As Sunday of week one approached, the weather forecast for Cleveland vs. Pittsburgh was projected to be very ugly for the passing game. That news forced me to re-think using Antonio Callaway. Unfortunately at the time, Callaway was very low priced and there was no clear one-for-one swap. So I looked at pulling my “worst” player who I determined was Cristian McCaffrey. That gave me enough money to pivot to James Conner and Emmanuel Sanders. That move proved profitable, as that team scored 235.46 on DraftKings, good enough to cash in all of the tournaments entered. Overall the scoring in week one was very high, due to soft pricing and a majority of the stars putting up big numbers. The moral of the story, stay flexible with your lineup and use all of the information available.
On to week two. Le’Veon Bell is still out and James Conner is only $6,700 with another favorable match-up. The Saints offense has another nice opponent to pad their offensive numbers. Injuries are all over the place already and provide interesting opportunities. Leonard Fournette is hurt (surprise) putting T.J. Yeldon in play. Rex Burkhead appeared in concussion protocol on Wednesday, potentially elevating James White to a lead role. DeSean Jackson is hurt (another surprise) which places Chris Godwin clearly in play. Pricing on DraftKings is a little tighter in week two, but it is still not too difficult to find values.
Here are my top choices at each position, and the lineup that I currently plan to enter in DraftKings single-entry Sunday tournaments:
| QB | Drew Brees | NO | 7200 | Same blowout potential as last week |
| QB | Deshaun Watson | HOU | 6300 | Dolphins showed how pourous the Titans defense is |
| QB | Jared Goff | LAR | 6300 | Elite matchup tempered by blowout potential |
| QB | Andrew Luck | IND | 6200 | Showed he was healthy and is currently underpriced |
| QB | Patrick Mahomes | KC | 6100 | Last Sunday was fun to watch. First of many |
| QB | Tyrod Taylor | CLE | 5900 | Legs provide very high floor and Fitzpatrick blew up NO |
| QB | Case Keenum | DEN | 5800 | Raiders defense is another one to pick on all season |
| RB | Alvin Kamara | NO | 9500 | Showed he can score elite points without huge volume |
| RB | Todd Gurley II | LAR | 9200 | Will be a high-scoring bell cow all season |
| RB | Melvin Gordon III | LAC | 7400 | Should score enough point in first half of blowout |
| RB | Christian McCaffrey | CAR | 7000 | Did not get the expanded workload as per coach-speak |
| RB | James Conner | PIT | 6700 | Was the bargain of week one. Bigger price the week |
| RB | Chris Thompson | WAS | 5900 | High-volume third-down back |
| RB | T.J. Yeldon | JAX | 5600 | Clear discount workhorse if Fournette is out as expected |
| RB | Lamar Miller | HOU | 5400 | 20 carries in week one was strong |
| RB | Carlos Hyde | CLE | 4900 | Saw bulk of week one work |
| RB | James White | NE | 4500 | Michel likely out again and Burkhead in concussion protocol |
| TE | Zach Ertz | PHI | 6100 | Expect more targets than week one |
| TE | Jordan Reed | WAS | 5000 | Still healthy after one game |
| TE | George Kittle | SF | 3800 | Might have been most impressive TE in week one |
| TE | Jonnu Smith | TEN | 3100 | Pats exploited Texans in middle of the field |
| TE | Ian Thomas | CAR | 2900 | Logical candidate for Olsen’s workload |
| TE | Ricky Seals-Jones | ARI | 2900 | Was heavily involved in week one – very cheap option |
| WR | Michael Thomas | NO | 8600 | Doubt gameflow will be same, but still high-volume |
| WR | Keenan Allen | LAC | 7800 | Will get his targets even in blowout |
| WR | Tyreek Hill | KC | 7600 | Most exciting speed TD threat since CJ2K |
| WR | Golden Tate | DET | 6500 | Lions found a way to get Tate big target numbers |
| WR | Jarvis Landry | CLE | 6300 | Proved to be Taylor’s top target. Will be throwing |
| WR | Emmanuel Sanders | DEN | 6200 | Wow – a virtual must-start at this price |
| WR | Cooper Kupp | LAR | 5500 | Was Goff’s possession receiver on Monday |
| WR | Kenny Golladay | DET | 4800 | Very impressive in poor Lions team performance |
| WR | Quincy Enunwa | NYJ | 4700 | Used his size to tear up Detroit and will do same to Miami |
| WR | Chris Godwin | TB | 4600 | Under-priced WR option with Djax iffy |
| WR | Mike Williams | LAC | 3700 | Provided a big-body WR option for Rivers. Needs more snaps |
| DST | Rams | LAR | 3700 | Proved to be elite. Has another elite matchup |
| DST | Chargers | LAC | 3600 | Expect all defenses vs. Buffalo to be on this list |
| DST | Saints | NO | 3200 | Willing to give them one more chance |
| DST | Patriots | NE | 3000 | Jax QB is interception challenged |
| DST | Texans | HOU | 2600 | Tenn is banged up between Mariotta and Walker |
| QB | Case Keenum | DEN | 5800 | |
| RB | Alvin Kamara | NO | 9500 | |
| RB | James Conner | PIT | 6700 | |
| WR | Emmanuel Sanders | DEN | 6200 | |
| WR | Cooper Kupp | LAR | 5500 | |
| WR | Chris Godwin | TB | 4600 | |
| RB | James White | NE | 4500 | |
| TE | George Kittle | SF | 3800 | |
| DST | Patriots | NE | 3000 | |
| 49600 |
