DraftKings Week 2 Recap
Top-Ranked Notorious has been playing fantasy sports ever since he could walk. Then he joined Team RotoGrinders. He graduated with a Masters degree from the University of Utah, and is currently spotted in the Top 6 Overall in the RotoGrinders Player Rankings. He’s ‘notorious’ for his high-volume of play on DraftStreet, and was a 2012 DSBC Finalist, 2013 DSBBC Finalist, 2013 DSBC Finalist (x2), 2013 DD BLB Finalist, and 2013 DFBBC Finalist. Additionally, Notorious was nominated for the 2013 Fantasy Golf Writer of the Year award by the Fantasy Sports Writer’s Association (FSWA).
DraftKings Week 2
What a crazy week! In order to cash in the DK Sunday Million, you had to avoid the landmines that took out a ton of teams. A.J. Green, Jamaal Charles, Robert Griffin III, DeSean Jackson, and Knowshon Moreno all exited early in Sunday’s games. It was truly a war of attrition in Week 2. Before I break down my cash game lineup for the week, let’s take a look at the squad that took down the $100,000 1st-place prize in the DK Sunday Million:
Winner: Troylanger’s Week 2 DK Lineup
QB – Aaron Rodgers ($7,900) – 32.6 FP’s
RB1 – DeMarco Murray ($7,500) – 26.3 FP’s
RB2 – Montee Ball ($6,800) – 11.9 FP’s
WR1 – Jordy Nelson ($6,600) – 38.9 FP’s
WR2 – Julio Jones ($7,500) – 21.8 FP’s
WR3 – James Jones ($4,000) – 28.2 FP’s
TE – Delanie Walker ($3,700) – 33.2 FP’s
FLEX –Sammy Watkins ($3,600) – 28.7 FP’s
D/ST – Cowboys ($2,400) – 10 FP’s
Total Score = 231.6 FP’s
The biggest takeaway from Troylanger’s winning lineup is that he paired his QB (Aaron Rodgers) with his WR (Jordy Nelson) and then basically struck gold on every other pick. The Rodgers/Nelson combination was a popular handcuff in Week 2, but what really set his lineup apart were huge contributions from players that were less than 10% owned. DeMarco Murray, James Jones, Delanie Walker, and Sammy Watkins were all less than 10% owned and all put up at least 26 FP’s. This goes to show that you can really separate your team from the competition in these big tournaments by targeting high upside contrarian plays.
While Troylanger did have quite a few contrarian picks, from a lineup standpoint, he didn’t take a ton of risks. Sammy Watkins and James Jones were both boom or bust plays, but both are #1 WR’s on their respective teams so it wasn’t a shock to see either of them have a big day. The common thought in daily fantasy sports is that you have to take completely off the board picks in order to win GPP’s, but that’s not typically not the case. The winning lineups in the DK million in the first two weeks were both constructed of solid, well thought out picks rather than a random collection of players.
Notorious’ Week 2 DK Lineup
QB – Andrew Luck ($8,400) – 19.9 FP’s
RB1 – Giovani Bernard ($6,300) – 27.9 FP’s
RB2 – LeSean McCoy ($8,200) – 20.2 FP’s
WR1–Demaryius Thomas ($7,000)–17.2 FP’s
WR2 – Vincent Jackson ($5,000) – 9.2 FP’s
WR3 – Reggie Wayne ($5,300) – 5.8 FP’s
TE – Jason Witten ($3,800) – 7.2 FP’s
FLEX – Matt Asiata ($3,000) – 19.4 FP’s
D/ST – Saints ($3,000) – 2 FP’s
Total Score = 128.7 FP’s
Overall, it was a pretty disappointing Week 2 for yours truly. While my team put up a respectable score of 128.7 FP’s, we set lofty expectations for our lineups each week, and bubbling in most 50/50’s wasn’t the week that I had in mind when I locked my rosters in on Sunday morning. While I did manage to avoid the injury bug, my team sputtered after a terrific start from both Giovani Bernard (27.9 FP’s) and Matt Asiata (19.4 FP’s).
The biggest letdowns of the week came from the WR position. I expected a solid bounce-back effort from Demaryius Thomas and he performed admirably with 17.2 FP’s. I can’t say the same for my other two WR slots though. I targeted a high-floor cash option in Reggie Wayne and a high-ceiling option in Vincent Jackson. In the end, they combined for a measly 15 FP’s at a combined salary of $10,300 which just isn’t going to cut it.
It wouldn’t be a complete analysis if I didn’t talk about the week that could have been. This is everyone’s favorite game to play on Tuesday morning when mulling over the previous week’s lineups. For myself, it came down to the “what ifs” at the TE and D/ST positions. The three TE’s that I considered in Week 2 were Jason Witten, Delanie Walker, and Antonio Gates. The three D/ST’s that I considered were the Saints, Redskins, and Buccaneers. Clearly, the other options that I passed on would have resulted in a much better week. That said, in daily fantasy sports, you have to pick yourself up and dust yourself off which is exactly what I will do heading into Week 3.