NFL DFS Week 2: Spade or Fade? (FanDuel & DraftKings)

Welcome to week 2 of the NFL! This is my first year as a writer and I will be writing weekly articles titled “Spade or Fade.” I will pick a few of the popular projected plays for the upcoming weekend and call each player a Spade or a Fade. A Spade means I agree with the hype and advise you to EAT THE CHALK. A Fade obviously means FADE! Let’s get started!

SPADE
MIKE EVANS

My top overall play of Week 2 is Mike Evans. Tampa had a last minute bye last weekend so we really didn’t get to see how the offense would work, but I have a great feeling about it. For starters, Mike Evans lead the NFL in targets last year at a whopping 173! That is almost 11 a game, and in 1 ppr and .5 ppr formats, it’s hard to put a ceiling on that. In addition to Evans being a monster, we need to look at Jameis Winston’s progressions. In 2015 he had 22 TD passes. This increased to 28 TD passes in 2016. You can only assume that he will progress even more in his 3rd year. With Evans being the physical beast that he is, his experience with a growing Jameis Winston, and going up against a pretty weak team in Chicago, Evans is definitely a SPADE. Fire him up in all formats.

FADE
DREW BREES

My most important FADE of the week is definitely Drew Brees. There is a lot of hype around the 2 games featuring 4/5 of the most expensive quarterbacks. Brady/Brees and Rodgers/Ryan will definitely be very fun to watch. People will be attacking these games from all angles. Of those 4 teams, New Orleans has the lowest projected point total at only 24 points. Brady and Co. are favored by 6.5 points and the top scoring projected team of the week. Atlanta/Green Bay has only a 2.5 point differential. I recommend going with Brady or taking either Rodgers or Ryan because they will more likely end up in a shootout. 100% FADE on Brees this week.

SPADE
TOM BRADY

Some of you probably saw this pick coming based on common sense and my Brees write-up. With Brady it’s plain and simple-30.5 POINT PROJECTED TOTAL!!! He will certainly be hyped up after what happened against Kansas City. For those that believe in narratives, Cooks will have a revenge game at New Orleans after they suddenly gave him the boot after last season. Brady can’t be kept out of the end zone for long, and a game against the Saints defense is just the recipe. I actually really love a Brady/Cooks stack. He will be very chalky this weekend, but I don’t recommend trying to get cute and fade him. Brady is the SPADE quarterback of the week.

FADE
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT

The last FADE of the week is Ezekiel Elliott. I admit this scares me a bit because of Zeke’s power and guaranteed touches. I just have trouble playing a power runner against the Denver defense. People will look at Melvin Gordon’s 16.4 fantasy points last week and disagree, but we need to take a closer look at the stats. He only had 54 yards on 18 carries, which is a disappointing 3.0 yards per carry. He had 5 receptions for 25 yards and took 1 to the house. Yes that’s a fine game, but I will gladly take my chances against Zeke catching a TD. For Dallas to move the ball, I expect it to be Dak primarily this week. Zeke is just way too expensive for this particular matchup. FADE for Zeke.

Thank you all again for reading. Any feedback is welcome and much appreciated. Best of luck to everyone in Week 2!

Jesse Oliff Hotsauce29588 on FanDuel and DraftKings

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