FanDuel Single-Game Daily Fantasy Football Helper: Week 2 Thursday Night

After a defensive battle that your dad probably referred to "real football" in last week's Thursday night game, Week 2 brings us a matchup between two quarterbacks who combined for one touchdown and four picks in Week 1.

Kewl.

Jokes aside, we should see a lot more points tonight than we did in the season opener as this matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers holds a hefty 49.0-point over/under, with the host Panthers a 7.0-point favorite. Our models are right in line with oddsmakers as we project Carolina to win by a score of 27.86-21.13.

For those unfamiliar, single-game slates feature five flex spots with identical scoring to the main slate. However, kickers are included in these contests and there is an "MVP" roster slot. The MVP receives 1.5-times his total fantasy points, making this spot crucial.

Christian McCaffrey, RB, Panthers ($16,500)

Christian McCaffrey is about to see an insane ownership number tonight. They could've made him $25,000, and it wouldn't have mattered.

As you know, the dude went bonkers in Week 1, racking up 209 total yards and two scores, and this is a nice matchup for him against a Tampa Bay defense that allowed the sixth-most FanDuel points per game to running backs in 2018.

While it may be worth making few lineups without him in it for game-theory reasons, if you fade him and he has an average McCaffrey game, those CMC-less lineups will probably be circling the drain -- though after playing 100% of the snaps last week, it's not out of the realm of possibility that he sees a reduced workload on the quick turnaround, especially if Carolina is up big later in the game.

Decide how you're going to handle CMC tonight and build from there.

Cam Newton, QB, Panthers ($15,000)

Neither quarterback did much to make you feel warm and fuzzy about rostering them tonight, but in a game with a 49.0-point total, you need to plug in at least one of them.

Can Cam Newton throw it deep? After offseason shoulder surgery -- his second in three years -- and a Week 1 outing in which his longest completion was 17 yards, it's a fair question. Maybe the more concerning thing is his lack of running in the opener as he logged just two carries for minus-three yards.

If Cam is healthy and ready to roll, though, this is a smash spot for him as a touchdown favorite at home, which is where all four of his rushing scores occurred in 2018. Stacking CMC and Cam is pricey, but it gives you a great shot to get a piece of every Carolina tuddie.

Jameis Winston, QB, Buccaneers ($14,000)

A fun and likely contrarian lineup construction tonight would be to load up on Tampa Bay, stacking Jameis Winston with a couple of his pass-game weapons, and running it back with either D.J. Moore or Curtis Samuel.

Yes, Winston was bad last week in a three-pick effort against the San Francisco 49ers, a defense that's not expected to be among the league's best. But he also had two touchdowns called back, and he's surrounded by three studs in Chris Godwin, Mike Evans and, O.J. Howard.

Winston's propensity for taking chances probably drives his coaches mad in real life, but it also gives him a big ceiling in DFS.

While the Panthers' D held Jared Goff to 186 yards in the opener, the Bucs can't really run the ball, so they have no choice but to let Jameis air it out.

Greg Olsen, TE, Panthers ($9,000)

Greg Olsen is old, has been banged up pretty much every week (or so it seems) for the last two seasons, hasn't practiced this week (back) and has to make a quick turnaround for a Thursday game. So, yeah, he's not a sexy play today.

But Olsen is expected to give it a go tonight, and while he's clearly a risk to play limited snaps, that should keep him fairly low-owned. Olsen was highly involved in Week 1, seeing nine targets. Though he caught just four of them for 36 yards, the target volume is nice, and he's always a red-zone threat.

He could poach a touchdown at low ownership -- just make sure you check his status and any news about a possibly limited role before lineups lock.

Dare Ogunbowale, RB, Buccaneers ($6,500)

If you're building a lineup under the idea of a Panthers win, then I dare you not to play Dare Ogunbowale.

OK, that was a bad joke -- and I know that's not how you say his first name -- but Ogunbowale does make sense if you plan on the Bucs seeing a negative game script. In Week 1, he got six targets, which tied for the team lead, and his cheap salary frees you up to spend elsewhere.

It's a dart throw, sure, but if you want to get two or three studs on this slate, you have to pay down somewhere.