NFL DFS DraftKings Week 2: QB Ownership Projections
Every week of the NFL season, I will provide you with my projected ownership of each position for the DraftKings main slate. These DraftKings Week 2 QB Ownership projections are based on social trends, pricing, injury reports, match-ups and so on. Sources include beat reporters, weather reports, individual team injury reports, Pro Football Reference and FanShare Sports.
Each and every week, I will be your ownership guru here at Fantasy CPR. On Saturday’s, you will have access to my projected DraftKings Week 2 QB Ownership for the week and we will recap the results on Mondays/Tuesdays. Click Here To See Week 1 Ownership Results for QBs.
For clarity, we will only be analyzing the main slate of the week (1PM and 4PM EST games) on DraftKings which includes the new version of the Millionaire Maker, Roman’s Fantasy Football Millionaire.
The best thing that can happen to your lineup is finding a low owned, high reward player who can separate you from the competition. There is no better feeling than seeing your top WR score two touchdowns and noticing he is only owned by 2% of the field.
This season, I will provide you with who I expect to be the highest owned players at each position along with some of the top expected performers with low ownership expectations. I will also provide my picks per position based on the ownership and pricing relationship and isolate a few hidden gems.
"A contrarian is a person that takes up a contrary position, especially a position that is opposed to that of the majority."
Let’s take a look at the projected DraftKings Week 2 QB Ownership!
DraftKings Week 2 QB Ownership: HIGHEST OWNED QUARTERBACKS
DraftKings Week 2 QB Ownership: Top Tier (Around 10% owned)
One week after the highest owned QB (Drew Brees) only registering for 11.86% ownership, we are heading for another week of the same results. I wouldn’t be shocked if no QBs are over 10% owned. Tyrod and Ben Roethlisberger will be the only two who flirt with that number.
Tyrod Taylor ($5900) helped the Browns to their first W.. Non Loss in three years against a Steelers team without Le’Veon Bell. Taylor now heads to New Orleans to battle a team that just let Ryan Fitzpatrick destroy them for 45.3 DK points. You better believe the public is leaning towards that trend.
Taylor had a successful Week 1 with 24.6 DK Points mostly due to his 77 yards on 8 rushes with a TD and a fumble. He was an awful 15 for 40 (37.5%) for 197 yards with 1 TD and an INT. Water will find it’s level for both. Taylor has 30.3 rushing yards per game over his career and has a completion percentage of 61.6%.
Ben Roethlisberger ($6900) has been cleared to play this Sunday vs. the Chiefs. In a game that the public loves as a shootout, Roethlisberger will try to pick up the first win on the season after a tie with the Browns. The Chiefs allowed Philip Rivers to throw for 418 yards despite defeating the Chargers 38-28 so we may be in another situation where it is totally possible that the Chiefs win and Big Ben still has a great performance.
In Week 1 he threw for his typical 335 yards on 41 attempts but had a poor TD/INT ratio of 1/3. He clearly lost a huge piece in Le’Veon Bell being there for what seems like hundreds of checkdowns a game. I also didn’t see the typical connection between Big Ben and Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster has yet to get going. Still, the potential is there and the public is riding with Big Ben.
Middle Tier (7-10% owned)
Deshaun Watson ($6300) is clearly still working his way back. After an off season of recovering, Watson saw the Patriots in Week 1 where he completed 17 of 34 passes for 176 yards, a TD and an INT. He added 40 rushing yards but he also fumbled the ball. Thankfully, the Texans get to play the Titans this week who are ravaged by injuries. After losing Delanie Walker for the season and Marcus Mariota will be in rough shape if he does indeed suit up.
Watson is also likely to get his second favorite target back this weekend in Will Fuller. The Watson-Fuller connection last year was electric for a few weeks before the ACL injury.
Jimmy Garoppolo ($6000) will go up against his former co-worker during his time in New England, Matt Patricia and the Detroit Lions. Garoppolo looked a little lost out there in Week 1 against the Vikings and their Top 3 defense. On the other side, the Lions made rookie Sam Darnold look like a pro bowler. Say all you want about Patricia ‘knowing’ Jimmy Garoppolo better than anyone…I’ll need to see the Lions show up first before making an assumption based on that. Garoppolo could be in line for a big bounce back week and will only be modestly owned despite a relatively low cost.
Patrick Mahomes ($6100) being around 7-8% this week is mind boggling. His price only rose $100, he is in a game with the highest total of the week, he is facing a defense that is likely worse than the Chargers and he scored 28.34 DK Points with only 27 pass attempts last week? Not to jump the gun on my picks but SIGN ME UP. Getting Mahomes for less than 10% owned will be very hard to avoid this weekend.
Alex Smith ($6000) is getting a little buzz after a solid first week completing 21 of his 30 passes for 255 yards and 2 TDs. Of course, he was 6 of 7 to Chris Thompson out of the backfield but I don’t care how you get it done, points are points. With a healthy Jordan Reed and a pair of running backs to draw attention away from Smith, he has a favorable matchup at home vs. the Colts. Priced the same as Garoppolo, I would be surprised if there wasn’t a little separation between the two as we head into tomorrow making Smith a decent pivot play.
Who should I play out of the expected ‘chalk’?
Similar to last week, the ownership will stay low across the board this weekend which allows you to play a chalk-y quarterback if you choose to do so. That being said, there are a handful of QBs under 5% expected ownership who can give you the separation you need to excel in GPP tournaments. Out of the chalk, I would lean towards Tyrod Taylor and Patrick Mahomes to have have the best value in Week 2.
DraftKings Week 2 QB Ownership: Low Ownership Targets – Week 2 Quarterbacks (5% Owned or Lower)
There are a TON of premiere quarterbacks this week who I expect to be under 5% owned. This is the ‘short’ list but the list goes on and on. As I mentioned, you can really create separation in your GPP tournaments and even cash games by playing one of these low ownership targets in Week 2.
Drew Brees ($7200) is once again our highest priced QB this week after stringing together 37 of 45 passes (for a 82.2% completion percentage!) with 439 yards and 3 TD. Those are insane numbers for a guy many believed to be on the downside of his career. Of course, his team was embarrased by Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Bucs in Week 1 but that doesn’t take anything away from Brees’ performance.
Brees will face a Browns defense that slowed down Big Ben last week in a 21-21 tie. His connection with Michael Thomas is stronger than ever and Kamara should be considered an elite WR as well as a RB for DFS purposes.
Cam Newton ($6600) and the Panthers will take on a depleted Falcons defense this week in a NFC South showdown. This division will be tight all season and these divisional games will take on a little extra meaning. Similar to Brees and the Saints, the Panthers have a running back who is much more of a receiver than a true back giving Cam an extra weapon to produce passing statistics. The absence of Greg Olsen will be huge and Devin Funchess will need to step up his game or there may be a good reason the public is fading SuperCam. Without Devonta Freeman, the Falcons lack a RB who can eat away the clock which should give the Panthers a few extra positions and snaps this weekend.
Tom Brady ($6500) has been historically good against top tier or #1 defenses. In the AFC championship against the Jaguars last season, Brady completed 26 of 38 passes for 290 yards and 2 TDs. In that game, Rob Gronkowski only had 1 catch for 21 yards. I don’t know if you have been paying attention to the tabloids but the Jaguars are hyping this game up to the level of ‘Regular season super bowl’. Myles Garrett said it was the biggest game of his life and Jalen Ramsey has been very vocal about his expected dominance of Gronk. I don’t know if you have paid attention to the Patriots in years past but they typically don’t take too kindly of public trash talking. Motivation is a hard metric to calculate in DFS but I wouldn’t bet against Brady and the Patriots putting up points this weekend.
Philip Rivers ($6700), similar to Drew Brees, put up huge numbers (33 DK Points) in a loss in Week 1. His opponent, the Buffalo Bills, were demolished by the Ravens 47-3 in Week 1 by a Baltimore team that didn’t look that great on Thursday Night vs. the Bengals. Rivers and the Chargers will be desperate to avoid the 0-2 start and I find it hard to fade Rivers in this situation. You can get him right around 2-4% owned this week if you want to buy into how perfect of a situation this is for Rivers.
Jared Goff ($6300) really heated up in the 2nd half against the Raiders on Monday Night and threw the ball 33 times despite having a top 2 running back in the world. Brandin Cooks is clearly a deadly target to add to this roster and Cooper Kupp is becoming a reliable slot man for Goff and this offense. Facing an Arizona team that was handily taken care of by Alex Smith and the Redskins last week, Goff should be as productive as any QB with a projected ownership of 1-2%.
A Star is Born in NY! Sam Darnold ($5100) is your cheap and low owned option this week who will face a division rival for the first time of his career. The Dolphins defense looked pretty good against the Titans, but it is hard to get a good read after hours of weather delays and Tennessee injuries scattered across the gridiron. After an impressive debut, you really only need around 15 DK Points for Darnold to hit value this week who is expected to see the return of another WR in Kearse.
Next. Fantasy Football Start or Sit Week 2. dark
DraftKings Week 2 QB Ownership: Which Low Owned QBs Should I Consider This Weekend?
I see two glaring opportunities within the batch to see amazing return under 5% ownership. Drew Brees and Philip Rivers are desperate to avoid a 0-2 start for teams that are expected to make playoff runs this season. They have favorable match ups (Browns and Bills) and have well oiled machines on the offensive side of the ball. I am worried about game script if either game gets out of hand but I think the juicy ownership opportunity for both is too hard to pass on. Not on this list, but read more if you want to see why I think Josh Allen is a great option for those looking to take a leap of faith in Week 2.