This is a weekly column by Zach Lyons giving you his opinions on the Daily Fantasy Sports week for the upcoming football Sunday. All numbers are based on DraftKings.com lineups and will only include players in the all-day Sunday contests.
Stack of the Week
This is mainly a Tennessee Titans site, dedicated to giving you the best analysis possible for one of the best teams in the NFL. That said, today I have to go against one of my core principles by recommending that you roll out Philip Rivers and Parris Campbell as a stack.
Philip Rivers is going for $5,900, while Parris Campbell is going for just $4,500. I detailed why you should be all in on Campbell after Week 1 right here. In short: He led all Indianapolis receivers in snap count and tied for the team-league in targets with nine.
Philip Rivers did Philip Rivers things on Sunday against the Jaguars, but let’s not act like he’s toast. He still put up 363 yards and a touchdown with a completion rate of 78.5%. That’s more than viable as a fantasy option, and they’re going against a very porous Vikings defense this week that saw the Packers hang 43 points in Week 1.
The Colts offensive line is as good as any in the league, as the statuesque Rivers wasn’t sacked even once, and despite the late addition of Yannick Ngakoue, let’s just say right now this Vikings defense is nothing to be scared of.
The Colts offensive line will be familiar with Yannick and how to neutralize him, and Minnesota’s defensive backs got absolutely torched by a forgotten quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. They allowed Rodgers to get 33.8 fantasy points last week. On top of that, Davante Adams (44.8 pts), Marquez Valdes-Scantling (19.6 pts), and Allen Lazard (18.2 pts), all put up great showings (you really should’ve stacked Packers last week).
There are two main benefits to this stack. The first we’ve covered; the Vikings defense stinks. The other is because this is such a cheap stack, coming in at a whopping total of $10,400, you’re going to be able to spend on some heavy hitters elsewhere.
Honorable Mentions:
- Ryan Tannehill/Corey Davis ($9,900 total)
- Ben Roethlisberger/Diontae Johnson ($10,700 total)
- Mitch Trubisky/Allen Robinson ($11,900)
Running Backs of the Week
To make up for the Colts love fest above, I’m also encouraging you to fire up Derrick Henry. He is going to have as much volume as anyone in the league, and he absolutely feasts on the Jacksonville Jaguars. It should be no different at home this Sunday.
Henry has no competition behind him, and both he and the team are happy to hand him nearly the entire rushing workload. Sure, 30+ carries isn’t sustainable, but no one whose opinion matters seems to care.
Against the Jaguars, Henry averages 5.37 yards per carry and has 10 total touchdowns in eight career games; for some of those games he wasn’t even the starter.
If you pair Henry with a cheap stack like some of the ones above, this could pay off big time for your DFS teams.
Personally, I am going to pair Henry with Ronald Jones this week. I have long been a proponent of Jones this offseason, and I think he will continue getting the workload for another week.
Against the New Orleans Saints last week, Jones didn’t have a particularly spectacular showing, posting just 10.6 fantasy points. But we didn’t see Leonard Fournette make much of an impact either, and that Saints defense is no joke.
Jones is going to be facing a Panthers defense that got absolutely gashed by Josh Jacobs, who racked up 139 scrimmage yards and 3 touchdowns. Now, I am not saying you should expect that kind of stat line from RoJo, but at only $5,200, pairing him with Henry could set you up for a huge day.
Honorable Mentions:
- Melvin Gordon ($5,200)
- Jonathan Taylor ($5,700)
- Kenyan Drake ($5,900)
- Miles Sanders ($6,000)
Wide Receivers of the Week
A couple of last Monday Night stars are making my wide receivers of the week. Those guys are Darius Slayton and JuJu Smith-Schuster.
JuJu and Big Ben went back to their old ways, and they absolutely should continue that trend against a Denver passing defense that is on it last legs. I see no reason you shouldn’t start JuJu, and I wouldn’t be opposed to a double-dip if you want to throw in Dionte Johnson with him.
There will be enough targets to go around to feed both of those guys. And speaking of feeding, Daniel Jones loves to feed Darius Slayton.
I shrugged off, even laughed, at the idea of Slayton being a “thing” this season, but after watching that Monday Night Football game, I have to change my mind. This dude can flat out ball. He caught 6 of 9 targets for 102 yards and 2 touchdowns against a pretty dang good Steelers defense.
This week, he faces a middle-of-the-road Chicago team. They’re lacking a true identity currently, so I can’t really say whether or not they’re the monsters they perceive themselves to be or just some huggable teddy bears.
Sure, they’ll be all up in Jones’ face when they get into that backfield, but the Steelers defense did the same thing, and Slayton was still super productive. He’s only $5,000 dollars on DraftKings, and you may want to continue putting him in your lineup until they catch on and bump up his cost.
Honorable Mentions:
- Robert Woods ($6,400)
- Amari Cooper ($6,300)
- Jerry Jeudy ($4,9000)
- Marvin Jones ($5,700)
Tight End of the Week
Hunter Henry is back. Tyrod Taylor loves him, and that was evident with him getting eight targets this past Sunday.
The Chargers will of course fall behind versus the Kansas City Chiefs, so it will be no surprise if Hunter sees even more opportunity this week.
Henry didn’t find the end zone last week, but he proved to be reliable and very close to his old self with a huge 33-yard reception, so very close to getting a touchdown.
The opportunity, the game script, and the QB who loves him all work in favor of Hunter Henry this week.
Honorable Mentions:
- Noah Fant ($4,400)
- Jonnu Smith ($4,200)
- Logan Thomas ($3,600)
- Ian Thomas ($3,200)
My Guaranteed Flex Play of the Week
Again, using a mixture of the players I mentioned above, I was able to get a fantastic flex play. Once again, I’m kind of shocked he’s this low, just because of his production last year prior to injury combined with his hot start last week.
Calvin Ridley is my Flex Play of the Week, and he comes in at a super low $6,800 price. It’s actually crazy the similarity between last week’s Flex Play of the Week and this one. Last week, DeAndre Hopkins was $6,800 as well, this week he jumped to $7,700 after posting 32.1 points last week.
This week will be similar, as Calvin Ridley lived up to his 2019 form, finishing Week 1 with a commanding 36.9 points in DFS. He caught 9 of 12 targets for 130 yards and 2 touchdowns.
This should be a shootout between the Cowboys and the Falcons, and as we’ve seen, everyone in Atlanta will get a fair shot. I think you can feel safe locking in Calvin Ridley across lineups.
Defense…I guess
You get what you paid for as the Miami Dolphins failed me last week. They didn’t perform close to what I expected, and that’s is why I hate defenses. They’re just so unpredictable. If a team scores a touchdown, they’re likely the defense of the week, as we saw with the Saints. The Saints allowed 23 points to what we thought would be an explosive Bucs offense, but because New Orleans got in the end zone on a pick-6, they were a top defense.
Speaking of Tampa Bay, unless you want to roll out the 49ers at a price of $4,000, I think a safe bet this week is the Buccaneers defense coming in at $2,900. The Panthers did not look all that scary on offense, and the Bucs still have a very talented defensive unit.
Quick Hits
High risk, Low cost, High reward
- CeeDee Lamb ($4,700)
- Marquez Valdez-Scantling ($4,600)
- Christian Kirk ($4,300)
- Joshua Kelley ($4,700)
- Benny Snell, Jr. (4,500)
Too rich for my blood
- Saquon Barkley ($8,400)
- Travis Kelce ($7,000)
- Stefon Diggs ($6,500)
- Deshaun Watson ($6,400)
- Pittsburgh Steelers ($3,800)
My current lineup
Agree? Disagree? Have your own DFS plays of the week? Drop them in the comments below!
