If you’re making a Cleveland Browns vs. New York Jets DFS lineup for Sunday in Week 2, then you’ve come to the right place. We’ve analyzed each team’s highest-probability game scripts to assess the most likely outcomes, including which players are in line to thrive more than anticipated or fall short of expectations. The following recommended fantasy football lineup (for tournaments, 50/50, or head-to-head competitions) aims to lock in a relatively high floor while maximizing upside.
Browns vs. Jets top DFS lineup
Today we’re playing DraftKings “Showdown Captain Mode,” which includes one player who earns 1.5 times his scoring output, plus five Flex players. The following NFL betting recommendations are based on proprietary PFN predictive analytics pulled from decades of NFL historical data.
[bet-promo id=”149453″ ]Using this data, I’ve built dozens of models showing actionable probabilities of better-than-expected and worse-than-expected outcomes. Criteria such as age, durability, shifting personnel, schedule, and other factors help shape these final assessments.
Browns DFS considerations
I stressed this during the summer and reinforced it this past week: Cleveland’s winning strategy requires a heavy dose of running. If Jacoby Brissett’s slinging it 40 times a game, the team’s in trouble. Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt have been one of the league’s best one-two backfield punches, and Week 1 showed they haven’t slowed down.
So we should be cautious about investing in any receivers. What are the odds that Donovan Peoples-Jones will get 11 targets again? Is Amari Cooper’s 3-17 receiving line last Sunday a sign of things to come? And what happened to David Njoku?
It’s okay to lean into question marks in DFS, as long as they’re “boom-bust” question marks. We go big when there are big payoffs. I don’t see the big payoff of betting on Cleveland’s passing game. It would be surprising if more than one Browns receiver cracks 10 DFS fantasy points.
However . . . the Browns also play on Thursday. Last year, when they played on Sunday right before a Thursday Night Football tilt, Cleveland’s backfield combined for only 21 touches. Yet . . . that Sunday they were crushed by the undefeated Cardinals. Did negative game script lead to a more pass-focused second half? These are some of the competing certainties and complexities that will shape our DFS lineup.
Jets DFS considerations
While Brissett operates as a game manager, apparently Joe Flacco is on a different trajectory. The veteran QB is on pace for 1,003 pass attempts. Even more interestingly, his 59 attempts last week weren’t even a career-high (he’s thrown 60+ three times). Nineteen of those passes went to his backfield. By Jets standards, this team is already in midseason form.
But seriously, they are. This is a young, talented unit that looked lost in its first four drives against the Ravens before starting to find its groove. A Breece Hall fumble deep in Baltimore territory didn’t help.
The good news is that Flacco has nothing to lose in these first four weeks with Zach Wilson on the shelf. While another 59 pass attempts seems entirely unrealistic, 35+ seems manageable, even if Cleveland works the clock through their proficient running game. Up to six Jets are in line for meaningful production. The question is, which ones offer the best ceiling?
Recommended DFS lineup
If this ends up being a 7-12 point Cleveland victory (the most likely scenario among five realistic point-differential outcomes), then we might assume enough usage from Cleveland’s backfield to warrant starting both of their stars. In particular, any work near the goal line should favor Chubb and Hunt, rather than forcing Brissett to zip one into the end zone.
So Chubb will be our Captain in this DFS lineup ($12,200 normally, $18,300 as Captain) paired with Hunt ($10,600). Barring unforeseen circumstances (such as the Jets shutting down the Browns on the road), these two are good bets to be top-four DFS scorers. Cade York ($4,200) and the Browns D/ST ($4,600) give us two solid 10+ point options at very reasonable prices.
That leaves $13,300 for two slots. Michael Carter seems overpriced at $8,400, as this assumes he’ll continue dominating in the passing game (he had nine targets last week). But rookie standout Breece Hall looms, and for Carter to justify his price, he’ll likely need to score. The Browns largely held Christian McCaffrey in check last weekend, and while that’s not an all-encompassing indicator, it’s a promising sign for a defense that was above-average against the run last year.
Therefore, we’re going with two of the Jets’ top three receivers: Elijah Moore ($7,400) and Garrett Wilson ($4,800). Joe Flacco won’t throw 59 passes again. I mean, he could. But let’s be real.
That said, I believe New York will be forced into catch-up mode by the second half, and their receivers are too talented to dismiss. I believe at least one will net 14+ points, making this a strong hedge for a team that realistically might not have more than one double-digit DFS scorer.