Top Tier
Christian McCaffrey, CAR – Not going to keep doing full breakdowns on CMC. First game back and he scored 27.7 points which was 0.3 points shy of being the leading scorer last week at the position. He is incredible and has a great floor with an insane ceiling. He is always going to be an option for DFS.
Nick Chubb, CLE – Chubb had a great first game, finishing with 23.1 points as he rushed 15 times for 83 yards and a pair of touchdowns while also catching two passes for 18 yards. I like this matchup with the Texans this week, sure the Jags chose to not really run the ball against them at all, but we know that the Browns won’t take a similar approach to Jacksonville. And when the Jags did run there were holes as J-Rob and Hyde combined for 69 yards on 14 carries (4.9 YPC). The Texans defense is bad, not just against the run but in general, and the Browns should be able to have a field day against them. I would not be surprised to see Chubb pop off for 100+ yards on the ground with a score or two.
Mid Tier
Najee Harris, PIT – Harris only scored 5.9 points in the opening game of the season, BUT the important thing is that he played 100% of the offensive snaps, had 16 carries, and three targets. The Bills have a strong defensive front, so it wasn’t overly shocking that Harris struggled to really get much going. This matchup however should be a solid one as the Ravens backs produced strong numbers against the Raiders in Week 1, rushing a combined 21 times for 98 yards and a pair of touchdowns while also catching three passes for 29 yards. I think we see a bounce back performance and a strong game from Harris, who could see somewhat of a lower ownership after last week.
David Montgomery, CHI – Monty looked great in Week 1 against the Rams, racking up 21.8 fantasy points as he rushed 16 times for 108 yards and a touchdown while also catching one pass for 10 yards. The only negative here is that he only got one target in a game where the Bears were trailing the majority of the way, but this week’s game should be a better battle for the Bears as the Bengals are from a powerhouse team. Cook managed to rack up 21.4 points against the Bengals in Week 1. Monty should be fed plenty in this game and I would not be surprised to see him top 20+ touches in this game on his way to a solid (and possibly big) fantasy performance.
Value Tier
Eli Mitchell, SF – Mitchell operated as the 49ers lead back in Week 1 after Mostert suffered a knee injury (he will be out of the year) and we have no reason to believe Mitchell wont once again operate as the 49ers lead back in Week 2 after he rushed 19 times for 104 yards and a touchdown last week to finish with 19.4 fantasy points. He should be able to keep that momentum going when San Fran takes on the Eagles this week and at just $5,000 there is a lot of upside here. We know the 49ers will run the ball, they always do.
Devin Singletary, BUF – Moss was a surprise healthy inactive in Week 1 and Singletary operated as the lead back for the Bills. He played well too, rushing 11 times for 72 yards (6.5 YPC) and hauling in three passes for eight yards on five targets. We would like to see a bit more volume but the five targets are nice and with how efficient he was with his carries, he should continue to get the bulk of the work as we head into Week 2. He has a pretty nice matchup with Miami this week, who let Harris rush for 100 yards against them in Week 1. The Bills should win this game or at the very least not fall behind too much, so game flow should allow for Singletary to get a solid touch total. He is pretty cheap for a lead back.
Chase Edmonds, ARZ – Let’s go back to the Edmonds well once again. He finished with 14.6 points in Week 1, which made him a great value at just $4,600 on DK. His price has been bumped to $4,900 for Week 2, but that still makes him a great value play. He played very well in that Week 1 game, rushing 12 times for 63 yards and catching four passes for 43 yards. He is the lead back in the Cardinals offense and he is going to see nearly all of the passing work, which will make him far more consistent than Conner and give him a much higher floor. The Vikings defense got torched by Mixon in Week 1 as he was the highest scoring running back on the slate and while I doubt Edmonds will match the production that Mixon had, he should be a very strong play at this price point.
Fades
Josh Jacobs, LV – Sure, Jacobs scored 17 points in Week 1 against Ravens, but that was only because he found the end zone twice. He rushed 10 times for just 34 yards and caught one of two targets for six yards. If I am playing either of the Raiders backs it’s Drake who hauled in all five of his targets for 59 yards and is so much cheaper than Jacobs. Jacobs is overpriced, doesn’t catch passes, doesn’t get enough volume, and has a tough matchup with Pittsburgh. There is just no part of Jacobs that is worth considering him as an option this week and the chances of him finding the end zone twice again this week are very slim. UPDATE: Jacobs has been ruled out.
*ADDED: Mark Ingram, HOU – Ingram got a ton of volume last week with 26 carries and he put up 14.5 points on DK, but none of that should be expected this week. The Texans blew out the Jags last week and that allowed for Ingram to get a ton of work, but I don’t expect that to be the case at all this week against the Browns… in fact I expect quite the opposite. At 5K on DK he’s not crazy expensive, but I don’t think it makes any sense to even consider playing him, especially since he isn’t used in the passing game at all.