Quarterback

Drew Brees seemed like an obvious target, playing at home against the Browns but considering we could save $1200 by dropping down to Ben Roethlisberger ($7600) playing at home in an expected shootout, the decision to leave Brees off my lineup was an easy one. Other considerations were Cam Newton ($8200), Matthew Stafford ($7700) and Deshaun Watson ($7400). I liked the bounceback spot for Stafford, playing against a burnable 49ers secondary but Roethlisberger was an easy call given his price and my projections – Big Ben was my No.3 ranked QB on the week. Given the relatively loose pricing on Fanduel it didn’t make much sense to go bargain shopping below Roethlisberger's cost.

Running Back

A couple key choices had to be made at running back this week. At $7000, James Conner is still underpriced given his massive role. He was a lock to play the majority of running back snaps in a fantasy friendly offense in a game with big upside. Conner was a no-brainer.

Knowing I wanted to jam in Antonio Brown, a value running back was going to be needed. Luckily we got two to choose from this week. Devonta Freeman was ruled out with a knee injury and it became clear on Saturday that Leonard Fournette was likely going to miss with a hamstring injury. That opened the door for Tevin Coleman ($5900) and T.J. Yeldon ($6200) to see increased roles. I strongly considered Yeldon but felt Coleman was a better bet to see 20 touches (as he did in 3 games without Freeman last season) while I was less confident in Yeldon’s usage given the Jags are comfortable with Corey Grant and were more likely to involve him in the offense. While Coleman and Yeldon were in my same rankings tier, I had Coleman two spots higher and was happy to take the $300 savings. My next key decision at running back came at the Flex position. But first…

Wide Receiver

Antonio Brown ($8900) was a lock for me. Playing at home, in a matchup against a weak Chiefs secondary was too good to ignore. It seems a lot of other folks had the same idea as Brown was roughly 80% owned in the double-ups I participated in.

Finding two other value wide receivers wasn’t difficult given I was high on the Detroit pass-catchers. Kenny Golladay ($5700) seemed underpriced given the Lions pass-happy approach and their propensity to avoid the tight end in the passing game. I had Golladay projected higher than Marvin Jones ($6800) making Kenny G. an easy call. I also liked Emmanuel Sanders ($6800) to build off his Week 1 performance (10-135-1). His matchup was decent against the average Raiders secondary.

Dante Pettis, who a lot of people were interested in this week, was a never a strong consideration for me even though he was likely headed for a starting role in a game that figured to feature a decent amount of scoring. I had Golladay projected much higher, felt like his floor was safer and didn’t need the extra savings ($1200) to get the players I wanted. Plus, it felt a little dirty to run two pass catchers from the 49ers (more on that below) without using Jimmy G. at quarterback.

Tight End

George Kittle ($5600) and Jack Doyle ($5600) were my main considerations for a value tight end in a week were I felt the need to jam in a high priced RB and WR. Both saw generous usage last week (Doyle 94% of snaps, Kittle 77% of snaps) and both had decent matchups. Given we knew Marquise Goodwin would miss the game, I gave Kittle a slightly higher than normal target expectation and liked his TD upside over Doyle. Other TE considerations included Ricky Seals-Jones ($5200) and Jared Cook ($5000).

Flex

As I talked about last week, it makes sense more often than not to use a running back in the Flex position as production and volume are less volatile than the wide receiver position.

With enough money left over to grab one of the top RBs, my last key decision was Todd Gurley ($8900) vs. Alvin Kamara ($9000). I left $200 on the table with this lineup so I could’ve selected either back. Both were in my top tier for the week with Kamara being ranked No.1 and Gurley No.2 among RBs. I don’t typically hedge with my cash game lineup but I strongly considered running two lineups, one with Gurley in the Flex, the other with Kamara in the Flex. In the end I stuck to my guns and let it ride with Gurley who saw a 94% snap usage to Kamara’s 81% in Week 1 and was slightly less likely to get pulled at the goaline.

Defense

The Texans ($4500) were my target most of the week as the underachieving Titans offense with a banged up offensive line and an ailing Marcus Mariota (elbow) seemed like a prime target for sacks and turnovers. Then, late in the week, we heard Blaine Gabbert may get some playing time even if Mariota was the starter. Perfect. However, I couldn’t make the salary work and if I was going to punt at a position in order to get the players I wanted, it would have to be at defense. The Bucs ($3300) looked atrocious last week giving up 40 points to Drew Brees and the Saints, but playing at home against an Eagles team with a depleted wide receiving corps, missing pass-catching Darren Sproles and a shaky Nick Foles at quarterback was more than enough positives to plug in Tampa for a $1200 savings.

Results

I typically won’t stack a lineup with 3 players from one team in a cash game, but if there was ever an exception to the rule, this was the week. Given the pricing, usage rates and projections for the Steelers it made sense to lock in Big Ben, Conner and Brown into a Fanduel cash game lineup. The right choice between Coleman vs. Yeldon and Gordon vs. Kamara was critical and allowed me to cruise to a comfortable week in 50/50s and double ups.