Best Daily Fantasy Football Plays for Cash Games – 2017 Week 2

By Ha Kung Wong  Daily Fantasy Football

Twitter: @FBGarbageTime

And we’re back for Week 2 of the NFL season and MORE DFS CASH!  Oh, and by the way, ALL 5 of my suggested lineups WON CASH in Week 1.  Just sayin’.

We all know that DFS is a great way to prove you have serious football IQ and earn you bragging rights among your friends (and if you’re like me, among your family as well!).  And heck, if you win cash, that’s just gravy, right?  (No need to answer that question, it was totally rhetorical. I know you all like cash. And gravy.)

So before we get to winning you bragging rights (and DFS cash), remember, the point of this article is not just to give you one lineup for each site, it’s to give you examples of one or two POSSIBLE lineups.  Getting exposure to a few different lineups is always a good idea, so don’t forget to mix and match additional lineups from my suggestions below.  And that’s never been more true than in the first week of the season when we have very limited data.  Trust me, it’s a lot more fun that way AND you’ll improve your chances of cashing!

So without further to do, here are my favorite cash lineups for FanDuel, Draft Kings, and Yahoo! DFS, plus a few others suggestions you might consider for your lineups.

Let’s get to winning you some CASH in Week 2 of the 2017 NFL season!

Daily Fantasy Football

Cash Games, for those who don’t know, are essentially the lowest risk games.  They include “50/50” games, in which half the entrants win about 1.8x the entry fee, and “Double Ups”, in which slightly less than half the entrants win 2x the entry fee.

Since there’s so many different sites, and I can’t cover them all, I’ve decided to cover just the most popular sites, including Fan Duel, Draft Kings and Yahoo! Daily Fantasy.

First of all, as a general rule for 50/50 Cash Games, there’s a basic target of points per salary cap spent that you’d like to look for:

  • For Fan Duel try to target at least 2 fantasy points per $1000 spent.
  • For Draft Kings, try to target at least 2.5 fantasy points per $1000 spent.
  • For Yahoo! Daily Fantasy, try to target at least 0.6-0.7 fantasy points per $1 spent.

Remember, this article is not focused on GPP (Tournament) Games, JUST Cash Games.  Feel free to use a few of these suggested players as a base when constructing a GPP lineup, but you’ll have to take some chances on a few low cost, upside players as well.

So, without further to do, here are my suggestions for the Best Daily Fantasy Football Plays for Cash Games for Week 1 contests, along with they’re prices on Fan Duel (“FD”), Draft Kings (“DK”) and Yahoo! Daily Fantasy (“Y!”).

FanDuel

Again, to encourage some diversity in your lineups, I’m giving you two sample lineups for FanDuel this week.

This week, my approach is high end QB, TE and DEF, one stud RB and focus on value at WR.  I also focused on the two games with the highest over/unders of the week, New England Patriots @ New Orleans Saints (56) and Green Bay Packers @ Atlanta Falcons (53.5), as well as two teams with top 5 implied point totals for the week, the Oakland Raiders (28.8) and Kansas City Chiefs (26).

For high end QB, I’m going with Aaron Rodgers (FD: $9100 / DK: $7400 / Y!: $37) and Derek Carr (FD: $8300 / DK: $7200 / Y!: $38).  Rodgers was kept in check for half a game against the stout Seattle defense, but still managed 311 yards and a TD with just 1 INT.  And this week his match up is against a high octane Falcons offense with the second highest over/under of any game.  I’m willing to pay up for the high floor here.  The same is true for Carr who put up 262 yards and 2 TDs against the Titans in Week 1, and who faces the equivalent of a JV High School football team in the Jets this week.  The only danger is that it becomes too much of blowout and they start grinding it out with Marshawn Lynch, but I suspect that if it comes to that, Carr will have already reached value for his slightly discounted price.

USA Today Photo

For stud RB, I like Kareem Hunt (FD: $7800 / DK: $6800 / Y!: $36) and Melvin Gordon (FD: $7600 / DK: $ / Y!: $29).  As for Hunt, I think the price point is fair for THE breakout RB of Week 1 with 178 rush yards, 98 receiving yards and 3 total TDs, and the Chiefs have the 5th highest implied point total of the week.  Gordon also had a decent week against a challenging Broncos defense, putting up 54 rush yards, 25 receiving yards and a TD, plus the Dolphins are flying clear across the country for their first game of the season.  The Dolphins allowed the 3rd most rushing yards and tied for allowing the most yards per carry (4.8) in 2016.  The Dolphins will be a much easier opponent than the Broncos and Gordon is the clear bell cow back for the Chargers, plus the price is reasonable, so I like him as a solid option.

With Jordan Howard a late add to the Wednesday injury report as limited with a shoulder injury, and based on usage from Week 1, I like saving some money at RB with Tarik Cohen (FD: $5400 / DK: $4100 / Y!: $17).  After Kevin White went out with a broken collarbone, Cohen really chipped in catching 8 of 12 targets for 47 yards and a TD.  Sure, he also rushed for 66 yards, but 12 targets is a ton and he’s essentially become a slot WR/RB hybrid, which is great for PPR and half-PPR formats.  Plus, he’s dirt cheap.

Rob Gronkowski

And although they failed to meet expectations in Week 1, I’m going back to well with Rob Gronkowski (FD: $8100 / DK: $6900 / Y!: $26) and Travis Kelce (FD: $6700 / DK: $ / Y!: $21) at TE.  They’re both too good to remain down, and I’d expect the Patriots to really come out firing this week to avoid starting 0-2.  Gronk is involved in the game with the highest over/under of the week, and Kelce is on a team with the 5th highest implied total of the week, so go ahead and lock them in.

As for WR “value”, I went with Brandin Cooks (FD: $7900 / DK: $8200 / Y!: $25), Adam Thielen (FD: $5800 / DK: $5000 / Y!: $17), Michael Crabtree (FD: $7300 / DK: $7100 / Y!: $21), Randall Cobb (FD: $6300 / DK: $5900 / Y!: $19) and DeVante Parker (FD: $6400 / DK: $5400 / Y!: $18).

Cooks isn’t super cheap, but in an offense that no longer has Julian Edelman and is now unlikely to have Danny Amendola, some WR has to catch passes from Brady, particularly in the good match up.  I think he has a high floor with high upside this week and worth the price.

Crabtree is also fairly price being the 1B to Amari Cooper’s 1A.  I like him for all the reasons I like Carr above, as he absorbed 6 of 7 targets for 83 yards in Week 1 and is clearly one of Carr’s favorite targets.

The significant value picks are Parker, Cobb and Thielen.  Thielen caught 9 of 10 targets for a whopping 157 yards last week over the Saints, and although the Steelers are a better defense, it’s clear Sam Bradford will keep looking his way to move the chains.  And he’s really cheap.  Cobb just had to remind everyone that he was STILL a WR on the Green Bay Packers.  He’s cheap exposure to Rodgers’ good matchup, as he was heavily targeted in week 1 grabbing 9 of 13 for 85 yards.  And Desmond Trufant will likely stick to Jordy Nelson, so Rodgers will need to spread it around.  As for Parker, we didn’t see a Week 1 game, but he clearly had a solid connection with Jay Cutler in the preseason, and I don’t see why that wouldn’t continue.  Cutler loves to sling 50/50 balls downfield to his receivers, so Parker should get plenty of opportunity.  Plus, Chargers CB Jason Varrett was ruled out for this game, meaning perhaps downgraded coverage on Parker.

As for defense, I went with the Seattle Seahawks (FD: $5400 / DK: $4000 / Y!: $20) at home against the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens (FD: $4700 / DK: $3700 / Y!: $21) at home against the Cleveland Browns.  Honestly, the Seahawks are still one of the top defenses in the league and managed to shut down Rodgers and the Packers for a full half.  Things only went off the rails because the Seahawks offensive line is so terrible, which limited the Seahawks ability to move the ball down the field, and at some point, your defense is going to get gassed if their out there all the time.  The 49ers are NOT the Packers and Brian Hoyer doesn’t scare anyone.  The Ravens had a huge game last week, and I expect them to be similar this week against an improved but still young Browns offense.  Yes, Kizer looks better than most QBs that the Browns have had over the last 20 years, with the exception of one magical year under Derek Anderson, but they have a ways to go yet, and Kizer still tends to force the ball down field.  The Seahawks are my top play, but feel free to save a little cash with the Ravens.

UPDATE – Keep a close eye on Sam Bradford.  If he’s in, I’m still OK with playing Thielen and Diggs, but will downgrade them and diversify my lineups.  If Bradford is out, I don’t trust Case Keenum to consistently get the ball to Thielen or Diggs and would not roster them.  I would also then consider the Pittsburgh Steelers defense in my lineups.

One alternative to consider is JJ Nelson.  With John Brown ruled out in the game against the Colts, and with David Johnson essentially out for the season, Carson Palmer will need to throw a lot, even against a terrible Colts team.  I think Nelson has potential to benefit and could be a good low cost WR fill in.  Larry Fitzgerald also on the radar if you want to pay up a bit.

Draft Kings 

On Draft Kings, you’ll note that I also like Zay Jones (FD: $6100 / DK: $4300 / Y!: $18) as a FLEX.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s not because I think Jones has a high floor, its just that I wanted to get all the other players in so I needed someone cheap at the FLEX, and the Bills are likely to be behind in Carolina right from the start, so I’d expect a few opportunities downfield for Jones.  Perhaps the floor isn’t there, but the upside is, and for the price, why not?

Yahoo! DFS

For Yahoo, I also like WR Tedd Ginn Jr. (FD: $6100 / DK: $4800 / Y!: $14), WR Stefon Diggs (FD: $6500 / DK: $ / Y!: $18), RB Leonard Fournette (FD: $7600 / DK: $6500 / Y!: $21) and RB Ty Montgomery (FD: $6500 / DK: $5800 / Y!: $18).

Stefon Diggs

Honestly, this is all about value.  Ginn is still the Saints WR2 in what’s supposed to be a high scoring affair against the Patriots and Diggs was a big redzone target for Bradford last week and both are priced very aggressively on Yahoo.  Diggs is only $1 more than Thielen, and although I love Thielen this week, I’d pay the extra dollar for the TD upside.

Fournette’s price is simply too low for someone who is clearly going to be the focus of that Jaguars offense, particularly after Allen Robinson was put on IR.  29 carries in Week 1 should translate to at least 22-25 carries in Week 2.  Sheer volume alone against a mediocre Titans defense makes it worth it.

And as for Montgomery, even after sitting a few plays out due to a potential injury, he still played 74 of 82 snaps against the Seahawks in Week 1, and managed 93 total yards and TD.  For a starting RB in a what predicts to be a high scoring game, he’s a steal at his current Yahoo price.

You’ll note that I also decided to save a little money with the Los Angeles Rams defense (FD: $4400 / DK: $3000 / Y!: $16) at home against the Washington Redskins.  Again, for a defense that’s on the rise and really dominated in Week 1 with 4 sacks, a safety, 2 INTs, both of which were returned for TDs, the Yahoo price seems a little low.  The Redskins are better than the Colts, but they didn’t look in sync in Week 1, and I’d expect the Rams defense to keep score in check regardless.

Alternative Options

Feel free to use any of the players that I’ve selected on one site in any other site if you have cap space.

In addition to the above, here are few other suggestions for players to use:

  • QB Matt Ryan vs. GB (FD: $8200 / DK: $7500 / Y!: $40)
  • QB Drew Brees vs. NE (FD: $8700 / DK: $7700 / Y!: $34)
  • RB LeVeon Bell vs. MIN (FD: $9000 / DK: $9800 / Y!: $35)
  • RB Ezekiel Elliott @ DEN (FD: $8700 / DK: $7800 / Y!: $34)
  • RB Terrence West vs. CLE (FD: $6600 / DK: $5100 / Y!: $22)
  • RB Jacquizz Rodgers vs. CHI (FD: $6600 / DK: $4400 / Y!: $21)  
    • Doug Martin is serving the remainder of his 4 game suspension, so Rodgers should be the man in the backfield for at least early downs.  He averaged over 20 carries per game when he had the opportunity to start in 2016, and he’s dirt cheap if you need cap space.
  • WR Julio Jones vs. GB (FD: $8800 / DK: $9200 / Y!: $40)
  • WR Amari Cooper vs. NYJ (FD: $7900 / DK: $8100 / Y!: $28)
  • WR Jordy Nelson @ ATL (FD: $8100 / DK: $7900 / Y!: $33)
  • WR Golden Tate (FD: $7400 / DK: $6800 / Y!: $22)
  • WR Larry Fitzgerald @ IND (FD: $6600 / DK: $6500 / Y!: $20)

Good luck everyone, and I hope you all win DFS Cash in Week 2!

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