Coming off a wild and wacky Week 1 of the NFL season, the football gods bless us with a 13-game main slate for Week 2. Today, we’ll walk through the top NFL DFS Picks for Week 2 with an emphasis on overreactions to Week 1, both in terms of pricing and ownership, and how you should navigate them.
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NFL DFS Picks for Week 2: Time to Overreact!
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NFL DFS Picks for Week 2: Quarterbacks
Cash: Patrick Mahomes (KC): $7,000
Unlike in NBA DFS, or even MLB DFS, in which we see very concentrated ownership on players, quarterback ownership is usually pretty spread out. Such is the case on Sunday, where Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is projected to be the highest owned signal caller on DraftKings at 12.3%. Commanders rookie Jayden Daniels is the only other quarterback projected to come close to being double-digit owned, with most of the other arms on this slate coming in somewhere between 3-5%.
As is the case with NBA and MLB DFS, we want to follow the ownership in cash games. While it might not be as drastic at quarterback as it is at some other positions, expect Mahomes to be even higher-owned in cash games than he’s projecting for tournaments. Given his floor/ceiling combination every time he steps on the field, Mahomes looks like a pretty easy plug-and-play in cash games at a modest $7,000 price tag.
GPP: Jared Goff (DET): $6,400
Coming off an unspectacular Week 1 in which he threw for only 217 yards and one touchdown, Lions quarterback Jared Goff is the top tournament quarterback to target on DraftKings. Though he isn’t getting completely forgotten about, Mahomes, Daniels and Kyler Murray are all projected to be higher than Goff, who is arguably in the best spot on them all.
Over his past four games against Tampa Bay, Goff has averaged exactly 25 DraftKings points per game. Considering the Lions are currently 7.5-point favorites in a game with by far the highest point total of the week at 51.5-points, it’s a bit surprising Goff isn’t getting more love.
With wideout Jameson Williams and tight end Sam LaPorta both healthy, Goff has an elite cast of playmakers at his disposal, and there’s a ton to like about him in a game that could easily turn into a shootout. It’s a good thing he gets points for yards after the catch.
Other quarterbacks to consider for NFL DFS GPPs: Jayden Daniels, Matthew Stafford, Baker Mayfield, Daniel Jones
NFL DFS Picks for Week 2: Running Backs
Cash: Breece Hall (NYJ): $7,400 & Jordan Mason (SF): $5,200
The two highest projected owned players on the slate, there’s no getting away from either Breece Hall or Jordan Mason in cash games.
Starting with Hall, the Jets’ dynamic running back is currently projecting to be far and away the highest owned player on the entire slate. The mark of $7,400 might be the cheapest we see Hall all season, so if you want to fade him, do it in GPPs, not cash games.
The story is similar for Mason here. While he’s not as talented of a runner as Hall, Mason is easily the top value play on the board at only $5,200. With Christian McCaffrey out this past Monday night, Mason carried the rock 28 times for 147 yards and one touchdown. With McCaffrey out for at least the next few weeks, expect San Francisco to rely heavily on Mason as his replacement, and his $5,200 price tag looks like a free square on DraftKings,
GPP: Josh Jacobs (GB): $6,500
With Hall, Mason and Zach Charbonnet all expected to get a good amount of love, most of the other running backs on this slate are going to be somewhat contrarian. Most of them won’t be as contrarian as Packers running back Josh Jacobs, however, and he’s one of my favorite differentiators on the entire slate. Jacobs was undoubtedly more solid than spectacular in his Packers debut last Friday night in Brazil against the Eagles. After a horrendous first half, Jacobs looked good in the second half, ultimately rushing 16 times for 84 yards and catching two passes for 20 yards.
With quarterback Jordan Love out and backup Malik Willis presumably taking his place, the Colts have moved from a three-point underdog in the lookahead line, to a three-point favorite. While there’s little doubt that Willis isn’t a very good NFL quarterback, expect to see a heavy dose of the run from the Packers and head coach Matt LaFleur. Matched up with a Colts team that just gave up 159 yards rushing to Joe Mixon, Jacobs has slate breaking upside in this spot, and only 4.5% of lineups are expected to roster him on DraftKings.
Other running backs to consider for NFL DFS GPPs: Travis Etienne Jr., Derrick Henry, James Conner, Austin Ekeler,
NFL DFS Picks for Week 2: Wide Receivers
Cash: Deebo Samuel (SF): $6,800
Much like his teammate, Jordan Mason, wide receiver Deebo Samuel is too cheap for his role on the 49ers with Christian McCaffrey sidelined. Coming off an impressive Week 1 in which Samuel caught five passes for 54 yards while also rushing eight times for 23 yards and a touchdown, getting him the ball is a clear priority with McCaffrey off the field.
While there is some question as to whether you should play both Samuel and Mason together in tournaments, there is no getting away from either of them in cash games. Expect big price jumps for both of them next week on DraftKings, so locking them in this week makes a ton of sense.
GPP: Amon-Ra St. Brown (DET): $8,100
Coming off one of the worst games of his career, there’s a lot to like about Amon-Ra St. Brown in a bounce-back game on Sunday against the Buccaneers. Though he’s still expected to get some love in a game with the highest total on the board, St. Brown’s poor Week 1 is helping him fall through the cracks a bit more than he otherwise would this week.
St. Brown is expensive at $8,100, but he always has slate-breaking upside, and matched up with a Tampa defense against which he has found a ton of success, his ceiling is sky-high in this spot.
While there’s no doubt his three catches for 13 yards was a disappointment for St. Brown’s fantasy owners last week, the star receiver had at least 90 yards in 11 of 16 regular-season games last year. Considering he averaged 27 DraftKings points in the two games he played against the Buccaneers last season, St. Brown is one of the top players at any position to target in tournaments
Cash & GPP: Cooper Kupp (LAR): $7,600
Coming off a Week 1 in which Cooper Kupp caught 14 passes (21 targets) for 110 yards and one touchdown, it’s no surprise that he’s projected to be the highest-owned wide receiver in Week 2 on DraftKings. While his 24.9% projected ownership isn’t close to that of Breece Hall’s or Jordan Mason’s, Kupp is just as much of an integral piece in cash games as the two runnings backs.
With Puka Nacua out for at least the next few weeks, Kupp could easily emerge as the top wide receiver in all of fantasy football. Kupp was the only player in the NFL with more than 12 targets during the opening week of the NFL season, and his rapport with quarterback Matthew Stafford is undeniable. Matched up with a Cardinals defense that was one of the league’s worst in 2023, fade Kupp in tournaments at your own risk.
NFL DFS Picks for Week 2: Tight Ends
Cash: Travis Kelce (KC): $6,200
Truth be told, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce isn’t nearly as dominant in the regular season as he used to be. Whether that’s old age or him understanding how much he’s needed in the playoffs, the days of Kelce putting up monster stat lines in mid-September are seemingly over. All that being said, however, he’s only $6,200 this week, and he’s the clear cash game tight end on DraftKings.
Kelce was rather unspectacular in Week 1 catching three balls for 36 yards against Baltimore. Similar to St. Brown, it’s reasonable to expect some sort of bounce-back for Kelce in a much better spot against the Bengals. While I love the idea of fading a popular Kelce in tournaments, he’s projected to be by far the highest-owned tight end on the board, making him an easy click in cash games.
GPP: Brock Bowers (LV): $4,400
While I would ideally like to get to LaPorta here, salary constraints are a real thing, and he is the most expensive tight end on DraftKings. If I’m not spending up on LaPorta, dropping down to rookie Brock Bowers makes the most sense to me here. Coming off a solid Week 1 in which he caught six balls for 58 yards, Bowers is too cheap for his talent level at $4,400 on DraftKings.
The 13th overall pick in this past year’s NFL Draft, Bowers looked the part in Week 1 and it’s reasonable to expect quarterback Gardner Minshew II to look his way early and often against a ferocious Ravens defense. Though it’s still not the best spot on paper for a rookie tight end, I’m buying Bowers’ talent and expect him to be at least $5,000 on DraftKings as early as next week.
NFL DFS Picks for Week 2: D/ST
Cash DST Options: Packers, Colts, Commanders, Cardinals
GPP DST Options: Cowboys, Jets, Ravens, Broncos, Panthers
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