If you missed my first article introducing the “Joe 2 Pro” series, you can read it here. It gives a brief overview on how to attack daily fantasy sports without feeling like you’re drowning. What I am trying to do with the Joe 2 Pro series is bring up topics that I wish I knew about when I had first started playing. There’s definitely a learning curve when you go from seasonal leagues to daily play.

Sometimes when I’m constructing my lineups each week, I’ll look at my players and all of a sudden I’ll have two to four players on the same team. It’s usually not intentional, sometimes it just sort of happens because I like the values of the players. In cash games I try to avoid having too much invested in one team. However, there are exceptions to this. For example, pairing a QB and WR on high volume passing offense could work out if you believe said WR offers the best value at that price point. In Week 4 I liked Drew Brees and Brandin Cooks because Cooks was fairly cheap for a guy who was out-snapping and out-targeting all of the Saints pass-catchers at the time. There is added risk in this for a cash game because if these players don’t perform as expected, you’re going to severely cripple your team. In Week 3, I had Matthew Stafford, Joique Bell and Calvin Johnson on a single cash game lineup and that proved to be disastrous. In Week 4 if you had Aaron Rodgers with either of his WRs you were probably in pretty good shape. I’m not saying that it can’t work, but there’s always going to be risk in involved when you have that much stock invested into a single team for your cash games.

Once in awhile there are relationships that I do seek out. In Week 1 I paired Peyton Manning with Montee Ball because the Colts have a relatively weak defense, the Broncos were projected to score over 30 points and in theory, I could allocate 100 percent of the Broncos touchdowns. Provided the rushing TDs come from Ball. Manning and Ball combined for 38.76 points, which isn’t too bad. Personally, I don’t think Ball is that great of a talent, but I couldn’t ignore a price that I liked. I won’t force this sort of pairing into my lineups, but if I think it can work out, then I’ll give it a whirl. When looking to pair a QB and a RB, I’ll check the Vegas O/U to see if a team is projected to have a high scoring week. If they also have a strong run game, a good offense and the salaries allow it without forcing it into your lineups, pairing a QB and a RB can create a high floor for your team. Notice, that there are numerous things that needs to match up for this to be a viable option. This is just something to be aware of.  I’ll have more on player relationships in Week 6.

Week 5 Thought Process

There is one combination of QB and RB that I am thinking about pairing this week. That would be Ben Roethlisberger and Le’Veon Bell. The Steelers are projected for 26 points and the Jaguars give up the most fantasy points per game to QBs and the second most FPPG to RBs. I think Blake Bortles has potential to turn this game into a shootout. Even Mike Glennon passed all over this lackluster Steelers defense. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Ben throw for three TDs and Bell have at least one rushing TD against a poor Jacksonville defense.

The RotoViz GLSP App is one of my favorite tools to utilize when I am making my DFS lineups. I highly recommend using this to get an idea on how each player may perform. The app has a great looking median projection for both Bell and Big Ben. Bell is second in the league averaging 22.75 touches per game. He’s as safe as a cash game play as it gets.

As I do most weeks, I’ll be paying up for RBs. The looser salaries this week makes it even easier to do so. Giovani Bernard, DeMarco Murray, Le’Veon Bell, and Matt Forte are the upper echelon guys that I prefer. Andre Ellington and Rashad Jennings are the mid-tier guys I am looking at for RB.

Kelvin Benjamin and Andrew Hawkins are a few of the WRs I really like in Week 5. Hawkins is under-priced on both sites has 33 percent market share on his team. I’d lean more towards Hawkins on DraftKings where it is full PPR, but wouldn’t argue with you if you wanted to use him on FanDuel either. I’ll most likely also have exposure to DeAndre Hopkins and Brandin Cooks as well.

Travis Kelce is sitting at minimum salary on DraftKings and I think he is a must play at that price point. Julius Thomas might be a guy you want to try and fit in your cash games, too, with Arizona being less than stellar covering the TE.

Good luck to everybody in Week 5!