Fantasy
9/17/22
14 min read
Week 2 DFS Cash Games Strategy
Well, Week 1 did what it always does. It makes us happy, it makes us mad, it makes us excited, and it makes us cry. But mostly, it makes us confused and question everything we’ve ever known leading up to this moment. So many home favorites took the L in week 1. The Bears beat the 49ers, Vikings crushed the Packers, Steelers overthrew the Bengals, Giants squeaked out a win against the Titans, Seahawks narrowly took down the newly led Russell Wilson Broncos, and the Texans vs. the Colts ended in a freakin’ tie! Carson Wentz went ballistic for 32.72 fantasy points, and Aaron Rodgers got us again this year with a 5.7 fantasy point performance. It’s pure madness, and I live for it.
We can always expect things to come back down to earth again in Weeks 2 and 3, but Week 1 always takes us for a wild ride. We did alright last week trying to navigate the chaos that ensued, but we can always do better. There is one less game on this slate due to the Monday night doubleheader, so it's slimmer pickings than usual.
But there’s still some excellent opportunity to smash the slate. I want to see some game-winning lineups built off this article. Feel free to screenshot and tag us if we helped you out! We only have 17 more weeks left of the NFL season, so you better soak it up while you still can because the season always moves at light speed! Time to dive into some great cash plays here in week 2!
Week 2 DFS Cash Games: QUARTERBACKS
Lamar Jackson - (DraftKings: $7,400 / FanDuel: $8.200)
Something about this game just feels super sexy to me. This Week 2 slate doesn’t have nearly anything as attractive as this matchup. Arizona vs. Las Vegas has appeal, but this game features serious talent on both sides of the ball. Arizona is still too banged up for me to feel confident enough that they can find themselves in a shootout. Looking at all of the quarterbacks we have listed on the slate, I think you can easily agree that Lamar has the highest upside.
Jackson is pretty much always going to be a safe play. But he can feel even safer when faced with a matchup that stays competitive enough to have him out there doing what he does best. I know we talked about him last week versus the Jets. But the odds of Lamar only having 17 rushing yards again this season are pretty damn slim. Even with that, he still did “okay.” He passed for three touchdowns which was encouraging. But I overlooked that he wasn’t going to need to be called upon to do much against a bad team. For the first time in a long time, the Dolphins just so happen not to be a bad team.
I am actually thoroughly impressed with what Mike McDaniel is doing over there in Miami. With guys like Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle running wild out in the open field and Tua not looking half that bad, they’re going to find themselves in some juicy matchups. This game is an excellent opportunity to flex what each team is made of. Look out when Miami has to face an offense that can actually put up points against their defense! New England, you were not that guy! As for Baltimore, we know Lamar has an MVP-caliber skillset waiting to be unleashed and is absolutely that DUDE.
Trey Lance - (DraftKings: $5,700 / FanDuel: $7,500)
We have been talking about Trey Lance for over a year now, and this matchup is basically what we have all been waiting for. I mean, yes, of course, he did start in Week 1, and that could have been something special to see Lance vs. Fields. But the bad weather took that away from us. Now it’s time to roll with the big dog and find who I think will be the next go-to cash game quarterback. Lance has that thing I like to see, and that's the ability to provide a safe floor with a high ceiling.
I have a soft spot for Lance because he reminds me a lot of a young Jalen Hurts. Not so literally because their skill set is still very different even though it is similar. But more so, he doesn’t necessarily have to look good in real life to play well in fantasy land.
One thing is for sure about Hurts and Lance, which is that they will get rushing attempts. We know how much a mobile quarterback can carry us in fantasy. In Lance's two starts, he averaged 14.5 rushing attempts. Not too shabby at all. The upside and the possibilities are endless If Lance keeps that up along with his big arm providing some accuracy one day. He will be the next big fantasy asset if he can keep this job. As for this week, he is my favorite value play at quarterback.
Honorable Mention: Derek Carr - (DraftKings: $6,200 / FanDuel: $7,300)
Deep Sleeper: Jared Goff - (DraftKings: $5,400 / FanDuel: $6,700)
Week 2 DFS Cash Games: RUNNING BACKS
Saquon Barkley - (DraftKings: $7,300 / FanDuel: $6,800)
SaGod Barkley is back, baby! Dust off the old takes saying he’s washed because he was coming back from injuries last season. We saw everything we wanted to see out of Saquon last week. We saw that burst we so desperately missed when he broke off for a 68-yard run. He stayed super involved in the passing game and led his team in targets with 7. Barkley also received all the goal-line carries and essentially played the role of a bell cow running back. He was the number 1 scoring running back on the week! What else did we need to see to feel encouraged about Barkley heading into week 2?
This man looks damn good! Now he faces off against the Carolina Panthers, who just let Kareem Hunt and Nick Chubb combine for 38.3 points on DraftKings. We should call the cops for robbing people of this type of production at only $7,300 on DK, especially when you have guys like Jonathon Taylor or CMC going ahead of him for thousands more! Barkley is literally of the same caliber as those two running backs. I will happily take the discount while he’s not too heavily priced just yet.
Javonte Williams - (DraftKings: $6,500 / FanDuel: $7,300)
Gotta love Monday night games because the salary for players doesn’t change much to equate to their prior performance. Javonte Williams absolutely looked the part, even with Melvin Gordon eating into his shares. Honestly, this week going up against the Houston Texans, Williams and Gordon can eat at the same table. Last week, the Texans gave up an astounding 161 rushing yards and a touchdown to Jonathon Taylor.
Despite the Broncos struggling against the Seattle Seahawks in the Russell Wilson revenge game, I don’t think that was a preface for what's to come. I’ll give Russ the benefit of the doubt that going into his previous team's stadium of dedicated fans in a nerve-wracking matchup on a new team with a new coach spelled out a recipe for success. He’s only human, and I think that this game against the Houston Texans should easily be swung in their favor allowing the run game to take pressure off Wilson.
What was extremely encouraging for Javonte is that head coach Nathaniel Hackett reassured us that his 12 reception game was no fluke! He wants to use Williams in the passing game. Williams was the clear 2-minute passing back, even though he broke our heart at the goal line with a fumble. At least it was encouraging to see both him and Melvin used there. Since Melvin fumbled the ball as well, I guess we can just erase that little occurrence from our brains. Either way, Williams has got the juice now, and the better he looks, the more he will get the usage over Melvin Gordon and start pulling away. I love his matchup this week.
Honorable Mention: Darrell Henderson - (DraftKings: $5,700 / FanDuel: $6,200)
Deep Sleeper: Jeff Wilson Jr. - (DraftKings: $5,100 / FanDuel: $6,300)
Week 2 DFS Cash Games: WIDE RECEIVERS
Davante Adams - (DraftKings: $8,600 / FanDuel: $8,800)
If you like a nice feel-good story, then you should know that Davante Adams' family will be in attendance at this game in Las Vegas. Davante’s grandparents have never seen him play professionally. I don’t know if you ever played a sport, but I know when my family came to one of my games, I wanted to show out more than ever to make them proud of my ability. Now, am I using this for my analysis of Davante Adams this week for real? No. But sometimes it’s fun to know some things, so you're welcome.
Anyhow, back to the hard-hitting fantasy analysis you came here to find. We were so damn worried that Davante Adams wasn’t going to be heavily targeted the way Aaron Rodgers peppered him with targets. But our worries seem unnecessary. I’d say a 48.6% target share is good enough to convince me we have nothing to be concerned about with Adams. He led all wide receivers last week in targets with 17 and had a productive fantasy finish as the WR3 in DraftKings and FanDuel.
We also don’t have many heavy-hitting elite wide receivers on this slate-like Davante Adams. There is no Justin Jefferson, Stefon Diggs, or AJ Brown. So let’s not get too cute here. We just saw Arizona’s secondary get lit up by Patrick Mahomes. Therefore, I’m looking forward to getting Adams in my lineup to see what he can do at home as the favorite with his family's eyes on him in an A+ matchup!
Amon-Ra St. Brown - (DraftKings: $6,500 / FanDuel: $6,900)
We had SaGod in the running back column, and now we have the Sun God here for the wide receivers. I don’t know what it is, and maybe it’s because he’s on the Detroit Lions. But this man, since Week 13 of last season, hasn’t stopped being an absolutely elite fantasy wide receiver. He has scored no less than 15 PPR points for seven weeks straight since his snap shared has increased. How are we not fitting him into our lineups while he’s WR10 on DraftKings and WR16 on FanDuel?! Shout out to the Edge over here on The 33rd Team website, but I’m looking at Amon-Ra St. Brown with elite company such as guys like Adams, Chase, Kupp, Pittman, and Brown and ranked 6th in targets last week and had the 8th highest target share.
Amon-Ra is really good! He’s a Detroit Lion; get over it! It doesn’t matter! Especially this week in a great matchup against the Washington Commanders, who let Jacksonville wide receivers look like a bunch of up-and-coming studs! They had Christian Kirk looking like he earned that payday and let guys like Zay Jones garner some fantasy relevance. I'm noot saying Kirk and Jones are bad players. But in comparison to what Amon-Ra can do, I think he’s an easy plug-and-play for me in cash this week!
Honorable Mention: Julio Jones - (DraftKings: $5,500 / FanDuel: $5,700)
Deep Sleeper: Greg Dortch - (DraftKings: $3,500 / FanDuel: $5,500)
Week 2 DFS Cash Games: TIGHT ENDS
Mark Andrews - (DraftKings: $6,400 / FanDuel: $7,400)
You know the week is bad for tight ends when I just go straight to Mark Andrews as one of my favorite cash plays. I’m usually a punt-your-tight-end kind of gal, but this week's slate doesn’t make that an easy task. The man returned this season with elite usage garnering 7 targets with a 25.8% target share. You really shouldn’t be questioning much despite his 5-reception and 52-yard performance. As I discussed with Lamar Jackson, the Ravens didn’t have a matchup last week that called for a high-volume production out of Mark Andrews. So I’m not worried. If you have the space to do it and want the safest TE on the slate, go with Andrews.
Kyle Pitts - (DraftKings: $5,400 / FanDuel: $5,900)
Yeah, I understand this might seem like a weird cash play. How many people still love Kyle Pitts after that Week 1 dud? While some won’t look to get hurt again, I just can’t look away from Pitts' volume as a tight end. Despite his poor performance last week in a tough matchup, I’m not judging, and I’m going back to him again this week.
Just look at this slate and tell me what tight end outside of Mark Andrews and Darren Waller gets the kind of usage Kyle Pitts will. He was second on his team in targets, and we know he’s Atlanta's primary playmaker. He’s just too good of a price to ignore if you have the extra salary to pay up a bit at the position. He is bound to bounce back with that volume and talent at some point. So I’ll keep plugging away at the discount while it’s still available.
Honorable Mention: Pat Freiermuth - (DraftKings: $4,400 / FanDuel: $5,400)
Deep Sleeper: Logan Thomas - (DraftKings: $3,400 / FanDuel: $5,200)
Week 2 DFS Cash Games: D/ST
Cleveland Browns vs New York Jets - (DraftKings: $3,700 / FanDuel: $4,700)
It’s the New York Jets; need I say more? Probably not, but I’m going to anyway. You have the heavy-weight hard-hitting matchup of Jacoby Brissett going up against Joe Flacco. So it probably comes as no surprise that this game has the lowest implied team total of the week.
We also have to consider how injuries just absolutely derailed the New York Jets offensive line that seemed to finally get patched up this offseason. They initially lost left tackle Mekhi Becton and quickly replaced him with Duane Brown. But the injury bug stung Brown as well. They also drafted rookie Max Mitchell to start at right tackle now that George Fant has moved back to the left and watched him struggle last week, allowing three pressures.
This is expected from a rookie; your expectations can’t be super-high for a Day-Three pick in their first game against the Ravens. But then they go out there and sign a big free agent, a previously ranked top-10 guard in Laken Tomilson. You have to be disappointed to see him struggle on his new team. He allowed 8 hurries against the Ravens, and that’s not acceptable for what they paid him to do.
So given the Jets' situation on the offensive line, I think Myles Garrett should have a field day feasting on their misfortunes. Joe Flacco offers nothing with his legs to avoid a beat-up offensive line and a Cleveland secondary that won’t make life any easier for him. It’s hard not to like the Cleveland Browns this week with their new elf displayed front and center this Sunday at home.
Pittsburgh Steelers vs New England Patriots- (DraftKings: $2,800 / FanDuel: $5,000 *yikes*)
Whoa, hey, okay, Steelers! This Steelers defense gave Joe Burrow a run for his money last week. This price range will keep the Steelers popular in cash going up against the New England Patriots, who look very messy, to say the least. The whole offense seems lost with no identity, and it comes as no shock once Matt Patricia was relegated to the offensive coordinator duties. He was terrible in Detroit, and he’s awful in New England.
As if the struggling offense wasn’t bad in itself, they also have Mac Jones dealing with a back injury that was bad enough to require some x-rays. It’s not like this was a hard-hitting offense, to begin with, but that just makes matters worse. Even after losing star linebacker T.J. Watt, the Steelers still boast a good enough defense to hold the Patriots to a low-scoring game and create some plays. I like them a lot this week!
Honorable Mention: New Orleans Saints vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers - (DraftKings: $2,400 / FanDuel: $4,000)
Deep Sleeper: Cincinnati Bengals vs Dallas Cowboys - (DraftKings: $2,200 / FanDuel: $3,900)
