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For the uninitiated, playing daily games on DraftKings can be an enjoyable experience, but equally sobering is the fact that season-long knowledge does not always translate to success in the daily space. Footballguys will bring you a series of value- and strategic-based selections from a number of seasoned daily veterans throughout the NFL season. Herein is another edition of “Tipandpick’s Tips and Picks,” where we will examine the salaries of players at each position on DraftKings and make value-based recommendations for both your cash games and tournaments.

Below you will find a list of recommended players for both formats. GPP players generally have high-upside, but are too risky for cash games; cash game players are consistent with high fantasy floors. In some instances, the value for a player is so strong, he may fall into both categories…let’s have a look.

TIPS...

In order to help you build winning rosters, let's walk through some of the observations that I have made while doing my research for DraftKings this week. As you build out your lineups on DraftKings, try to consider the following commentary, which revolves around game strategy and how we will want to take advantage of what the masses are doing when they construct their own lineups.

GAMESTACKING: In large-field GPPs, correlating players is essential for top-end finishes. You probably already know this, which is why you routinely pair your favorite receiver with his quarterback, so as to 'double-dip' on fantasy production when they connect for a touchdown. About 80% of entrants into DraftKings' Millionaire Maker employ this strategy (the remaining 20% are effectively throwing away their money each week). But there is another way to further correlate your roster builds and that is to stack players from opposite teams on the same lineup. In other words, grab yourself a QB-WR stack as usual, but "run it back" with another receiver or running back from the opposite team in a game where you think there could be a lot of scoring. The casual player has still not picked up on this trend, something many DFS pros have been doing for several years now. Despite a questionable DFS name, "Scumpunch" pulled down FantasyDraft's top-prize of $100K by running out a mega gamestack last week consisting of Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper/Michael Gallup and 'running it back' with Evan Engram (see screenshot below). When those teams combined for 52 points, Scumpunch's roster climbed the ranks and landed in the top spot of over 40K entries.

This week, the most obvious place to gamestack is in Los Angeles where the Rams' potent offense hosts Drew Brees and Alvin Kamara. There are 101 ways to gamestack this contest, but my favorite is Jared Goff to Cooper Kupp with Alvin Kamara on the other side. Elsewhere, I like getting a piece of the Seattle-Pittsburgh game, which I think oddsmakers have set too low of a game total given the personnel matchups in that game, as well as Kansas City-Oakland and Philadelphia-Atlanta (which is only available on FantasyDraft's main slate).

NEW FORMAT!

A new year brings a new format. In an effort to condense and enhance the value of the article, the text of Tips and Picks will be less than in years' past, but the upside is that you will now gain access to my full GPP player pool for DraftKings each and every week! For each position, I will provide Footballguys' subscribers with every player that I consider to be viable for cash games, while providing a ranking for every player that I will be drafting in my tournament lineups. The above table is an example of what you will see in the "Picks" section of this article. See below for some important bullet points regarding the new format:

• The "CROWD EXPOSURE" column is based on Steve Buzzard's Ownership Projections each week.
• The "CASH VIABLE?" column reveals to the reader which players can be considered for cash games (50/50's, double-ups, and head-to-head contests).
• The "GPP STARS" column rates players according to how I rank them in my large-field GPP contests each week:
  • 4 stars: The players in which I will be most overweight on the public (indicated in the 'Crowd Exposure' column); these are my most confident plays.
  • 3 stars: The players in which I like more than the public (indicated in the 'Crowd Exposure' column); these are plays that I feel strongly could deliver.
  • 2 stars: The players in which I will be close to the public (indicated in the 'Crowd Exposure' column); these players reflect those that I think the public percentages are most accurate.
  • 1 star: The players in which I will be exposed at rates lower than the public (indicated in the 'Crowd Exposure' column) OR at rates generally lower than 5% overall; these are players who merit consideration in your overall approach, but will be limited in my player pool due to game strategy reasons.
• If you have any questions on the new format, please email me at john.lee@footballguys.com.

...AND PICKS

Let's take a deeper look into some of the players who I will be targeting for my cash game and tournament rosters this weekend. A short summary follows each respective table to fill in the gaps that led to the respective recommendations; that text represents only an overview of the methodology and rationale that goes into each recommendation.

QUARTERBACKS

QUARTERBACK QUICK TAKES:

CASH: Looking back over Patrick Mahomes II' game logs for the past 12+ contests, he is easily the most consistent quarterback in the league. If you can get him into your cash game lineups without hating yourself at other positions, it's the right move, particularly when one considers the Chiefs' 30+ point implied team total. If salary, however, is limited, Kyler Murray still looks too cheap when one considers the likely pass-heavy gamescript and how fast the Cardinals offense ran in Week #1. Kliff Kingsbury's squad averaged 21.36 seconds per play last week in their pursuit of the Lions, who built an early lead only to lose it in the fourth quarter. Given the likelihood of similar gamescript against the Ravens, who are favored by two touchdowns, there is no reason to think that Murray cannot replicate his 25-point performance from last week. Do not be scared off Murray because of the Ravens' defensive reputation--they beat a terrible Dolphins team last week and enter this Sunday missing two of their starting four defensive backs. Bridging the gap between Mahomes and Murray is Ben Roethlisberger, whose entire offense sputtered in Foxborough last Sunday night. It's no secret that Bill Belichick owns the Steelers and this looks like a 'get right' spot at home against the Seahawks, who allowed an A.J. Green-less Andy Dalton polish them for 418 passing yards and a pair of scores in their home stadium last week.

GPP: If you didn't read the 'cash' section above, read it now to understand why Kyler Murray is my favorite GPP quarterback on this Week #2 slate. Combine that rationale with the fact that he looks to be rostered in less than 3% of lineups on Sunday and he's a stellar option for tournaments; feel free to pair him with any of his receivers and/or David Johnson, who (don't peek) tops my list of GPP options at his respective position, too. After Murray, Jared Goff looks to be in a prime position to put up serious fantasy production against the Saints, who eked out a victory over the Texans on Monday Night Football, but not before yielding 28 points to a team with far less offensive weapons. In his last effort, Goff was steady, but did not put up gaudy numbers because a few drives stalled for Greg Zuerlein field goals while others resulted in Malcolm Brown touchdown scampers. His $5.9K price tag is an inefficiency that should be exploited in this potential barnburner against the Saints. Elsewhere, you might want to take a flyer on Derek Carr, another cheap quarterback who should throw the ball 40+ times against the Chiefs and whose modest public ownership can be leveraged against the most popular player on the Week #2 slate, his running back Josh Jacobs.

RUNNING BACKS

RUNNING BACK RUNDOWN:

CASH: In cash game formats, locking in Austin Ekeler and Chris Carson makes a lot of sense for the second consecutive week. Each played well in their respective season-openers and DraftKings did not elevate their salaries to a sufficient level to avoid them in their Week #2 matchups. Ekeler should continue to play a role in all aspects of the Chargers offense against Detroit, while Carson is arguably more intriguing considering he was the Seahawks' most-targeted player last Sunday against the Bengals. The public favorite, as evidenced by our ownership projections, will be Josh Jacobs against the Oakland Raiders. Jacobs will be owned at ~ 30% in tournaments, which means that he'll likely be in approximately half of double-ups and 50/50 contests; in these instances, it is often better to just try to beat your opponents elsewhere rather than fading the public favorite because, if he hits, there is virtually no way you can make up that ground on so many entrants. Lastly, there are two pass-catchers at opposite ends of the salary scale who can be considered for cash games: Chris Thompson ($3.9K) is coming off a 7/68/0 afternoon against the Eagles and should fill a similar role versus the Cowboys this weekend. Likewise, Alvin Kamara ($8.2K), who shares a similar skillset to Christian McCaffrey, takes on the Rams, who allowed McCaffrey to blow up for 45.9 DK points last Sunday.

GPP: As discussed in the Quarterbacks section above, I am high on the Cardinals offense until one of three things happens: 1) they demonstrate an inability to score, 2) the public begins to gravitate too much towards them, or 3) DK prices them up. As of the writing of this article, none of those things has occurred, so grabbing shares of David Johnson at $7.1K at only 5% ownership feels like stealing (before the game is played). DJ ran 15 routes as a wide-receiver and was utilized in a similar manner to how he was used in 2017 when he took the league by storm. A different kind of running back, Derrick Henry is another top candidate for tournaments this weekend. Henry faces a Colts defense that had no answer for Austin Ekeler last week and there is reason to concede that Henry's bruising style could wear down this defensive front much more easily than the shifty Ekeler. Coming off a 20-touch opener, Henry is attractive at a fair $6.0K salary and projected to be on only 6% of tournament rosters. Because Ekeler, Kamara, and Jacobs will be so popular amongst the masses, Ezekiel Elliott's expected ownership is surprisingly low as a touchdown-favorite over the Redskins. Game strategy dictates that we consider going overweight on Elliott's ownership to capitalize on his upside when the masses are overlooking him. In the same game, it will not feel right, but rolling with Adrian Peterson at only $3.4K is a sneaky way to save salary to spend up elsewhere; Peterson is admittedly in the twilight of his career, but he has played well into his 30s and needs a modest 60 yards and a score to deliver GPP value on his salary, which should not be asking too much from the future Hall-of-Famer.

WIDE RECEIVERS

WIDE RECEIVER WALK-THROUGH:

CASH: Outside of Tyrell Williams, selecting wide receivers for your cash games this week is going to give you angst--DraftKings has done a good job of pricing their receivers and there do not appear to be any slam-dunk options (beyond Tyrell). For his part, the Gazelle is in a prime spot to put together a monstrous day against the Chiefs, whose high-flying offense pushes opposing offenses to go heavy through the air and boost those offenses' fantasy output. After Tyrell, I am advocating a trio of possession slot receivers for your consideration: Tyler Lockett, Keenan Allen, and Cooper Kupp. Lockett disappointed last week when the Bengals forced Russell Wilson to beat them elsewhere, but he should have little trouble besting the Steelers, who get throttled by slot receivers on a weekly basis (see Julian Edelman's stat line from Week #1). Keenan Allen posted a 8/123/1 stat line in the Chargers' opener despite playing alongside a healthy Hunter Henry and Mike Williams; this week, Henry will watch from the sidelines and Williams is questionable to play with a knee injury, a combination of which should give Allen all the action he can handle. Lastly, take a look at Cooper Kupp, whose $6.0K salary, redzone prowess, and plus matchup against P.J. Williams make him an attractive option against the Saints in a game that is expected to put plenty of points on the board.

GPP: In the preceding paragraph, there is sufficient commentary to support why Keenan Allen, Tyler Lockett, and Cooper Kupp are viable for both cash and GPP formats on Sunday. Beyond them, DeVante Parker is a sneaky lineup-differentiator coming of a game versus the Ravens where he led his team in targets. We should probably guess that the bulk of Miami's offensive plays will come through the air as an 18.5-point underdog against the Pats and Ryan Fitzpatrick has been known to lock onto a receiver from time to time. An even deeper flyer is the former Colt, Ryan Grant, who inherited the WR2 role for the Raiders when Antonio Brown was released earlier this month. Grant is not a world-beater and likely is not going to return an 8/150/2 stat line, but his $3.2 salary largely only requires a score to hit GPP value, which makes him a nice leverage play away from Josh Jacobs, Tyrell Williams, and Darren Waller, all of whom will be owned at nearly 10x the rate of Grant. In Pittsburgh, feel free to roll with any of the Steelers receivers as a correlate to Ben Roethlisberger. Of those options, JuJu Smith-Schuster has the highest upside, but the masses are well-aware of that fact, as evidenced by his 18% implied ownership; thus, both Donte Moncrief and James Washington are cheap flyers who can easily deliver 4x (or more) value on their respective salaries. Closing out this section, I am fading John Ross after his career day against the Seahawks last week. Ross had never surpassed 52 yards in his NFL career prior to last Sunday and will be owned in over 10% of lineups this week, making him an easy avoid for leverage against those rosters that are looking to capture lightning in a bottle for the second consecutive week.

TIGHT ENDS

TIGHT END TIDBITS:

CASH: Most cash game lineups are going to contain Darren Waller because of his Monday Night Football performance that is not baked into his $3.3K salary that was released prior to that game. Matching up against the Chiefs, we should expect a heavy dose of Derek Carr, whose receiving options are limited now that Antonio Brown is a Patriot. As such, Waller makes a lot of sense for cash formats, where the risk is minimal and he needs only to deliver ~ 10 DK points to justify his slot in your roster. A similar argument could be made for T.J. Hockenson, who fired out of the gates last weekend against the Cardinals; Hockenson was a first-round pick in this year's draft, but questions around playing time blurred his impact prior to last week's breakout game. Moving forward, Hockenson will be a weekly consideration and is certainly an option at only $3.0K this weekend. At the top of my cash game list is Evan Engram, who collected a ridiculous 14 targets against Dallas last weekend when Sterling Shepard was active. This week, Shepard (concussion) will miss the game against Buffalo, which means that Engram should get all the looks he can handle. While Cody Latimer and Bennie Fowler are dealing with TreDavious White on the perimeter, look for Eli Manning to get the ball to Engram on the inside early and often.

GPP: Upside is most often correlated with volume and an ability to score touchdowns, which means that George Kittle and Travis Kelce continue to be top options at the tight end position. Kittle scored a pair of touchdowns last week, but both were canceled out by penalties, which has kept his salary at a reasonable level for another week; he matches up against the Bengals on Sunday and should continue to be the most-targeted receiver on the Niners young offense. Kelce was kept out of the endzone last week, as Sammy Watkins collected a trio of scores, but things could reverse this Sunday and I will gladly take Kelce at 17% over Watkins at 22% given positional scarcity and overall ability. As cheap flyers with upside, look no further than Vernon Davis ($3.2K) and Tyler Eifert ($2.9K). Davis continues to deliver when given the opportunity to play for the oft-injured Jordan Reed; last week, Davis took a 47-yard pass to the house en route to a 16-fantasy point afternoon. Eifert did not find paydirt, but he played effectively against the Seahawks and was targeted six times despite playing only 50% of the Bengals' snaps. He should see more time this Sunday and it would not be surprising to see John Ross exhibit some regression to the mean while Eifert does the same (and collects a touchdown...or two).

TEAM DEFENSES

TEAM DEFENSE DIGEST:

CASH: At this point in the season, we still do not have a solid understanding of defensive situations outside of a select few teams (Patriots, for example). For this reason, you will note that my "player pool" for team defenses is unusually large for the first month of the season; after we get a better feel for how strong a defense is, the number of teams will lessen each week. For cash games this week, there are several candidates, but none is better than the Houston Texans ($2.8K) at home against an unproven NFL quarterback. When Nick Foles (clavicle) went down last week, Gardner Minshew was thrown into the mix and performed admirably against the Ravens. While Minshew is largely an untested commodity, the Texans' J.J. Watt will be looking to force Minshew into making rookie mistakes in front of a fired-up crowd in their home-opener. If you have some extra salary remaining, you could also consider the Patriots against Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins. As referenced above, the Pats have one of the better defenses in the league and are 18.5-point favorites for good reason, but spending an extra $900 to get there feels unnecessary in cash game formats.

GPP: Following up on the previous paragraph, get a piece of most of the defenses this weekend if you are entering more than 10-20 lineups. With nearly 40% of lineups containing either the Ravens, Patriots, or Texans, there is ample opportunity to roster a low-owned team defense who outscores each of those options. At the top of my list is the Tennessee Titans, who blasted through Cleveland last week, sacking Baker Mayfield five times and picking him off on three separate occasions. They return home to Nashville to take on Jacoby Brissett and the Colts, a team that outplayed expectations against the Chargers in Week #1, but will continue to miss Andrew Luck for the remainder of the season. Elsewhere, put some chips on the Bears to give Joe Flacco fits in Denver, as well as the Bills' underrated defense versus the beleaguered Giants.

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