4 FanDuel NFL Studs to Target in Week 2

Hitting on high-salary players is the first step to having success in NFL DFS on FanDuel.

These players take up the biggest chunk of your salary cap, and they need to deliver quality performances for your lineup to reach its ceiling.

With some help from our NFL DFS projections, here are four studs to target on this week's main slate, which starts at 1 p.m. ET.

All betting odds come from the NFL odds at FanDuel Sportsbook and may change after this article is published.

NFL DFS Studs to Target for Week 2

Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs

FanDuel Salary: ($8,700)

Patrick Mahomes had a stellar season debut, even if his final fantasy output (15.64 FanDuel points) wasn't anything to write home about. Mahomes completed 71.4% of his passes for 291 yards to go along with a touchdown and an interception.

Per numberFire, Mahomes registered the week's third-highest passing success rate (56.7%), and he led the Kansas City Chiefs to 27 points against a stout Baltimore Ravens. But two of their three touchdowns came on the ground, hence the modest fantasy numbers.

Still, the fact that he flirted with 300 passing yards -- now worth an extra 3 FanDuel points with the new DFS scoring changes -- against a Baltimore defense that allowed the sixth-fewest yards per game (193.1) in 2023 bodes well for his Week 2 outlook against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Cincy was league-average in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks last season, but they gave up the most yards per attempt (7.2) in the league. They held Jacoby Brissett to 8.04 FanDuel points in Week 1, though he attempted the 7th-fewest passes among starting quarterbacks. Entering Week 2, the Bengals are an uninspiring 14th in numberFire's schedule-adjusted pass defense metric.

That lines up nicely for Mahomes, especially given the projected game environment. This game's over/under (47.5) is the second-highest on the main slate, while KC's 26.5-point implied total is tied for second.

On top of that, Cincinatti (+8.9%) and Kansas City (+5.4%) recorded the two highest pass rates over expectation in Week 1.

Add in that Mahomes only threw a single touchdown after being one of the top quarterback touchdown regression candidates entering 2024, and there's a lot to like about his upside in DFS this week.

Our NFL DFS projections project Mahomes for 20.7 FanDuel points this week, second among all quarterbacks.

Joe Mixon, RB, Houston Texans

FanDuel Salary: ($8,100)

If Week 1 was any indication, the Houston Texans are going to feed Joe Mixon ($8,100) all the work he can handle this season.

Mixon exploded for 28.3 FanDuel points in the season opener, recording 30 rush attempts for 159 yards and a touchdown. He added 3 receptions for 19 yards, finishing as the main slate's top back.

He led all running backs with 36 adjusted opportunities (carries plus 2x targets) and 178 scrimmage yards in addition to seeing 5 red zone rush attempts.

The workload and production were highly encouraging, especially in the context of this Houston offense. Despite adding Stefon Diggs to a C.J. Stroud-led passing attack, the Texans were below average in pass rate over expectation (-4.9%). Yet, they were third in Brandon Gdula's adjusted pace metric and led the NFL with 74 plays in Week 1.

That bodes well for Joe Mixon's rest-of-season outlook, and it makes him a tantalizing DFS option even at the fourth-highest salary among running backs.

Mixon and the Texans host the Chicago Bears on Sunday Night Football -- now on the FanDuel main slate . Chicago locked up an admittedly poor Tennessee Titans passing attack in Week 1, but they surrendered 140 rushing yards and allowed Tony Pollard to clock 5.1 yards per carry and 16.9 FanDuel points.

The Texans are 6.5-point favorites on Sunday night -- tied for the third-highest spread on the main slate. Considering the Bears averaged the eighth-fewest Net Expected Points per play (-0.19 NEP; numberFire's Expected Points Added metric) in Week 1, it wouldn't be at all surprising to see Houston jump out to an early lead. That could result in Mixon again seeing a monster workload, just like last week.

We project Mixon for 15.5 FanDuel points, second among running backs. His rushing yards prop is set at 68.5 on FanDuel Sportsbook.

Cooper Kupp, WR, Los Angeles Rams

FanDuel Salary: ($7,700)

With Puka Nacua sidelined, Cooper Kupp ($7,700) is the most glaringly under-salaried star on the main slate. And it's not even close.

Kupp led all main slate receivers with 28 FanDuel points last week, securing 14 of 21 (!!) targets for 110 yards and a touchdown. He also added 10 yards on the ground via 2 carries.

He garnered Week 1's largest target share (43.8%) and saw 53.3% of the Los Angeles Rams' air yards.

A target share north of 40% may be unsustainable over the full season (he was only at 32% during his infamous 2021 season), but it certainly isn't out of the question this week with the Arizona Cardinals on deck.

Arizona entered the season with PFF's 32nd-ranked secondary, and they gave up the 2nd-highest passing success rate (63%) in Week 1. They pressured Josh Allen on a league-low 12% of dropbacks in the season opener, so Matthew Stafford should have a much easier go after he was pressured at the fourth-highest clip (39.2%) in Week 1, according to For The Numbers (FTN).

It doesn't hurt that the Rams were third in pass rate over expectation (+4.7%), nor that this week's game has a tight spread (Cardinals -1.5) and high total (47.5).

There's just too much volume to not consider Kupp a priority in such an advantageous game environment, and that's reflected in his 84.5-yard receiving prop on FanDuel Sportsbook.

We project Kupp to rack up 89.9 yards en route to 16.6 FanDuel points. That's second among all wide receivers this week, and it makes him the best point-per-dollar value at the position (2.16 FanDuel points per $1,000).

Trey McBride, TE, Arizona Cardinals

FanDuel Salary: ($6,200)

Trey McBride was among the slew of top tier tight ends who disappointed in Week 1, as he only netted 5.5 FanDuel points off 5 receptions and 30 yards. But the underlying utilization was still plenty strong enough to consider him as one of the top tight ends in DFS this week.

McBride had the second-highest target share (29%) among tight ends last week, and he led the position in air yard share (40.8%).

According to PFF's expected fantasy points model, McBride was the biggest tight end underperformer in fantasy, finishing with 6.5 fewer fantasy points than expected.

He was the clear top target for Kyler Murray, so we shouldn't think twice about deploying him in a better matchup this week.

McBride will take on a Rams defense that surrendered the third-most FanDuel points per target and seventh-most yards per route run (1.47) to the position in 2023. McBride himself had two solid games against LA last season, notching 4 receptions for 62 yards and 8.2 FanDuel points in the first meeting and 7 receptions for 60 yards and 9.5 FanDuel points in the second.

In Week 1, LA allowed the 10th-highest tight end target share (20%) and 7th-most yards per route run (1.57) to tight ends, so it doesn't appear that they're much improved on that front.

We project McBride for 11.6 FanDuel points, third among tight ends and enough to make him the top point-per-dollar value at the position (1.87 FanDuel points per $1,000).

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.