RADIO
The NFL 2022 preseason Week 2 is here. We are that much closer to the actual season, people. For now, it is time to enjoy what we have: preseason DFS. In this article I will be providing you with daily fantasy football picks on DraftKings and FanDuel for Saturday, August 20th, 2022.
Both DraftKings and FanDuel give us opportunities to play DFS during preseason. This is where we are going to get a better feeling for the strategies we will use while earning a few dollars.
During the preseason slates, both sites will have a uniform price for the players. Currently, on FanDuel it is $6,000 and on DraftKings, it is $5,500. On each site, you will play a 1QB, 2RB, 3WR, 1TE, 1Flex, and 1 Defense. The main difference between the two sites is in scoring. DraftKings utilizes full PPR scoring and FanDuel utilizes half PPR scoring.
Preseason NFL DFS Picks – Quarterbacks
Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
In preseason this would initially sound “iffy," but it is Mahomes against a struggling Washington defense, who gave up 136 passing yards to Carolina’s PJ Walker and allowed Sam Darnold to finish with a 119.4 passer rating including a touchdown.
Now how long Mahomes plays is the question. Keep in mind last week he played just five minutes and 37 seconds. In that time, he finished with six completed passes to six different receivers, 60 passing yards, and one touchdown.
Combine that with “coach speak” where Andy Reid indicated that the Chiefs’ starters could play as much as the first half. Heck, double his time from last week and we will be good.
Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
Again, going for quality over quantity. It isn’t established how much Allen and the first team will play, just a “heavy amount” of snaps according to head coach Sean McDermott. Now that we know that the Broncos aren’t playing their starters, it looks pretty good for Allen and company.
The last time we saw Allen he was passing for 329 yards, rushing for 68 yards with four passing touchdowns in a playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Expect Allen and his “heavy amount” of snaps to dominate the Broncos' non-starters.
Mason Rudolph, Pittsburgh Steelers
By all accounts Mitchell Trubisky will start, Kenny Pickett will get a chance to play against the opponents' first-team defense, and then Rudolph will enter the game. Last week when Pickett played this role it amounted to playing the second half. Fingers crossed this is what it means for Rudolph.
Last week in limited action Rudolph went 9-of-15 for a touchdown and 93 passing yards. He did have one fumble but managed to recover to make it a decent outing.
Now he will be asked to go against the Jaguars’ second or third-team defense. Last week the Jaguars’ defense allowed Cleveland Browns quarterback (and ex-Steeler), Joshua Dobbs, to pass for 108 yards, one touchdown, and finish with a 126.4 passer rating.
Honorable Mention
Sam Howell, Washington
The goal for Washington this week is to get the starters as much playing time as possible, but with the rash of injuries on the offensive side including the offensive line, I'm not sure how that will work out for Carson Wentz.
Last week Howell was QB2 in fantasy points with 21.7 per fantasy data. He was third in total fantasy scoring behind quarterback Bryce Perkins and wide receiver Lance McCutcheon, both of the Los Angeles Rams.
Preseason NFL DFS Picks – Wide Receivers
Jahan Dotson, Washington Commanders
Last week Dotson played all 22 snaps with the first team. He did not have one recorded target. That is insane.
In preseason we are looking for opportunities, athleticism, and talent (unfortunately for wide receivers this means both their talent and the quarterback). Check all those boxes for Dotson. The 16th pick of the 2022 NFL Draft ran 13 routes in the first preseason game. He is connecting with Wentz during training camp, so it is only a matter of time.
This game has the highest over/under for the Week 2 preseason slate (44.0).
Skyy Moore, Kansas City Chiefs
Always looking for that potential breakout stack. This feels right. Last week in minimal playing time, Moore was targeted three times and caught three passes for 23 yards. He was on the field for 42% of the offensive snaps, the most for wide receivers.
The Chiefs are dealing with injuries to both Mecole Hardman and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Coupled with the loss of Tyreek Hill, it is Moore’s time to shine. Moore is known for his speed and route running ability. At Western Michigan last season, he had a 70% catch rate on 135 targets, 94 receptions, 10 touchdowns, and 1,283 receiving yards.
Gunner Olszewski, Pittsburgh Steelers
Is this a flyer? I don’t think so. Trubisky loves him. Pickett loves him. And last week he was on the field for 14 offensive snaps (two less than George Pickens) while running the same number of routes (10).
Olszewski had four targets, three receptions, a team-leading 47 receiving yards, and one touchdown. Pickens is getting all the notoriety and rightly so, but Olszewski has been getting equal field time with comparable results (albeit less flashy).
Preseason NFL DFS Picks – Running Backs
Rachaad White, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Running back Kenjon Barner was placed on injured reserve Monday. Giovani Bernard has an ankle injury and did not practice Monday, he is questionable. Last week White had seven carries, the same amount as Bernard. However, White averaged 1.9 more yards per carry than Bernard and 2.0 more yards per carry than Barner.
White led in rushing yards (32) and he led all running backs in targets(3). The race for RB2 behind Leonard Fournette is on and White currently has the lead.
Phillip Lindsay, Indianapolis Colts
Yep, still banging that drum. Head coach Frank Reich has said that the starters will not be playing Saturday against the Lions. Lindsay, who is listed as RB3 on the depth chart, presumably moves up to RB1 for the game.
Last week he had five carries (T2nd most on the team) and three targets (most for running backs on the team). He averaged 4.8 yards per carry and finished with 24 yards.
The Lions’ defense last season gave up the second most fantasy points to the running back position. In DraftKings scoring, running backs averaged 27.9 fantasy points per game and in FanDuel they averaged 25 fantasy points per game.
Travis Etienne, Jacksonville Jaguars
Last season the Steelers were 32nd against the run. They allowed an average of 143.8 rushing yards per game on an average of 28.9 rushing attempts per game.
Last week Etienne was a mixed bag of results. He led all Jaguars running backs with nine rushing attempts but only averaged 2.6 yards per attempt. He tied for most targeted running back with three, but only had one reception for 10 yards.
This is most definitely a volume play. Head coach Doug Pederson has said the starting offense will go deeper into this game than they did in the first preseason game.
Preseason NFL DFS Picks – Tight End
Here is my rant for preseason tight ends. The tight end pool is shallow in the regular season. When teams decide– to not play their starters that just brings us further into the tight end shallow waters. Even if they say play their TE1, his prospects of making us happy aren’t very good going for half the time they normally go. But I digress.
Because if you happen to pick a tight end that hits some points well then you are probably going to land happily on the sandy side of those shallow waters. (I have completely lost myself…my apologies).
Jake Ferguson, Dallas Cowboys
Last week rookie Ferguson played 40% of the offensive snaps. He had three targets, three receptions for 29 yards. He averaged 9.7 yards per reception.
This week the Cowboys play the Chargers. This is one of the lowest over/under for the week (38.0), but the Cowboys play with the second most plays per game in 2021 (67.9) and the Chargers were fifth in plays per game (66.4).
So, there should be an opportunity for Ferguson to continue his offensive dominance (as it were) against the Chargers. The Chargers who by the way allowed the most DraftKings points to the tight end position last season (17.5 average) and FanDuel tied for the second most 14.3.
Mike Gesicki, Miami Dolphins
Will he, or won’t he? For most of the preseason, the talk has been about how Gesicki does not fit into what new head coach Mike McDaniel’s offensive schemes do with tight ends.
To rectify that Gesicki played nine offensive snaps in the first preseason games. That was the most snaps of any tight end (two more than Durham Smythe and eight more than Hunter Long), but Gesicki only had one target with one reception for 13 receiving yards.
Will Gesicki play? Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa wants to play. That would make for a stronger case to have Gesicki on the field. McDaniel hasn’t stated his intentions for his starters, but like last week the starters don’t have to be on the field for Gesicki to play.
Thanks for checking this out and good luck!
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