Week 2 – Fantasy Football and AI

After a heartbreaking (lol) loss in week one, our agent is back with its picks for week two!

But, before we start talking about rosters and picks and how I think AI is going to lose week two, let’s talk about the overall architecture of the application.

You may notice that after my post on Tuesday I have substantially reduced the data storage. I’m now using three DynamoDB tables to handle everything.

1. Current Roster – This table is populated by an automated scraper that pulls the rosters for all the teams in the league.
2. Player Data Table – This table populates all the historical data from the draft as well as projected stats for the 2025 season. It also holds the actual points received after the week has completed.
3. Waiver Table – this is probably the most notable addition to the overall Agent. This table is populated by both ESPN and FantasyPros

The waiver wire functionality is a massive addition to the Agent. It now has the ability to know what players are available for me to add to the team. If we combine that with the player stats in the Player Data Table we can get a clear picture as to how the player MIGHT preform on a week to week basis.

The waiver table is populated by a lambda function that goes out and scrapes the ESPN Fantasy Platform. It is quite involved code as there is no API for ESPN. I’m still not sure why they don’t build one. It seems like an easy win for them especially as they get into more sports gambling. You can read the code here. This Lambda function runs on a CRON every day so that the Agent always has daily updated data.

The other major addition is a web interface. I realized that accessing this via a terminal is great but, it would be way more interesting to have something to look at. Especially if I am away from the computer.

The web interface consists of a display of the roster:

There are a couple things I need to fix. You’ll notice that a few players “have points” this is a problem with the data in the Player Data Table from when I was merging all the sources. Ideally, this will display the points the player has received for the week. Eventually I would like to add some live streaming of the point totals.

It also displays the bench (notice the same data glitch). On my list of things to do is to make these boxes drag and drop and auto update the roster table so that we can move players around. I also want to add their projections to each block so I can see the projected points per week for each player.

The BEST part (in my opinion) is the prediction functionality. There is a box that we can choose which week to get a prediction for and then it will return output from the agent.

So, let’s take a look at week two!

Here is a screenshot of the week two optimal lineup. This is the lineup I will be starting for week two unless one of my tight-ends becomes healthy. With George Kittle on injured reserve and Evan Engram also questionable, the AI suggested picking up Hunter Henry.

The Agent will also provide up with some waiver targets as well as matchup analysis

It will also output the full response for each week. Here is the full text of what the Agent has predicted for week two:

LINEUP OPTIMIZATION FOR WEEK 2

Starting Lineup Strategy:
– Josh Allen (QB): Elite QB1 with 38.8 points in Week 1, facing NYJ defense that allowed significant passing yards. His 2024 average of 31.85 and strong 2025 projection make him a must-start.
– Josh Jacobs (RB1): Top projected RB at 18.4 points, facing Washington at home. Green Bay’s new offensive system should benefit Jacobs significantly.
– Saquon Barkley (RB2): Projected 18.1 points against Kansas City. His 2024 average of 15.93 and strong 2025 projection of 273.2 season points make him a core play.
– DK Metcalf (WR1): Highest projected WR at 14.3 points. Pittsburgh vs Seattle should be a competitive game with passing volume.
– Marvin Harrison Jr. (WR2): Rookie with 14.2 projection facing Carolina. His 154.5 season projection suggests breakout potential.
– Hunter Henry (TE): Best available TE option at 9.3 projected points with Kittle on IR and Engram questionable.
– DJ Moore (FLEX): Solid 13.9 projection against Detroit. Chicago’s passing game should see volume in what could be a high-scoring affair.
– Breece Hall (OP): Critical OP selection at 14.9 projected points. Hall offers RB1 upside against Buffalo, and using an RB in the OP slot provides higher floor than WR options.

CRITICAL WAIVER WIRE TARGETS:

Roster analysis shows no critical positional needs. Your team has excellent depth across all positions with 19 total players and strong projections.

TOP DEFENSE WAIVER PICKUP:
No specific waiver targets identified in the data, but consider streaming defenses based on matchups. Look for teams facing backup QBs or offenses with high turnover rates.

INJURY CONCERNS:
– George Kittle: On Injury Reserve, unavailable for Week 2
– Evan Engram: Listed as Questionable, monitor his status throughout the week

MATCHUP ANALYSIS:
– Josh Allen vs NYJ: Excellent matchup for Allen, Jets defense struggled in Week 1
– Jacobs vs WSH: Home game advantage for Green Bay, Washington’s run defense showed vulnerabilities
– Barkley vs KC: High-scoring game potential, Eagles should stay competitive requiring rushing attempts
– DK Metcalf vs SEA: Revenge game narrative, Pittsburgh’s passing attack should be featured

BEST DEFENSE MATCHUPS

Detroit DST faces Chicago at home, which presents a solid matchup. Other potential streaming options to consider:
– Teams facing rookie QBs or backup quarterbacks
– Defenses at home against struggling offensive lines
– Units facing teams with high turnover rates from Week 1

WAIVER PRIORITY:
1. Streaming Defense: Look for defenses with favorable Week 3 matchups
2. Handcuff RBs: Target backup RBs for your elite runners (Jacobs, Barkley, Hall)
3. High-Upside WRs: Monitor snap counts and target shares from Week 2 for emerging receivers

Final Comments:
Your roster is exceptionally deep and well-constructed. The OP position selection of Breece Hall provides excellent upside, as RBs typically offer higher floors than WRs in flex positions. Focus on matchup-based streaming for defense and monitor the waiver wire for breakout players rather than addressing positional needs. Your core lineup projects for strong Week 2 performance with multiple players having 15+ point upside.

What’s Next?

So we have a pretty solid week two prediction. Josh Allen and Saquon Barkley I have faith in. The rest of the team is hit or miss. Chicago faces Detroit at Ford Field (Go Lions!) and both teams lost week one. But Ben Johnson facing his old team for the first time has me nervous.

This brings up a few of my to-dos for the overall program.

1. Defensive matchups – I need to get data for the Defenses to find the best matchups week to week. Having a good defense play is an easy way to get an advantage every week.
2. Add authentication – I added a really simple authentication method to the code just for the time being. But, it would be nice to have a Single Sign On or something a little bit more secure.
3. Drag-n-drop interface – I need to add functionality to be able to modify the roster on the web interface. It would be nice if this could also update ESPN.
4. Slow Output – I’m always looking for ways to optimize the Agent’s output. Currently it takes about 45 seconds to a minute to return the output.

Thoughts? I hope this series is entertaining. If you have ideas for the Agent please comment below or shoot me a message somewhere!