Week 2 NFL FanDuel Late Afternoon Slate Breakdown

The Week 2 afternoon slate on FanDuel features a number of teams seeking redemption from Week 1 defeats and a rematch of last year's AFC Championship Game.

The Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers matchup stands out as the best game to target as it has substantial shootout potential, but the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams both have high projected point totals as well, which makes stacking those teams intriguing. The New England Patriots will travel to Jacksonville on Sunday in a matchup between two of the AFC's best that will certainly draw a lot of attention. But even though it should be a great game, it might not be one that produces a lot of fantasy points.

There's already a number of appealing underpriced plays on this slate, but heading into the weekend, some notable injuries could shake things up further. Leonard Fournette is dealing with a hamstring injury and has recently labeled himself a 'game-time decision.' In San Francisco, Marquise Goodwin has been missing practice with a quad injury. Should one or both of these players sit out, even more low-priced players come into play, making this a week in which you shouldn't fret about leaving sizable chunks of salary on the table.

For the afternoon slate this week, FanDuel is offering the $250,000 NFL Rush, which costs $4.44 to play and pays out $50,000 to the winner. For those looking for a higher buy-in, smaller field tournament, the NFL Bomb costs $33 to enter and pays out $6,000 to first place.

Now, let's break down the top plays and fades at each position.

Quarterback

Lock: Jimmy Garoppolo ($7,300) - Both the Lions and 49ers are coming off Week 1 losses, although the 49ers are most likely to bounce back in a big way. In Week 1, the 49ers fell to the Vikings in Minnesota 24-16, while the Lions were clobbered 48-17 by the New York Jets at home. The Lions allowed Sam Darnold to throw for 198 yards and 2 touchdowns in his debut, failing to pressure the rookie quarterback. The Jets notched 2 sacks on Darnold, but only tallied 2 quarterback hits, pressuring Darnold on just 16.7% of his dropbacks. Garoppolo should have plenty of time to pick apart the Lions defense Sunday.

Fade: Sam Bradford ($6,300) - Bradford threw for just 153 yards last week, including 1 interception, in a 24-6 home loss to the Washington Redskins. The matchup doesn't get any easier this week against a Rams defense that picked off Derek Carr three times last week. Bradford is the cheapest starting quarterback on the slate, but the Cardinals' dismal projected point total of 15.75 as a road underdog keep Bradford from consideration.

Sleeper: Case Keenum ($6,700) - We noted Keenum as a sleeper in this column last week and he paid off. Keenum threw for 329 yards and 3 touchdowns against the Seahawks, although he did also throw 3 interceptions. But Keenum is set up with another promising matchup at home in Week 2 against a Raiders defense that just allowed Jared Goff to throw for 233 yards and 2 touchdowns. The fifth-highest priced quarterback on the slate, Keenum may once again go overlooked despite the plus matchup.

Running Back

Lock: Todd Gurley ($8,900) - Not sure how much needs to be said here. Gurley is a 13.5-point home favorite against a Cardinals defense that just allowed Adrian Peterson and Chris Thompson to combine for 161 yards on 31 carries (5.2 YPC) and one touchdown. Gurley totaled 147 yards and 1 touchdown on 23 touches in Week 1 and is the top play on this Week 2 slate.

Fade: Marshawn Lynch ($6,300) - Lynch salvaged his Week 1 with an opening drive touchdown on Monday Night, but he only had 13 touches in the game and was largely phased out in the second half in favor of Jalen Richard once Oakland fell behind. Now Lynch heads on the road as a 6-point underdog to face a Broncos defense that just held Seahawks running backs to 59 yards on 14 carries. If Oakland falls behind quickly again, Lynch may once again find himself watching from the sideline in the second half.

Sleeper: Alfred Morris ($5,800) - Last week, Morris (12-46-0) and Matt Breida (11-38-0) split backfield duties in San Francisco with neither putting up an impressive fantasy performance. But it was Morris who operated as the 49ers primary back in the red zone. Morris saw five red zone carries, including four goal line touches, compared to none for Breida. As the 11th-highest priced running back, Morris may go overlooked, but we expect San Francisco to hang a big number on Detroit and Morris appears to be the 49ers' primary red zone running back.

Wide Receiver

Lock: Golden Tate ($7,100) - In last week's Monday night debacle, Tate paced the Lions in targets with 15, 4 more than Kenny Golladay. Tate turned those 15 targets into 7 catches for 79 yards and a touchdown. Heading out to San Francisco, Detroit may very well find themselves in a similar game script as last week and Tate could once again gobble up targets as the Lions try to keep pace with the 49ers.

Fade: Amari Cooper ($6,900) - Cooper is coming off a 1 catch outing in Week 1 and heads to Denver to face a Broncos defense that he has historically struggled against. In two games against the Broncos last season, Cooper totaled 3 catches for 18 yards and 1 touchdown. With Derek Carr playing so poorly that even Jon Gruden appeared to publicly criticize him, Cooper is off the radar for Week 2.

Sleeper: Dante Pettis ($4,500) - If you haven't noticed yet, we're going to want pieces of the 49ers offense this week and at the minimum price, Pettis could be thrust into a starting role if Marquise Goodwin misses this game. Pettis caught 2 of 5 targets for 61 yards and a touchdown in Week 1. Should he draw the start, he'll be facing a Lions defense that was torched on Monday night by the Jets.

Tight End

Lock: George Kittle ($5,600) - There are a number of quality tight end plays on this short slate, but Kittle stands out after he saw 28% of the 49ers' targets in Week 1. Kittle had 9 targets against the Vikings, 3 more than Pierre Garcon, and he turned those looks into 5 catches for 90 yards. Even if Goodwin plays, Kittle should be a primary target for Garoppolo against the Lions.

Fade: Ricky Seals-Jones ($5,200) - With such a low implied point total, this Cardinals offense is one we're looking to avoid on this slate. Seals-Jones saw promising playing time last week, logging 92% of the Cardinals snaps, but he only had 3 catches for 19 yards on 6 targets. Yes, the Rams were just lit up by Jared Cook, but expecting much from Seals-Jones this week would require faith in Sam Bradford turning things around against Wade Phillips' squad.

Sleeper: Austin Seferian-Jenkins ($4,600) - Kittle, Rob Gronkowski, and Jared Cook are sure to occupy much of the ownership on this slate. But if you're looking for a near minimum price option, Seferian-Jenkins played 87% of the Jaguars snaps in Week 1 and saw 5 targets, third-most on the team. Seferian-Jenkins only had 3 catches for 25 yards, but he did have a touchdown that was called back by a penalty. The definitive touchdown-or-bust tight end, Seferian-Jenkins is the seventh-most expensive tight end on the slate.

Blair Ames is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Blair Ames also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Bames31. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.