Taking another whirl at DraftKings' salary cap game where you pick your best starting lineup within the confines of that cap. Last week I came in 13,000th out of 57,000 entrants, which means I placed in the top 23 percent. Is that good? The top 11,500 people got paid, so not good enough.
The competition gives participants a chance to win money from a $100,000 prize pool, including $10,000 for first place. No, seriously! Other details:
- $2 entry fee. Entry is free with your first deposit.
- Top 11,500 are paid.
- Starts on Sunday, September, 14th at 1:00 EST.
- Salary Cap Style Drafting. $50,000 to select 9 spots
- Roster Format: 1 QB, 2 RB, 3 WR, 1 TE, 1 Flex, 1 Defense.
- First time depositors at DraftKings receive a 100% bonus up to $600
Make that first deposit, enter, get a shot at winning some money. (And bear in mind, you can also take advantage of the outrageous promotion that DraftKings has offered: First-time DraftKing players who sign up for the promotion via the Fantasy Index store, can deposit $40 and get the full Fantasy Index Weekly subscription free.
Enter this week's contest at this link: https://www.draftkings.com/gateway?s=764142220.
Here's my team.
Quarterback: Peyton Manning. He's the best, and he's at home against a division rival that just placed two key defenders on injured reserve. It's possible Denver goes run-heavy here, but Manning fits under my cap and any week I can start him (and still have a strong lineup elsewhere) I will. If I wanted to save a few hundred, I'd go with Andrew Luck.
Running back/Flex: Giovani Bernard, Shane Vereen and Darren McFadden. Bernard (home against Atlanta) and Vereen (at Minnesota) are both excellent PPR plays this week. They're facing questionable defenses. They're going to catch a ton of passes. And their teams should score plenty. I am glad to get them into a lineup and glad this is my actual tandem in one league. At Flex, I would normally go with a wide receiver, but I needed a cheap player at some position and found one in Darren McFadden. He's facing Houston, which looked really soft against the run last week, and Maurice Jones-Drew isn't going to play. MJD had a "procedure" on his hand, and since it's fair to assume it wasn't a pedicure, I'm going to say he had surgery and won't be available for a game five days later.
Wide receivers: Randall Cobb, Justin Hunter and Brandin Cooks. You start three, and I'm going with two guys facing soft pass defenses and a third guy who was a main target for Drew Brees last week. Cobb and Cooks should catch a lot of passes and maybe run the ball a few times. Hunter has big-play potential against Dallas and to me is perfect for this salary cap game. Cheap, but should out-perform his salary.
Tight end: Jimmy Graham. Was surprised to see that you could get Graham a little cheaper this week than Julius Thomas. Not that Thomas won't be great, too, but after scoring 3 TDs last week, I expect Peyton Manning to focus on other receivers this time. Graham actually didn't score in Week 1, which probably means he'll score twice this week.
Defense: New Orleans Saints. New Orleans burned me and a lot of folks last week, which probably helps explain why they're a good value here. I plan to go to the well one more time with them, at Cleveland.
Check out the competition at the above link, and good luck.