Week 2 is here and thus another slate to sort through and decide which stacks to look at for tournaments on DraftKings and FanDuel. Last week the Bengals (Andy Dalton, Joe Mixon, A.J. Green) and Vikings (Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook, Stefon Diggs) stacks were solid. The Patriot trio of Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, and Chris Hogan was underwhelming mainly due to the ineffectiveness of Hogan. Let’s see what this week has to offer.
Washington Redskins
Alex Smith, Adrian Peterson, Jamison Crowder
Alex Smith, at this point, is a guy that we know what to expect from. He’s generally a guy that has been labeled a “game manager” and thus hasn’t consistently wowed anyone in the fantasy world. With that being said, Smith delivered last week what I would consider a typical Alex Smith game completing 21 of 30 pass attempts with 255 yards and 2 touchdowns. Smith is priced favorably on both sites, especially DK. Jamison Crowder had a letdown effort last week seeing most of his time out of the slot with just three catches and four targets on the day. Good news for him this week, though, is that he gets another good matchup against the Colts’ shitty cornerbacks and by lining up in the slot for the majority of his snaps, the majority of his routes are run in the middle of the field where Smith is most effective. On DK Crowder is just $4,900 and on FD he’s $6,000. He gets an uptick on DK based on the full-point PPR and his cheap salary. Adrian Peterson is not effective these days in the passing game, that role belongs to Chris Thompson. With that being said, Peterson was still able to manage 26 carries for 96 yards and a touchdown last week and added two receptions for 70. The Colts allowed over 100 yards rushing to the Bengals last week along with a touchdown on 19 carries from the running back position. As a home favorite with one of the higher totals on the slate, the Skins should lean on AP late in the game with a lead. I’ll run TY Hilton back after seeing 11 targets last week and catching a touchdown.
Carolina Panthers
Cam Newton, Christian McCaffrey, Devin Funchess
I’ll start by saying that Cam is my cash game QB on DK this week. Pass the bleach. In all seriousness, Cam, for lack of a better term, sucked last week against the Cowboys in one of the biggest piece of shit games you’ll see all year. With that said, Cam still came away with around 18 fantasy points. The Falcons lost two of their best, and in my opinion, most important defenders, especially when facing a team like Carolina. Deion Jones, their best linebacker and Keeanu Neal, one of the better young safeties in football are HUGE losses to Atlanta. With Cam’s rushing ability, I love the floor he brings this week along with his upside due to his rushing ability. Christian McCaffrey will also benefit from the loss of Jones and Neal with his ability to catch passes out of the backfield. The Falcons’ defensive scheme, for a while now, has proven to allow receptions to opposing running backs and rely on the speed and playmaking ability of their defenders to shut the play down. With the speedy Jones and Neal not out there, CMC will have more time and opportunities to catch and run. Devin Funchess’ price on DK is preposterous considering that he’s the team’s number one wide receiver who will benefit from the loss of Greg Olsen. Funchess saw his target share increase by around 25 percent last season with Olsen out. The clear player from the Falcons to run this stack back with is Julio Jones who has destroyed Carolina in his career. In his last eight games against the Panthers from 2014 to 2017, Julio has averaged 10.6 targets per game, 6.6 catches per contest, and 117.6 yards per outing.
Detroit Lions
Matt Stafford, Golden Tate, Kenny Golladay
The Lions looked like absolute trash last week on Monday Night Football against the God Damn Jets (if you haven’t seen the
movie Big Daddy, go see it). Anyway, I think the Lions bounce back in a spot where no one expects them to travel to San Francisco to take on Jimmy GQ and the 49ers. Kirk Cousins was able to put forth an efficient game against the Niners last week going 20-36 with 244 yards and two touchdowns. Stafford, who was under pressure all night and was all over the place with the ball should be able to get the ball to his receivers, mainly Golden Tate and Kenny Golladay. Tate operates primarily out of the slot as does the Vikings’ Adam Thielen who had six catches for 102 yards last week. Golladay was the lone bright spot for the Lions last week with 12 targets which he turned into seven targets for 114 yards. He played the most snaps of any Lions receiver suggesting that they’re inclined to make him a focal point of their passing attack. This is an opportunity to take advantage of a late-afternoon kick off and thus a Lions team which should attract hardly any ownership. George Kittle interests me on the other side with Marquise Goodwin’s health clearly in doubt and Kittle being a preferred target for Jimmy G early on.
GOOD LUCK!
