It’s easy to fall in love with daily fantasy football values.
Spotting weekly values makes us feel so smart, so smug, so superior. We know a secret, and the best part is that it’s hidden in plain sight. Anyone can exploit daily fantasy market inefficiencies, but not everyone does.
There’s an ugly side to this value-hunting exercise in egomania, of course: we sometimes reach for value plays when more stable, reliable fantasy options are on the board, begging for our attention.
I made that mistake in Week 1, forgoing stability for variance and latching my bankroll to players I saw as extreme values. It’s important — necessary, even — to identify a couple weekly bargains, but be sure not to roll with a lineup filled with low-cost players with low fantasy floors and high ceilings.
Let’s get into Week 2 values on Star Fantasy Leagues, where you can once again compete against me (in the $1K double up contest with an entry fee of $22).
I’ve broken down each value play into dollars per point (DPP), a measurement that gets better as the numbers get lower.
| Player | Projected Points | Dollars Per Point (DPP) |
| Chad Henne | 15.1 | $397 |
| Terrelle Pryor | 18.8 | $493 |
| EJ Manuel | 18 | $579 |
| Matt Schaub | 19.8 | $587 |
| Michael Vick | 21.7 | $590 |
- I understand that the mere thought of using Henne in any of your various lineups this week makes you vomit in your mouth a little bit. Remember though, Henne is a reckless gunslinger who cracked 250 yards in four of his seven 2012 starts for Jacksonville. He’s playing in a game with shootout potential against a potentially awful defense. Consider Henne your Week 2 swing for the fences.
- Our Week 1 daily fantasy wonder child, Pryor, can still be had for cheap. He’s facing a Jaguars’ defense that looked inept, at best, in Week 1. Deploy Pryor with confidence once again.
- We somehow still get bang for our buck with Vick, fantasy’s fourth highest scoring signal caller in Week 1. Vick goes up against a Swiss cheese defense that was gashed by Matt Schaub in the second half of Monday night’s epic Houston comeback victory, and they’re headed east for an early game. Release the Kraken. And Vick.
| Player | Projected Points | Dollar Per Point (DPP) |
| Daryl Richardson | 13.7 | $440 |
| DeAngelo Williams | 13.8 | $505 |
| Stevan Ridley | 14.1 | $581 |
| Eddie Lacy | 13.7 | $596 |
- No running back stood out to me as an extreme Week 2 value, though Richardson is pretty close. DRich got 20 carries in Week 1 against Arizona, a stout defense that will shut down more than a couple running attacks this year. Richardson managed 9.6 fantasy points, and now plays a Falcons front seven that scares precisely no one. I don’t expect Isiah Pead’s return to suppress Richardson’s upside here. He’s a great Week 2 cash saver.
- The Patriots had their way with the Bills on the ground last week, and I’d be willing to bet the Carolina Panthers noticed. Williams, who rushed for 76 yards on 16 attempts Week 1 against the killer Seattle Seahawks front four, could be a daily fantasy godsend this week. I have him projected for 13.8 points, with a ceiling just short of 20 points.
| Player | Projected Points | Dollars Per Point (DPP) |
| Julian Edelman | 12.7 | $456 |
| Marlon Brown | 10.7 | $523 |
| Andre Roberts | 11 | $536 |
| Golden Tate | 11.3 | $586 |
| Rod Streater | 10.2 | $590 |
| DeSean Jackson | 14.1 | $597 |
- Edelman, with Amendola out this week and Gronk still on the mend, is in line for double digit targets against a Jets secondary that was ripped in the second half of its matchup against a middling Tampa Bay aerial attack. He’s the best value in Week 2 daily fantasy leagues.
- Marlon Brown got a chance to showcase his impressive size-speed combination after Jacoby Jones was helped to the locker room in the first half of Baltimore’s Week 1 game. Brown caught four of the six balls Joe Flacco threw his way, finishing with 65 yards and a score. Torrey Smith will draw shutdown cover man Joe Haden in the Ravens’ Week 2 game against Cleveland, leaving Brown in the enviable situation Brian Hartline found himself in last week: one on one against Browns cornerback Buster Skrine. Hartline tortured Skrine to the tune of nine catches for 114 yards and a touchdown, in case you missed it.
| Player | Projected Points | Dollars Per Point (DPP) |
| Kellen Winslow, Jr. | 9.8 | $393 |
| Dallas Clark | 7 | $482 |
| Julius Thomas | 11.9 | $589 |
| Owen Daniels | 10.9 | $591 |
- Thomas’s price skyrocketed after he posted the second best stat line for a fantasy tight end last week. Alas, value plays can’t stay values forever. There are myriad reasons to believe Thomas’s success is sustainable, making him a viable Week 2 value in Denver’s absurdly potent offense.
- Winslow is officially Geno Smith‘s security blanket. He led the Jets with eight targets in Week 1, catching seven balls for 79 yards and a touchdown. Winslow is a creaky-kneed Week 2 play against a New England defense that has never proved a kill shot to tight end production. I have Winslow pegged as a top-12 tight end option, and one that could win you some cash-money.
