The NFL is season has Week 1 in the books and the DraftKings picks got off to a nice start. The Cash Contest (50/50 and Double-Up) lineup cashed, but we did not have any luck in the Tournament Contest. Who knew that Daniel Jones + Michael Pittman would be the winning stack? Tournament Contests are a crapshoot in the NFL and that is why I stick to Cash Contest for the majority of my play. The Showdown picks for the Sunday Night Football and the Monday Night Football games cashed as well, so overall it was a decent start to the season.
I was asked this week if I have any advice for picking out a Cash Contest to play. Selecting the right contest is definitely important in Cash Contests. You want to select the contest with the most entries. I try to stick to single-entry Cash Contests. The reason you want as many entries as possible is because the pay-line moves significantly based on the number of entries there are. For example… if you play a Cash Contest with 20 entries, there is a good chance that 10 of the entries are really good. That means your entry will need to be excellent in order to hit the pay-line. If you play a Cash Contest with 5,000 entries, there is a good chance that many of the entries will suck, some people will forget to update their lineup to take advantage of injuries and the pay-line will drop significantly. I noticed last year that you needed to score roughly 120 points in the large Cash Contests and roughly 132 points in the 20 entry contests. I typically play the Giant $5 Double Up (Single Entry) with 8,620 entries. The payline for that contest last week was only 112 points.
Here are my picks for Week 2….
DRAFTKINGS NFL CASH CONTEST
QUARTERBACK: I had a hard time deciding between JOSH ALLEN, LAMAR JACKSON, JALEN HURTS and JUSTIN FIELDS as my Cash Contest QB this week. All have great matchups and each QB should score well. I decided to pay up for Allen because the Ravens could blow out the Browns and that will cause the Ravens to take their foot off the gas pedal. Hurts should have a great game vs. the Chiefs, but I am a Chiefs fan and I am not cheering for Hurts to score well this week J. So, it comes down to Allen or Fields. I will use both of them in my Cash Contest lineups, but I will use Allen in this one. I think the Bills vs. Jets could be one of the highest scoring games of the week.
RUNNINGBACKS: I am glad we got the CHRSITIAN MCCAFFREY injury portion of the season out of the way. Not only did CMC look healthy, he looked 25 years old last week. CMC had 31 touches in Week 1. He could get 35+ in Week 2 with Brock Purdy and George Kittle out of the lineup. CMC is the best option on the slate this week…. TRAVIS ETIENNE was expected to split time with Tank Bigsby and Brayshul Tuten. Well, that didn’t happen in Week 1. Bigsby was traded and Etienne got most of the work. Etienne scored 21.6 DK Points vs. Carolina last week. He should score well vs. the Bengals Defense too.
WIDE RECEIVERS: CEEDEE LAMB is my top WR this week. He had 13 targets, 7 receptions for 110 yards and 21 DK Points last week. He could have scored close to 30 DK Points if he did not have two drops in the game. The Cowboys will continue to air it out and Lamb will have a good chance to be the highest-scoring WR on the slate…. I had a hard time deciding between HOLLYWOOD BROWN and TETAIROA MCMILLIAN. I still have nightmares about the Chiefs Offense vs. the Eagles in the Super Bowl, so I will play McMillian. The Panthers vs. Cardinals game could be a shootout Sunday…. RICKY PEARSALL is once again a great value pick for $5,300. Mac Jones will be the QB for the 49ers Sunday. I am not worried about the loss of Brock Purdy. Jones made Brian Thomas Jr. a star last year in Jacksonville. He should do the same with Pearsall in San Francisco.
TIGHT END: The Fantasy Gods gave us a gift at the TE Position. Rookie HAROLD FANNIN JR. led the Browns in Targets and Catches last week. He even lined up at QB in the Wild-Cat Formation to run the ball. I heard in the preseason that the Browns were shopping David Njoku because they loved Fannin so much. I do not buy the hype. I am now though. Fannin should have a similar game in Week 2, playing from behind against the Ravens.
FLEX POSITION: CHRIS OLAVE could be the best value on the slate. The Saints really do not have a running game (Alvin Kamara can still catch the ball, but his days of dominating between the tackles are over), and they will likely be playing from behind. Olave had 12 targets, 7 receptions for 54 yards and 12.4 DK Points last week. He should have a lot more targets again Sunday.
DEFENSE/SPECIAL TEAMS: The RAMS DEFENSE/ST are my top defense in Week 2. They scored 11 DK Points vs. the Texans last week. They should score more than that this week against the Titans. I also like the COWBOYS DEFENSE/ST if you need to save some salary. My punt play at defense this week would be the PATRIOTS DEFENSE/ST.
DRAFTKINGS NFL TOURNAMENT CONTEST
STACK: The Bills are a 6.5 Point favorite over the Jets, but I think this game could be closer than what the experts think. The Bills and the Jets played in the two highest-scoring games last week (Bills vs. Ravens had 81 Points) and (Jets vs. Steelers had 66 Points). These two teams should continue to score well, so I will stack JUSTIN FIELDS + GARRETT WILSON and bring back the stack with KEON COLEMAN. Each player in this stack has a great matchup and they are all underpriced.
RUNNINGBACKS: DERRICK HENREY went off for 169 yards and 2 TDs last week vs. the Bills. That was good enough for 33.2 DK Points. I doubt the Browns will be able to slow down the King Sunday. I will pay up for Henry in this divisional match-up…. Stacking CHRISTIAN MCCAFFREY with King Henry gives this lineup a high floor. McCaffrey is my No. 1 RB on the slate and Henry is No. 2. I will lock both of them up in my Tournament Contest lineup.
WIDE RECEIVERS: I have GARRETT WILSON and KEON COLEMAN in my lineup. I will add KAYSHON BOUTTE to my lineup. He is clearly the No. 1 WR for the Patriots. He led the Patriots in routes run, receptions and yards last week. Now he gets to face the Miami Defense. Boutte will likely be covered by CB Rasual Douglas. He wasn’t even in the NFL a few weeks ago. The Colts torched the Dolphins Defense last week. New England and Boutte will do the same Sunday.
TIGHT END: I know HAROLD FANNIN JR. is going to be a popular play, but his value is too good to pass up. You can pivot to JUWAN JOHNSON if you can find the extra salary, but I like Fannin in Week 2.
FLEX POSITION: I read on Pro Football Focus the matchup for ZAY FLOWERS this week. They said that the Browns run the most Zone Coverage Defense in the NFL and Flowers in the best WR at beating zone coverage. The Bills tried to play a zone defense and Flowers torched them for 143 yards, 1 TD and 31.1 DK Points. Last week was not a fluke. Flowers has a good chance of going off again in Week 2.
RB/DEFENSE ST STACK: I played the RAMS DEFENSE/ST in my Cash Contest lineup and I am going to use them in my Tournament Contest too. The Rams are the best value on the slate and they have the highest floor and one of the highest ceilings.
DRAFTKINGS SNF SHOWDOWN PICKS
DRAFTKINGS MNF SHOWDOWN PICKS (TB vs. HST)
DRAFTKINGS MNF SHOWDOWN PICKS (LAC vs. LV)
Good luck this week!
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