Finding diamonds in the rough.
If you have watched an NFL game, you are likely aware of the major role fantasy football plays within the NFL subculture.
Usually played over the course of an entire season, it is a marathon not a sprint. So, if Week 1 did not get you the result you wanted, never fear. You likely have another 13 weeks of fantasy matchups over the regular season to recover.
One of the other fantasy football formats is Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS). You select a fantasy line-up within a set budget and pit your team against thousands of others across the world, typically putting a wager on it too.
The aim is to have that line-up finish within a certain top percentile of the match-ups to receive a cut of the prize pot, with first place usually getting handsomely rewarded for doing so!
I am going to bring the HuddleUK group our weekly tips and favourites – players you can trust and players you can take a flyer on.
I will be using the FantasyGameday.app, which you can find on your app store. New signups can use the promo code ‘HudUK’ to get a free £7.50 credit on their account after entering their first line-up.
You can hear all about it from co-founder Gurmeet Sahni on the latest HuddleUK podcast.
Building a line-up
The standard line-up consists of quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end and flex – all from a budget of £40,000.
As you might imagine, the premium players have higher price tags. For example, Lamar Jackson costs £7,800 in Week 2. That is a whopping 19.5% of your budget, which makes squeezing the other seven players into your lineup a potential challenge.
There are also line-ups where you can select a captain – that (non-QB) player will score you double, so choose wisely!
Here are get the players we love in Week 2 and I will share my line-up at the end.
Quarterbacks
Josh Allen – Bills @ Jets (£8,200)
Okay, okay – I know I just said Jackson was expensive. Josh Allen is an indulgent pick to kick us off.
Allen posted 38.76 fantasy points in Week 1 and would have won plenty of people some money on the Monday night slate.
He is playing a Jets team that just surrendered four touchdowns and 25pts to Aaron Rodgers. I expect Allen to profit from a projected high-scoring affair – currently the Over/Under is 47.5pts for the match-up.
Top tip: For consistency, you want a minimum of x3 the value in fantasy points.
That means we need 25 fantasy points from Josh Allen – and that I can see happening, with further upside depending on game script.
Cheaper options we like:
Dak Prescott (£4,800) has a nice match-up at home to the New York Giants. I expect Dak to bounce back and not see all his touchdowns ‘vultured’ by Javonte Williams.
On the other side of the Bills vs Jets game is Justin Fields (£4,600) who rushed 12 times for two touchdowns. I expect he will be in negative game script for parts of the game and will need to play catch up. His rushing gives him plenty of upside and I can see him achieving 20+ fantasy points against a Bills defense that gave up plenty in Week 1.
Trevor Lawrence (£5,000) has been a sneaky good fantasy quarterback over the last season or two, certainly flying under the radar. He faces a Bengals defense that allowed plenty of passing yards last season and also failed to impress against the Joe Flacco-led Cleveland Browns last week.
Running backs
Chase Brown (£7,000) has no competition. It is just him in the Cincinnati Bengals backfield and is a great premium running back to build you line-up around.
Breece Hall (£5,800) is my pick of the week. He looked superb against a good Pittsburgh Steelers defense in Week 1 and now faces a poor Buffalo Bills run defense.
Until Quinshon Judkins is featuring for Cleveland, it appears Dylan Sampson (£4,200) has the role of pass-catching back. I expect Cleveland will be behind against Baltimore, so Sampson catching 8 of 8 targets for 64 yards in Week 1 suggests he could be handy in this fantasy format at a reasonable price.
If you do not go with Trevor Lawrence as your QB, you could consider Travis Etienne Jr. (£3,600). He scored 18.6pts against Carolina and is a good bargain option.
Cheap option: Kenneth Gainwell (£2,000) PIT vs SEA
Or take a flier on Braelon Allen (£2,000) to pinch a touchdown again this week as he is getting goal-line work.
Rookie Bhayshul Tuten (£2,000) could also step up into Tank Bigsby’s role since the latter got traded to Philadelphia midweek.
Top tip: To afford the premium options, find that player who is clearly underpriced because they are yet to ‘emerge’. If they can get you double digit points (x5) their value, you are onto a winner.
Wide receivers
After a quiet Week 1, I expect the Bengals to feed Ja’Marr Chase (£8,200) at home against the Jaguars. This game is the projected highest-scoring match-up on the slate due to both offenses appearing much better than their respective defenses. We want plenty of that if that is where the yards and touchdowns are.
Also due a bounce back is Tyreek Hill (£5,200) of the Miami Dolphins. He is back in Miami, facing a New England Patriots that are still missing star cornerback Christian Gonzalez and pass rusher Keion White. Jaylen Waddle has missed practice this week so I expect targets and opportunity for Hill, who is way too cheap.
Fly Eagles Fly: Week 1 was a strange week for the Philly receivers. There was only one target for AJ Brown (£4,800) and three for DeVonta Smith (£4,600). Dallas Goedert is out, so targets need to go elsewhere and I expect the Chiefs do not have a match-up for Brown’s physicality. He is just too cheap.
Steal of the Week: Elic Ayomanor (£2,000) hosting the Los Angeles Rams. He had seven targets in Week 1 against a tough match-up. If he can come down with three or four receptions, he pays off his cost in your lineup.
Other potential fliers:
Troy Franklin (£2,000) Broncos @ Titans (4 of 6 for 44 yards in Week 1)
Olamide Zaccheus (£2,000) Bears @ Lions (4 of 7 for 42 yards in Week 1)
Tight ends
The premium tight end this week is Trey McBride (£5,200), who faces an average-looking Carolina Panthers. They just allowed Brenton Strange to collect 4 of 4 for 59 yards.
*McBride does not feature in the early slate, so is only available on the late slate or Sunday Stars
Juwan Johnson (£2,800) was a volume monster in Week 1 (8 of 11 for 76 yards) as he is clearly a favourite option of Spencer Rattler. He is cheap – but be wary: he faces Fred Warner of the 49ers this week and that is a tough match-up.
Rookie fever – Tyler Warren (£3,600) and Harold Fannin Jr. (£3,000) both had standout performances in Week 1 and remain viable if you have the cash to spare.
My Sunday Stars line-up
Captain (x2) – Breece Hall (£5,800)
QB – Josh Allen (£8,200)
RB – Dylan Sampson (£4,200)
RB – Travis Etienne Jr. (£3,600)
WR – A.J. Brown (£4,800)
WR – Ja’Marr Chase (£8,200)
FLEX – Elic Ayomanor (£2,000)
TE – Jonnu Smith (£3,200)
I will see you in the slate – let me know your picks and how you get on!
