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FanDuel’s Week 2 Main Slate features 16 games. The pricing is a bit tighter and there aren’t the obviously mis-priced minimum-priced plays we saw last week. Overall, it looks like a great week to take a balanced approach to lineup building. On average, we have $8,571 per spot fill our seven-man lineups. At every position, there are some great options in that $8,000-$9,000 range, which we will highlight in-depth.
This slate breakdown will go position-by-position, highlighting the top options and giving an overview of the toughest choices we face this week. The top options are broken down into two categories. Players listed as Core Plays are those who you can play with high confidence in both cash games and tournaments. Players listed as Worth Considering are viable as cost-saving options in your main lineup or high-upside options for tournaments
Quarterback
Positional Overview
With the possible exception of Justin Fields, none of the quarterback options leap off the page this week. For the second-straight week, Fields looks like the top play despite a tougher matchup in Week 2 against a good Cincinnati defense. It isn’t fun trying to fit in his $10,400 salary, however. Justin Herbert and Trevor Lawrence are both big-time talents playing for teams projected to score over 40 points. They aren’t the true dual-threat options we typically want to roster but we don’t have to pay top price for them, so they look like stronger options than normal and fit into our more balanced roster builds. Most of the top dual-threat passers carry more risk than normal this week: Sam Ehlinger faces the loaded LSU defense, Adrian Martinez is scary to back after an awful Week 1 performance, and Sean Clifford might not have to do much as a 30-point home favorite.
Top Plays
Justin Fields, Ohio State ($10,400)
Fields opened the game against Florida Atlantic on fire. He finished off a four-play drive to open the game with a 51-yard rushing touchdown. He then threw touchdown passes on three consecutive drives that lasted two, three, and then four plays. His fourth touchdown came with 6:50 left in the first quarter. Fields and the Buckeyes offense didn’t do much the final three and a half quarters, however. Some of that was due to going vanilla but there were also some plays Fields left on the field. He will face a much stiffer test this week against a Cincinnati defense that should be amongst the 30 best in the nation this season. Vegas sees a relatively close and low-scoring game, with the Buckeyes favored by only 16 and a game total of just 55 points. Fields should be more involved on designed runs given the difficulty of the matchup, so even if he doesn’t throw for four touchdowns again, there is still plenty of fantasy upside here. The only real negative is the price, which is tough to fit in on a slate without any glaringly obvious value plays.
Justin Herbert, Oregon ($8,900)
For all of his NFL Draft hype and obvious physical tools, Herbert has not been a particularly productive college quarterback. Especially against strong competition, Herbert has struggled. He completed less than 60% of his passes overall last season. The only spot where Herbert has consistently put up fantasy numbers is against bad defenses. In three regular-season games against overmatched non-conference opponents last season, Herbert averaged 280 passing yards and 4 passing touchdowns per game. He is in exactly that kind of spot this week, facing a Nevada defense that allowed 423 passing yards and 4 touchdowns to Elijah Sindelar in Week 1. Herbert should get his season back on track and is hard to ignore given the matchup and the sub-$9,000 price tag.
Others to Consider
Kelly Bryant, Missouri ($9,900)
The Tigers were upset victims in an opening-week trip to Wyoming. Bryant’s play was one of the few bright spots. He threw for 423 yards and 2 touchdowns. He is unlikely to repeat those numbers if the matchup against West Virginia goes to script. Missouri is a 14-point home favorite and would probably like to establish the run if they can. However, even if Bryant doesn’t put up gaudy passing numbers, he is still capable of a big fantasy day given his rushing ability. In his last season as a full-time starter (2017 for Clemson), Bryant rushed for 665 yards and 11 touchdowns. Bryant’s GPP upside may depend upon the ability of the West Virginia offense to put up some points. If this game turns into a shootout, Bryant’s dual-threat abilities make him a potential slate breaker.
Trevor Lawrence, Clemson ($9,300)
Lawrence has been less useful as a fantasy option than his talent level and superstardom would suggest. Much of that is due to the fact Clemson has annihilated most of the teams on their schedule. In what should be a competitive matchup against Texas A&M, the Tigers will need more production out of Lawrence. He showed he is capable of delivering in the playoffs last year throwing for 674 yards and 6 touchdowns in the two games. Clemson should put up some points — their implied team total of 41 points is fourth highest on the slate. If most of the touchdowns come through the air, Lawrence will make good on his fairly modest salary.
Running Back
Positional Overview
If we want to build balanced lineups, it is tough to fit Travis Etienne and his $10,200 salary in. Perhaps we bend a bit and take a risk on a salary-saving option like Brian Robinson as our RB2. Another option would be to try to stick to the sub-$9,000 running backs. Ke’Shawn Vaughn stands out in that price range. We do have other solid options in the same range, including Larry Rountree III, Scottie Phillips, and Greg McCrae.
Core Plays
Travis Etienne, Clemson ($10,200)
If you can fit Etienne’s salary in, he is always a strong option. He only received 12 carries in a blowout win over Georgia Tech last week and still managed to rush for 205 yards and 3 touchdowns. With his elite burst and ability to bounce off tackles, Etienne breaks off long touchdown runs at an incredible rate. Texas A&M did boast a top-20 S&P+ run defense last season and held Etienne in check, so the matchup isn’t a cakewalk. However, Clemson is a big 17-point home favorite with a massive implied team total of 41 points. With Etienne in line to see what could be his heaviest workload of the season and the Clemson offense projected to score approximately 3.0 rushing touchdowns, this still looks like a great spot for another big Etienne game.
Ke’Shawn Vaughn, Vanderbilt ($8,700)
We know Vaughn has talent. He is the consensus top senior running back prospect for the NFL Draft. He shouldn’t be priced below $9,000. His price tag is probably only low because Georgia held him to 98 total yards and no touchdowns last week but those are actually impressive numbers given the disparity in talent between the Vanderbilt offensive line and Georgia’s front. Vanderbilt will be back on more even terms this week facing a mediocre Purdue defense that gave up 34 points to Nevada last week and ranked 88th in defense last season according S&P+.
Others to Consider
Brian Robinson, Jr. Alabama ($6,800)
As a GPP-only play, Robinson is intriguing due to his price. Alabama is a ridiculous 55-point home favorite against New Mexico State and Las Vegas projects the Crimson Tide to score 59.5 points. There are going to be touchdowns to go around. As Alabama’s No. 2 running back (and go-to option near the goal line), Robinson is a good bet to find the end zone. He may only see 10-12 touches given the 100-degree forecast and what should be a deep rotation of backs, so this is a risky play. However, on a slate that lacks standout options under $7,000, Robinson makes sense as a salary-saver if you are trying to squeeze guys like Etienne in.
Mekhi Sargent, Iowa ($9,900)
The price tag is tough to swallow but he spot doesn’t get much better than this for Sargent. Iowa is a 20-point home favorite against Rutgers and the offensive line should be able to impose their will. Sargent had 14 carries and 4 receptions on his way to racking up 156 total yards against Miami (OH) last week and could again have a big day with a similar workload against Rutgers. Sargent’s relative anonymity compared to the other names in the 10K range (Fields, Etienne, Rondale Moore, Jerry Jeudy, etc.) could keep his GPP ownership pretty low.
Wide Receiver
Positional Overview
As per usual, there are some strong options at the top of the price scale. Jerry Jeudy ($10,100), Rondale Moore ($10,000), and Laviska Shenault Jr. ($9,600) each project well but it is a tough week to fit even one top player in because value is tough to come by under $7,000. It probably makes more sense to stick to the middle tier. The $7,600 to $8,600 price range is loaded with high upside receivers who should also be fairly safe due to commanding a major share of their team’s targets. We can’t highlight them all here but nearly every single player in that price range this week is a viable tournament option. For cash games and as core GPP pieces, a few players from this range stood out just a bit above the crowd and are detailed below. Interestingly, three true sophomores look like the top options on the slate.
Core Plays
Justyn Ross, Clemson ($8,600)
Ross checks in at sub-$9,000 this week largely due to the fact he caught just 3 passes for 13 yards last week in a blowout win over Georgia Tech. Trevor Lawrence spread the ball around and Clemson rotated heavily at the skill positions. However, we know what Ross is capable of in big games where Clemson actually has to play its top players the whole way. Ross had 6-148-2 and 6-153-1 in the playoffs last year against Notre Dame and Alabama, respectively. In a big game against Texas A&M, which looks like fan and away the toughest opponent on Clemson’s schedule, the rotation will tighten and Dabo Swinney should lean on his stars like Ross. Teammate Tee Higgins is also very much in play but costs $1,100 more.
Seth Williams, Auburn ($8,300)
Williams was a big play specialist as a true freshman in 2018. He averaged 20.5 yards per reception and scored touchdowns on nearly 20% of his receptions but caught just 25 passes in 10 games. As Auburn’s clear No. 1 this season, he is going to see much more volume this season. Williams made a game-winning touchdown grab skying over a defender in the final seconds to make a grab and then bullying his way into the end zone in the game’s final seconds. Tulane’s offense is good enough to make it a three or four quarter game on Saturday but the defense is going to have a tough time stopping Williams and the other weapons for Auburn. He is a good bet to find the end zone at least once and one of the better options in this loaded middle tier.
Rondale Moore, Purdue ($10,000)
It isn’t easy to find the cap space to get up to Moore or the other top pass catchers this week. However, it might be worth taking a risk or two at other spots to lock in the elite ceiling and unmatched floor Moore brings. Moore caught 114 passes for 1,258 yards and 12 touchdowns last season (and added another 213 yards and 2 touchdowns as a runner). He picked up right where he left off in Week 1 with 11 catches for 124 yards and 1 touchdown against Nevada. In what is expected to be a close, relatively high-scoring (55.5 game total) matchup against Vanderbilt, Moore is almost a lock to see 10+ targets. He might be the most explosive player in the nation, so odds are he makes a big play happen on at least one of those touches.
Others to Consider
Kalija Lipscomb, Vanderbilt ($7,800)
The primary reason Lipscomb checks in at a sub-$8,000 salary is because he was held to three catches for eight yards last week against Georgia. But the Bulldogs smothered him last season too (2-16-0) and that game was an extreme outlier in a season Lipscomb caught 87 passes for 916 yards and 9 touchdowns. He is in a nice bounce back spot against a mediocre Purdue defense that gave up 295 passing yards and 3 touchdowns to Nevada’s freshman quarterback. We don’t normally get players with such a high floor at this low of a price.
Jaylon Redd, Oregon ($7,800)
Oregon’s wide receiver depth chart has been decimated by injuries. They’ve had to move tight ends and defensive backs over just to have enough bodies. Redd was already going to have a big role (38-433-5 as a sophomore) but the injuries mean it will be even bigger. Redd led the Ducks with nine receptions last week against Auburn but turned them into just 64 yards. He should find much easier sledding against Nevada given Oregon’s implied team total of 42.5 points. Like Lipscomb, there is a solid floor here for Redd.