NFL DFS Expert Survey: Week 2 - Monday Night Football

Our panel of experts is here to give you their NFL DFS picks for this week’s main slate contests by answering a handful of questions to help you make crucial lineup-building decisions. Want to know Noto’s three favorite players for cash games? Or squirrelpatrol’s favorite correlation? Find out below!

NFL DFS Picks: DraftKings & FanDuel Expert Survey for Week 2 – Monday Night Football

Editor’s Note: It’s being reported that Amari Cooper might play tonight.

Rank your three favorite players for cash games, in order:

Analyst	Rank 1	Rank 2	Rank 3
Notorious	Chris Olave	George Pickens	Jamaal Williams
squirrelpatrol	Nick Chubb	Miles Sanders	Chris Olave
Krayton	Nick Chubb	Chris Olave	Miles Sanders
ebeimfohr	Nick Chubb	Chris Olave	Elijah Moore
Stevietpfl	Nick Chubb	Derek Carr	Chris Olave
eys819	Chris Olave	Derek Carr	Miles Sanders
Bobby Gomes	Chris Olave	Nick Chubb	Miles Sanders

Rank your three favorite players for large-field tournaments, in order:

Analyst	Rank 1	Rank 2	Rank 3
Notorious	Donovan Peoples-Jones	Allen Robinson	Hayden Hurst
squirrelpatrol	Bryce Young	Chuba Hubbard	Taysom Hill
Krayton	Rashid Shaheed	Calvin Austin	Jonathan Mingo
ebeimfohr	DJ Chark	Juwan Johnson	Calvin Austin
Stevietpfl	Jonathan Mingo	Calvin Austin	Rashid Shaheed
eys819	Rashid Shaheed	Calvin Austin	DJ Chark
Bobby Gomes	Donovan Peoples Jones	Calvin Austin	Rashid Shaheed

Who is your favorite salary relief option this week?

Notorious: David Njoku
squirrelpatrol: Calvin Austin III
Krayton: Elijah Moore
ebeimfohr: Elijah Moore
Stevietpfl: Elijah Moore
eys819: Elijah Moore
Bobby Gomes: Elijah Moore

What’s the best position to save salary on?

Notorious: WR/TE
squirrelpatrol: WR
Krayton: WR
ebeimfohr: WR
Stevietpfl: WR
eys819: WR
Bobby Gomes: WR

Who is your favorite high-salary D/ST to use this week?

Notorious: only playing PIT
squirrelpatrol: NO
Krayton: NO
ebeimfohr: NO
Stevietpfl: CLE
eys819: NO
Bobby Gomes: NO

Who is your favorite low-salary D/ST to use this week?

Notorious: only playing PIT
squirrelpatrol: CAR
Krayton: PIT
ebeimfohr: PIT
Stevietpfl: PIT
eys819: PIT
Bobby Gomes: CAR

What player do you believe you’ll be most overweight on compared to the field?

Notorious: Chris Olave
squirrelpatrol: Bryce Young
Krayton: Rashid Shaheed
ebeimfohr: Juwan Johnson
Stevietpfl: Hayden Hurst
eys819: David Njoku
Bobby Gomes: Bryce Young

What player are you most afraid of being underweight on compared to the field?

Notorious: Deshaun Watson
squirrelpatrol: Michael Thomas
Krayton: George Pickens
ebeimfohr: George Pickens
Stevietpfl: George Pickens
eys819: Nick Chubb
Bobby Gomes: Najee Harris

What stack will you be most underweight on compared to the field?

Notorious: Deshaun Watson + Elijah Moore
squirrelpatrol: Derek Carr + Michael Thomas
Krayton: Kenny Pickett + George Pickens
ebeimfohr: Deshaun Watson + David Njoku
Stevietpfl: Kenny Pickett + George Pickens
eys819: Kenny Pickett + George Pickens
Bobby Gomes: Bryce Young + Hayden Hurst

What team will you target players from the most compared to the field?

Notorious: PIT
squirrelpatrol: CAR
Krayton: NO
ebeimfohr: NO
Stevietpfl: NO
eys819: NO
Bobby Gomes: NO

What team will you target players from the least compared to the field?

Notorious: CLE
squirrelpatrol: NO
Krayton: PIT
ebeimfohr: PIT
Stevietpfl: PIT
eys819: PIT
Bobby Gomes: PIT

What game will exceed its implied total by the most points this week?

Notorious: NO/CAR
squirrelpatrol: CLE/PIT
Krayton: NO/CAR
ebeimfohr: NO/CAR
Stevietpfl: NO/CAR
eys819: NO/CAR
Bobby Gomes: NO/CAR

What is your favorite correlation on the slate and why?

Notorious: Derek Carr + Chris Olave – Carr hasn’t been known for his upside over the last few years, but he threw for over 300 yards in Week 1. Some of that was due to the pass-funnel nature of the Titans defense, but it was still an impressive performance in his first start with the Saints. He’s my favorite quarterback tonight, and that’s really by process of elimination. I don’t love the rookie Bryce Young, Deshaun Watson is volatile and without his best receiver, and Kenny Pickett might have the toughest matchup of the slate. I like pairing Carr with Olave, who had a 30% target share and a 34% air yards share in Week 1. He finished the game with 8 receptions and 112 yards.

squirrelpatrol: Bryce Young + Jonathan Mingo – With only two games both with spreads of 3 points or less and both with point totals under 40, this slate could come down to ownership and one big play much more than a full Sunday slate. Bryce Young only threw for 146 passing yards in his first NFL game on the road, but he’ll be playing at home this week and is coming in with less projected ownership than any other QB. If he can connect with fellow rookie Jonathan Mingo for a big game and pull the slight upset over New Orleans, it could have a huge impact on this slate.

Krayton: Derek Carr + Chris Olave + Rashid Shaheed – I do think the Carr/Olave combination is going to be very popular, so I also like adding in Shaheed, who has the upside to win us tournaments. This should be a high-scoring game, and I see Carr going right back to a guy like Shaheed, who had 6 targets and 2 rushes along with a receiving touchdown in Week 1. There are quite a few interesting receiving options in order to get different on the New Orleans side, and I will look to stack a couple receivers or TEs in every lineup.

ebeimfohr: Derek Carr + Chris Olave + Juwan Johnson – The Saints are my preferred stack, as their lack of RB depth should lead them to being more pass-heavy again this week. The Panthers also lost superstar corner Jaycee Horn to an injury in Week 1, which should allow Olave to have a little more success in this matchup. And while Olave will be massively popular on this 2-game slate, Juwan makes for a nice pivot at TE away from the likes of David Njoku. He played a full complement of snaps in Week 1, and he’s fresh off a 7-TD campaign last season with the Saints.

Stevietpfl: Derek Carr + Chris Olave + Hayden Hurst – I think this game has more potential to be higher scoring, so I’ll be looking at both passing offenses. Olave leads the slate with a 30.3% target share in Week 1 and was the first-read look on 31.6% of passing plays, which also leads the slate. Like I mentioned prior Week 1, Carr likes to lock in on a receiver, and Olave has the upside to be that player. Hurst led Carolina pass-catchers with an 18.4% target share in Week 1. He was the first-look option 26.7% of the time, which was tied with Jonathan Mingo. I’m hoping Pat Freiermuth and David Njoku get more ownership than Hurst.

eys819: Derek Carr + Chris Olave + Juwan Johnson – Olave is going to be popular, but I think Johnson could potentially be just the third or fourth most popular among tight ends. Olave is the top option on the slate, with a huge target share and massive upside. I think most people will look to Michael Thomas as the double-stacking partner with Carr/Olave, so adding in Johnson and/or Rashid Shaheed should provide some differentiation.

Bobby Gomes: Derek Carr + Chris Olave – They make a ton of sense on this slate. I really like a lot of these Saints pass-catchers with Carr, but Olave has by far the highest ceiling on this slate, and you really don’t want to miss that long touchdown!

Who’s your top contrarian play on the board and why?

Notorious: Allen Robinson – I originally had Hayden Hurst listed as my answer to this question, but where’s the fun in that answer? I’m going with Robinson, who projects to have sub-10% ownership on both DraftKings and FanDuel. He’s no stranger to letting the DFS folk down as the chalk, but we don’t have to worry about his ownership tonight. With Diontae Johnson out, he should be a big part of this offense. He ran a route on 88% of Kenny Pickett’s drop-backs in Week 1 and ran 83% of his routes from the slot. Pickett might have to get the ball out quickly given how good Cleveland is at getting pressure on the quarterback, so we could see another 8-to-10 target game for A-Rob.

squirrelpatrol: Bryce Young – I’m surprised to see the #1 overall pick of the draft coming in with less than 10% ownership in his first home game after throwing the ball 38 times in his debut. The Panthers are only 3-point underdogs in this game, and no team on this slate has an implied point total over 21.5, so there’s no reason for the Panthers QB to be so low owned when his competition for points is Derek Carr, Deshaun Watson, and Kenny Pickett.

Krayton: Taysom Hill – Taysom fits the contrarian build for me, as he has so much versatility since he can throw, catch, and rush. He could be called on to do some unique plays with Alvin Kamara still out. I think Taysom makes for a very interesting GPP play and getting him at single-digit ownership on a 2-game slate is something I am very interested in.

ebeimfohr: DJ Chark – I am a big Calvin Austin fan, but he may be the cheap “contrarian” WR who picks up a little steam, so I’m going Chark here. He looks like he should be back tonight after missing Week 1, and he makes for a great way to get unique on this slate. Since he missed the first game, he’s impossible to project and will garner low ownership. But the Panthers need some playmaking at WR, and he is probably the best bet to be that guy right now. He’s also a big-play threat who can get there in tournaments on just one catch.

Stevietpfl: Calvin Austin – This is a pure ownership play for me. With Diontae Johnson ruled out, George Pickens should be the highest-owned option on the Steelers offense. Austin had a 13% target share in Week 1, which was right in line with Pickens (15%) and Allen Robinson (17%). All three of the wide receivers were the first-look option 16% of dropbacks. Pickens and Robinson should outscore Austin more often than not, but on a 2-game slate, I’m looking to be different than the field.

eys819: DJ Chark – He sat out Week 1 with a hamstring injury, but he did log a full practice to close out the week. We have no idea what type of role he will have, but I am willing to lean into the uncertainty on a small slate. He has big-play potential at an affordable salary.

Bobby Gomes: Taysom Hill is the one that stands out. It’s a very small slate, and at his current projected ownership, I think he possesses enough of a ceiling to be a great differentiator.

How do you plan to beat the field of opponents? What tactic or strategy will set you apart?

Notorious: My plan is to be underweight on the Browns passing attack. We still don’t know if or when Deshaun Watson will return to his form from a few seasons ago, and this is a tough spot on the road against the Steelers, who will naturally have a better performance than they did in Week 1 against the Niners. If Amari Cooper is out or is hobbled, the Browns could really struggle to move the ball.

squirrelpatrol: Similar to showdown or a Thanksgiving slate, there are no rules here. I’ll allow offensive players against my defense, leave salary on the table, and pay significant attention to ownership on this slate that will very likely come down to just one play across the two games.

Krayton: With just two games on the slate, it gets tougher to get different. One of the things I like to do on slates like this is to play a TE in my flex spot, as we actually have several TEs that are intriguing tonight.

ebeimfohr: The pricing on DK is so loose that you need to basically ignore the salary cap. It doesn’t matter how much you leave on the table because even the best projected scoring teams may not use the full cap. I’ll focus on finding ways to get leverage with everyone else jamming the same players because they have the cap to do so.

Stevietpfl: Leave an uncomfortable amount of salary on the table. We have two games with implied totals under 40, and the four offenses ranked in the bottom 10 in Week 1. On a 2-game slate, we’re going to have condensed ownership, so I think leaving salary on the table can make my teams unique.

eys819: On 2-game slates, you can do some weird things that wouldn’t normally be in play. Tight end is a strong position on this specific slate, and I think playing a TE at FLEX is a viable strategy. Playing a defense against your stack is also something that could provide differentiation and is in play on a two-game slate.

Bobby Gomes: I may play a good bit of Bryce Young and his running backs together in builds, which I think will be an interesting way to move off of the popular roster construction.

What is your hot take of the slate?

Notorious: Allen Robinson (yes, he still plays football) tops 80 yards and scores a touchdown.

squirrelpatrol: Bryce Young is the highest-scoring QB on the slate in his home debut.

Krayton: Rashid Shaheed goes for 120 yards and 2 TDs.

ebeimfohr: Derek Carr throws for 400 yards and 4 TDs.

Stevietpfl: Rashid Shaheed is the highest-scoring WR on the slate.

eys819: David Njoku and Harrison Bryant combine for 3 touchdowns.

Bobby Gomes: Rashid Shaheed catches a bomb from Derek Carr.

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