Building A DFS Roster (Plus sample rosters for Week 2)

By Luke B.

In this article I am going to take a look at my favorite lineups going into week 2. The first one will be my favorite cash game lineup, followed by my favorite tourney lineup, and finally a list of other players I like based on their value. Let me know what you guys think in the comment section below. ***All players and their costs are based on Draft Kings***

In cash games (example: 50/50’s), your goal is to reach a 3:1 ratio for points to cost. (3 points for every $1000 spent) so you are looking for players with a high floor as opposed to high risk/reward players. With that in mind, this is my cash lineup:

Cash Game Lineup for Week 2

Pos	Player	Cost of Player	Points Needed to Offset Cost (x3)
QB	Matt Ryan	$7,400	22.20 points
RB	Carlos Hyde	$5,100	15.30 points
RB	Mark Ingram	$5,900	17.70 points
WR	Julio Jones	$8,900	26.70 points
WR	John Brown	$5,100	15.30 points
WR	Kendall Wright	$5,000	15.00 points
TE	Michael Bennett	$4,500	13.50 points
FL	Greg Olsen	$4,900	14.70 points
DF	Baltimore Ravens	$2,900	8.70 points
TOT	9 Players	$49,700	149.10 points

1.     As one of my favorite stacks of the week, I expect Matt Ryan and Julio Jones to do well against a NYG team that ranked 30th in pass defense last week.

2.    My running back options are both playing against medium rush defenses and play for teams that should utilize their pass catching running backs for a large percentage of the total offense.

3.    My wide receivers include John Brown and Kendall Wright. They are both great values in a PPR format and both have a good chance of scoring a TD.

4.    I have two TE’s in this lineup because I expect high floors out of both based on their matchups. I could have gone with either Moncrief or Davante Adams but like my chances with the better.

5.    Finally, on defense I went with Baltimore. I feel that the Oakland Raiders will have a hard time offensively against the Ravens this week.

Now, here is my tourney lineup in which the goal is to go with players that have a high boom/bust possibility in the hopes of scoring roughly a 1:5 ratio between cost and points (5 points for every $1000 spent). With that in mind, here is my tournament lineup:

Tournament Lineup for Week 2

Pos	Player	Cost of Player	Post Needed to Offset Cost (x5)
QB	Sam Bradford	$6,900	34.50 points
RB	Ameer Abdullah	$4,500	22.50 points
RB	Jeremy Hill	$7,400	29.50 points
WR	Jordan Matthews	$7,100	35.50 points
WR	Donte Moncrief	$4,600	23.00 points
WR	Kendall Wright	$5,000	25.00 points
TE	Austin Sefarian-Jenkins	$4,100	20.50 points
FL	DeAndre Hopkins	$7,400	37.50 points
DF	Baltimore Ravens	$2,900	14.50 points
TOT	9 Players	$49,900	242.50 points

1.    I went with another stack in this one. My hope is that a lot of people are off of Bradford as an option after his less than spectacular week 1. I am also hoping that the Bradford/Matthews connection will continue into this weekend as it seemed Bradford only had eyes for Matthews for most of the game.

2.    As for the running backs, I went with one higher cost player in Hill that I expect to have a high floor on the week with a decent chance for more. I also then went with a high boom/bust player at a value with Ameer Abdullah. After last week, his x5 total is only 22.50 points and he could cover that against MIN.

3.    With the wide receivers, I went with Matthews due to the high upside with Bradford. I also went with the high cost of Hopkins after learning that Mallett will be getting the start and expect him to do well against CAR’s secondary. Finally, I went with two value plays with upside. I first took Kendall Wright, in the hopes that he can have a good PPR game against CLE. Then I took Moncrief at $4,600, hoping that his week 1 numbers remain at least on par with this week.

4.    At TE, I went with Austin Sefarian-Jenkins as he was $3,100 dollars cheaper than Gronkowski, (at $4,100) and is going up against a New Orleans defense that allowed ARi’s TE Darren Fells to get 82 yards and a touch down on just four targets. This could turn out to be even better if Evans does not play.

5.    Finally, at Defense, I went with Baltimore as I expect them to do well shutting down the OAK offense.

Finally, here is a list of a few value plays I like when you looking for deals to fill in the gaps on your lineups:

Pos	Player	Cost of Player
QB	Carson Palmer vs 26th ranked CHI (Cash)	$6,700
QB	Jameis Winston vs 32nd ranked NO  (GPP)	$5,600
RB	Carlos Hyde vs 14th ranked PIT (Cash)	$5,100
RB	T.J. Yeldon vs 17th ranked MIA  (GPP)	$4,800
RB	Tevin Coleman vs 25th ranked NYG (Cash)	$4,500
WR	Kendall Wright vs 25th ranked CLE (Both)	$5,000
WR	John Brown vs 13th ranked CHI (Cash)	$5,100
WR	Pierre Garcon vs 26th ranked WASH (GPP)	$5,000
WR	Terrance Williams vs 30th ranked PHI (GPP)	$4,200
TE	Greg Olsen vs 29th ranked HOU (Both)	$4,900
TE	Jordan Reed vs 23rd ranked STL (GPP)	$3,700
DF	Baltimore Ravens vs 20th ranked OAK (Both)	$2,900
DF	San Fran 49ers vs 12th ranked PIT (GPP)	$2,700