The NFL preseason rolls into Week 2. Unlike in Week 1, all 32 teams will be in action. We have our first real sizable slate of the season to dive into on Saturday with an eight-game main slate starting at 7 p.m. ET.
There are some key differences between the preseason and the regular season from a DFS perspective. For starters, the rosters are substantially larger. Each team has 90 players on their roster at the moment, but that number will be trimmed to 53 during the regular season. Most teams use the preseason to try and evaluate their entire roster, so expect nearly every player to see the field.
Volume is everything in the preseason. If the starters are only going to play one or two drives before ceding to the backups, the backups will inherently carry more fantasy value. Talent is simply not that important. Maybe the starters can score a touchdown in their limited playing time, but chasing volume is going to be a more sustainable strategy in the long term.
Luckily, FantasyLabs now has preseason projections in our NFL Models to help you build your lineups. Chris Raybon has also put together an awesome guide on how to crush preseason DFS.
Let’s dive into Saturday’s eight-game slate.
Quarterback
Since we have 16 teams to choose from on Saturday, I’m going to be a bit more selective at each position. We can really hone in and try to identify the best plays instead of trying to decipher each team’s depth chart.
Kyle Lauletta is someone who stands out at quarterback. The Browns only have three QBs on their roster at the moment, and Baker Mayfield will not play in their first contest. Case Keenum will draw the start vs. the Jaguars, but he’s a nine-year veteran who doesn’t need a ton of reps in the preseason.
That leaves Lauletta to handle most of the quarterback snaps. He was a fourth-round pick by the Giants back in 2018, and he signed with the Browns’ practice squad in October of last season. They haven’t had a chance to see him yet against live competition, so I expect them to take a long look on Saturday. He was effective in his final collegiate season at Richmond, racking up 28 touchdowns through the air and four touchdowns on the ground over just 11 games.
Other Options
The Jordan Love era is upon us. Thankfully for Packers’ fans, it’s only for the preseason. Aaron Rodgers is going to be under center to start the regular season, but he is not expected to play Saturday vs. the Texans. Head coach Matt LaFleur told reporters that Love is going to get “the majority of the game,” and that makes him an appealing target. He’s a plus-athlete for a quarterback, which is a big reason why he was a first-round pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.
The 49ers plan to give Jimmy Garoppolo one series on Saturday before turning the ball over to Trey Lance for the rest of the half. Lance could also reportedly play into the third quarter if he’s below 30 snaps. That’s enough time for Lance to do some damage given his combo of passing and rushing ability.
The Rams have four quarterbacks on their roster, but only Bryce Perkins and Devlin Hodges are expected to see the field on Saturday. Perkins is the preferred target of the two. He’s a former four-star recruit out of high school who ran a 4.68 40-yard dash at his pro day, which is a lot more than Hodges has going for him.
The Chargers have three quarterbacks who figure to play on Saturday, which is obviously not ideal. That said, Chase Daniel doesn’t figure to do much after starting the game, while K.J. Costello was only signed on August 1. That leaves Easton Stick, who is an absolute workout warrior. He ranks in at least the 91st percentile for 40-yard dash time, Agility Score, and SPARQ-x Score per PlayerProfiler, and he also averaged an elite 11.8 yards per attempt in college. He did it at a small school in North Dakota State, but there’s clearly plenty to like here.
Running Back
The Raiders’ depth chart is pretty thin at the running back position. Josh Jacobs and Kenyan Drake are established at the top, but neither player figures to play much on Saturday. Jalen Richard is also out indefinitely with an injury, while Alec Ingold is more of a fullback than a running back. That leaves just three other players at the position, two of which have been signed within the past two weeks.
All of those signs point towards Trey Ragas getting the lion’s share of the touches at the position vs. the Seahawks. Ragas is an undrafted rookie, and those players tend to dominate the fantasy scoring at running back during the preseason. Ragas doesn’t have a ton going for him athletically, but he did average 5.8 yards per carry in college. PlayerProfiler also lists his closest comp as Pierre Thomas, who OG fantasy football fans will remember fondly.
The Browns are another team who should be pretty thin at running back. Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt are not expected to play on Saturday, while Corey Taylor is a camp body who was signed just last week. That leaves D’Ernest Johnson, Demetric Felton, and John Kelly to handle most of the workload.
Felton is the rookie in that group, which makes him the preferred target. He also has an interesting skillset as a hybrid running back/wide receiver. Felton spent his first three years at UCLA playing wide receiver, and he caught 55 balls in his junior season. He transitioned to running back as a senior and led the team with 668 rushing yards over six games, which was enough for the Browns to spend a sixth-round draft pick on him.
Other Options
The Ravens have just five RBs on their depth chart, and J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards likely won’t play much. That makes Justice Hill, Nate McCrary, and Ty’Son Williams viable options, but Hill is my preferred option of the trio. Hill was a fantasy sleeper during his rookie season thanks to his outstanding athletic measurables, and he blazed a 4.40 40-yard dash at the 2019 combine.
The Bengals have six RBs on their roster currently, but Joe Mixon and Samaje Perine won’t factor into the equation on Saturday. The Bengals’ beat reporters have speculated that Trayveon Williams and Chris Evans should see significant workloads during the preseason, which makes them appealing targets. Williams was a sixth-round pick in 2019, while Evans was a sixth-round pick in 2021.
A.J. Dillon might play a series or two on Saturday, but Kylin Hill, Patrick Taylor, and Dexter Williams are expected to handle most of the RB duties for the Packers. Hill is the rookie of the group, and he was an excellent receiver out of the backfield in college. He would be my preferred target in this trio.
The Seahawks are another team that could provide some value. They have six players at the position on the active roster, but Chris Carson may not suit up. Rashad Penny also missed practice earlier in the week, so he might not play either. That leaves DeeJay Dallas and Alex Collins to serve as their primary ball carriers. Dallas was the Seahawks’ fourth-round pick in 2020, but he didn’t get much of an opportunity to play last season. That makes him the stronger option.
Joshua Kelly and Larry Rountree III are both expected to be featured by the Chargers during the preseason. Kelly was a fourth-round pick in 2020, while Rountree was a sixth-rounder in 2021. Kelly is the superior athlete, but Rountree was more productive in college. This will be one of the more interesting situations to watch play out.
Wide Receiver
Receiver is the toughest position to project during the preseason. Most teams are going to play a large rotation at the position, and the production will likely be spread out.
To put that in perspective, the Steelers had 16 players receive at least one target in the Hall of Fame Game, while the Cowboys had 18. However, none of those players had more than five targets, and only five saw at least four. In other words, there’s a lot of variance at the position, so using a large player pool makes the most sense.
Still, that doesn’t mean we can’t dive into the rosters for each team and try to identify some of the stronger options.
The Saints have arguably the most appealing wide receiver situation on Saturday. They only have nine players at the position, and three of those players are currently injured.
Lil’Jordan Humphrey is someone who is catching my attention. Despite what his name suggests, there is nothing “lil” about Humphrey. He’s a 6’4” 210-pound monster of a receiver, and he did produce when given the chance to play in Week 14 of last season. Deonte Harris and Juwan Johnson are other players to consider in New Orleans.
Other Options
The Browns depth chart looks open at wide receiver, especially with Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry, and Rashad Higgins not expected to play. That makes the rest of their receivers pretty appealing, but Donovan Peoples-Jones is probably my favorite. He was productive in limited opportunities last season, and he checks all the boxes athletically.
The Packers are another appealing team to target at receiver. Devin Funchess could reportedly get extensive playing time during the preseason, which would be rare for a veteran receiver. That said, he did opt out of last season, and this will be his first season with the Packers. If he does get extensive playing time, he could do some damage against backup defensive backs.
The two Los Angeles squads will square off against each other, and both teams have some appeal at receiver. The Rams are thin at the position, especially since Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp, and DeSean Jackson are not expected to play. They’ve used second-round picks in back-to-back drafts on Van Jefferson and Tutu Atwell, and those two players should have a chance to shine in the first half. They will eventually give way to J.J. Koski, Jeremiah Haydel, Ben Skowronek, and Landon Akers, who should all get plenty of opportunities as well.
For the Chargers, Joe Reed and Josh Palmer are the players I’m targeting. Reed was a fifth-round pick in 2020, while Palmer was selected in the third round in 2021. Keenan Allen and Mike Williams are not expected to suit up, so they should be primary targets for the Chargers’ passing game in the first half.
Tight End
Tight end is always a tricky position because so few players make an impact in the preseason. I’m inclined to go with Travis Kelce since the Chiefs’ starters are expected to play around a full quarter. One full quarter of Kelce could mean multiple catches and a possible touchdown, and that is more than enough to be viable at such a thin position.
If you want to look a bit deeper down the list, Donald Parham Jr. is an interesting player for the Chargers. He absolutely dominated at Stetson – his Dominator Rating puts him in the 99th percentile for a tight end – and he also displayed strong athletic measurables at his pro day. He thrived in the XFL in its limited run, which put him back on the NFL radar. He’s drawn solid reviews out of training camp and is expected to be a bigger part of the Chargers’ offense this season. He could have an impact with Jared Cook not expected to suit up on Saturday.
