After a wild Week 1 in the NFL, fantasy football players are now locked in on Week 2 and a DraftKings slate which once again features massive options for players. With 13 games featured on the main Sunday slate, I'm going to take a bit of a different approach than usual.
For the Week 2 DraftKings slate, I'll offer up my main lineup, but also give a few additional optimal lineups on top of that. Each lineup will have its own specific focus, whether it be a high-upside lineup (for 150-max entry options), a high-floor team (good for cash) and a well-rounded lineup which features a bit of everything.
As for the games offered this week, players will find a wide range of low-cost and high-dollar options. The headliner will once again be the $20 millionaire maker, which features $4.6 million in guaranteed money. There will also be a plethora of single entries (great for the cash lineup we'll cover) and three-max options (well-rounded lineups work well here).
There's a lot to look over, but before we jump into the optimal lineups, I'm going to give some insight into how I went about building lineups
Building Lineups With High Upside vs. High Floor
In games such as the millionaire maker on DraftKings, which features 150-max entries, you have to do your best to be different. In turn, simply using the top optimal lineup in a millionaire game may not give you a big edge since many players will be high-owned. Using a lineup that features players you project to have the highest scores along with one or two options with lower ownership makes sense.
That's the argument for the high upside plan of attack, but on the opposite side, the games which are single entries and three-max allow you to use more popular names. You don't have to go as crazy or take as many risks in order to build these lineups and potentially have success. Using a whole group of players which may be high owned could still result in you taking home a big payday.
I'll explain my focus for each lineup along the way, but there's no better place to start than with the top optimal lineup.
DraftKings Top Optimal Lineup
– QB: Tyrod Taylor vs. Saints ($5,900)
– RB: Alvin Kamara vs. Browns ($9,500)
– RB: James Conner vs. Chiefs ($6,700)
– WR: Jarvis Landry vs. Saints ($6,300)
– WR: Kenny Golladay vs. 49ers ($4,800)
– WR: Quincy Enunwa vs. Dolphins ($4,700)
– TE: George Kittle vs. Lions ($3,800)
– FLEX: Tevin Coleman vs. Panthers ($5,300)
– DST: Vikings ($2,600)
It goes without saying that the use of the Minnesota Vikings defense largely comes down to the status of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who's currently listed as questionable. If Rodgers does play I'd likely shift my defense to either the San Francisco 49ers ($2,800) or Atlanta Falcons ($2,700).
Going beyond that, there's a bit of a trend that's likely pretty obvious here. The first is that I want the high upside pairing of Tyrod Taylor and Jarvis Landry against a New Orleans Saints defense that just got torched by Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I do expect the Saints to be somewhat better in Week 2, but they gave up 361 yards and four touchdowns to the wide receiver position last week, there's no way to overlook that.
One of my other areas of focus will be on a few players whose prices didn't adjust on DraftKings since they played in the Monday Night Football game. This includes (in my optimal lineup) wideouts Kenny Golladay and Quincy Enunwa.
To be clear, I don't expect either player to post quite the numbers they did last week, but both have fine matchups and low price tags, allowing me to get my high-dollar targets in. Golladay was an absolute monster in Week 1 against the New York Jets, receiving 12 targets and catching seven of them for 114 yards. While those numbers are unlikely to be an every-week occurrence, we could easily see Golladay haul in 4-5 passes and one or two touchdowns. At $4,800, I'll take that production every single week.
Enunwa is another name who surprised fantasy owners last week, and he's probably more of a "high floor" play, at least from what we saw in the opener. It was apparent Enunwa has taken on the role of rookie quarterback Sam Darnold's safety blanket, seeing a team-high 10 targets and finishing with six catches for 63 yards and one touchdown. Unfortunately, we don't know exactly what the Dolphins pass defense will look like this season, as they played a Tennessee Titans team which was led by Blaine Gabbert for much of the game.
I'll roll out the three running back set with a smile on my face this week, and it's largely due to a mixture of injuries (or holdouts) and matchups. I actually believe the Browns defense won't be bad this season, but the fact that they'll be playing a game in normal weather will force them to give Drew Brees plenty of attention. Even though the Browns were playing in 20-30 MPH winds last week, they allowed 135 rushing yards and two touchdowns to running backs in Week 1. For good measure, Cleveland also allowed backs to catch five passes for 57 yards. This all bodes well for Alvin Kamara, who has one of the safest workloads in the NFL.
As for James Conner and Tevin Coleman, we have two very different but nice situations working in our favor. Starting with Conner, who's holding down the fort for Le'Veon Bell, he impressed in the opener by posting all of the aforementioned numbers against the Browns. Conner has a huge workload and is priced just above a mid-range running back at $6,700. The Chiefs also allowed 14 receptions to running backs last weekend, so it's a safe bet we're going to see plenty of pass-catching work for Conner.
With the Atlanta Falcons ruling out Devonta Freeman, it's time for all the Coleman. The matchup against the Panthers isn't ideal, but based on pure workload and previous success without Freeman, I'm absolutely using the young back at this price. Here's a look at Coleman's numbers without Freeman last year alone.
– vs. Dallas Cowboys: 20 carries, 83 rushing yards, one touchdown
– at Seattle Seahawks: 20 carries, 43 rushing yards, one touchdown
– vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 19 carries, 97 rushing yards, two touchdowns
Finally comes my $3,800 salary-saving tight end in George Kittle. The best part about Kittle is I actually believe he'll have low ownership to some extent. With Jared Cook cheaper ($3,600), the 49ers tight end could get overlooked. It's a good spot with Marquise Goodwin battling an injury and Jimmy Garoppolo still building rapport with Pierre Garcon. It wasn't noticed in a big way, but Kittle caught five passes for 90 yards last week and saw two red zone targets.
Let's move along to the high-upside lineup which features a few major boom-or-bust plays.
Boom-or-Bust 150-Max Lineup
– QB: Deshaun Watson vs. Titans ($6,300)
– RB: Todd Gurley vs. Cardinals ($9,200)
– RB: James Conner vs. Chiefs ($6,700)
– WR: DeAndre Hopkins vs. Titans ($8,000)
– WR: Kenny Stills vs. Jets ($5,700) (Updated from Josh Gordon due to injury)
– WR: Kenny Golladay vs. 49ers ($4,800)
– TE: Ricky Seals-Jones vs. Rams ($2,900)
– FLEX: Jalen Richard vs. Broncos ($3,400)
– DST: Falcons ($2,700)
I'll just address the elephant in the room right out of the gate – Jalen Richard. Yes, he's technically the No. 3 running back on the Oakland Raiders roster, but he also reeled off 16.9 fantasy points on Monday night. Obviously, there's reason to believe Marshawn Lynch will get more work and many will point to the fact that the Raiders were behind and had to throw.
But it's probably worth considering the fact that the Denver Broncos have an incredibly good defense, their offense looks much better and this is a road game for the Raiders. That game script we saw the Raiders unfortunately faced with early in Week 1? It's very likely to happen again. Don't get me wrong, I'm not using Richard all over the place, but at $3,400 I'll happily take a player who just saw 11 targets in the passing game last week.
The Deshaun Watson-DeAndre Hopkins pairing has the potential to break the slate. Both players are coming off somewhat disappointing games (Hopkins still managed 78 yards and eight catches), but I think Houston bounces back in a big way. Beyond that, the Titans were torched last week by wideouts, allowing 201 yards and two touchdowns to the position. I like the matchup and love the upside of this stack.
Opting to play James Conner and Kenny Golladay in this line, as well as my optimal, was an easy call. Both players have tremendous upside and I don't see any reason to fade them in a 150-max game. Conner is going to have high ownership, but the entire lineup doesn't need to be sub-10 percent owned.
Todd Gurley is one of my favorite upside plays on the slate. Gurley didn't have a "crazy" game last week, yet still totaled 26.7 fantasy points on DraftKings, and he's going to garnish lower ownership than Alvin Kamara. The Rams also play a Cardinals team who just allowed 168 rushing yards and one touchdown on the ground last week, and equally as important, gave up eight catches for 133 yards and another score to running backs. I love Gurley's potential to be the highest-scoring running back, but at the very least, he's going to have a strong game.
I was all set to roll out Josh Gordon as an elite high-ceiling play, but Kenny Stills gets the nod instead. Gordon was ruled out due to a hamstring injury, but Stills has a strong matchup with the Jets who allowed 253 yards and one touchdown to receivers in Week 1. The Dolphins could wind up getting DeVante Parker back, but I'm still on Stills, who scored 29.6 DraftKings points last week, and is a favorite target of Ryan Tannehill.
The Ricky Seals-Jones selection is one I'm pretty excited about. My hope is that he has low ownership after catching just three passes for 19 yards last week. The Cardinals tight end did see six targets, though, and also dropped a touchdown late in the fourth quarter which would have saved his fantasy day.
And now, Seals-Jones gets a matchup with a Rams team who just allowed Jared Cook to look like Rob Gronkowski in Week 1, giving up nine catches for 180 yards to the Raiders tight end. I love Seals-Jones at $2,900, especially considering how much it allows you to pay up in other spots.
Let's move on to the cash game lineup, which features a group of "safer" plays with high floors.
The High-Floor Lineup (Ideal for Single Entries)
– QB: Tyrod Taylor vs. Saints ($5,900)
– RB: James Conner vs. Chiefs ($6,700)
– RB: Tevin Coleman vs. Panthers ($5,300)
– WR: Antonio Brown vs. Chiefs ($8,800)
– WR: Emmanuel Sanders vs. Raiders $6,200)
– WR: Quincy Enunwa vs. Dolphins ($4,700)
– TE: George Kittle vs. Lions ($3,800)
– FLEX: Lamar Miller vs. Titans ($5,400)
– DST: Falcons ($2,700)
A few familiar names here, huh? I'm obviously just trying to make my life as simple as possible. But in all seriousness, this goes along with what I said about having some of my favorite plays in the top optimal line, even if they're going to be popular options.
Players such as Tyrod Taylor, James Conner, Tevin Coleman, and Quincy Enunwa simply have prices that are too good to pass up. Going beyond that, though, they each offer unique situations that bode well for fantasy players. There's a zero percent chance I would ever leave Conner out of my cash lineup, so I'm highly unlikely to do it in a single entry game. As for Coleman, the matchup isn't perfect, but the workload is ideal due to Freeman's injury. He's great for contests that don't allow players to use optimizers and shove 150 lineups with every single player in.
The reasoning behind targeting Taylor isn't due to his matchup as much as his ability to run (although, the matchup is nice). I think the Browns quarterback may have the highest floor of any quarterback on the slate, even above someone like Drew Brees. Using him in cash lineups makes sense as well.
Enunwa was the toughest call among these four. Having a rookie quarterback throwing him the ball doesn't make me want to shove him into cash lineups, but Darnold looked his way often last week. I feel good about his floor being pretty high, and at the very least he'll see a high volume of work if the Jets are behind early.
I won't spend a ton of time on George Kittle since I made my Week 2 man-crush on him very apparent in my first lineup. Simply put, I think Garoppolo looks his way often, and the matchup against the Detroit Lions doesn't scare me in the slightest either.
Antonio Brown has played 16 games in his career without Le'Veon Bell and it's resulted in him averaging just over 9.1 receptions, over 12.9 targets, 129.6 receiving yards and 13 total touchdowns, per StatMuse. Realistically, those numbers are likely even higher when you factor in games where Ben Roethlisberger played (since Brown has surely played without both). That's pretty terrifying, especially considering his Week 2 matchup with a Chiefs team who gave up 198 yards and two touchdowns to a Chargers wide receiving corps struggled with drops at times. Brown is as safe as they come.
And finally, we have two players with floors that look pretty nice in Emmanuel Sanders and Lamar Miller. Sanders' rapport with Case Keenum was wildly apparently in the opener, as the wideout hauled in 10-of-11 targets for 135 yards one score. The Raiders secondary has plenty of question marks, and while I believe Gareon Conley is a good player, the second-year corner will likely be moving around between Sanders and Demaryius Thomas. Even still, he hasn't proven to be good enough to avoid in fantasy.
Miller has one of the safest workloads in the NFL, and while his Week 1 showing wasn't incredible, the matchup is fine and his price is way too low. Miller totaled 20 carries for 98 yards last week and received four red zone attempts. The Titans also struggle against running backs who can catch passes, so I believe we see Watson look Miller's way a few times in this one.
The Well-Rounded Lineup (Optimal No. 2)
– QB: Case Keenum vs. Raiders ($5,800)
– RB: Todd Gurley vs. Cardinals ($9,200)
– RB: James Conner vs. Chiefs ($6,700)
– WR: Antonio Brown vs. Chiefs ($8,800)
– WR: Kenny Stills vs. Jets ($5,700) (Updated from Josh Gordon due to injury)
– WR: Quincy Enunwa vs. Dolphins ($4,700)
– TE: Ricky Seals-Jones vs. Rams ($2,900)
– FLEX: George Kittle vs. Lions ($3,800)
– DST: Buffalo Bills ($2,100)
I'm rolling out a lot of similar players to what I've already used, but there are some new faces here as well. As you can tell, I took a slightly different approach to the second optimal lineup. For starters, I punted the Buffalo Bills defense against the Chargers. I don't expect much from them, but Philip Rivers absolutely has the potential to throw a pick-six, and I love targeting defenses in their home openers.
Also, it's worth considering that the Bills defense surely knows they're going to need to play big to help out rookie quarterback Josh Allen in his first NFL start. I could easily see this game being much lower-scoring than people anticipate.
The combination of Todd Gurley and James Conner at running back with Antonio Brown at wideout is about the best possible combination of high floor, high ceiling I can envision. After a bit of work, seeing this lineup come together made one of my favorite cores of the week. It goes without saying that there's certainly more risk in this than the original optimal lineup, but the upside is probably a bit higher.
I also don't typically go with two tight end sets in fantasy, but I envision George Kittle playing a big role and being a player who'll drastically outscore his cost. Ricky Seals-Jones has the upside and low cost that's tough to come by. He has the potential to score multiple touchdowns and can be a solid red zone target. If he and Bradford have knocked off the rust from Week 1, he could be a cheap option who breaks the slate open.
Kenny Stills' big-play potential and boom-or-bust upside mixed with Quincy Enunwa's safety makes for a nice combination. I'm going heavy on Enunwa on this slate, but that's apparent by this point. I simply believe his floor is high and can envision that game either being high scoring from both sides or the Jets potentially playing from behind.
I originally had Josh Gordon in this spot, but it'll now go to Kenny Stills, who also has an incredibly high ceiling. Gordon was ruled out due to a hamstring injury, but Stills has a strong matchup with the Jets who allowed 253 yards and one touchdown to receivers in Week 1. Even with DeVante Parker possibly back, Stills, who scored 29.6 DraftKings points last week, has an exceptional rapport with Ryan Tannehill and should have a big day.
Seeing Case Keenum throw for over 320 yards and three touchdowns against the Seattle Seahawks was solid. This isn't the "Legion of Boom" we're used to, but the Seahawks aren't a bad defensive unit. Now, Keenum gets a home matchup against the Raiders who I'm more than prepared to pick on. The former Minnesota Vikings quarterback may also go a bit under-owned since the Rams didn't destroy Oakland through the air last week. That was only due to the fact that the game was largely out of hand and Jared Goff didn't need to throw all that much.
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