Week 2 Recap

Sep 19, 2017

It’s time to panic now as we have a whopping 12.5% of the season is in the books (it’s true, I did the math and everything). We can go ahead and give the MVP to Kareem Hunt and wonder how Trevor Siemian could have ever been backing up anyone. It is very easy to get too high or too low on picks you made in your lineups, but remember the process is more important than the results in a two week sample size. You picked your players for a reason, and evaluating your process should be just as important as analyzing results. Having said that, Week 2 was a good one for the Mathletes, with all of our targets reaching double digits and many far out scoring their price. We feel good with our evaluation process and hope this two week trend of success can continue, not only for us but for the literally dozens of you that have come along with us. Anyway, let’s take a look at our Week 2 targets.

Philip Rivers

Despite the Chargers’ struggles with filling the stands on Sunday, Rivers did his best to give everyone their money’s worth. Rivers had a home matchup with a pass defense that seemed vulnerable and had been toying with the idea of benching their top rated cover corner in Byron Maxwell. While the game didn’t quite turn into a shootout, Rivers did turn in an excellent day as he had to pick up a struggling run game to keep the Chargers in the game. Finishing the day 31 of 39 for 331 yards and one TD to Antonio Gates (which also put Gates into the record books with the most receiving TDs by a TE). He easily out produced his price point and almost quadrupled it in DraftKings.

James White

New England was hurting for pass catchers heading into their matchup with New Orleans and only dressed three WRs for the game, including new arrival Phillip Dorsett. White was super cheap heading into a game that many expected to be the highest scoring affair of the week, and was in a good position to emerge as the main possession receiver for Brady, who was down his top two slot receivers before kickoff. White caught all 8 of his targets for 85 yards and threw in two rushes for 11 yards as well. It wasn’t a huge day, but it more than quadrupled his price and helped you squeeze in some higher end options elsewhere while still providing points. Moving forward, if Rob Gronkowski’s injury keeps him out of the Pats week 3 matchup with Houston, White stays a very interesting play against a good defense.

Ty Montgomery

Ty was on everyone’s radar heading into the week, and I would expect any starting back going against Atlanta to generate some serious interest until they show an ability to stop backs catching passes out of the backfield. Montgomery’s pass catching was his initial appeal, but his running has also improved and he now looks like a legit running back. Rushing for 35 yards and a TD, and catching 6 of his 7 targets for another 75 yards and a second TD made for a huge day from Ty. He has now punched in his two TDs from the 10 and the 1 yard line, easing the fears some had after he Packers drafted three running backs in the draft this year. Monty showed up in a ton of cashing lineups and that should continue if his price point stays where it has been so far this year.

Keenan Allen

Like I mentioned above, the matchup against the Dolphins seemed like it was set up for success in the air and Rivers has loved throwing to Allen when he’s been in the lineup. After having a tough but respectable day against Chris Harris and the Denver D last week, Allen had a much easier day against Miami with a 100 yard day on 9 catches. While a score would have been nice, for where Allen was priced, his production was excellent as he was another player who was able to more than triple up his price.

Julio Jones

Another very common target in DFS lineups, Julio has a recent history of huge days following games where he was held to less than 70 yards. It started off well, but Julio only had one catch after halftime as Ryan seemed content to spread the ball around and the Falcons seemed to focus on running the ball with a big lead in the second half. Don’t know why that would be a point of emphasis for new OC Steve Sarkisian, but it meant that rather than force the ball into coverage that Julio could likely beat, they would take what the defense gave them. Still, a 5 catch 108 yard day is still productive. This was the worst call of the week for us, but it still led to 18+ points in DraftKings.

Coby Fleener

Fleener’s inclusion as a DFS target had more to do with his scoring potential and increased role in the passing offense with Cooks and Snead out of the offense in New Orleans. After Sunday’s game he has now scored in double digits in the last three games he’s played without Snead in the lineup (in a PPR format). He didn’t get a ton of work in Week 2 but he has been an end zone target for Brees in the early going and there’s no such thing as garbage time in the fantasy world. If his price remains in the lower tier of TEs, he will find himself an easy target for DFS lineups.

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