NFL DFS game by game breakdown: Week 2

NFL DFS: Buffalo Bills @ New York Giants

Buffalo Bills

The Bills performed just about how we expected them to in week 1 – frustratingly inconsistent with enough excitement to keep them on the radar for week 2. Josh Allen started off rather sluggish, but put together one of the all-around performances that we got a glimpse of last season. He finished with 254 passing yards, 1 touchdown and 2 picks as well as 38 yards on the ground and a rushing touchdown. After seeing what Dak was able to do both through the air and on the ground against the Giants last week, I want all of the Josh Allen I can get in GPPs.

Pairing him with John Brown seems like a logical choice, as Brown led the team in targets (10) and posted a 7-123-1 line. A player like Brown who can create a 13-14 fantasy-point swing on a single play has GPP gold-mine written all over him. We also saw how many deep balls Michael Gallup and Amari Cooper came down with last week, so who’s to say Brown won’t do the same?

The rushing attack was led (in attempts) by Frank Gore, who struggled to gain 20 yards on 11 carries. It was led in production, on the other hand, by rookie Devin Singletary (70 yards) on only 4 carries. Due to the lack of volume, I can’t endorse Singletary this week, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if he saw an uptick in volume.

Cash Plays: none

GPP Plays: Allen, Brown

New York Giants

We got just about exactly what we expected out of the Giants, however Eli Manning had a rather impressive showing with some massive volume. He completed 30 of 44 pass attempts for 308 yards, but was only able to convert that into 1 touchdown. While I won’t be looking his way against Buffalo (or ever), I will be loading up on his favorite pass-catcher so far, Evan Engram. Engram finished 2nd in the league this week in targets (14) and was looked to in just about every situation, including red-zone plays. His price hasn’t moved on FanDuel, making him my favorite point-per-dollar option at the tight-end position.

Sterling Shepard was another player expected to see heavy volume, but ended up with a rather modest 6-42-0 line on 7 targets. The Bills were 7th in pass DVOA against WR1s last season, so that will effectively remove Shepard from consideration in my player pool given the heap of other mid-tier receiving options, especially considering he is currently going through the concussion protocol. Saquon Barkley came out of the gates hot and had an electric 59-yard run early in the game, only to be somewhat phased out of the offense for God knows what reason. He finds himself in a great spot this week as the game could actually present him with some positive game-script. On top of that, the entire left side of the Bills defensive line finished with PFF grades of 60.3 or lower, giving Barkley a clear area to attack. He’s the #1 running back on the main slate and I fully expect him to record his first TD of the season this week.

Cash Plays: Engram, Barkley

GPP Plays: none