DraftKings Week 2 Lineup Recommendations

By Ben Rolfe

Week 1 of the NFL is always glorious. Having football back is always happy times and getting to fire up those fantasy teams and DFS lineups just makes it even better. However, Week 2 offers even better opportunities. Yes, the pricing is adjusted to reflect Week 1, but there are still inefficiencies. Week 1 demonstrated to us offensive game plans for teams and gave us a feel for how involved certain players will be in their offenses.

This week we get a whopping 13 games on Sunday to try and take advantage of. The two standout games from an offensive firepower point of view look to be on the afternoon slate of games as New Orleans head into Los Angeles and Kansas City head to Oakland, with both of those game projected to have over 50 points. All of the other games are projected in the 40-point region, but those lower totals are where our inefficiencies can be found.

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In this article, you will find my Week 1 picks on DraftKings, which are based on matchups, situation, weather and betting lines. The focus of this piece will be looking at upside, and is, therefore, more suited for use in GPP formats. However, the names below can also double up as options in cash games, alongside some safer bets.

Quarterback

Deshaun Watson, HOU VS. JAX | $6,600

Wow, wow, wow. Watson looked absolutely superb in the Texans first game in New Orleans on Monday night. I was expecting him to struggle against a team in New Orleans I expected to have a strong defense. However, despite being sacked six times he made plays and threw the ball well. As always, he added value using his legs and just had an all-around good game.

Now he gets to face a Jacksonville team who was sluggish and unimpressive in Week 1 against Kansas City. The Jacksonville defense looked out of sorts on both the front and back-end. They hit Patrick Mahomes just four times and did manage to register a single sack while giving up 378 yards and three touchdowns. Watson could easily match the day that Mahomes had this week with the crowd on his side and an offensive line that will have had another week to gel.

DraftKings Week 14

Josh Allen, BUF @ NYG | $5,300

Did you see Dak Prescott dismantle the New York defense last week? Prescott never really looked in trouble as Dallas ran up 35 points at home. Now Josh Allen is not Prescott, but he is a competent enough quarterback that he should also be able to take advantage of a Giants secondary that looked an absolute mess. Even more positive for Allen is that the Giants lack any real pass rush that he should be afraid of. Three of the four turnovers last week were not completely on Allen, and I am expecting a much better return this week, and perhaps even another rushing touchdown to boost those numbers again.

Running Back

Alvin Kamara, NO @ LAR | $8,200

Kamara shone as the number one in New Orleans on Monday. In total he had 20 touches for 169 yards, with the only blot being he did not find the end zone. However, he had 62% of the carries for New Orleans and eight targets, which are extremely promising numbers. Now he is facing a defense that allowed 128 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns to Christian McCaffrey, as well as 81 yards on 11 targets. This game has the makings of a shootout and Kamara is the back I expect to see dominate for New Orleans if that is how this game turns out.

Derrick Henry, TEN VS. IND | $6,000

This is a really nice spot for Henry. The Indianapolis defense is coming in on the second half of back-to-back road games having been gashed for 115 rushing yards and 100 receiving yards by the Los Angeles running backs. Henry was the undisputed bell cow back for Tennessee, carrying the ball 19 times for 84 yards and touchdown. He also added one reception for 75 yards and a touchdown, but that is production you cannot rely on quite so much. However, Henry is the goal line back in Tennessee and should be a good bet to find the end zone at least once in this game, after Ekeler dd it three times last week against Indianapolis.

Carlos Hyde, HOU vs. JAX | $3,600

Hyde looked really good in Houston’s loss on Monday, carrying 10 times for 83 yards and adding one reception on one target for two yards. Opportunity worries me a little, because Duke Johnson saw nine carries and five targets, but Hyde looked so good when he carried the ball, I am willing to pick him this week despite that. Jacksonville just gave up 107 yards on 23 carries and 51 yards on seven receptions to Kansas City, so there should be plenty of production to go around in Houston this week.

Wide Receiver

Robert Woods, LAR VS. NO | $6,400

I was extremely impressed with Woods and his production in Week 1, as he saw 13 targets with eight receptions for 70 yards. He added two carries for 16 yards and any receiver that has a chance to get 10-15 touches in a game is someone I am willing to invest him. Where he has an advantage over his cheaper team mate in Brandon Cooks is that he tends to be used less on deep shots, and therefore should have a greater chance to turn targets into receptions. New Orleans struggled to cover the Houston receivers at times this week and in a game that could have 60 or more points this is nice value for a receiver who should be a threat to find the end zone.

Michael Gallup, DAL @ WAS | $5,600

What a day Gallup had in Week 1, catching all seven targets for 158 yards. One way to potentially get even more targets is to catch everything thrown your way and he did just that. This week should be tougher, but the Redskins demonstrated they can be beaten down the field by the Eagles last week, and Gallup could be that weapon. Additionally, Kellen Moore’s play calling was so impressive that Dallas could have multiple fantasy relevant players every single week.

Tyrell Williams, OAK VS. KC | $4,400

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This is as much a pick against the Kansas City defense as it is support of Williams. Jacksonville had DJ Chark go for 146 yards on four receptions, and Chris Conley add 97 yards on seven targets last week. Williams led the Oakland receivers in targets in Week 1 and managed 105 yards and a touchdown against a defense many expect to be good. He could be in for a monster day in what could be a shootout between two questionable defenses.

Tight end

Evan Engram, NYG VS. BUF | $5,600

Until Engram is priced so I cannot just ride him he will be in my team every week. The young tight end was targeted an incredible 14 times, returning a line of 116 yards with a touchdown. Buffalo were good against the tight end in Week 1, but they did not face one of the quality of Engram. This is great value, do not think twice about it. In fact, I love Engram so much that I am not even recommending another play. If you really need to save cash then look at Delanie Walker, but honestly just pick Engram and save cash elsewhere.

Defense/Special Teams

Buffalo @ NYG | $3,400

I wanted to get this under $3,000 but the defense value is weak this week. Instead I will stick with the Bills and that very strong defensive line against a poor offensive line in New York. Dallas failed to really dominate this New York line, but the Buffalo defensive line is actually much improved over the Cowboys. Hopefully they can force Eli Manning into a couple of mistakes this week.

Disclaimer: I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is brolfe1507) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.

Ben Rolfe

Head of NFL Content

BEN IS THE HEAD OF NFL CONTENT FOR THE TOUCHDOWN. YOU CAN ALSO FIND HIS WORK AT; FFSTATISTICS, PRO FOOTBALL NETWORK & ROTOBALLER. FOLLOW BEN @BENROLFE15 ON TWITTER.

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