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QUARTERBACKS
Aaron Rodgers $9,800 - Rodgers showed his elite QB status once again last weekend with a win in New York against the Jets overcoming a 18 point deficit and scoring 3 touchdowns and 346 yards. This week it is a divisional game against the Lions weak secondary in what is shaping up to be a high scoring affair. Rodgers has a good opportunity to duplicate the type of numbers he put up last week and is one of the top QB across the board.
Andrew Luck $9,500 - The Colts have started the season 0-2 with tough losses to both the Broncos and Eagles. Luck has 5 passing touchdowns and another rushing one and is showing signs that he belongs in the same category as Manning, Rodgers and Brees as far as fantasy production goes. This week he heads to Jacksonville in a must win game and even if the Colts jump out to a big lead it would be hard to see them take their foot of the gas. Luck is in for a huge statistical game and is my top QB option once again this week.
Matthew Stafford $9,000 - In a game that has the highest over/under at 53 total points, you have to think that both QB's are going to be going back and forth with touchdown drives. Stafford started the season with a bang against the Giants with 2 passing touchdowns and another one on the ground. Week 2 was a different story as he faced an underrated Panthers defense and was limited to 291 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Look for Stafford to put up similar numbers to what he did in Week 1 in this high scoring divisional battle.
Value Plays: Kirk Cousins $6,800, Ryan Tannehill $6,500
RUNNING BACKS
Pierre Thomas $6,300 - The Saints have a 3 headed RB monster that is suddenly cut down to a duo with Thomas and Robinson. Mark Ingram has run hard to start the season but unfortunately suffered a hand injury that has him sidelined for a month. Now that the Saints are 0-2 they will be desperate against a shorthanded Vikings team. So far Ingram has put up 165 combined rushing and receiving yards to go along with 3 touchdowns. With Robinson fumbling the ball away last week and no Ingram this week, you have to think Thomas is going to be in for a bigger than normal work load and should see 20+ touches and have a great opportunity to punch the ball into the endzone at least once.
LeSean McCoy $9,200 - Darren Sproles at $6,000 or LeSean McCoy at $9,200? Sproles is obviously the value play that has big play ability every time he touches the ball and McCoy does everything for the Eagles team. In the Eagles first divisional game on the season they are going to mix in both Sproles and McCoy at a fast pace. I like McCoy to have his breakout game of the season and pick up his first 100 yard rushing game and find the endzone a couple of times. My feeling is that people will be fading McCoy a little bit more this week and riding the cheaper Sproles at a huge discount.
Giovani Bernard $8,500 - Bernard was electric last week touching the ball 32 total times for 169 total yards with 1 rushing touchdown and 5 receptions. The Bengals are hurting in the passing game with injuries to AJ Green, Marvin Jones, and Tyler Eifert, so it is only natural that Bernard is becoming a favorite target of Andy Dalton and has 11 receptions and 141 receiving yards over the first two games. Bernard is still priced relatively modest despite his increased production on the field and has to be considered a top 3 RB play this week.
Value Plays: Darren Sproles $6,000, Ahmad Bradshaw $5,200
WIDE RECEIVERS
Percy Harvin $7,700 - With the Seahawks coming back to earth with a loss to the Chargers last week they are going to have to open up the offense a little bit as they face the Broncos in what could be a high scoring affair. Harvin looked like an elite WR in Week 1 and came back to earth last week against the Chargers, look for him to come up big in this Super Bowl rematch.
Keenan Allen $6,900 - To start the season against the Cardinals and Seahawks secondary can be very hard on a top tier WR, and that was the case with Allen so far this year. The targets have still been there with 15 over two weeks and Allen has caught 10 of them for a very modest 92 yards receiving. Now with a fantastic matchup against a depleted Bills secondary, Allen has a chance to be a top 5 WR and find the endzone for the first time in 2014.
Sammy Watkins $6,600 - Watkins is heating up after just two games in his NFL career. Last week he was targeted 11 times and made 8 receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown. He has showed some good chemistry with QB EJ Manuel and the QB/WR pair have got the Bills off to a 2-0 start and are showing no signs of letting up.
Golden Tate $5,000 - Tate is one of my favorite plays of the week because of price and matchup. To plug him in as a WR3 type at $5,000 makes a lot of sense to me. Tate has 11 receptions and 150 yards so far this season on 14 targets from QB Matthew Stafford. Of course everyone wants to plug in Calvin Johnson at every opportunity but for a $4,000 savings Tate is a nice option to get 5-6 receptions 80 yards and a shot at his first touchdown for the Lions.
Mike Wallace $6,500 - I like to make my WR choices off of guys that are seeing a lot of targets and making plays off of those targets. Wallace is a perfect example as he has 19 targets so far for a 12/137/2 statline over two weeks. I believe Tannehill will continue to feed the ball in Wallace's direction against a very suspect Chiefs secondary.
Value Plays: Jeremy Maclin $6,300, Brandin Cooks $6,300, DeAndre Hopkins $6,300
TIGHT ENDS
Jimmy Graham $8,400 - This is a tough week for the TE position in my opinion and the best option this week has to be the most expensive play on the board with Jimmy Graham. The only problem I have with Graham is that the Saints are at home and play the Vikings, so it could get ugly by the end of the first half. That being said the Saints are sitting at 0-2 and have blown two straight leads in games, so for them to put their foot off the gas with any type of lead might be foolish. Graham has been a beast so far this season with 18/210/2 statline off of 23 targets from Brees.
Dennis Pitta $5,800 - Pitta went from being targeted 15 times in Week 1 to only 4 times in Week 2 and ended up losing 2 touchdowns to Owen Daniels. Pitta still remains as Joe Flacco's favorite target and with a game against the Browns who shut down the Saints entire passing game minus the TE Jimmy Graham I like taking my chances with Pitta.
Niles Paul $5,000 - Paul is currently in a very good position this week against the banged up Eagles LB core. Stud Eagles LB Mychal Kendricks left Monday Night's game early and is Questionable to play this week against Washington. This is good news for Paul who already has looked good ad has showed a great chemistry with Kirk Cousins picking up a 8/99/1 statline last weekend. With the Eagles fast moving offense there are going to be plenty of offensive opportunities for Washington in this game and a Cousins to Paul connection is going to have to be on the money if they want to keep this game close.
Value Plays: Heath Miller $4,900
KICKERS
Justin Tucker $5,000 - When you think Ravens and Browns you think of a grudge match type of game where defenses step up and limit the amount of touchdowns on the field. Tucker has kicked well ever since he joined the Ravens and they have showed great confidence in him from any distance. A 2-3 FG game is very likely for Tucker and that is all you can ask for when trying to find a kicker each week.
Stephen Gostkowski $5,500 - The Patriots against the Raiders just sounds like a lot of points for New England. They should be able to build up a big lead and have a few opportunities in the second half for Gostkowski to pick up a couple of field goals.
Value Play: Shayne Graham $4,700
DEFENSE
New England Patriots $5,400 - The Raiders offense seems like a giant turnover waiting to happen every time they touch the ball. At $5,400 they are a little more expensive as far as defenses go but they also offer a nice return on your investment if things go as everyone predicts.
Houston Texans $5,200 - Texans defense has started the season on fire and they get an ugly looking Giants offense in Week 3. Hard to think too hard about this play and almost seems automatic to just plug and play and watch Eli Manning under pressure all day long.
Value Plays: Miami Dolphins $5,000
SUGGESTED ROSTER ($60,000) - Cash Games
- QB Matthew Stafford DET (vs GB) $9,000
- RB LeSean McCoy PHI (at WAS) $9,200
- RB Giovani Bernard CIN (vs TEN) $8,500
- WR Golden Tate DET (vs GB) $5,000
- WR Jeremy Maclin PHI (vs WAS) $6,300
- WR Sammy Watkins BUF (vs SD) $6,600
- TE Niles Paul WAS (at PHI) $5,000
- K Justin Tucker BAL (at CLE) $5,000
- D New England Patriots (vs OAK) $5,400
