Over at Yahoo Daily Fantasy Sports, they kicked off the NFL season with a $1,000,000 GPP tournament that paid out $100,000 to the first-place finisher. This week they’re running it back with another million-dollar GPP with the same payout to first. But for the first time ever, Yahoo is allowing mass multi-entry (150 lineups), which is a bit of a contradiction to their oft-stated value proposition of each contest being a 10-entry maximum offering. It will be interesting to see if targeting the high dollar mass multi-entry market pays off for them, or if the blowback from those who value the established lineup cap is such that the contest struggles to fill this week.
Regardless of your feelings about Yahoo’s latest move, here at Dynasty Football Factory, our goal is to comprehensively cover and provide analysis on the entire DFS landscape each week. With that in mind, I’m breaking down the best options on Yahoo for both GPPs and Cash games in Week 2. One important thing to note about Yahoo is that unlike some other DFS platforms, the Sunday main slate also includes the Philadelphia Eagles @ Atlanta Falcons game on Sunday night so there a few extra guys in the player pool to consider.
For those just getting started on Yahoo, the scoring system is most similar to FanDuel (.5 point PPR), while the lineup makeup is exactly the same as the two major sites. The biggest difference is pricing, where instead of dealing with thousands of dollars, the budget is just $200 and players are generally priced between $10 (minimum) and the low $40 range. Now that you know the drill, let’s take a look at the Week 2 plays.
Quarterback
Lamar Jackson-(Cash and GPP)-$31: Jackson was our cash game lock here last week in addition to being a very strong GPP play. With a modest $5 price increase (less than 20%) after his Week 1 explosion, it makes all the sense in the world to go right back to the well. While he won’t be facing the Miami Dolphins defense, Jackson only logged three carries in Week 1 and will likely need to do more with his legs against Arizona. Still, this is a Cardinals team that was shredded by Matthew Stafford and the Lions through the air in the opener, so there’s certainly passing upside in the matchup. I’m not expecting another hyper-efficient twenty attempt effort that leads to 300+ yards and five touchdowns, but north of 200 yards with a couple of touchdown tosses is well within reach.
Beyond simply the price tag, what makes Jackson really intriguing this week is the matchup against the Cardinals defense. With Patrick Peterson suspended, the Arizona secondary is in shambles, and part of the solution seems to be dialing up a ton of pressure. Last week Matthew Stafford saw pressure on more than 47% of his dropbacks, the most of any Week 1 quarterback. If Arizona opts to continue with that strategy and come after Jackson this week, then he could be in for a huge day on the ground.
Russell Wilson-(GPP)-$30: As much of a beat down as the Steelers took last week at New England, they did manage to hold the Patriots to just 93 yards on 29 rushing attempts so they should be able to make things similarly difficult for the Seattle running game on Sunday. The Seahawk receiving corps is all kinds of banged up coming into this week, but running back Chris Carson’s involvement in the passing game is encouraging, as was the effort from rookie D.K. Metcalf in his NFL debut.
Note that if Tyler Lockett, who was a non-participant in Wednesday’s practice due to a back injury, misses this game, you need to pivot from Wilson. With Lockett in, this has all the makings of a Russell Wilson versus the world type game, and those tend to be really good for fantasy purposes. Pittsburgh will be looking to bounce back from Sunday night’s embarrassing loss and this feels like a spot where we see Pete Carroll put the ball in Wilson’s hands and ask him to keep the Seahawks in the game by whatever means necessary. With two veteran quarterbacks facing a pair of suspect secondaries, this is a matchup with some sneaky shootout potential. Wilson comes at a $5 discount to Roethlisberger on Yahoo and has built-in rushing upside so he’s slightly more attractive.
Derek Carr-(Cash and GPP) $26: While Jackson is still the top option in cash, if you need to save a few dollars then paying down to Carr can also work this week. Kansas City’s defense, and in particular the secondary picked up right where they left off last season in getting torched by the world-beating quarterback combination of Nick Foles and Gardner Minshew in Week 1. I was high on Foles coming into last week, and the matchup and game script worked out, even if his collarbone didn’t cooperate. Despite and an unheralded and raw group of young receivers, the Jacksonville quarterbacks combined for 350 passing yards and three touchdowns on the day.
On Monday night we saw a very efficient and confident looking Carr pick apart the Denver defense in Mile High with big games from Oakland newcomers Tyrell Williams and Darren Waller. Josh Jacobs also adds an element in the running game that’s been missing for years, and the Raiders also added some help on the offensive line who did a solid job of protecting Carr. We should see more of the same this week. This game features two bad defenses and the highest projected Vegas total (53 points) of the slate for good reason.
Gardner Minshew-(GPP)-$23: Minshew is the Yahoo punt play at quarterback for those feeling daring, or maybe just looking to jam in a pile of studs at the other positions. The rookie looked good in his NFL debut, albeit against a bad Kansas City defense. And he’ll need to go on the road to Houston this week against a much more formidable Texans pass rush led by J.J. Watt.
The counter-argument for Minshew is the Texans secondary, which Drew Brees just abused on Monday Night Football, and seems to have more questions than answers heading into Week 2. Yes, Minshew could completely flop here, but he’s also got some upside. The former Washington State quarterback isn’t afraid to take shots downfield and is surrounded by a number of explosive young playmakers. I noted on the podcast this week that we’re almost looking for the early career Blake Bortles scenario here, with the Texans jumping out to a lead and Minshew doing most of his damage in garbage time at a bargain price tag.
Running Back
Alvin Kamara-(Cash and GPP)-$35: I called McCaffrey merely a GPP play on Yahoo last week at a sky-high $37, but he went ahead and made me look bad by posting 37.9 points, the second-highest point total of the slate. I’m not making the same mistake with Kamara who draws the exact same matchup against a Rams defensive line that rushes the passer far better than they defend the run, and is supported by a highly suspect linebacking corps. It’s unlikely he’ll approach 30 touches the way McCaffrey did last week, but Kamara’s workload on Monday night was encouraging. Most had predicted a split with newcomer Latavius Murray that mirrored what happened with Mark Ingram. Instead, Kamara was on the field for 50 snaps to Murray’s 18 and out-touched his counterpart 20-8 over the course of the game.
The Saints’ visit to Los Angeles has all the making of a shootout, as these teams combined for 80 points when they hooked up in New Orleans last year. If Kamara is getting north of 70% of the running back snaps in a game like that, then $35 is simply too cheap for the opportunities he’ll have.
Josh Jacobs-(Cash and GPPs)-$21: Jacobs doesn’t quite get the Monday night discount on Yahoo that he’s received on other sites, but nonetheless he projects as one of the top options in cash this week, as well as a viable GPP play. Jacobs played on more than 70% of Oakland’s offensive snaps in Week 1, and handled 23 carries for 85 rushing yards and two scores, adding a late 28-yard reception that helped Oakland seal the win.
Earlier this week head coach Jon Gruden came out and said that this is the type of workload he envisions for Jacobs weekly, and that should be music to fantasy owners’ ears. If we do indeed get that level of predictability then Jacobs is going to be a solid option in all formats most weeks. With a matchup against Kansas City, the league’s worst run defense in 2018 on tap for Week 2, he’s in one of the premier running back spots on Sunday.
Todd Gurley-(GPP)-$18: I’m generally not one for gut calls, and what we saw from the Rams backfield in Week 1 should be slightly terrifying to season-long Gurley owners. That said, Gurley has been heavily discounted and is now priced the same as Matt Breida and Aaron Jones on Yahoo.
Would I play him cash? Absolutely not! Does the price make him intriguing in GPPs? Definitely!
Remember, Gurley was severely limited to finish out last season and did not have a single touch in the preseason so the big question going into Week 1 was how his knee would fare. While it does look like the Rams are seeking to work Malcolm Brown into the mix to spell him, I’m not convinced we’re going to see a split like the one we saw in the opener. While the lack of red zone usage is certainly concerning, one encouraging sign was Gurley finishing out the game and receiving all of the running back touches save for one, in the fourth quarter. He’s far from safe, but in a projected shootout there’s always the potential that the Rams need a vintage Gurley effort.
Devin Singletary-(Cash and GPP)-$14: For those looking for a punt play at running back, Devin Singletary’s Week 1 performance against the Jets was hopefully enough to convince the Buffalo coaching staff it’s time to make a change. Yes, Frank Gore got the early-week vote of confidence as the “starter,” but that’s pretty clearly in name only.
According to Lineups.com, Singletary played on 70% of the Week 1 snaps compared to Gore’s 28%, despite the fact that Gore received 11 touches to the rookie’s nine. While that looks like mostly an even split, it’s hard to ignore Gore mustering just 20 yards on his eleven carries while Singletary racked up 70 rushing yards and just four totes and added five receptions for 28 yards through the air. Facing a bad Giants defense in Week 2, expect to see Singletary early and often.
LeSean McCoy-(GPP)-$14: The Kansas City backfield was a complete mess even before McCoy signed with the Chiefs. But Tyreek Hill’s injury may help to clarify things, as Andy Reid looks to help offset some of his missing offensive production. So far there’s been no official word on the backfield, but the Week 1 eye test points to McCoy, who despite a lengthy NFL career, still looked very capable as a runner. And one thing we’ve never worried about with Shady is his ability as a pass-catcher, as evidenced by his 476 career receptions for 3628 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Kansas City’s offense functions best when it can stay up-tempo and not worry about shuttling personnel on and off the field, which leads me to believe that eventually, the job winds up going to McCoy. I don’t know that he’ll ever reach a Kareem Hunt level workload, but I do think he’s the guy to own in Kansas City and that we begin to see the bulk of the running back touches shift in his direction. At his current price tag, I’m willing to take a shot on him in tournaments and risk being a week or two early.
Wide Receiver
Julio Jones-(GPP)-$36: Julio in cash is always a little scary, but Jones checked in over 14% ownership in large-field tournaments on Yahoo at a $29 price tag last week. Save for the late touchdown catch, he was well on his way to being a complete bust before salvaging a little something. As it was, his 12.10 fantasy points didn’t do owners any favors and now he gets nearly a 25% price increase to $36.
We just watched the Eagles surrender 380 yards and three touchdowns to the Case Keenum and a bunch of guys the average football fan couldn’t even name. Atlanta and Matt Ryan are always more formidable back home in the dome, and nothing about Philadelphia’s Week 1 effort thas me concerned we’re in for a repeat of what Minnesota did to the Falcons. This game has all the makings of a shootout, and that’s a spot I want some Julio exposure, especially the week after he let a bunch of owners down.
Michael Thomas-(Cash and GPP)-$33: This play is pretty simple so I won’t belabor the point. The Rams and Saints will meet in Los Angeles this week, in a rematch of one of the best games of 2018. While the trio of Rams wideouts can be harder to peg week-to-week, Michael Thomas is the unquestioned WR1 catching passes from Drew Brees in this game. He opened the season with 10 catches for 123 yards on 13 targets in the Monday Night Football opener, and in last season’s meeting between these two teams he posted an eye-popping line of a dozen catches for 211 yards and a score on 15 targets. Expecting production somewhere in between those two stat lines isn’t an unreasonable goal this week.
DeSean Jackson-(Cash and GPP)-$22: It feels weird to think about Jackson as a potential cash-game play, but it’s difficult not to be impressed by the way Carson Wentz and the Eagles offense seem to be looking to utilize him. Normally we think of Jackson as a lid lifter, and he certainly did plenty of that in Week 1, catching two touchdown passes of more than 50 yards. But he also had a handful of targets within ten yards of the line of scrimmage, where the Eagles looked to get him into space.
Assuming this is how they deploy him going forward, we could see Jackson shift from his historically boom-bust role as a receiver, to a more a steady week-to-week pass wide receiver option. This week’s matchup against the Falcons may go a bit overlooked, as Kirk Cousins barely even threw the football against this team last week, and the Vikings defense combined with a big Dalvin Cook day had Atlanta down for the count basically by halftime. This was a porous secondary last season and there haven’t been enough changes to believe 2019 will be any different. That means the Eagles’ leading receiver from Week 1 is in an excellent spot on Sunday night.
Tyrell Williams-(Cash and GPP)-$19: Williams jumps up in price after his big Week 1 performance against the Broncos, but he also draws one of the most favorable matchups on the entire slate. In talking about Derek Carr above I noted how poor Kansas City’s secondary is, and Williams is the WR1 in Oakland with Antonio Brown now back on the east coast.
He’ll be the top option for Carr along with Darren Waller (more on him later) and these two should be busy, as Patrick Mahomes and company will have little trouble moving the ball up and down the field against Oakland, even without Tyreek Hill. Williams can succeed in a close game where they need him to make plays, and in catchup mode or garbage time if the Raiders are trying to claw their way back in. The only scenarios that would seem to potentially derail his production are Oakland getting out to a big lead, in which case one would have to assume he played a hand or Kansas City shutting down the Raider offense. This last one seems like the least likely of all.
Kenny Golladay-(GPP)-$16: Right off the bat I’ll tell you that I’m not a Kenny Golladay guy—at all. That said, despite what we saw from Danny Amendola last week, he’s still the WR1 in Detroit. I can also tell you that Yahoo is apparently not a Kenny Golladay fan either, as they priced the Lions top wideout at $15 in Week 1 against Arizona.
Against the Cardinals, Golladay was targeted nine times, securing four receptions for 42 yards and a score. His price went up a dollar this week. Maybe that’s a fair increase given the stat line, but he still seems egregiously underpriced to me, given the role. The Chargers visit Detroit this week and are much better at defending the tight end position than the Cardinals proved to be, and I’d venture a guess that we’ve already seen Amendola’s best game of the season.
T.Y. Hilton managed eight catches for 87 yards and two touchdowns against Los Angeles in Week 1, and he was unquestionably treated as the Colts number one wideout by that defense. I wouldn’t touch him in cash, but Golladay could crush his $16 price tag if this becomes the kind of back and forth game both teams were involved in last week.
James Washington-(GPP)-$12: Washington clearly outplayed Donte Moncrief in what was largely a horrible game across the board for the Steelers at Foxboro in Week 1. My hope is that the Pittsburgh coaching staff sees it the same way and that the snap count starts to tilt heavily in favor of James Washington. John Ross just torched the Falcons defense for 158 yards and two touchdowns in Week 1, and Washington should have a few opportunities to take the top off the Seahawks defense in much the same manner. He’s nearly minimum price and makes for a nice tournament flyer if you need a cheapy with big upside.
Marquez Valdes-Scantling-(GPP)-$10: Speaking of “cheapies,” Marquez Valdes-Scantling is the flat minimum on Yahoo this week. And while I’m not overly bullish on this game overall, MVS is just not a minimum price player given his combination of talent and role in the Packers offense. Almost nothing about Green Bay’s offense worked in Week 1 against a good Bears defense, but there was every indication that Valdes-Scantling, and not Geronimo Allison is going to be the WR2 for them, as he led the team in receiving yards and finished tied for second in targets with tight end Jimmy Graham. Being the WR2 in a Green Bay offense with Aaron Rodgers under center in an of itself makes Valdes-Scantling a viable tournament option for as long as he’s mispriced.
Tight End
Travis Kelce-(Cash and GPP)-$30: This wasn’t isn’t exactly rocket science and it largely comes down to whether or not you can justify Kelce’s price tag. With Hill out, he’s the number one option in the Kansas City passing game and has a dream matchup with the Oakland Raiders. His floor is extremely safe here and the sky is really the limit when it comes to the upside. I honestly have a hard time envisioning a scenario where Kelce fails to top 100 yards and a touchdown this week, and no one would be surprised if he got there in just the first half.
Mark Andrews-(Cash and GPP)-$16: With all the attention Marquise “Hollywood” Brown received in the wake of his big NFL debut, Mark Andrews’ big Week 1 fantasy day went a bit overlooked. This week he’ll face an Arizona Cardinals defense that just surrendered 131 yards and a touchdown to rookie tight end T.J. Hockenson in his first NFL game.
Based on what we saw last week, it looks like Baltimore plans to split Andrews out rather than utilizing him as a traditional inline tight end so don’t get scared off by the snap count. If he’s on the field he’s generally going to be running routes, as they’re deploying him as more of a glorified wide receiver in the Evan Engram mold. He should eat against the Cards this week.
Darren Waller-(Cash and GPP)-$13: Waller is another player carrying the Monday night discount after his coming out party at Denver. Dating back to last season the Chiefs have struggled against the tight end position (15.78 fantasy points per game in 2018-PPR scoring) according to FantasyData.com. As further evidence, Jacksonville’s dangerous pass-catching tight end duo of Geoff Swaim and James O’Shaughnessy racked up eight catches for 49 yards against the Chiefs last week. Head coach Jon Gruden has been effusive in his praise of Waller all offseason, and the reason was clear in the opener. He’s going to be a force and I don’t think the Chiefs will have an answer.
Austin Hooper-(GPP)-$13: Hooper led the Falcons in receiving last week, catching all nine of his targets for 77 yards against the Vikings. This week he’ll face a Philadelphia defense that just allowed old man Vernon Davis to go for 59 yards and a score. Hooper’s role in the offense began to expand last season and it looks like he’s picking up right where left off. At his current price and role he’s a bargain. The only real concern is that is this turns into a track meet the Falcons turn to three-wide sets and utilize Hooper to help in pass protection.
Defense
Houston Texans-$21 and Baltimore Ravens-$20 (Cash and GPPs): These are the two pay up options at defense this week and don’t require a ton of explanation. I’m generally not a fan of rostering an expensive defense on Yahoo, but if you’re so inclined then either the Texans at home against Garnder Minshew making his first NFL start or Arizona visiting a very good Ravens defense in Baltimore are the plays. The Texans are likely the safer of the two, but the Ravens taking on Kyler Murray and Kliff Kingsbury’s offense could have the most potential for big plays.
Cowboys-(Cash and GPP)-$12: I mostly avoid defenses on the road, especially in a divisional game like this. Still, if you listen to the podcast you know I don’t have much faith in the Redskins offense overall. Case Keenum played very well in Week 1, but he’s going to be hard-pressed to have consistent success with three of his top four wideouts in their first or second NFL season. Aging Adrian Peterson also takes over as the starting at running back in Washington and will be playing behind a well below-average offensive line. Things are already headed in the wrong direction if you think about the fact that Washington blew a 17 point lead to open the season and also lost their starting running back to an extended absence due to injury for the second time since he was drafted last spring. I just think Dallas rolls here.
Falcons-(GPP)-$10: This is purely a minimum priced tournament flyer, as the Falcons face a formidable Eagles offense. That said, playing at home and historically we’ve seen instances where Atlanta has been able to pour it on opponents and put their defense in a position to create turnovers and big plays.
Good luck this week!
The views expressed above are my own personal takes on the games and strategies I’ve highlighted and I may sometimes play on the platforms and in the games on which I offer advice. With that in mind, please note that I also may employ different players, tactics, and strategies than what I have recommended here.
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