Fansided

Draftkings NFL GPP pivots: Week 2 – Chalky Chiefs

By Dan Palyo

KANSAS CITY, MO - DECEMBER 30: Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) runs after the catch for a 25-yard reception early in the fourth quarter of an NFL game between the Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs on December 30, 2018 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO. Kelce set the NFL record for most receiving yards by a tight end. (Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MO - DECEMBER 30: Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) runs after the catch for a 25-yard reception early in the fourth quarter of an NFL game between the Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs on December 30, 2018 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO. Kelce set the NFL record for most receiving yards by a tight end. (Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 8
Next
Fantasy football
KANSAS CITY, MO – DECEMBER 30: Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) runs after the catch for a 25-yard reception early in the fourth quarter of an NFL game between the Oakland Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs on December 30, 2018 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO. Kelce set the NFL record for most receiving yards by a tight end. (Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Draftkings NFL GPP pivots: Week 2

The NFL is back in our lives once again! Welcome, Fansiders, to the week 2 edition of Draftkings NFL GPP Pivots. I’m “Thunder Dan” and I’ll be writing this column every week this season with the goal of giving you some of the best NFL DFS plays each week at low ownership.

This article will always come out on Friday, as I have to wait all week and gather as much information as I can to feel confident about who the chalk is going to be and then determine where I want to pivot. Something that makes that process easier for me is using projected ownership percentages at FanShare Sports. While I can’t give you those specific ownerships (They charge for that info!), I can still give you an idea of which players are becoming trendy this week and which lower owned players I like just as much if not more for GPPs on Draftkings.

Let’s start with a quick review of last week’s picks. Matthew Stafford, Josh Allen, John Brown, Evan Engram, and Mark Ingram all ended up being solid picks. Meanwhile, Nick Foles got injured early in the Jags-Chiefs game, Leonard Fournette and Kerryon Johnson were held in check, Julio Jones scored a late TD but was shut down for most of the game by the Vikings secondary, Marvin Jones was a non-factor for Detroit, and Zach Ertz was eclipsed by Desean Jackson as Carson Wentz‘s favorite target against the Redskins.

"My goal in this column every week is to try to help you find those pivots. My process is always to identify the chalk first, evaluate if these plays are worthy of being as popular as they will be on Sunday, and then identifying pivots at similar price points at the same position.  You can pivot off one player in a popular offense to another teammate at a different position, too. Pivoting is all about thinking outside the box. If the DFS community is engaged in a massive groupthink all week about a certain player or game, then a good contrarian GPP player is going to go against the grain in spots that they feel strongly about."

Chalky plays are usually optimal plays and if you’re building cash lineups you should be stuffing a lot of them in those lineups. But for GPPs we are looking for some leverage by either fading “bad chalk” or pivoting to some lower owned plays that can outscore the chalkier plays. You don’t need a lineup full of players who are 10% or lower to win a GPP. What you do need to do is mix and match the more popular plays with some of your favorite pivots in order to create some unique rosters.