Fantasy Football: Optimal FanDuel Lineup for Week Two

FanDuel DFS Picks for Week Two – Cash Games

FanDuel Cash Game Lineup – Week Two 

We saluted Andy Dalton, clapped for AJ Green, gasped at James Conner, unloaded the Gronk bomb and rode Alvin Kamara to a decent scoring lineup last week. That was the good. Unfortunately, it wasn’t all good for FanDuel.

The Saints defense haunted the dreams of anyone playing DFS FanDuel last week, so I should probably issue a formal apology to everyone who took my advice. They were started in nearly eighty percent of ESPN leagues, meaning they collectively let down everyone playing fantasy football across all formats. All logic and reason told us to lean that way, but I should have known that magic isn’t something that follows logic and reason. Fitzmagic cast a spell on the entire Saints secondary and left a dark mark on all of our lineups (Harry Potter, anyone?). This week gives us a shot at redemption and offers some very obvious plays once again.

Quarterback – Alex Smith – $7,100

Smith is consistently one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the NFL. He posted QB4 numbers last season and was a borderline MVP candidate then ended up in Washington where he has a solid group of weapons around him. For some reason drafters still overlooked him in the preseason and even now he’s priced as the16th best quarterback for week two. He matches up against an Indianapolis defense that made Andy Dalton look like Peyton Manning in week one, and faces a group of cornerbacks that are both inexperienced and graded below average according to Pro Football Focus. This selection allows you to have a very high floor and pay up at another position. It’s an easy call based on his price, and he should deliver the proper value for cash game lineups this Sunday.

Melvin Gordon-$8,200

I’ll offer some season long advice that applies to both DFS and redraft leagues: attack Buffalo. This might be one of the worst NFL teams in recent memory. Melvin Gordon had a shockingly impressive week one usage that went a bit under the radar. While the fantasy industry was up in arms about Austin Ekeler, Gordon settled in for fifteen carries and saw a whopping twelve targets. He’s a bona fide workhorse, receives the goal line work and is quietly a monster in the passing game. He comes with one of the highest weekly floors in the entire league and faces an abysmal Bills team that will have a tough time keeping up. The game script should favor Gordon early and often. He’s a high floor, high ceiling play in week two and leads the list of “buy now” candidates in redraft. He’s definitely worth the price during a week that everyone will be building lineups around this next guy.

Todd Gurley – $8,900

I don’t have much to say that hasn’t already been said about Gurley. He’s far and away the best fantasy asset in the league and it’s not really close. He is force fed every touch in the Rams backfield that matters and they have enough weapons to keep defenses honest in the passing game. Arizona surrendered 160 yards of offense to the endangered species that is Adrian Peterson, and Gurley makes AP look slow. He should go bananas all afternoon and his usage in cash games will be high, but it’s too juicy of a matchup to ignore.

Devin Funchess– $6,000

Funchess might be a name that surprises people who haven’t been reading up on the injury train that hit the Falcons this past week. They took a huge blow last Thursday when Keanu Neal suffered a season ending knee injury, but things got even worse when Deion Jones joined him on the IR. The Falcons lost their two biggest playmakers on defense which should allow Carolina to exploit them all over the field.

Funchess took a back seat to Christian McCaffery and Greg Olsen in week one, which was expected. Things should look much different in week two since an injury sidelined Greg Olsen as well, leaving Funchess as the next man up. The only reason he’s a household name in fantasy circles at all is because he stepped up when Olsen was out last season. This game projects to be a high scoring affair, and it’s worth stacking a couple players to take advantage of it. Cam has a connection with Funchess that is very real, so the trust factor alone makes him a solid play.

Antonio Brown – $8,900

25 mile per hour winds. Pouring rain. James Conner saw thirty-one touches. Ben Roethlisberger threw three picks. As for Antonio Brown? He kicked his feet up and told all his fantasy owners to chill…..just like every other week. He ended up seeing sixteen targets on his way to a 93 yard, 20+ fantasy point performance. The Steelers week two contest against Kansas City is projected to be a shootout and Brown typically steps up in these situations even more so than usual. Business will be boomin’ on Sunday and so will his ownership percentage on FanDuel, but don’t let that stop you from another no brainer. Last week was the attack of the chalk, and sometimes fantasy football doesn’t need to be difficult. Pay up for AB, and cash in while doing so.

Quincy Enunwa – $5,000

“It’s awesome to throw to him” according to Sam Darnold. He made that noticeable on Monday night against the Lions when he targeted him ten times for a total of six catches and sixty-three yards. He’s clearly Darnold’s go to guy which was a trend that started late in the preseason. The Jets lack any serious weapons outside of Enunwa and Robby Anderson, which means this connection might be something that’s very fantasy relevant all season. Minkah Fitzpatrick isn’t necessarily the easiest matchup, but he’s not really a lockdown corner that sends receivers to fantasy wasteland like Patrick Peterson or Jalen Ramsey would. Enunwa is insanely cheap this week for someone targeted as heavily as he was and he benefits from a concept as old as time itself – “there’s really no one else”.

George Kittle – $5,600

Mark my words: Kittle will breakout this season. He popped up on everyone’s radar last week when he was targeted nine times for a total of ninety yards. What wasn’t noticed by the general public was the wide open eighty yard touchdown that fell right through his hands, something that would have lit the waiver wires on fire. Kittle is as cheap as he’ll be all season in both DFS and season long, it’s time to take advantage. Detroit looked like a high school defense against the Jets on Monday night and I doubt they’ve righted the ship this quickly.

Week two is the home opener for San Franscisco, and Jimmy GQ looks like he’s at least close to the real thing. Kittle had an eye popping 118 air yards which is a territory typically reserved only for Gronk. He might be the breakout player of the year, and that campaign continues on Sunday.

Flex – Tevin Coleman – $5,900

Everything I discussed in regards to Devin Funchess applies to Coleman as well. Devonta Freeman will be on the sidelines and there’s a lot of data that supports Coleman being at least a similar talent to Freeman, if not better. He proved last year he can support a full workload and his price doesn’t have the Freeman news baked into it. He’s a bargain from a salary standpoint and a stud from a projections standpoint. Don’t think twice about throwing him into your cash lineups, you don’t get RB1 workloads this cheap very often.

D/ST – Los Angeles Chargers -$4,400

I could just finish this now by saying “come on y’all….they play Buffalo”.

For the sake of being professional I’ll expand a little bit but we don’t necessarily need to. It’s a shame Joey Bosa won’t be on the field because that would be a total sack party but the Chargers still have a lot of talent in other areas without him. The Bills named Josh Allen the starter which is the right move from an organizational viewpoint, but it’s a gift to any D/ST gearing up to face him.

Keep in mind – the Ravens defense ate the Bills alive in week one. For some reason Los Angeles isn’t even priced as a top three option but have a realistic shot at finishing at the top of the leaderboard. Stacking them with Gordon adds a little spice to this lineup, and it should round out into an easy week for you to cash.

I’ll continue to do these week by week, but in the mean time throw me a follow on Twitter @TheFFGator and don’t hesitate to reach out with any tough lineup decisions you may have.  Good luck this week, and let’s hope we see the same fireworks we saw in week one.