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Hello fellow fantasy football fanatics - welcome to the third installment of Old Dog Learns New Tricks.
One of the good things about having a horrid Week 1 is that any improvement is infinitely better than 0-9. I am glad to state that I got into the 'W' column this week, but I must also say that I, like a lot of fellow fantasy owners, was negatively impacted by the rash of early, high-profile injuries that occurred last week.
Yup. I had Knowshon Moreno on three of my DFS teams and A.J. Green on another three of my nine squads. Moreno provided the grand total of .4 points to my second lineup, and Green a straight-up zero to my third lineup. The lack of scoring from Moreno caused my second lineup to finish 52nd and 54th out of 100 teams in my 50/50 leagues for that lineup - if he had played just one quarter, I probably would have cashed in those leagues. I was way out of contention with the Green lineup - I doubt he could have saved me but I'll never know now. So that was the Bad News during Week 2 (I finished 2-7).
The Good News is that I put together six out of nine competitive lineups that, with a little better luck, would probably have won $ in their matchups. My best lineup of the week (see below, Team 1) cashed in both of the 50/50 leagues I entered, placing 26th and 30th respectively. Even though Shonn Greene (4 points) and Nate Freese (1 point) underperformed for the lineup, Jordy Nelson (31.4 points) and the Buffalo Team D (20 points) outperformed enough to notch 'W's for that array of players. I think that LESSON ONE (construct three unique lineups with no player repeats) has helped me put together better lineups across the board. It certainly led me to invest more time and consideration into all three lineups.
My main challenge this week is staying the course - I know that I am getting into the 'zone' that will consistently produce wins in the DFS space. However, the rash of injuries last week cost me between four and six wins, which is disheartening. I am learning the necessary lessons that will make the rest of the season much more fun for me at FanDuel - I am looking forward to posting what happens during this third weekend of NFL action in this space next week. My LESSON TWO for this week is: Stay the course! Injuries are unpredictable!
As I have mentioned previously, I write the weekly rushing and passing matchups around here - so one of my guideposts for DFS is to only consider players that have good or great matchups heading into Week 3. Looking at the matchups this week, the two most favorable pairings I see are:
1. Indianapolis at Jacksonville - The Jaguars have allowed a league-worst 75 points in their first two games, with 27/45 for 322 yards passing, two TDs and one interception handed over to Nick Foles in Week 1, and 24/36 for 288 yards passing, two TDs and zero interceptions to Washington's quarterbacks last week. Andrew Luck, T.Y. Hilton and company merit consideration for your DFS lineups this week.
2. Dallas at St. Louis - DeMarco Murray is nuclear hot coming into Week 3, with 29/167/1 rushing and 1/6/0 receiving to his credit against the Titans last week. Meanwhile, the Rams have coughed up 30/157/2 rushing to Tampa Bay as a team last week and allowed 31/185/1 rushing to the Vikings during Week 1. I know he'll be expensive but I'm going to have one lineup with Murray in as my RB #1.
As I will be taking breaking news and updated injury reports into consideration while crafting my Week 3 DFS squads right up until kickoff on Sunday (I am putting my own money on the line here, after all), I will post my Week 3 results and lineups in next week's edition of Old Dog Learns New Tricks. I hope that you, the reader, will check back in to see how a fellow DFS beginner fared in the third week of the 2014 season, along with sharing some thoughts about DFS in Week 4.
Good Luck everyone, I hope you win ALL your leagues this year!
My Week 2 Rosters
Team 1
| Position | Player Name | Salary | % Owned | Points |
| QB | Peyton Manning | $10,200 | 24 | 21.58 |
| RB | Shonn Greene | $5,000 | 9 | 4 |
| RB | Matt Forte | $8,600 | 7 | 6.1 |
| WR | Jordy Nelson | $7,900 | 16 | 31.4 |
| WR | Vincent Jackson | $7,300 | 4 | 7.1 |
| WR | Emmanuel Sanders | $6,900 | 16 | 14.6 |
| TE | Travis Kelce | $4,600 | 3 | 10.1 |
| K | Nate Freese | $4,500 | 16 | 1 |
| D | Buffalo Bills | $4,900 | 2 | 20 |
Team 2:
| Position | Player Name | Salary | % Owned | Points |
| QB | Andrew Luck | $9,200 | 25 | 19.88 |
| RB | Arian Foster | $8,300 | 28 | 22 |
| RB | Knowshon Moreno | $7,000 | 4 | 0.4 |
| WR | Justin Hunter | $5,700 | 9 | 3.6 |
| WR | T.Y. Hilton | $6,400 | 7 | 9.5 |
| WR | Golden Tate | $5,000 | 15 | 8.2 |
| TE | Jimmy Graham | $8,000 | 22 | 28.8 |
| K | Adam Vinatieri | $5,000 | 9 | 10 |
| D | Denver Broncos | $5,400 | 4 | 3 |
Team 3:
| Position | Player Name | Salary | % Owned | Points |
| QB | Ryan Fitzpatick | $6,000 | 3 | 13.56 |
| RB | Matt Asiata | $4,500 | 14 | 16.9 |
| RB | Marshawn Lynch | $9,000 | 9 | 14.3 |
| WR | A.J. Green | $8,500 | 29 | 0 |
| WR | Demaryius Thomas | $8,700 | 24 | 14.7 |
| WR | Andre Johnson | $7,100 | 7 | 10.4 |
| TE | Martellus Bennett | $6,100 | 7 | 13.2 |
| K | Mike Nugent | $5,200 | 4 | 6 |
| D | Tampa Bay D | $4,900 | 19 | 5 |
