With one week of football in the books, it’s still difficult to know what players are going to do on a weekly basis, but it’s at least getting better. In the second week of the regular season, these are players who make up a solid roster and come in under the standard cap in FanDuel leagues.
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Quarterback - Russell Wilson, $8,200
If Carson Palmer can engineer a comeback against the San Diego Chargers defense, Wilson can put a whole game together. Sure the higher-priced quarterbacks such as Peyton Manning and Drew Brees might throw more touchdowns in Week 2, but Wilson can run and pass, and having Percy Harvin back is huge. Harvin can manufacture his own yards to help Wilson, and as long as the running game continues to click, Wilson will have plenty of opportunities to run play-action plays against the Chargers.
Running Back - Marshawn Lynch, $9,000
After all the heat Lynch took in the offseason, he started off the season strong and is now third in the league in rushing yards. Christine Michael was hardly used against the Green Bay Packers last Thursday, and Lynch was the feature back, as he was last season. Of all the top-tier backs available in this format, I feel most comfortable with Lynch.
Running Back - Terrance West, $5,300
To save some money to splurge on Calvin Johnson, West was a great value. Mike Pettine already named him the starter today after it was announced that Ben Tate could miss up to a month with a knee injury. He rushed for 100 yards against the Steelers, and as the starting back now, 100 yards is certainly in his sights again. The Browns will want to control the clock and keep the ball out of Drew Brees’s hands when they face New Orleans this weekend, and even if Crowell gets the goal line touches again, West will still be a fine RB2.
Wide Receiver - Calvin Johnson, $9,200
Since you can save money elsewhere this week, why not splurge on Johnson? The Carolina Panthers defense is better than most people thought heading into this season, but you just can’t argue with 164 yards and two touchdowns in his first game. He won’t duplicate those numbers against a much better defense, but he’s the best fantasy receiver in the league, bar-none.
Wide Receiver - Roddy White, $7,200
While White missed some snaps in Week 1 and was on and off the field at times with a minor injury, I have a lot of faith in Matt Ryan keeping up his Week 1 production. Ryan is the best fantasy quarterback coming out of the first week, and despite big games from Devin Hester and Julio Jones, White still had 72 yards and a touchdown. Hester’s targets likely won’t be as high this week, and White could put up Jones-like numbers if he stays on the field.
Wide Receiver - Jeremy Maclin, $6,300
As long as Maclin’s healthy, why not ride the hot hand? After spending money on Johnson, Maclin is more about the value than anything, but the upside is certainly there for another long touchdown connection with Nick Foles. The Eagles also play the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night, the same Colts team who allowed Julius Thomas to score three touchdowns in one half of football. With the Philadelphia offense, there’s always going to be the upside for any receiver to have a big game.
Tight End - Zach Ertz, $5,600
Ertz showed right off the bat that he’s going to be involved in the Eagles’ offense. He was on the field for 61 percent of Philly’s offensive snaps, per Pro Football Focus (paid subscription required). The volume of catches wasn’t great (he had just three) but he made the most of them, scoring a touchdown and going for 77 yards. If Foles can avoid the first half problems he had against the Jaguars, Ertz will finish with more than three catches this week and will be in the end zone a lot this season.
Kicker - Greg Zuerlein, $4,500
It’s a kicker, so not much to say, but Zuerlein was one of the cheapest kickers and at least you know he has the leg to potentially make a huge field goal.
Defense - Jacksonville Jaguars, $4,600
Jacksonville has a lot of great young talent in the secondary, and up front, they have a solid group of proven veterans. They take on Washington this weekend, who gave up three fumbles against the Houston Texans. The right side of the offensive line for Washington also looked rough, but it was against J.J. Watt. Still, the Jaguars are a sleeper defense this week in all formats, but for less than $5,000 in this format, it’s great value.