This article is part of our FanDuel Fantasy Football series.
Quarterback
Marcus Mariota, TEN at DET ($7,500) – Mariota had a "bad" game last week and still he scored 17.74 fantasy points against a good defense in a slow tempo affair. This week is a different story as he'll face a Lions team that just gave up a huge game to Andrew Luck and should be able to put up plenty of points at home. Mariota has some solid weapons this season with rookie Tajae Sharpe and the reliable Delanie Walker at his disposal. Mariota averaged over 20 yards rushing per game last season adding to his fantasy value. Considering the price here, he'll have an extremely low ownership making him a good target for GPPs.
Josh McCown, CLE vs BAL ($6,000) – Last week, it was wise to pay up for quarterback with almost all of the top options coming through while several of the bargains didn't make their value. DFS history tells us this won't be the case every week and McCown has shown in the past he can be a productive fantasy player. He had three games of at least 341 passing yards out of his eight starts last season and recorded multiple passing touchdown games in five of those games. He has shown a good rapport with Gary Barnidge and the tandem of Corey Coleman and Terrelle Pryor have deep threat potential.
Running Back
Thomas Rawls, SEA at LAR ($6,600) – Rawls did indeed end up being limited in Week 1 against the
Quarterback
Marcus Mariota, TEN at DET ($7,500) – Mariota had a "bad" game last week and still he scored 17.74 fantasy points against a good defense in a slow tempo affair. This week is a different story as he'll face a Lions team that just gave up a huge game to Andrew Luck and should be able to put up plenty of points at home. Mariota has some solid weapons this season with rookie Tajae Sharpe and the reliable Delanie Walker at his disposal. Mariota averaged over 20 yards rushing per game last season adding to his fantasy value. Considering the price here, he'll have an extremely low ownership making him a good target for GPPs.
Josh McCown, CLE vs BAL ($6,000) – Last week, it was wise to pay up for quarterback with almost all of the top options coming through while several of the bargains didn't make their value. DFS history tells us this won't be the case every week and McCown has shown in the past he can be a productive fantasy player. He had three games of at least 341 passing yards out of his eight starts last season and recorded multiple passing touchdown games in five of those games. He has shown a good rapport with Gary Barnidge and the tandem of Corey Coleman and Terrelle Pryor have deep threat potential.
Running Back
Thomas Rawls, SEA at LAR ($6,600) – Rawls did indeed end up being limited in Week 1 against the Dolphins, but his limitation was more about the snap count (22) than the touches (15). He's already been named the starter by Pete Carroll this week meaning that both his snaps and touches should see an uptick. This would put Rawls in a favorable spot expecting him to get around 20 touches against a Rams defense that just gave up 22.3 fantasy points to Carlos Hyde. At this price, Rawls should easily be able to make his value.
Theo Riddick, DET vs TEN ($5,900) – Riddick had an impressive first week, gaining 108 yards from scrimmage while scoring both a receiving and rushing touchdown. It looks like he could get some added work in the carries department this season and he'll continue to get "perimeter carries" by catching a high volume of passes out of the backfield. Tennessee shouldn't pose much of a threat defensively and this game should have plenty of scoring with a healthy over/under of 47.5.
Wide Receiver
Jarvis Landry, MIA at NE ($6,500) – It's the perfect time to take advantage of a reduced price for Landry who is a monster when it comes to any PPR format. His low touchdown total last season was pretty fluky for a player who had the fifth-most red zone targets in the league last season and over 110 catches. The New England pass defense is nothing to be worried about and the Dolphins should have an easier time moving the ball this week in Foxborough than they did against the Legion of Boom at CenturyLink Field. Larry Fitzgerald had the same number of targets as Landry last week (10), but he turned them into 81 receiving yards and two touchdowns against this Patriots defense.
Travis Benjamin, SD vs JAC ($6,100) – This week, Benjamin becomes Philip Rivers' top receiving option after the Chargers lost Keenan Allen for the season to a torn ACL. Teammate Tyrell Williams ($5,400) is another good option given his price but it's Benjamin who has the higher upside. The Jacksonville defense has to make the long trip across the country and they gave up the third most points per game last season. Look for Benjamin to get at least the eight targets he got last week against the Chiefs and break a long one for a score Sunday.
Kicker
Josh Lambo, SD vs JAC ($4,500) – There are a lot of kickers within a couple hundred dollars of the minimum this week so there should be a lot of variance at the position. Lambo has the luxury of kicking at home and the Vegas line suggest the Chargers should put up 25 points in this game, one of the higher team totals this week.
Defense
Chicago Bears vs PHI ($4,400) – It seems kind of lazy to recommend the Detroit defense and justify it by saying they're playing the Titans and look at what Minnesota did on defense last week. Instead, let's double down against Carson Wentz and the Eagles who go on the road and take on the Bears in Chicago. Not only will it be the first road start for Wentz, but it'll come under the spotlight of Monday Night Football adding to the pressure. The Bears had two sacks (eight quarterback hits) and an interception last week and will have the home crowd backing them.
