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DFS guide: Week 2 in DraftKings tournaments

GLENDALE, AZ - DECEMBER 18: Quarterback Carson Palmer #3 and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald #11 of the Arizona Cardinals stand on the sidelines during the NFL game against the New Orleans Saints at the University of Phoenix Stadium on December18, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona. The Saints defeated the Cardinals 48-41. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

While we didn’t see anyone take home $1 billion, there was still a lot of money to be made in Week 1. If you’re a DFS player anything like me, you’re right beside me chasing these monster paydays and big prizes that DraftKings offers. Building a profit through tournaments isn’t an easy thing to do. To get to the top of a leaderboard that contains hundreds of thousands of opponents you’re going to need to think outside the box. Week 1’s Milli-Maker winner did just that, rostering rookie Tarik Cohen against a Falcons defense known for allowing a ton of receptions and receiving work. Very few people were on it, but it’s that contrarian line of thinking that can be the difference maker between winning your money back with a 20th-percentile finish and winning a ton of money with a first-place finish.

I’ll be changing the format of this guide moving forward, offering my overall strategy in tournaments this week opposed to diving into a few specific plays. Without further ado, let’s look at how to approach Week 2.

(For the DraftKings cash guide, click here)

Quarterback

In tournaments, we are looking for upside, plain and simple. Week 2 presents a ton of it with several incredibly high-scoring games projected by Vegas. Much of the public will be on these top quarterback plays — Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, and Aaron Rodgers — so in order to differentiate ourselves from the crowd, we’re going to have to go beyond traditional QB-WR stacking.

We saw Sam Bradford shred this Saints’ secondary last week. It leaves Brady and just about any of his receivers as stacking candidates. Bringing it back with a Saints player here and there makes a lot of sense. Some of my favorite builds stem from starting with Brady/Chris Hogan/James White core, then playing Coby Fleener on the other side. From a game theory perspective, Drew Brees is priced $200 cheaper and on the other side of this matchup. Brees playing at home is historically something we like to target, especially in this high-projected shootout (55.5 total) against a secondary Alex Smith just tore up for four scores. Given all the great matchups, I could see Brady going a bit lower owned than he typically should given pricing on DK.

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