NFL

Week 2 NFL FanDuel Salary Movers

Things can change quickly in fantasy football. To quote Ferris Bueller -- "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

We're here to "look around" and make sure we don't miss any week-to-week salary changes that could pay dividends on FanDuel.

Maybe a player had an outlier performance and saw their salary rise too high, making them a sub-optimal play. Perhaps a player saw an increase in their role but played on Monday night after salaries for the following week's slate already came out, and therefore they haven't been priced accordingly.

This week's article will take a look at which players salaries have changed the most from Week 1 to Week 2.

Now that you're ready, let's get to it!

Quarterback

Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 1 Salary: $8,700
Week 2 Salary: $7,600

If, like me, you thought Lamar Jackson would be at the very top for a quarterback salary increase, you would be correct. Jackson's price did see a $500 jump -- up to $8,200 and the third-most expensive option on the main slate. However, it's a salary drop that makes Ben Roethlisberger the biggest mover of the week.

Ben and the rest of the Pittsburgh Steelers were handled easily in a 33-3 loss to the New England Patriots on the road. Without Antonio Brown, Roethlisberger completed 27 of 47 passes for 276 yards and an interception. JuJu Smith-Schuster did shake free at times, corralling six of eight targets for 78 yards, but the usually high-powered Steelers couldn't get going in Week 1.

This week, Ben returns home to face the Seattle Seahawks as a 4.5-point favorite with the seventh-highest implied team total (25.5 points). The Seahawks surrendered 418 yards and two touchdowns at home to Andy Dalton in Week 1, though losing Joe Mixon to injury almost certainly bolstered Dalton's final line. Roethlisberger carries the fifth-highest projection of the week and is the same price as Jared Goff, who faces the New Orleans Saints with a juicy over/under above 50. Goff will be the more popular option between he and Ben as he is the cheapest of the four passers with an implied team total above 27. However, that makes Ben a great GPP play in what should be a rebound game for the entire Steelers' offense.

Other Big Movers:

Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens: $7,700 | $8,200
Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks: $8,300 | $7,600
Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears: $7,600 | $6,800

Running Back

Adrian Peterson, Washington

Week 1 Salary: $6,500
Week 2 Salary: $4,800

If you had told me Adrian Peterson would be the biggest salary mover from Week 1 to Week 2, I would assume a Derrius Guice injury would be the main factor. That has happened, as Guice handled just 13 touches against the Philadelphia Eagles before leaving with a knee injury. On Thursday we learned the severity, as a torn meniscus was the diagnosis and surgery was performed to trim it. Guice will miss multiple weeks and hands lead running back duties once again to Peterson. In a surprise move, the veteran was inactive against the Eagles, leaving Chris Thompson to handle backfield touches the rest of the afternoon.

With his inactive status, Peterson's salary took the biggest drop of any player this week, down $1,700 to just $4,800. At 34 years old, it's easy to dismiss Peterson, but he did rush for more than 1,000 yards last season after signing late, once again due to a Guice injury. This isn't shaping up as a great week to play him, despite the low price. Washington finds themselves as 5.5-point underdogs at home against another division foe, the Dallas Cowboys. With Thompson likely more involved due to the negative game script and a low team total, you can save salary elsewhere this week.

Other Big Movers

Derrick Henry, Tennessee Titans: $6,100 | $7,500
Todd Gurley, Los Angeles Rams: $8,500 | $7,000
Duke Johnson, Houston Texans: $4,800 | $6,100

Wide Receiver

Amari Cooper, Dallas Cowboys

Week 1 Salary: $6,700
Week 2 Salary: $7,800

Off-season Cowboys news was dictated by the Ezekiel Elliott contract situation. Would he play? Would Jerry Jones open his wallet? If Zeke misses time, is Tony Pollard the back to target?

But don't forget about Dak Prescott. With those headlines, it's easy to miss a coaching change. Somewhat quietly, former quarterback Kellen Moore was named offensive coordinator after just a year as the quarterbacks coach. Sure, the Cowboys have lots of weapons, but will this new offense utilize them?

After Week 1, that appears to be a "yes." With Zeke playing limited snaps due to missing time, the Cowboys amassed nearly 500 yards of offense, with Dak passing for 405 yards and 4 touchdowns. Amari Cooper led the team in targets (9) and air yards (106) while also scoring a touchdown on his way to 19.6 FanDuel points. Up $1,100, Cooper is the biggest mover at wide receiver and the fifth-highest option on the main slate.

Next up is a Washington D that ranks eighth-worst against the pass, per our schedule-adjusted metrics, and surrendered 154 yards to DeSean Jackson last week.

Other Big Movers:

Sammy Watkins, Kansas City Chiefs: $6,300 | $7,400
Sterling Shepard, New York Giants: $5,000 | $6,000
Marquise Brown, Baltimore Ravens: $5,000 | $5,700

Tight End

Mark Andrews, Baltimore Ravens

Week 1 Salary: $4,900
Week 2 Salary: $6,100

If you played Lamar Jackson in tournaments and stacked him with Marquise Brown, congratulations. Brown had two long touchdowns and racked up 147 receiving yards on just four receptions against a hapless Miami Dolphins defense. "Hollywood" certainly capitalized on his limited snaps, but if you opted to stack second-year tight end Mark Andrews with Jackson, like numberFire's lineup generator suggested, you were not disappointed. Andrews led the Ravens in targets (8) and went for 108 yards and touchdown (from Robert Griffin III), scoring 20.8 FanDuel points.

The Ravens face the Arizona Cardinals in their home opener for Week 2, and Baltimore's implied team total of 29.75 trails only the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs. Did I mentioned the Cardinals allowed rookie T.J. Hockenson to run roughshod over them for 131 yards and a touchdown on nine targets? Because that happened -- 22.1 FanDuel points for the rookie making his debut.

The Ravens' offense looks to be in a great spot once again and Andrews' price of $6,100 -- while a steep hike up from his $4,900 cost in Week 1 -- offers some savings from the top of the position in Travis Kelce ($8,000) and George Kittle ($7,100).

Other Big Movers:

T.J. Hockenson, Detroit Lions: $4,900 | $6,000
Eric Ebron, Indianapolis Colts: $6,600 | $5,700
Darren Waller, Oakland Raiders: $4,500 | $5,400


Ryan Bobbitt is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Ryan Bobbitt also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Drummerinabox. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.