This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Football series.
Before jumping in headfirst into the whirlwind of fun that is Yahoo Daily Fantasy Football, be sure to differentiate from the variety of games offered. Since Head-to-Heads, 50/50s and Double Ups pay nearly half of entrants, your best bet to cashing is to target players with higher floors. Think heavily-targeted number one WRs, RBs who get the bulk of a team's carries and upper echelon QBs in match-ups with a tight Vegas point spread and a high total.
Tournaments / Guaranteed Prize Pools (GPPs) require a bit more of your inner contrarian – target offensive players with higher ceilings in advantageous matchups. Huge point totals can come from the most unpredictable of places – the most obvious plays are not always the right ones. Though previous week's performances should be noted, each new week of action should be considered its own season. Don't chase last week's stats.
TOURNAMENTS (GPP – GUARANTEED PRIZE POOL)
Joe Flacco (BAL, $29)
My only hesitation with listing Flacco here is the volume of discussion about him already among wise members of the DFS community. It's not likely to move the needle on him too much though, and it's probably a good thing to hear fellow analysts identifying him as Week 2-worthy so early in our research. One of the reasons for the buzz is that the Ravens face a toothless Browns' secondary, and also because Flacco can whip it good. He hit vertical threat Mike Wallace for a 66-yard catch-and-run last week and he is likely to replicate that a couple of times this coming Sunday, whether with Wallace or any other member of his deep receiving corps. Flacco missed the second meeting between these two teams last season, but accounted for three TDs (two on the ground) last October in an epic Monday Night Football heartbreaker. If you recall, the Ravens lost to the Browns in overtime, 33-30. Flacco gets some much deserved love in this Week 2 matchup and is priced in a range where most others will likely just pay the few extra dollars to get studs like Drew Brees, Eli Manning or Aaron Rodgers.
Danny Woodhead (SD, $19)
The price is right for Woodhead this week as he should be on the field all game against the Jaguars on Sunday. Chargers' quarterback Philip Rivers will have to rely on his pass-catching back even more now with stud wideout Keenan Allen lost for the season. Woodhead impressed last week, garnering a nearly 20 percent target share, rushing for 89 yards on 16 carries and scoring a touchdown last week – good for 20.5 fantasy points. What's most notable is that those 16 carries are a career high for Woodhead and the rushing yards were his most since December 26, 2010 when he ran for 93 yards against the Bills. It bodes well for the scatback going forward, especially with Allen no longer in the mix. Woodhead is reasonably priced this week, tied for the 22nd-highest tag among running backs.
Dez Bryant (DAL, $25)
Here's a play that's certainly not for the faint of heart, but we're not going to win the big GPPs like the $250k Baller if we don't differentiate from the masses in the right spots. We can almost guarantee very low ownership for Dez after last week's one-catch disappointment, and because of the worry of him having to tango with shutdown corner Josh Norman. Bryant is excited for the matchup, but we shouldn't necessarily expect Norman to exclusively shadow him – just like Norman didn't shadow Antonio Brown on Monday night. Dak Prescott and Bryant showed a solid rapport in preseason outings and they did connect on a second quarter toss in the end zone, though the call was overturned. Bryant is certainly boom or bust, but he's the perfect type of player to take a chance on in tournaments. The key is that Bryant is healthy, and we all know he's hungry. Don't expect him to bust two games in a row.
Other Against-the-Grainers:
QB: Carson Palmer (ARI, $30)
RB: Rashad Jennings (NYG, $22), Thomas Rawls (SEA, $18)
WR: DeSean Jackson (WAS, $19), Randall Cobb (GB, $19), Steve Smith Sr. (BAL, $15)
TE: Dennis Pitta (BAL, $10)
DEF: Detroit Lions ($13)
CASH GAMES (H2H, 50/50s and DOUBLE UPS)
Quarterback
Eli Manning (NYG, $36)
With an implied point total of 53 that may reach 54 by kickoff, many will look to the Giants-Saints game as a spot to load up on cash game players. Sure, we can convince ourselves to glance elsewhere in GPPs, but in cash games we don't want to get too cute, especially with a matchup between two teams that combined for 102 points (52-49) in Week 9 last year – the third-highest scoring game of all time. Last week, Drew Brees at home was the chalk that paid off (as it usually does) as he threw for 423 yards and 4 TDs. This week, we should look to Manning who appeared sharp last week, throwing three touchdown passes on his way to 19.3 fantasy points. Already a defense with many holes, the Saints lost their best cornerback, Delvin Breaux, last week. It's a perfect spot for Eli to rekindle some of that magic from last season's matchup.
Running Backs
C.J. Anderson (DEN, $30)
Anderson was one of nine backs to get at least 20 carries in Week 1. His 92 rushing yards in the season opener against a stout Panthers' rush defense was the fourth-best total of the week. Anderson has averaged a healthy 4.7 yards per carry over the last two seasons, good for the top 10 in each of those seasons among backs with at least 100 carries. When healthy, Anderson is one of the league's top workhorse backs. He gets a nice matchup against a weak Colts' line that hemorrhaged over 100 yards on 19 carries to the Lions' duo of Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick last week. David Johnson is a slightly safer option and will be extremely popular in Week 2, but will cost you an additional three bucks. The salary cap will be much tighter this week, especially for those looking to combo Manning with Odell Beckham.
Chris Thompson (WAS, $13)
One way we can save cap for some of the big boys this week is to pay down at our RB2 and flex spots. There are still dozens of playable options at $15 and under, including Thompson. The team's clear pass-catching back, he was on the field more than starting back Matt Jones on Monday night. That's partially due to the fact that the 'Skins were down for most of the game and because Jones is likely not fully recovered from his preseason injury. Nevertheless, Thompson scored the first rushing TD of his career in that game, clearly pumped up with his brother in the stands to watch him play for the first time ever. He looked great and will likely be one of the few running backs to catch 50 or more balls this season. Though our Yahoo! Daily game only scores us a half point per reception, it's still worth considering Thompson this week on sheer volume alone. If he finds the end zone again, it'll just be a cherry on top.
Wide Receivers
Odell Beckham Jr. (NYG, $37)
OBJ will quite easily be this week's most-owned wideout despite the hefty tag, as people will look to the 53 expected total points, plus the fact that Beckham had his best outing of the 2015 season against the Saints last year (8 Rec, 130 Yds, 3 TD). Beckham saw nearly 30 percent of Eli Manning's targets last week, managing to catch just four of eight balls for 73 yards. It's tough to fit both Beckham and Antonio Brown (PIT, $36) into a lineup, but not impossible. Either way, it's probably not recommended for cash games as it severely downgrades you at mostly all of the other positions. Let's not overthink this one and just play OBJ in cash.
Allen Robinson (JAX, $30)
Robinson was one of the league's best receivers last season, catching 80 balls for 1400 yards, and he tied for the league lead in receiving touchdowns with 14. Last week, he led all pass-catchers with 15 targets, accounting for nearly 40 percent of Blake Bortles' throws. Robinson did not reach value for his salary given that he didn't find paydirt nor reach 100 yards, but the Jags have a nice matchup in a potential shootout with the Chargers this Sunday. The Chargers boast one of the league's best cornerbacks in Jason Verrett, but it's unlikely Verrett will shadow him. Per Pro Football Focus, Robinson lined up all over the field last season but mostly on the right side. Verrett primarily lines up on the opposite side. Robinson also has a five inch height advantage on Verrett should some jump ball opportunities arise. Robinson is pricey this week, but should be worth his weight in teal.
Tyrell Williams (SD, $10)
Williams is an undrafted second-year wideout from tiny Western Oregon. He is one of the top waiver wire options in season-long leagues (along with the Steelers' slot receiver Eli Rogers). Unfortunately for the Chargers, Williams' opportunity arises due to Keenan Allen's season-ending knee injury. Williams is 6-foot-4, 205 pounds and ran a 4.38 forty at his Pro Day last year. He should line up opposite Travis Benjamin against the Jaguars on Sunday, with fellow wideout Dontrelle Inman getting mixed in. There's also a chance that the Chargers resign a veteran like James Jones or Brian Hartline, but even so, this shouldn't affect Williams' opportunity – at least not in Week 2. There are some solid options near his price range, but most are guys like Kamar Aiken (BAL, $12) or Chris Hogan (NE, $12) who are parts of crowded casts on their respective teams. Williams' size and speed puts him in the mix to be the best option among the cheapies, and to possibly assert himself as the superior option to Travis Benjamin over the course of the season.
Tight End
Jason Witten (DAL, $16)
Witten saw a whopping 14 targets against the Giants last week, tied for the second most in Week 1. He was clearly rookie Dak Prescott's safety valve and may continue to be so going forward. Witten is about as 'cash game safe' as they get as he's never missed a game in his 13-year career. Not including his rookie season, Witten has averaged 57 yards per game and has never dipped below 700 receiving yards in a season. Conversely, he's never scored double-digit touchdowns in a season and he's only found paydirt eight times over the last two. One of Witten's three touchdowns last season came against the Redskins, although we know by now how unpredictable touchdowns are. The key takeaway here is last week's targets and the fact that Prescott is his biggest fan at the moment.
Defense/Special Teams
New England ($14)
The Pats have a good matchup this week against the division-rival Dolphins. The thought process here is that we're looking at the best DST options among the mid-range prices. Many of the other top options like the Panthers, Texans and Seahawks roll in at $18, and it doesn't take much staring at the salaries to know that cap space will be tight in Week 2. We can use every dollar we can get this week. The Patriots outscored the Dolphins 56 to 17 over their two games last season, though of course there's no Tom Brady around this time. Moreover, the Dolphins offense was among the league's worst last week despite adding Arian Foster and offensive-minded head coach Adam Gase to the mix. This game will probably be closer than last year's tilts, but we should still expect a fairly low scoring contest, a few sacks and hopefully a Ryan Tannehill mistake or two.
Honorable Mentions
QB: Cam Newton (CAR, $36)
RB: David Johnson (ARI, $33), LeGarrette Blount (NE, $15)
WR: Alshon Jeffery (CHI, $26), Jordan Matthews (PHI, $23), Marvin Jones (DET, $18)
TE: Dwayne Allen (IND, $13)
DEF: Oakland Raiders ($15)
