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How much fun was that? If you started the Cowboys (#1 defense), Reggie Bush (#2 RB), or Jordan Cameron (#5 TE) from last week's article it was probably a lot of fun. Of course, if you played Pierre Garcon (ugh) or Ryan Succop it may not have been. Last week's results were positive, but like always they weren't perfect. The Best Bang for your Buck netted two top five players at their positions and a couple of blah results at quarterback and wide receiver. The Bargain Buys were just as volatile with the #1 defense, two busts, and three position players that outperformed their value. Overall week one had a 60% success ratio, which is just below the 67% mark I'll shoot for this year. Let's do better in week two.
Quarterback
- Highest Priced Player: Peyton Manning- $9,800
- Average Priced Player: Eli Manning and Jay Cutler - $7,800
Best Bang for your Buck: Terrelle Pryor ($6,500) vs. Jacksonville. Pryor's value took a huge leap this week, but not enough to keep him out of the bargain territory. Last week he was the cheapest quarterback available and finished as QB13. This week he's still in the bottom third of quarterbacks by cost and David Dodds has him finishing as QB13 against the Jaguars. Eventually FanDuel is going to catch up to his value. Until they do, start him with confidence.
Bargain Buy: Ryan Tannehill ($6,600) vs. Indianapolis. Tannehill put together a fine performance in week one against a Cleveland secondary that's much more talented than the one he'll face this week. It also helps that I expect Indianapolis to move the ball with regularity against the Dolphins secondary. I see this game as a shootout with both quarterbacks posting monster lines. Luck may outperform Tannehill, but it won't be enough to make up for the $2,000 difference in their cost.
Running Back
- Highest Priced Player: Adrian Peterson - $10,000
- Average Priced Player: Trent Richardson- $7,600
Best Bang for your Buck: Darren McFadden ($7,500) vs. Jacksonville. I guess we know who Mr. Dodds likes in this game, huh? McFadden had an adequate performance in week one against a bad Colts defense and gets another great match up in week two. If you think the Raiders are going to roll in this one like Kansas City did last week then you have to believe that McFadden is in store for 25+ touches. If he gets that, he'll blow this ranking out of the water.
Bargain Buy: DeAngelo Williams ($6,500) vs. Buffalo. The Panthers offensive attack looks way too conservative, and that's bad for everyone except for DeAngelo Williams. Williams put together a very workmanlike effort against a great defense and now he gets the Bills in week two. Like McFadden, he should see a ton of carries against an inferior defense. The difference is that Williams has a much better offensive line and is $1,000 cheaper.
Wide Receiver
- Highest Priced Player: Calvin Johnson - $8,800
- Average Priced Player: Roddy White and Reggie Wayne- $7,000
Best Bang for your Buck: Wes Welker ($6,900) vs. Giants. Welker didn't miss a beat in his first week with Denver. The Broncos used him as much, if not more, than the Patriots did last season and Welker had a huge performance. Now he faces a Giants secondary that is in terrible condition after their week one loss to the Cowboys. The only way this goes wrong is if Peyton Manning makes a point to get Eric Decker involved after his atrocious week one performance.
Bargain Buy: DeSean Jackson ($5,700) vs. Chargers. I have no idea how Jackson is still this low after what the Eagles showed in week one, but this is a no-brainer. Philadelphia's high octane offense against the Chargers vulnerable secondary should produce a bloodbath. Normally I'd be concerned that Chip Kelly might slow things down, but he seemed none too pleased with the results when he tried that in the second half of week one. Jackson has the potential to finish as the WR1 in FanDuel formats this week.
Tight End
- Highest Priced Player: Jimmy Graham - $7,800
- Average Priced Player: Dallas Clark and Kyle Rudolph- $5,800
Best Bang for your Buck: Brandon Myers ($5,000) vs. Broncos. In 2012, Brandon Myers produced a significant portion of his fantasy points in garbage time. That trend continued in week one against the Cowboys. There should be plenty of garbage time this week against Denver as there is no reason to think that the Giants banged up secondary can compete with Peyton Manning and his arsenal of receivers. The Ravens tight ends would have had a huge game last week if they'd just held on to the ball. Myers should do just that.
Bargain Buy: Brent Celek ($4,500) vs. San Diego. As long as FanDuel leaves Celek at $4,500 and he produces TE10 numbers, I'm going to stick with him. The Chargers gave up two touchdowns to tight ends in week one, and the Eagles should have plenty of trips to the red zone. Celek is still a favorite target of Vick's and the impact of Zach Ertz is being overtstated.
Defense
It's going to be difficult to match last week's pick of a $5,000 defense that leads all defenses in scoring, but that doesn't mean I won't try. This week I'm basing my pick on volume, and that means I'm picking the San Diego Chargers. Michael Vick will likely make a few bad throws in this one and I'm basically hoping the Chargers can take one of those to the house. In all honesty, I'm not a huge fan of any of the $5,000 defenses this week and wouldn't blame you if you spent a couple hundred dollars more on this position.
Kicker
There are very few $5,000 options at kicker this week but one I do like is Greg Zuerlein. The Rams play the Falcons in a game that's huge for Atlanta. I fully expect them to win this game, but their defense isn't good enough to shut anyone down completely. Look for a bend but don't break approach that leads to 3-4 field goals from Zuerlein.
Contact Heath at cummings@footballguys.com or on Twitter @heathcummingssr