Staff Thursday Cash Plays - Week 2

With Week 1 of the 2015 NFL season in the books, we hope you were able to turn our advice into a nice bankroll to work the rest of the year with. If you ran into a pothole, don’t sweat it though – there is a whole lot of ballgame left as they say.

As always, we’re looking at the staff picks leading up to Week 2, which you can check out in full here.

Staff Trends

Hamstring, Shmamstring

Out of a dozen staffers who are logged this week all but one is rolling with Julio Jones, despite the hamstring issue. And well we should, given that he faces a pretty bad New York Giants secondary and defense. With 141 yards and a pair of touchdowns last week though, you can bet a lot of owners are going to jump on him, so the key will be to find value elsewhere.

Brown about Town

The other widely owned receiver is Pittsburgh Steeler Antonio Brown. Like Jones, he had a big Week 1 (133 yards and a score) but unlike Jones he has a legitimate hard matchup against San Francisco. Mind you, he can overcome the coverage they throw his way, but we’re somewhat concernd about that offensive line, a lack of which allowed the 49ers to destroy Teddy Bridgewater last week. Ben Roethlisberger is a better quarterback though, so many of the staff aren’t worried.

Austin Seferian-Jenkins versus Mike Evans

So far Mike Evans hasn’t warned many staff off the value Austin Seferian-Jenkins represents. Even if Evans plays, there’s a chance it will take a week or two to get back into the rhythm of the offense with rookie Jameis Winston. While Seferian-Jenkins was a shakier play last week than he looks, we think Winston looks for him a bunch this week and the Saints pass defense isn’t fantastic. Six of the staff like him as a value play and he remains a nice one at that.

Glaring Omissions

No AD All Day

After a strong showing with Adrian Peterson last week, the staff bailed on him this week. The reason is probably two-fold. First, the offensive line is a dumpster fire. We can talk about teams missing Dez Bryant or Le’Veon Bell but losing Phil Loadholt and John Sullivan was disastrous last week. Secondly, he is not comfortable working out of the shotgun and he said as much according to the Star Tribune. Peterson will bounce back at some point but given his price-point of $9,000 everyone said, thanks but no thanks.

Diamonds in the Rough

Ameer Abdullah - $6,400

Abdullah may still be in a committee but truly, he is the better back and will get more touches. We expect a solid game against Minnesotsa this week and well worth the money.

Austin Seferian-Jenkins - $4,500

We’ve already talked him up, and we really like him and his chemistry with Winston.

Overall, you can see there is a ton of diversity among the staff, even if we have some players in common. That just goes to show that there are many ways to go and get value.

On a final note, many of us pulled Benny Cunningham out of our lineups this week. While Washington is an attractive opponent, Tre Mason could play this weekend and that would limit everyone’s effectiveness.

**an adjustment was made to some of the lineups which now have some nice stacks, so a section of the original article was removed - among the stacks now present are Bradford/Matthews and Brees/Cooks**