Before we get to Week 2, it's worth a quick look back at how last week's calls actually played out. Lawrence was the headliner, rolling to a 34-10 beatdown of the Browns with the Jaguars offense clicking just like advertised. Brissett was the story of the value section, turning in a clean, mistake-free game and connecting with Trey McBride for a touchdown in a stunning 26-14 upset over Herbert's Chargers; Cousins delivered too, tossing three touchdowns in a 27-13 win over Miami. On the miss side, Herbert never got going in that same upset loss, managing just 209 yards and an interception, and Burrow's day was more mixed than the final score suggests. Chase was held to two catches, and Burrow's lone passing touchdown came with a costly pick-six mixed in, even though Cincinnati still won. The best call of the week ended up being the fade, even if it needed a last-second audible. Tua Tagovailoa was ruled out with an oblique injury just before kickoff, so we swapped the fade over to fill-in starter Cooper Rush, and he delivered exactly what you'd expect from a backup thrown into a tough spot, going 12 of 22 with a touchdown, two interceptions, and four sacks taken in the loss.

Now, on to Week 2, which brings a different kind of chaos than the opener, between injury-forced quarterback changes, revenge games, and a few teams looking to bounce back after ugly Week 1 showings. Let's get into who deserves your salary.

NFL DFS Week 2 QB Picks

Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens - DraftKings: $7,300 | FanDuel: $8,800

Jackson threw for 324 yards and a touchdown while adding a rushing score in a 41-23 win over the Colts, as the Ravens piled up 526 total yards of offense in Week 1. The receiver room took a hit, with Zay Flowers banged up (hamstring, considered day-to-day) and Ja'Kobi Lane out several weeks with a fractured wrist, but that doesn't change the calculus on Jackson himself. He's still the best rushing quarterback in football, and a home matchup against a Saints team starting second-year QB Tyler Shough is exactly the kind of spot where his legs alone can carry a big DFS day. The Ravens are favored by 8.5 points with the total sitting at 48.

Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears - DraftKings: $6,800 | FanDuel: $8,400

Williams threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns while adding 65 rushing yards and two more scores on the ground in a 59-37 win over the Panthers, the highest-scoring Week 1 game in NFL history. This Ben Johnson offense looked every bit as explosive as advertised. Now he draws a home matchup against a Vikings defense that gave up a ton through the air in Week 1, letting Jordan Love throw for 387 yards on 21-of-42 passing even in a losing effort. That's the matchup I want a piece of, not a shutdown unit that got saved by turnovers. Add in Williams' ability to take off and run, which gives him a rushing floor on top of whatever he does through the air, and this is an easy paid-up option for me. Chicago is favored by 5.5 points at home with the total sitting at 49, one of the higher totals on the board.

Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys - DraftKings: $6,400 | FanDuel: $8,000

Prescott and the Cowboys' passing game never got out of first gear in Week 1, a 28-20 loss to the Giants in which Lamb managed just 44 yards, Pickens had only 28, and Prescott threw a costly interception in the final minute of the first half. Dallas led the NFL in completions a year ago, so this felt like a genuine outlier rather than a sign of decline. Now he gets a bounce-back spot in the home opener against a Commanders secondary that has real question marks of its own, a game Dallas is favored by 4 points with one of the highest totals of the week at 51. I'd be shocked if Lamb and Pickens combine for 72 yards two weeks in a row against a defense this vulnerable.

 

 

 

Best NFL DFS QB Values for Week 2

Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers - DraftKings: $5,600 | FanDuel: $7,600

Mayfield's box score from Week 1 actually looked fine on the surface: 23 of 28 for 216 yards and a rushing touchdown, but three lost fumbles turned an efficient day into a 33-27 loss to the Bengals. That's a correctable problem, not a talent problem, and he gets about as good a bounce-back spot as you could draw up. This is a revenge game against the Browns, the team that drafted Mayfield first overall before shipping him out after the 2021 season, and Cleveland's defense just got torched by Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars' passing game in a 34-10 blowout. Tampa Bay is an 8.5-point home favorite with the total at 41, and at this price I'm happy to bet on Mayfield cleaning up the turnovers against a clearly inferior opponent.

Carson Wentz, Minnesota Vikings - DraftKings: $4,600 | FanDuel: $7,000

Wentz came off the bench for an injured Kyler Murray and threw three touchdown passes, two to Justin Jefferson, in a 39-22 comeback win over the Packers, helping erase a 12-point second-half deficit. He's now confirmed as the Week 2 starter against the Bears. This is the same role Wentz filled for five games a year ago, and Jefferson in particular has a track record of thriving with him under center. Chicago's defense also gave up 361 yards and three touchdowns to Bryce Young in Week 1, so this isn't exactly a lockdown unit standing in Wentz's way. He's about as cheap as it gets on DraftKings, and even on FanDuel he's still priced even with the injured Murray, which feels like a pricing algorithm that hasn't fully caught up to reality yet. I'm happy to take advantage of that gap.

Best NFL DFS QB Stacks for Week 2

Best QB/WR Stack

Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys - DraftKings: $6,400 | FanDuel: $8,000

Stack with:

Both Lamb and Pickens were held under 45 yards apiece in Week 1, and I don't think that happens in back-to-back weeks for a passing game that finished second in the NFL a year ago. Dallas gets a home opener against the Commanders, and positive regression feels overdue for this whole offense. Rostering both receivers off of Prescott lets you capture the bounce-back no matter which one gets there first.

Best QB/TE Stack

Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers - DraftKings: $6,200 | FanDuel: $8,100

Stack with:

Purdy was excellent in Week 1, throwing for three touchdowns in a 27-7 win over the Rams, though Kittle was quiet by his standards, just two catches on five targets. I like that disconnect rather than fading it, since San Francisco's offense is going to keep finding ways to get Kittle the ball in the red zone. San Francisco is a 13-point home favorite over a Dolphins team that projects as one of the worst defenses in football, with the total at 46, a spot that should let the 49ers work in all their weapons, Kittle included, and his price hasn't moved much off the quiet week, which makes this a cheap way onto the 49ers' passing game.

Best Contrarian Stack

C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans - DraftKings: $5,500 | FanDuel: $7,100

Stack with:

Stroud threw for 274 yards and two touchdowns in Week 1 despite two costly fumbles, and Collins was excellent, catching seven of 10 targets for 75 yards and a score. With Houston's defense considered one of the best in football, most of the field is going to fade this game from the Bengals' side entirely, which leaves Stroud and Collins as the quieter correlated play on the other sideline. Houston's defense also has a chip on its shoulder after getting torched for 409 yards by the Bills, and I expect that to translate into a competitive, back-and-forth game rather than a laugher. The Texans are favored by 3 points at home with the total at 47.

 

 

 

NFL DFS QB Fades for Week 2

Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals - DraftKings: $6,600 | FanDuel: $8,200

Chase was bottled up for just two catches and 12 yards in Week 1, and Burrow threw a pick-six in what still turned into a win over a lesser Tampa Bay defense. Now the Bengals go on the road to face a Texans defense that was considered among the best in football entering the year, and Houston has Chase's old LSU teammate, Derek Stingley, ready to shadow him one-on-one. Houston's defense got embarrassed by the Bills in Week 1, and defenses that get embarrassed tend to respond. Houston is favored by 3 points on their own turf, and I don't love betting on Cincinnati's passing game to have a big bounce-back week on the road against a defense with something to prove. It's a fade for me.

DraftKings vs. FanDuel QB Picks for Week 2

Looking at where these guys actually rank in price on each site turns up some real gaps. Brock Purdy is priced as the QB5 on FanDuel but only the QB7 on DraftKings, so DraftKings is a full two spots behind FanDuel on how it views him coming off a three-touchdown Week 1. Trevor Lawrence is a similar story in reverse: the QB8 on FanDuel but just the QB11 on DraftKings, which makes him the better relative price on DraftKings for that Cleveland matchup. Mayfield shows the same pattern, ranking QB10 on FanDuel but QB13 on DraftKings, putting him in true bargain range on DraftKings for the revenge spot against the Browns. The biggest gap on the entire board belongs to Wentz. He's the QB19 on FanDuel, priced right alongside the injured Murray, but he's all the way down at QB28 on DraftKings, practically punt territory. That makes DraftKings the clear site to roster him on if you're buying into the matchup against Chicago. Caleb Williams is worth a mention too. He's actually priced above Burrow on both sites this week, QB2 to Burrow's QB4 on DraftKings and QB3 to Burrow's QB4 on FanDuel, a real shift from Week 1 when Burrow was the top price among this group. That tells you the market has more confidence in the Bears' offense against Minnesota than in the Bengals' passing game on the road against Houston, and I agree with that read.

 

 

 

NFL Week 2 QB Play of the Week

Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys - DraftKings: $6,400 | FanDuel: $8,000

Lamb and Pickens combined for just 72 yards against the Giants in Week 1, and I don't see that happening again in the Cowboys' home opener against a Commanders secondary with real questions of its own. Prescott led the NFL in completions a year ago and finished third in passing yards, and Week 1 looked like a clear outlier rather than a sign of decline. Add in the extra motivation of a get-right spot after a division loss, and every ingredient is in place for a big bounce-back day. Dak Prescott is my NFL DFS QB Play of the Week.

NFL DFS Week 2 QB Rankings

  1. Lamar Jackson
  2. Caleb Williams
  3. Dak Prescott
  4. Jayden Daniels
  5. Jalen Hurts
  6. Brock Purdy
  7. Justin Herbert
  8. Baker Mayfield
  9. Jordan Love
  10. Trevor Lawrence
  11. Drake Maye
  12. C.J. Stroud
  13. Tyler Shough
  14. Bo Nix
  15. Bryce Young
  16. Carson Wentz
  17. Kirk Cousins
  18. Drew Lock
  19. Jacoby Brissett
  20. Malik Willis
  21. Aaron Rodgers
  22. Michael Penix
  23. Deshaun Watson
  24. Cam Ward