NFL Lineup Optimizer Picks – Week 2 – 9/15/16
Chris Durell
After a crazy week one that saw both Million Dollar tournaments on DraftKings and FanDuel being taken down with a Brees/Cooks/Snead stack, we are ready to take a shot with the following stacks for week 2. Good luck on your DFS Lineups. Here are the top options for NFL Week 2.
New York Giants vs. New Orleans Saints
QB – Eli Manning
Elite WR – Odell Beckham Jr.
Value WR Options – Sterling Shepard, Victor Cruz
Get ready for another shootout involving the Saints this week. Early on the Over/Under is set at 53 with the home team Giants sitting as -4.5 favorites. The Saints weren’t completely exposed last week due to the 167 rushing yards the Raiders put up but still allowed Carr to throw for 319 yards on 38 attempts. Looking at the Player Lab tool this week, Brees and Eli are the only two QB’s projected for over 45 attempts, and that could be the floor, not the ceiling. The Saints and Giants passing defenses ended 2015 ranked 31st and 32nd respectively, and the Saints took a big blow on Sunday losing top corner Delvin Breaux for 4-6 weeks. We learned last week that if the game script goes as predicted, you can easily stack a QB and two WR’s. Both FanDuel and DraftKings saw a Brees/Cooks/Snead combo win their respective Million Dollar tournaments. If you want to get sneaky, consider Larry Donnell who caught his only red zone target for a touchdown last week.
Oakland Raiders vs. Atlanta Falcons
QB – Derek Carr
Elite WR – Amari Cooper
The Raiders didn’t have to rely on the pass as originally expected in week one as they went off for 167 rushing yards. This is most likely to change in week two as the Falcons rush defense looked pretty good in week one holding Doug Martin to 62 yards on 18 carries. This game is currently tied for the highest Over/Under(50) of the week and for the Raiders to keep up with Matt Ryan and Julio Jones they are going to have to chuck it up 40+ times on Sunday. The top target is, of course, up and coming superstar Amari Cooper who caught six balls for 137 yards on 11 targets in week one. You can even consider Michael Crabtree who saw nine targets last week, catching seven for 87 yards and also caught the game-winning 2PT conversion which proves Carr has a ton of confidence in his secondary option when Cooper is double teamed. With so many teams in exceptional situations this week you are going to see Carr/Cooper/Crabtree combo come in as one of the lowest owned making it perfect for large field tournaments.
Detroit Lions vs. Tennessee Titans
QB – Matthew Stafford
Elite WR Options – Golden Tate, Marvin Jones Jr.
Value Options – Ameer Abdullah, Eric Ebron
This stack is best suited for DraftKings where it is full point PPR. The Lions offense was extremely dink and dunky (oddly enough it is an ACTUAL football term) last week, but it lead Stafford to a highly accurate 31/39 passing for 340 yards and three touchdowns. The matchup isn’t as good this week as the Titans were a top 10 team against the pass last season and looked to have improved in 2016. The stack is more about the incredibly low ownership and price opportunities. At WR it is a 1A/1B situation as Marvin Jones Jr. seen ten targets in week one while Golden Tate saw seven. Tate is rated as the top option at $6,800 on DraftKings while Jones comes in at $5,500 but both are within $200 of each other($6,700/$6,500) on FanDuel. If you are looking for a value RB this week, consider Abdullah who rushed for 63 yards on 12 carries while catching all five of his targets in the passing game for 57 yards and a touchdown. Eric Ebron is also in play at TE as he received five targets last week, one of which was caught in the redzone for a touchdown. The Lions not only make a great stacking option for tournaments you can also pluck out some value plays for cash games.