleman split snaps almost evenly, the touch percentage just about dead even with Freeman at 28 percent and Coleman at 30 percent. The only way Coleman could really pay off is if Freeman gets hurt again.

Falcons Players to Consider 

Cash Options – Julio Jones

GPP Options – Matt Ryan, Devonta Freeman/Tevin Coleman

Falcons Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 3rd, 4.0      RB – 27th, 26.0     WR – 3rd, 6.5      TE – 18th, 5.2     D/ST – 21st, 7.0

We can’t talk about this side of the game without mentioning that both Keanu Neal and Deion Jones for the Falcons have been placed on the IR and while that’s very unfortunate, that means that Christian McCaffrey is one of the plays of the week. Neal and Jones are two of the most important pieces of the Atlanta defense and they’re going to be hard placed to cover McCaffrey without the speed Jones brought from the linebacker position. Even with Jones, the Falcons weren’t good against pass-catching running backs and I’ll lean on Scott Barrett once more –

McCaffrey is a borderline must this week and Devin Funchess is super interesting as well. Rookie D.J. Moore was under 20 percent snaps so they seem to be bringing him along slowly. Now that Greg Olsen is out with a broken foot, that means Funchess is going to step to the forefront. In 2017, he averaged 9.6 PPR points with Olsen and 14.1 points when Olsen was out. His targets went up by 1.5 and his touchdown pace jumped from five to 11 when Olsen was out of the lineup. Cam has historically struggle with Atlanta through 14 games, with an 18/15 TD/INT ratio, 207 yards per game, 51 yards per game rushing and seven rushing touchdowns. He’s also going to benefit from the Falcons defense being less than 100 percent.

Panthers Players to Consider 

Cash Optons – Christian McCaffrey

GPP Options – Cam Newton, Devin Funchess

DFS NFL – Texans at Titans, No Line

Texans Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 25th, 21.2     RB – 24th, 23.8     WR – 10th, 13.6      TE – 29th, 16.3     D/ST – 19th, 8.0 

I didn’t know what to make of the Titans backfield all offseason but I definitely didn’t think we’d see this type of split that we got in Week 1. Dion Lewis dominated almost every facet and saw 71 percent of the snaps the just 28 percent for Henry.  He out-touched Henry by a 21-11 margin and then he actually got one more red zone rush than Henry did. For some reason, Lewis is still cheaper than Henry on DraftKings and is certainly an attractive option at just $5,000. The rest of the offense is sketchy at best. We’re not sure if quarterback Marcus Mariota will suit up and if he’s out, I’m out on this entire offense for the week. Even if he’s in, using him is scary since he hasn’t looked good at any point since training camp started. Jonnu Smith is going to be popular as a salary saver after the Titans lost Delanie Walker to an ankle and leg injury last week. I was surprised to see that Smith played 57 percent of the snaps but its a little harder to believe that really matters for a player that’s going to be thrust into a role. The opportunity will be there but I don’t want to find out the hard way Smith isn’t all that good. Corey Davis saw a bunch of targets but they all rolled together for an 8.1 aDOT. That’s not terribly exciting number and I’m willing to sit out on Tennessee until they get it figured out.

Titans Players to Consider 

Cash Options -Dion Lewis

GPP Options – Corey Davis, Jonnu Smith

Titans Defensive Ranks 

QB – 14th, 13.6    RB – 9th, 12.7      WR – 27th, 32.8      TE – 4th, 1.1     D/ST – 13th, 11.0 

The Titans had trouble keeping Kenny Stills in line so DeAndre Hopkins is going to present a serious issue. Even though his quarterback scuffled last week, Hopkins saw a 32 percent target share, 13.4 aDOT, 174 air yards and 22 percent of the red zone targets last week and was a couple plays away from a massive game. Hopkins has also smoked the Titans through his career, averaging 6.6 receptions, 101 yards and .66 touchdowns in 10 games against them. A Deshaun Watson and Nuk stack look like they could have a good Sunday together and it would really help if Will Fuller is back in the lineup. You’re never going to be excited about it but Lamar Miller is the workhorse once again. He saw 20 carries and 77 percent of the snaps so this are all good signs we you just need a back to fit into a lineup. This isn’t the game with the most sizzle but these games can go overlooked.

Texans Players to Consider

Cash Options – DeAndre Hopkins, Lamar Miller

GPP Options – Deshaun Watson, Will Fuller

DFS NFL – Cardinals at Rams, O/U – 45.5, Rams -13

Cardinals Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 22nd, 19.6     RB – 32nd, 40.1      WR – 3rd, 6.5     TE – 28th, 11.7     D/ST – 26th, 5.0 

Arizona has to be on the road after getting smoked in about every facet of the game last week and it’s to the division rival Rams. That line looks awfully high, even though I don’t expect the Cards to win this game. Todd Gurley has to be in the discussion if you’re spending up at running back. We watched the ghost of Adrian Peterson go over 150 total yards last week and Gurley has shaken off any rust from not playing the preseason. He’s certainly in a great spot this week. The receivers are a little harder to peg yet. All three of them played close to every snap, which ratchets up the difficulty. I tend to rank them like this – Brandin Cooks has the massive week winning upside and the scary floor. Cooper Kupp is Mr. Reliable as he’s turned into the security blanket for Jared Goff. Robert Woods falls somewhere in-between these two categories. He just missed a couple long touchdowns as well Monday night so he has upside as well. There’a reason they keep so many pass catchers happy and that all continue this year.

Rams Defensive Ranks 2018

QB – 5th, 6.2      RB – 20th, 20.5        WR – 1st, 5.2       TE – 32nd, 20.0     D/ST – 3rd, 17.0 

Wow, I’m wondering how the Cardinals are going to put points on the board after getting ripped up by the Redskins and not being able to do squat on offense. Sam Bradford looked hideous and there’s only three players you can consider from this side. David Johnson is down at $8,200, which is about as low as you’ll ever get him. He was pretty average last week so it’s not something that I want to chase, especially since he was used way differently in the passing game.

I don’t like that trend at all but hopefully it was just the first game for the next coaching staff. I likely won’t pay for Johnson to find out this week. Larry Fitzgerald is going to have his hands full with the secondary and there’s many other receivers who look better. The interesting player is Ricky Seals-Jones after the Rams defense got shredded by Jared Cook. Seals-Jones was on the field for 92 percent of the snaps and saw six targets. If you look around at the tight ends, that’s about as good as you get other than the big three at the top. Given the corners that the Rams possess, tight ends against them could become a thing. If Seals-Jones hadn’t dropped a touchdown pass last week, he’d be way more popular this week.

Cardinals Players to Consider 

Cash Options – None

GPP Options – David Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Ricky Seals-Jones

DFS NFL – Lions at 49ers, O/U – 47.5, 49ers -5.5

Lions Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 15th, 13.8    RB – 29th, 30.8      WR – 23rd, 29.3     TE – 3rd, 0.7     D/ST – 17th, 8.0 

Full credit to my podcast partner Adam Pfeifer for putting me onto this game a little more than I was to start the week. This could be a sneaky shootout this week in part because the Lions defense looked awful at home versus the Jets last week and the 49ers have a much better offense. I don’t want to overreact to George Kittle leading the team in targets since Marquise Goodwin was injured last week and only saw one target. However, Kittle led the team in snaps as well and he’s clearly going to be involved in the offense with his two red zone targets. He’s way too cheap this week and is borderline locked up in cash games for me. The Jets didn’t have a tight end of note to see how they defend the position but Kittle is in a good spot.

The cheap running back play of the week might just be Alfred Morris. Yes, he did fumble last week but the San Francisco running back depth chart is too thin to stay in the dog house for long. He had more snaps than Matt Breida and he had every rushing attempt in the red zone last week with five. This is the type of game you play Morris in and he’s $3,600 on DraftKings. If Goodwin remains out, Dante Pettis is a nice tournament option due to his game breaking ability on every play. They also weren’t afraid to have him on the field with over 70 percent of the snaps and a massive 19.2 aDOT. There’s a lot to like from this 49ers offense this week.

49ers Players to Consider 

Cash Options – Jimmy Garoppolo, Alfred Morris, George Kittle

GPP Options – Marquise Goodwin(if active), Dante Pettis, Matt Breida, Pierre Garcon

49ers Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 23rd, 20.3     RB – 6th, 11.7      WR – 19th, 23.1     TE – 24th, 8.6    D/ST – 24th, 6.0

My goodness, the Lions offense looked atrocious and it started with Matt Stafford. He threw pick after pick and the Jets just had their number all night. I think he and the offense bounces back this week, but it’s just a little harder to figure out where to go with him. This trio of receivers is going to continue to give headaches all season when they all play. Kenny Golladay led the team in snaps and yards but some of that may have been due to the blowout nature of the game. Golden Tate saw 15 targets, which is always going to pay off in some way or another. I tend to think Marvin Jones is the most volatile of the group because he is being used as the deep threat, just like last year. He had the highest aDOT by far of the three and his line could have been much better had he come down with another one of those deep targets. I think the play is to go with Stafford and pick two of your favorite receivers. Tate has the safest floor and I think I like Golladay as the number two for this week.

The running back position is still too hard to decipher even if LeGarrette Blount is out. Kerryon Johnson only saw 22 percent of the snaps and Theo Riddick led with 58.5. Johnson did get eight touches when he was on the field but he’s a deep tournament dart until we get a little more clarity here. Stafford has a low enough price to consider with cash but I’m not sure I would trust any receiver in that setting quite yet.

Lions Players to Consider 

Cash Options – Matt Stafford

GPP Options – Any of the three receivers, Kerryon Johnson(if Blount is out)

DFS NFL – Raiders at Broncos, O/U – 45.5, Broncos -5.5

Raiders Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 18th, 17.2     RB – 23rd, 23      WR – 21st, 26.4     TE – 1st, 0.0     D/ST – 29th, 1.0 

The Raiders actually didn’t look terrible for the first half last week and then the wheels came off as the Rams ran away in the second half. Going into Denver to face the Broncos isn’t the easiest road and I have very little interest in the Raiders side of the game. Can you go back to Jared Cook after he led all tight ends in receptions and yards? Sure, but you have to know there’s every chance that he does what is normal for Cook and disappear. What is encouraging for Cook is coach Jon Gruden was already talking about how it was going to be hard to get Amari Cooper going against these corners for Denver. Thanks for the vote of confidence, coach! Cooper and Derek Carr are off the table for me and the only other player is Jalen Richard. He saw a whopping 11 targets as the Raiders offense flat refused to test the Rams secondary. If they try and go with the same gameplay, Richard is cheap enough to consider.

Raiders Players to Consider 

Cash Options – None

GPP Options – Jared Cook, Jalen Richard

Broncos Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 24th, 20.4    RB – 5th, 10.9     WR – 20th, 23.2      TE – 31st, 17.6    D/ST – 11th, 12.0 

The Denver passing game is always easy to breakdown because Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas are going to account for about 50-55 percent of the total targets and that’s exactly what happened last week. Sanders led in targets, aDOT, air yards and had the better fantasy game so he’s still my favorite of the two but he is also a little more expensive than Thomas this week, who is under $6,000. I don’t think you can go wrong with either and Case Keenum is a perfectly fine cheap option at quarterback.

The backfield is a little tougher to peg this week. Royce Freeman and Phillip Lindsay are both intriguing but unstable at best. I like Freeman a little more because he was used as the “closer” last week when the Broncos were trying to salt the game away and I think they should be in that position again this week. Lindsay has more ability in the passing game but I’m not convinced the Broncos need it this week.

Broncos Players to Consider 

Cash Options – Case Keenum, Emmanuel Sanders, Demaryius Thomas

GPP Options – Royce Freeman, Philip Lindsay

DFS NFL – Patriots at Jaguars, O/U – 45, Jaguars -2

Patriots Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 12th, 11.0     RB – 21st, 21.7    WR – 13th, 16.8     TE – 15th, 3.8   D/ST – 18th, 8.0 

This game is very interesting but it might be best to watch it as a real life fan rather than a fantasy player. I’m not going to play any Patriots receiver against these corners but I don’t hate the idea of a Tom Brady-Rob Gronkowski stack here. It could very easily blow up in your face, but just look at how dominant Gronk has been in his past few healthy games.

I mean, that’s just ridiculous. As good as the Jaguars defense is, great offensive players can put up production on them. Ask Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham because it can be down for sure. The only way I would be interested in the running backs is if Sony Michel is still out and the backfield is down to James White and Rex Burkhead.

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If it’s just those two, I think I might throw a dart at them with a Brady/Gronk stack and I might lean Burkhead. They split snaps evenly but we saw Burkhead carry the ball 18 times and they saw the same amount of red zone targets with two. The Pats must not be too worried about his knee. If Fournette is out, I kind of like the Patriots defense as a cheaper option.

Patriots Players to Consider 

Cash Options – None

GPP Options – Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Rex Burkhead/James White

Jaguars Defensive Ranks 2018 

QB – 7th, 7.1     RB – 19th, 20.4     WR – 12th, 13.8     TE – 13th, 3.4    D/ST – 8th, 13.0 

I don’t think there’s much to love from this side of the game. T.J. Yeldon will be the chalk if Leonard Fournette is out and I’ll happily take the free square in cash games but I might get off of him in GPP’s. He’s priced at a point where you can afford to go a different direction and there’s some great pivots right at that same price point. I think Dede Westbrook might be my favorite passing game option simply because he’s the cheapest. He did only see 49 percent of the snaps but the Jaguars might need the pass a little more this week and Westbrook saw more targets than Keelan Cole in 30 percent fewer snaps. The Jaguars defense could be a nice tournament option because players generally don’t play defenses against the Patriots and the Jags have enough talent to pay off in this matchup between sacks and potential turnovers.

Jaguars Players to Consider – 

Cash Options – T.J. Yeldon(if Fournette is out)

GPP Options – Leonard Fournette(if active), Keelan Cole/Dede Westbrook

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