Week 1 brought us some exciting games, and hopefully, it brought you some DFS profits. Let’s back on the grind for this week.

If you want to fire up some studs, you’ll have to find cheaper options somewhere who can return value. By “value,” I mean a player who offers some upside but won’t bust for zero points. To hit value, a player should get between three and four times their salary in fantasy points. I’ll look at quarterbacks under $6K, running backs and wide receivers under $5.5K, and tight ends under $4.5K.

Check back next week for another slate of picks — and for my results from Week 2!

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Last Week’s Picks

Quarterback
Tyrod Taylor (LAC): 9.06 points (1.61x)

Running Back
Sony Michel (NE): 9.7 points (2.10x)
Chris Thompson (JAC): 2.6 points (0.65x)

Wide Receivers
Jamison Crowder (NYJ): 27.5 points (5.29x)
DeSean Jackson (PHI): 6.6 points (1.34x)

Tight Ends
Hayden Hurst (ATL): 6.8 points (1.51x)

These aren’t terrible results, but they lack the upside we want to see. Things would’ve been much worse if Crowder hadn’t paid out for us in a big way. With Week 1’s usage data under our belt, I’m optimistic about a rebound in Week 2.

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This Week’s Value Plays 

Quarterback

Kirk Cousins (MIN): $5,900 at IND
Both Cousins and Rivers make excellent plays on either side of this Week 2 matchup. Both of their teams just allowed opposing quarterbacks to go off in Week 1 (Aaron Rodgers and Gardner Minshew), as that’s because these squads lack good cornerbacks. The Vikings’ three best corners, Mike Hughes, Holton Hill, and Jeff Gladney, all looked beatable, but the Colts’ secondary, which features ex-Viking Xavier Rhodes, looked much worse. The Colts graded worse, too, according to FootballOutsiders.

If Minshew can drop three touchdowns on these guys, then I bet Cousins can do the same.

Honorable mention: Philip Rivers (IND): $5,900 vs. MIN

Running Back

Ronald Jones II (TB): $5,200 vs. CAR
I don’t know what Bruce Arians is doing, and I hate chasing Week 1 points. That said, Jones earned a whopping 17 carries against the Saints, far more than Leonard Fournette’s five. If Jones gets even close to this number of reps against Carolina, he could have a huge day — the Panthers just let Josh Jacobs run for 93 yards and three scores. Target Jones against the league’s fourth-worst rushing defense.

Antonio Gibson (WAS): $4,300 at ARI
I wanted to recommend Gibson last week, but I decided not to because I wanted to see how the Washington Football Team would use him. I liked what I saw in Week 1, even if he didn’t produce many points. Gibson earned nine carries and two catches against the Eagles, and while teammate Peyton Barber got far more touches (17), he’s not much more than a short-yardage specialist. Expect Gibson to do big things against a team that just allowed Raheem Mostert to earn 191 all-purpose yards and a score on only 19 touches.

Honorable mention: Nyheim Hines (IND): $5,300 vs. MIN

Wide Receiver

Parris Campbell (IND): $4,500 vs. MIN
Campbell tied with T.Y. Hilton in targets from Rivers last week. The Ohio State product flashed his 97th-percentile speed and 97th-percentile burst against the Jaguars, and the Vikings have a similarly exploitable secondary. All three of Green Bay’s leading receivers — Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Davante Adams, and Allen Lazard — caught passes that went for at least 38 yards against them last week, so Campbell should do the same. He even controlled 37.2 percent of the Colts’ air yards, which bolsters the case for his deep-threat potential.

Diontae Johnson (PIT): $4,500 vs. DEN
Although JuJu Smith-Schuster got all the glory on Monday Night Football, Johnson had a pretty solid week. He earned 10 targets to Smith-Schuster’s six, and he caught six of those looks for 57 yards. Those aren’t the most eye-popping numbers, but when you consider that he also controlled 30.6 percent of Pittsburgh’s air yards, it makes for a much more compelling case. Ben Roethlisberger loves to take deep shots, and while the Denver defense isn’t the easiest opponent, they ranked only 21st against the pass in Week 1. Johnson’s share of targets and air yards give him a good floor, and all he needs is a touchdown to get over the top and hit value.

Honorable mention: Scotty Miller (TB): $4,100 vs. CAR — he’ll be a popular pick if Chris Godwin’s concussion causes him to miss Sunday’s game.

Tight End

Logan Thomas (WAS): $3,600 at ARI
Dallas Goedert is now out of the value price range, so I’ll recommend that you play Thomas instead. The 29-year-old converted quarterback has exceptional size and athleticism, and he looks like Dwayne Haskins’ go-to target. The tight end earned eight targets in Week 1, the most among any Washington player. He caught four of them for 37 yards and a score, and there’s some extra upside for him this week — he takes on Arizona’s awful tight end defense. The Cardinals gave up the most points to the position last year, so Thomas is a safe bet to hit value.

Honorable mention: Jonnu Smith (TEN): $4,200 vs. JAC

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Beyond our daily fantasy football content, be sure to check out our Daily Fantasy Football Tools. From our Value Plays – which allows you to identify players who are projected to outperform their salaries – to our DFS Cheat Sheets – that helps you get a quick read on the day’s players – we’ve got you covered this fantasy football season.

Isaiah Sirois is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Isaiah, check out his archive and follow him @is_sirois.