This article is part of our FantasyAces Football series.
Week 2 is in the books, and it turned out to be another great week of fantasy football. Congratulations to KaiBang for winning the second qualifier for the FAFC, as Cody Parkey sent the Eagles and KaiBang home with victories.
Play again this week for your chance to be the next qualifier. Click here to see what you're playing for. (Hint: a chance to win a lot of money and a free vacation)
If you do not have a Fantasy Aces account, be sure to sign up and receive up to $250 of your deposit matched just for signing up. It's free money, so sign up now.
Not sure how to play at Fantasy Aces? We are here to help. Each week, RotoWire will offer advice on who to start in a given week, and give you that extra edge in your pursuit of a seat in Fantasy Aces' Fantasy Football Championship.
Format
At Fantasy Aces, the starting lineup requires two quarterbacks, two running backs, two wide receivers, a tight end, two FLEX (running back, wide receiver, or tight end), a kicker and defense/special teams. You have a salary cap of $55,000 to create your team. Fantasy Aces understands that you may want to start Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, or Jimmy Graham and Rob Gronkowski, and now you can. That's the beauty of playing daily fantasy football at Fantasy Aces, you can start the players you want.
The full scoring system can be found here, but essentially it is a standard scoring system for regular fantasy football with the only difference being half-point PPR (point per reception).
Strategy
Qualifying for a big tournament requires a different strategy than in other cash games. What does that mean? Of course, we are all trying to get the most points possible, but in a GPP (guaranteed prize pool) you have to take some risks. If those risks hit, you are more likely to have a higher score than others, because these particular risks usually are players that are owned by a small amount of entrants.
How can we strategize to win a GPP? There are many approaches, and with Fantasy Aces' deep starting lineups, there is a lot of variance, which helps you in GPPs.
A few strategies to consider:
- Stacking: Starting more than two players from one team. This is usually used in daily fantasy football with the Broncos by selecting Peyton Manning along with his receivers/tight end.
- Contrarian: Playing against the grain. For example, taking the Ahmad Bradshaw last week despite him being the backup running back on the official depth chart.
- Studs and scrubs: We'll outline this strategy below. Going the studs-and-scrubs route entails finding a few players at low salary that could be good values, then using the rest of the money for big-time players like Manning or Jimmy Graham last week.
Without further ado, here are some suggested plays for Week 3. We will outline a stud and a scrub from each position that can help you get a seat at the FAFC.
Quarterback
Stud: Drew Brees $7,550
Brees is the second most expensive quarterback on Fantasy Aces this week at over $7,500, but he's worth every penny in a good matchup at home against the Vikings. The Saints are 0-2, but they were leading both games inside of 10 seconds, and Brees has been one reason why. He has 570 yards passing, which is good for fourth in the NFL and he has thrown three touchdowns. Not a normal "Drew Brees" line through two games, right? This week, that changes. Brees and the Saints will face a Vikings defense that allowed 30 points to the Patriots, although just 149 yards and a touchdown to Tom Brady. Why is that an advised matchup? Brady only attempted 22 passes, which is half of what Brees throws on a regular basis. Expect the Saints to bounce back at home, where Brees passed for 2700 yards and 27 touchdowns last season.
Scrub: Chad Henne $5,750
The scrub list for quarterbacks is thin this week, so most lineups will have two top options. But if you choose to go light at one quarterback spot, Henne is a good option. He is the third cheapest option at quarterback among starters and he faces the Colts. Nick Foles struggled against the Colts, missing open receivers left and right. He still ended up with 331 yards and a touchdown. The Colts were unable to get one sack on Foles, despite the Eagles starting two backup offensive linemen, and the secondary was constantly one step behind the Eagles skill players. Jacksonville has a few speedsters on offense, and Henne has proved to be an adequate quarterback when he has time to throw. If you think outside the box at quarterback, Henne is the best value among the cheap options at quarterback.
Running Back
Stud: Alfred Morris $5,400
Morris has been an excellent option in standard fantasy leagues this year, and he's been as consistent as they come in two weeks of daily fantasy. In Week 1, he ran for 91 yards on 14 carries. In Week 2, he ran 22 times for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Morris will face an Eagles team who just allowed the Colts to torch them for 169 yards on the ground.
Scrub: Ahmad Bradshaw $4,600
It is just a matter of time before Bradshaw gets the lion's share of the work in Indianapolis. In Week 1, Bradshaw saw 45 snaps, and he saw one more snap in Week 2. As far as production is concerned, Bradshaw saw eight touches for 85 yards in Week 1, and 18 touches for 96 yards and two touchdowns in Week 2. Bradshaw has caught five passes in each of the first two games, and has been the Colts primary goal-line back. At $4,600, he's an excellent bargain for a running back. The Colts will face the Jaguars in Week 3, which is an excellent matchup for Bradshaw as the Jags rank 31st in the NFL in allowing fantasy points to opposing running backs.
Wide Receiver
Stud: Demaryius Thomas $5,750
This may come to a surprise to some, but Thomas against the Seahawks is an advised matchup this week. "What about Richard Sherman?" Yes, he is one of the best corners in the NFL, but he plays on one side for most of the game. The Broncos move their receivers all over the place, and Thomas is no exception as he has lined up in the slot almost 40 percent of his snaps. With six receivers above Thomas in price, his value on Fantasy Aces will be one of the targeted plays this weekend.
Scrub: Justin Hunter $4,200
Hunter has yet to break out, but everything indicates that he is soon to do so. In Week 2, he missed on a number of opportunities with dropped passes. In addition, Jake Locker missed him several times as well. Hunter played in 42 of 51 snaps against the Cowboys, and he is being targeted down the field at one of the highest rates in the NFL at an average of 17.6 yards. In addition, Hunter has the lowest catch percentage this year with those who have 10 or more targets. That sounds discouraging, but in reality that means he is getting the looks. Hunter faces the Bengals, who allowed 88 yards and a touchdown to Julio Jones last week and 118 yards and a touchdown to Steve Smith in Week 1.
Tight End
Stud: Rob Gronkowski $5,400
Gronkowski let a lot of fantasy players down last week, but all that did was increase his value for this week on Fantasy Aces. Gronkowski is listed at $5,400, which is almost a thousand dollars less than the best available FLEX options. Gronkowski is a top-tier play at a second-tier price. The Raiders allowed six catches for 57 yards to tight ends in Week 1 and allowed a touchdown to a tight end (albeit J.J. Watt) in the red zone this past weekend. Gronkowski has scored a touchdown in 30 of his 52 career appearances, and he did not score last week. Look for the Pats tight end to hit pay dirt this weekend.
Scrub: Travis Kelce $4,150
Simply put, Kelce is a matchup nightmare. But, for one week it's a bit more complicated. In Week 1, Kelce played just 19 snaps, that number increased to 32 snaps in Week 2 against the Broncos, and he was able to catch four passes for 81 yards on six targets. This week the Chiefs take on the Dolphins, who only allowed two catches for 27 yards to Scott Chandler this week, but in Week 1 allowed Gronkowski to score a touchdown. For those who follow the Chiefs and have seen Kelce play, he's very similar to Gronkowski physically.
Kicker
Shaun Suisham $3,200
Defense/Special Teams
Stud: Houston Texans $3,800
Scrub: Jacksonville Jaguars $2,500
My Lineup
QB – Drew Brees $7,550
QB – Andrew Luck $7,200
RB – Knile Davis $4,900
RB – Ahmad Bradshaw $4,600
WR – Kelvin Benjamin $4,750
WR – Justin Hunter $4,200
TE – Zach Ertz $4,600
FLEX – Percy Harvin $4,800
FLEX – Rob Gronkowski $5,400
K – Shaun Suisham $3,200
DST – Houston Texans $3,800
