DraftKings – Welcome To The NFL

Razzball Nation!  DraftKings is back with another big week of contests to bring you daily fantasy glory.

If you’re not a baseball reader and/or didn’t play in any exclusive Can You Beat Rudy Gamble contests, DraftKings is the industry leader in daily fantasy prize-pools coming off their Million Dollar Kickoff Bash for Week 1.  And if you’re new to daily fantasy and have any apprehension – it’s a ton of fun and I’m here to answer all your questions.

Why daily fantasy?  Well say you drafted David Wilson (because for some reason you haven’t been listening to the Podcast to my advice and heeding Nick’s) and Roddy White and your team already looks like it’s in the fantasy dumps.  Well DraftKings is the place to go to hit the reset button, select a new team every week, and win back your long-lost fantasy dues over one Sunday.  Every Wednesday I’ll have a DraftKings article out with my picks to bring you that fantasy-cheddah.  How much cheddah you may ask?  How about being a millionaire in their Millionaire Grand Final?! Qualifiers start for as little as $2 which you can hop into today!

Looking for big winnings right out of the gate?  Jump into their huge Sunday Second Chance contest for a top prize of $100,000 and a free entry into their Millionaire Grand Finale.  If you’re wondering about a Razzball Exclusive contest, we’re still working out the details, but it would be a huge help if you play in those contests this week and tell your friends!  Sure beating your friend in your yearly league is great, but how about crushing them and winning $100K for it!  Exactly.

The scoring rules for DraftKings can be found here if this is your first foray into Daily NFL contests.  The line-up works the same as DraftKings baseball, $50,000 budget for 9 players – QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, TE, W/R/T FLEX, K and D/ST.  I’ll be giving my picks just like baseball – picking a QB, RB, WR and Flex – rather than giving my whole line-up as I don’t want to give away my entire team as I play too!  My personal cash is on the line, so apologies I only give away a peek and not the whole thing, if you know what I mean.  But again, ask any and all questions and go out and win some money!  Here’s who I like for week 2:

QB – Terrelle Pryor ($7,100) – I’m spending low on QB this week, and buying the fantasy-goodness Pryor is going to bring you at a discount.  At home against the terrible Jaguars, Pryor should have no problem racking up multiple TDs, and could very easily have a 300-yard passing game or another 100-yard rushing day, both of which are huge 3-point bonuses in DraftKings scoring.

RB – Ben Tate ($3,000) – Again penny-pinching, the extremely discounted Tate is all the way at the bottom of RBs to pick from and will have immense value.  Gary Kubiak just came out and said he wants to keep carries split between Tate and Arian Foster and Tate looked explosive vs. the Chargers for 9 for 55 (6.1 YPC) in a game that was a blowout until the Chargers choked.  Look for the Texans to come out strong early against the Titans, with a lot of Tate – well – late.  Not that you can put too much value in it, but Tate gashed the Titans in 2011 (ignoring his injury-plagued 2012) for 15 for 104 in week 7 and 16 for 97 (plus 4 for 24 receiving) and a TD in week 17.  I can pair him up with elite guys to fill out my roster.

WR – Calvin Johnson ($8,100) – Finding ways to save money on guys like Pryor and Tate allows you to spend huge on an elite guy like Megatron, who isn’t even the most expensive WR this week.  He went 10 for 121 against Arizona last year in week 15 in that crazy 38-10 beat-down at the hands of the Cardinals.  Or would it be at the talons?  Don’t expect the Lions to forget that and I think Johnson bounces back after a slow week 1, where he had 2 TDs called back on replay.

FLEX – Jordan Cameron ($4,100) – After shrugging off Cameron very early in the preseason, I mentioned a few weeks ago on the Pod I was fully buying Cameron after seeing him in preseason games and was rewarded with a huge week 1 on several teams including my beat-down of Sky in our Writer’s League.  Julius Thomas went buck-wild against that Ravens defense up the seam, and while I expect the Ravens to make adjustments, I still think Cameron as the focal point in the Browns passing game will get tons of work.  He’ll be my TE this week.

Shoot your DraftKings questions below or tweet me @jbgilpin.  Good luck this week!