Week 2 FanDuel NFL Tournament Pivots

Running Back

Chalk:

It would make sense for recency bias to keep Le'Veon Bell's ownership down this week, but in a home game with game script favoring him, many will likely target him again. In the mid-price range, Kareem Hunt is coming off a huge game and will be chalky. Melvin Gordon saw huge usage in Week 1 and has both matchup and game script favoring him against the Dolphins, so it wouldn't be surprising to see him carry heavy ownership.

Just below those two, the likes of Marshawn Lynch, Mike Gillislee, and Ty Montgomery are all expected to get heavy workloads and many scoring opportunities while playing in positive game scripts and should account for a large chunk of ownership.

Pivots:

Ezekiel Elliott, $8,700 (at Denver Broncos): Ezekiel Elliott stands out as the preferable top-end pivot off Bell, as he should get absolutely fed in this one. People might not think to go this route with tons of cheaper options, especially considering a subpar implied team total for the Dallas Cowboys (21.75 points) and the amount of respect the Denver Broncos defense has around the league.

While Denver is arguably the strongest pass defense in the league, they have had their fair share of struggles stopping the run. They ranked as a bottom-10 team against the run last year according to our opponent-adjusted Net Expected Points (NEP) metric and allowed opposing running backs to average 104.1 rushing yards.

With Dez Bryant dealing with Aqib Talib and Chris Harris, Dak Prescott may lean on Elliott more in the passing game. Melvin Gordon saw six targets and scored a receiving touchdown against Denver last week, and Zeke saw five targets in Week 1, so he could certainly see a boost there. Vegas expects the Cowboys to win this one too, listing them as 1.5 point favorites. If that game script plays out, Elliott could be looking at nearly 30 touches again this week.

Jacquizz Rodgers, $6,600 (vs. Chicago Bears): Jacquizz Rodgers finds himself in the same price range as Lynch, Gillislee, and Montgomery on FanDuel, and should carry minimal ownership. With Doug Martin suspended, Rodgers will open the season as the starter for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a role in which he thrived last season.

In five games as the starter in 2016, Rodgers averaged 23.4 touches for 105.4 scrimmage yards and 13.94 FanDuel points. The Bucs have a respectable 25.5-point implied total and are 7.0-point favorites, so Rodgers could certainly see workhorse treatment again in this one. Lynch, Gillislee, and Montgomery all have more clear roads to success than Rodgers, but it is tough to ignore someone with the potential for 20-to-25 touches at this price.