Welcome to the second week of the NFL season and the RotoWire Football Championship hosted by FanDuel.
I'm happy that the first week of the NFL season is behind us. I hate the first week when it comes to picking players for fantasy football and that was indicative on how well I did, as I finished a robust 51st of the 55 contestants.
The RotoWire Football Championship is straight forward. We're running a $10 contest in each of the first 10 weeks of the season, where the top 150 users double their cash. You'll compete against fellow RotoWire readers as well as three experts: Kevin Payne, Jeff Erickson and Derek Van Riper. Beat all three experts in one week and you'll earn entry to Week 11's Free Play championship round. The top 120 players in that round will win a prize, with the first-place contestant coming home with $1,000 and a two-year subscription to RotoWire. You can sign up for this week's competition here.
Meanwhile, the rest of the experts here at RotoWire will be competing in a parallel contest. Last year, Mike Doria claimed the title, with Tate McIntyre grabbing the silver and Hunter Van Asten coming home with the bronze.
And last week Payne came out on top with 194.04 FanDuel points as Kevin really collected off of the Chiefs-Chargers game where 89.04 points came out of it and you add Saints' Alvin Kamara (38.6) and James Conner (31.7) equals winning the week.
You can check out the full expert leader board here, but here's the current top 10:
1. Kevin Payne (kevinccp) 194.04
2. Darin Brown (dabsabre) 182.66
3. Shawn Cwalinski (cwalinski) 181.26
4. Davis Mattek (DavisMattek) 176.14
5. Joe Bartel (alphacool) 176.02
6. Michael Rathburn (burnnotice) 175.52
7. Joel Bartilotta (joelbartilotta) 170.76
8. Michael Gay (phislamajama10) 167.54
9. Jake Letarski (rotojakeski) 166.36
10. Scott Jenstad (oaktownsj) 165.96
For a lot of people, this week there will be plenty on the Kansas City Chiefs at Pittsburgh Steelers game that is close to 54 points in the over/under and expected to be the highest price on the board. It's almost five points ahead of the next highest anticipated scoring games in Cleveland Browns at New Orleans Saints and Detroit Lions at San Francisco 49ers games.
Also a reminder, you should check out the important RotoWire weather page on Sunday morning. Last week the talk during the week of 40 miles per hour winds at game time in the Steelers-Browns game, but that never materialized. The best time to check is Sunday morning to get the most accurate weather. Here is the link .
Good luck to everybody this weekend.
Value
QB Case Keenum, Denver Broncos vs. Oakland Raiders
FanDuel Price: $6,700
The Raiders' defense is definitely in disarray and the trade of Khalil Mack shows that Oakland is looking ahead to its Vegas in 2020 in getting back the pair of first round picks. In Keenum it is a big upgrade at quarterback for the Broncos this season and this week the new Denver signal caller should have more than the 22.2 points in the first week.
QB Philip Rivers, Los Angeles Chargers at Buffalo Bills
FanDuel Price: $7,400
I'm still having a hard time writing LA Chargers. Last week, Rivers went off for 429 yards and three touchdowns for 30 points. And believe it or not, it could have been higher. Across the board several Chargers' receivers dropped catchable passes. The only negative is that this might not be as high a scoring game as last week against Kansas City.
RB Tevin Coleman, Atlanta Falcons vs. Carolina Panthers
FanDuel Price: $5,900
With Devonta Freeman ruled out for this week, Coleman will be filled up with carries plus he is very good at catching the ball out of the backfield and he is only $5,900 so you could couple that with a high-priced running back like Rams' Todd Gurley ($8,900) and Saints' Alvin Kamara ($9,000).
WR Dante Pettis, San Francisco 49ers vs. Detroit Lions
FanDuel Price: $4,500
If you want to have a stars and scrubs lineup, Pettis is definitely on your radar. Last week against a tough Minnesota defense, Pettis had two catches for 61 yards and a touchdown. He was targeted five times and another 49ers WR Marquise Goodwin is out this week. In addition, San Francisco faces a much poorer defense in Detroit.
WR Quincy Enunwa, New York Jets vs. Miami Dolphins
FanDuel Price: $5,000
New York Jets rookie QB Sam Darnold waxed poetic about Enunwa after last week's win over the Lions where Enunwa put up 15.3 points and was nearly made up 50 percent of the targets. For the Jets last season, their QB Josh McCown's favorite was Robbie Anderson and now it might be Enunwa who was one of the top waiver wire pickups in season-long leagues.
WR Nelson Agholor, Philadelphia Eagles at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
FanDuel Price: $6,100
It's a confluence of both Eagles QB Nick Folks targeting Agholor the most last week and a poor, depleted Bucs defensive backfield. Folks targeted Agholor 10 times last week and the Tampa Bay defensive backfield is depleted with three of its starters out of the lineup on Sunday.
TE Jonnu Smith, Tennessee Titans vs. Houston Texans
FanDuel Price: $4,200
With the loss for the season of Titans TE Delanie Walker, Smith moves into the starting role. This again is part of the stars and scrubs lineup. The Titans offensive scheme is friendly to the tight ends and the Texans defense last season was very friendly to the tight end. And Smith might be a good bet even if Titans QB Marcus Mariota does not play.
High Risk/High Reward
WR Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Kansas City Chiefs
FanDuel Price: $8,900
Four of the top five FanDuel priced players are not quarterbacks with the lone being Packers Aaron Rodgers. Before the start of the season and it showed in the first week, the Kansas City Chiefs could have one of worst defenses in the NFL. Chargers QB Philip Rivers threw for 424 yards and three touchdowns and that did not count several passes that were dropped by Chargers receivers.
QB Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Kansas City Chiefs
FanDuel Price: $7,600
The statistic where Big Ben's stats favor him at home in Pittsburgh has been repeated numerously across the fantasy football landscape. You add a poor Chiefs defense this season and you get a perfect scenario for Roethlisberger and wide receiver Antonio Brown.
Steer Clear
QB Aaron Rodgers, Minnesota Vikings at Green Bay Packers
FanDuel Price: $8,700
Yeah he's Aaron Rodgers. And while he did not practice all week, the Packers still said he can play against the Vikings. He's still not 100 percent and the Vikings have a very good defense. There are better options on the board.
QB Tom Brady, New England Patriots at Jacksonville Jaguars
FanDuel Price: $8,500
And yeah he's Tom Brady. In the past the Patriots have put up stinkers at the beginning of the year so I'm targeting this week against a Jaguars team that is looking to avenge last year's playoff loss. And the Jaguars have the best defense in the NFL.