This article is part of our FanDuel Fantasy Football series.
Welcome back to another season of FanDuel daily fantasy football! This is a great venue to use guys you might have missed out on in season-long leagues and there's always the opportunity to hit it big one or two weeks and pay for the entire season. Let's see who we should look at for Week 1. Any questions, comments or concerns, hit me up below.
Quarterbacks
Looking at the Sunday slate of games, Jalen Hurts ($7,600) looks very attractive. The Falcons were 31st against opposing quarterbacks last season and didn't do much in the offseason to improve their offense. Hurts will add extra fantasy value using his legs, Jalen Reagor is only 22, and adding DeVonta Smith gives Hurts two weapons on the outside. Dallas Goedert and Zach Ertz are solid receivers over the middle of the field and excellent big targets in the red zone. Hurts finished the season with an average of 23.74 fantasy points per game over his last four contests, showing a nice value.
This might be the year of the rookie quarterback, and I'm not opposed to using them immediately in daily fantasy. Ever since Cam Newton had a huge Week 1 his rookie season it shows that quarterbacks are ready now more than ever for the professional game. The two rookies I'd take a look at for this week are Trevor Lawrence ($6,800) and Mac Jones ($6,200). Jones had an excellent preseason and showed enough for the Patriots to release Newton, suggesting Jones has a pretty long leash on the starting spot. I like Lawrence's matchup this week (with all due respect to J.J. Watt), and I think he has a very underrated group of receivers at his disposal.
Running Backs
The trade of Sony Michel opens the door to Damien Harris ($5,800) who is poised to have a great season. A thousand yards and eight to 10 touchdowns appears to be in the cards for him, and the division seems better poised to stop the pass than the run. Harris will be a popular pick in cash games but don't shy away from him in those formats.
The chalky play at the position is going to be Dalvin Cook ($9,400) who averaged 22.55 fantasy points per game last season, the most of any running back. The Bengals were 25th against the position last season, so this sets up nicely for Cook who should get 20-plus touches. Christian McCaffrey ($10,400) appears to be in top form and ready handle all the workload they call for him, so he's a good option as well. This is a spot to spend up on for Week 1.
Wide Receivers
I'll be rostering Elijah Moore ($5,000) in almost every lineup this week given this will likely be the last time we see him at this price point. I don't think Carolina is a defense to worry about and they may end up keying on Corey Davis instead of Moore.
One of the most interesting games this week is the Cardinals traveling to Tennessee to take on the Titans. I like the idea of using DeAndre Hopkins with either A.J. Brown or Julio Jones and hope this game turns into a shootout. While Julio has the injury concern labeled to him, he's played at least 14 games in six of his last seven seasons. It'll be a coin flip each week as to who has the better game between Brown and Julio, which is why I like using each in different lineups.
Tight Ends
Travis Kelce ($8,500) averaged 18.32 fantasy points per game last season, which was almost six points higher than George Kittle who finished second. There's plenty of salary cap space to be able to use him this week, although Cleveland upgraded their defense in the offseason.
Jonnu Smith ($4,900) and Hunter Henry ($5,200) fall into a similar category of Brown and Jones, as I think it will be another tossup on a weekly basis as to who has the better game. Rookie Mac Jones will likely lean on his tight ends, who typically run short safe routes and are big targets in the red zone. It should be expected that Xavien Howard will shadow Jakobi Meyers, leaving the tight ends room to work over the middle of the field. Smith is more of an athletic freak while Henry probably has the better set of hands, which is why it's tough to determine who's the better play.
Defense
I'm going to be a huge homer here and suggest the Buffalo Bills ($3,600). I don't think Big Ben has much left in the tank, and with fans being allowed back into stadiums, it's a huge advantage for the home team. The Bills return their entire defense and their defensive line has looked great this season. Tre'Davious White continues to be a standout corner, and the safety combination of Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer are one of the better tandems in the league.
