GPPs are not won by using a lineup with all of the most popular players on the slate. Being a contrarian in a big-field event in your roster construction can help separate your lineup and gain you leverage over the field when some of the more popular names bust.
Hence, the goal of this article won’t be to just highlight the popular “play-it-safe” names. We won’t avoid all the chalky names, because good players are still good plays most of the time. However, highlighting contrarian roster constructions and ways to make your lineup unique while maximizing upside will be the goal.
Remember, in most cases, the person who finishes in 10,000th place and the person who finishes in 1,269th place receive the same amount of money in many of these larger field contests, so there is no reason to simply follow the crowd to feel comfortable.
Let’s dive into Week 2 of the 2025 NFL season.
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Top DFS Contrarian Stack
Game Stack: Miami Dolphins vs. New England Patriots
Tua Tagovailoa ($5,300) – Tyreek Hill ($6,400) – DeVon Achane ($6,900) – Hunter Henry ($4,000) – Stefon Diggs ($5,000)
No team played worse in Week 1 than the Dolphins. They scored 8 points and produced just 114 passing yards. So why go back for DFS? Simple, they’re playing against the Patriots. Without Christian Gonzalez, this New England defense got spanked through the air by what was supposed to be a somewhat limited Raiders passing game. Geno Smith threw for 362 yards, while 4 different receivers averaged over 20.0 yards per catch.
Gonzalez is almost certainly out for Week 2, so the duo of Tyreek Hill and Tua Tagovailoa should be in a prime spot to bounce back. Both guys are coming off embarrassing openers, and Tagovailoa has relished playing the Patriots, having averaged 290 yards and 2.25 passing touchdowns per game over them over his last four meetings.
I expect some people will be drawn to Hill this week, but Tagovailoa should still be very low-owned in larger field GPPs. At $5,300, using him allows you to double-stack him with a player like DeVon Achane. Achane is essentially an RB/WR hybrid (three receptions for 20 yards and a touchdown in Week 1) and should benefit from the Patriots’ need to ensure Hill doesn’t get behind the defense. You could also consider leaving Achane out and going with a lesser-known name, such as Jaylen Waddle. However, Waddle is dealing with a shoulder injury, so if you go that route, ensure you take a look at the injury report before making that decision.
On the other side of the ball, Miami also offers up a solid matchup for New England’s skill players, who will likely see plenty of solid fantasy opportunities should the team fall behind. The lack of a true shutdown corner on Miami should make this a great spot for Stefon Diggs ($5,000) to potentially go off, and he’s coming off a game where he went for six receptions and 57 yards on seven targets. Hunter Henry ($4,000) also looks solid as a single come-back play, given how poorly the Dolphins covered Tyler Warren in Week 1 (seven receptions for 76 yards).
The fact that we have two poor teams facing off makes it a bit of a scary spot, but with Miami at home and their top skill players having plenty of experience beating up on the New England Patriots, this Dolphins offense looks like a good contrarian way to approach GPP builds in Week 2.
Quarterback
Patrick Mahomes ($6,200)
Mahomes had a tough Week 1 from a real-life stand point, but an excellent fantasy output, nonethless. He averaged just 6.6 yards per attempt but rushed for 57 yards and a TD on just six carries, showcasing a little better fitness than he has in years past. This week’s matchup with the Eagles doesn’t look as daunting as it did last year in February either. Their rushing defense wasn’t great in Week 1, and their secondary ranked just 19th in EPA per dropback. If not for a few drops by CeeDee Lamb, they likely would have been a whole lot worse in those ranks.
While he’ll be without a few of his weapons, Mahomes should be able to pick up some cheap rushing yards against a depleted Eagles defensive line, and still has both Hollywood Brown ($5,200) and Travis Kelce ($5,000) to rely on, neither of whom cost much and make for excellent correlation plays. Given the likely popularity of more expensive quarterbacks like Burrow and Jackson, Mahomes should make for a solid lower-owned target, whom you can mix and match with one or more cheaper receivers from Kansas City in builds for this week.
Running Back
Higher End: Breece Hall ($6,200)
A lot of people expected to see a more even split from the Jets’ backfield in Week 1, but that simply wasn’t the case. Hall totaled 19 carries to Braelon Allen’s six and vastly outproduced his second-year counterpart, outrushing him 107 yards to nine, while also taking in two receptions for 38 yards.
With that kind of production, you have to figure the Jets will continue to feed Hall versus the Bills in Week 2, who got absolutely lit up in Week 1 by another elite rushing attack in Baltimore. The Bills surrendered 238 rushing yards against the Ravens and ranked 31st in EPA per play and 28th in success rate versus the run. At just $6,200, despite having a great matchup, Hall still isn’t being valued like other elite names, making him a great value to build around at running back in Week 2.
Lower End: Kareem Hunt ($4,500)
He may not be the prettiest runner or most efficient back, but Kareem Hunt is a favorite of head coach Andy Reid and is in a better-than-advertised matchup in Week 2. The Eagles were terrible vs the run when facing Dallas, allowing Javonte Williams to find the end zone twice as a rusher, while ranking 32nd in success rate and 25th in EPA per play versus the rush.
Some of that will have to do with Jalen Carter getting bounced early last week, but Philadelphia lost other important names off its defensive line over the offseason as well, and it may not be as tough a matchup as last season. Hunt played nearly the same amount of snaps as Isiah Pacheco last week and took 100% of the SDD (short down and distance) work.. At $4,500, he’s not a crazy name to target this week if looking for a cheap RB.
Wide Receiver
Higher End: AJ Brown ($6,600)
Brown looks like one of the best buy-low targets on the slate. At just $6,600, he’s at a price point we rarely see him at on DraftKings, and will be facing a Chiefs secondary that got completely lit up in Week 1 by the Chargers’ wide receivers. Kansas City ranked 28th in EPA per play versus the pass and 32nd in success rate, but was solid against the run, limiting the Chargers to 3.6 yards per carry.
With Dallas Goedert questionable, we could also see a much more condensed target share for the Eagles, who used Goedert considerably in the opener. Either way, the chance for a blowup game in Week 2 for Brown is certainly on the table and with lower ownership likely, he’s a name I’d not hesitate to be overweight on at this price point.
Lower End: Chris Olave ($4,900)
I get why this salary is low. The 49ers are hardly an easy matchup, and they ranked 3rd in EPA per play versus the pass among all defenses in Week 1. However, even with Nick Bosa out there creating havoc, I still view this as a great breakout spot for Olave, who garnered 13 targets in Week 1, the third-most in the league.
Seattle’s WR1 Jaxon Smith-Njigba was a touchdown away from an epic day versus the 49ers’ secondary, as he went for nine receptions (13 targets) and 124 yards. I expect that New Orleans will at least attempt to mimic some of what Seattle did in the opener, particularly, by scheming open its WR1 versus slot corner, Upton Stout. Either way, with the Saints at home and facing a 49ers team coming off a physical game with Seattle, I view it as a spot to deploy the cheaper Olave for fantasy, and bank on him being more efficient in his second week.
Tight End
Ja’Tavion Sanders ($3,100)
Sanders was the cheap punt play I targeted here last week, and while he only managed 4.7 FPTS, the second-year pro did haul in 2-of-3 targets and led the Panthers with a 15.0 aDOT (average depth of target) in Week 1. It’s not a ton to go off, but other than Tetairoa McMillan, Sanders looks like the only other viable downfield threat that Bryce Young has in his arsenal right now.
This week, the Young-Sanders connection may be in a position to connect more regularly. Cardinals’ new corner Will Johnson played well in Week 1, as he helped limit Chris Olave and Rashid Shaheed to just 87 yards on 13 catches (under 7.0 yards per catch). However, Juwan Johnson was far more efficient, converting 8-of-12 targets for 76 yards (9.5 yards per catch). With Johnson likely covering McMillan and the Panthers likely to be behind at some point in this game, this could be the spot Sanders produces, and pays off this minuscule salary with a 5x performance. At just $3,100 and an opponent that could be uber tight end-friendly this season, I don’t see much reason not to target him if you’re looking for one in this range again for Week 2.
Defense/Special Teams
Detroit Lions ($3,200)
The Lions’ defense didn’t start great from a fantasy perspective, but they didn’t play all that poorly either, allowing just 78 rush yards to the Packers and 266 yards overall.
This week, they’ll face a quarterback in Caleb Williams, who had the fifth-longest time to throw stats (via NFL Next Gen) and was sacked twice by the Vikings. Williams made some nice plays in Week 1, but only managed a 60% completion rate after starting the game a perfect 10/10. The inaccuracy aside, Williams holding the ball and trying to make difficult plays is going to give this defense a chance at creating turnovers and potentially even land a scoring play.
With the Bears coming in on short rest after playing on primetime, I see this as a nice pay-up spot on the Lions’ D/ST, who aren’t likely to be heavily rostered after a disappointing opening week.
