Welcome back for another exciting year of football here at Razzball. This season, I am going to be hitting you with a weekly DFS-focused article laying out my favorite options to target at each position for the Sunday DFS main slate. This article will be going position by position giving you my favorite pay-up option and my favorite pay-down or dart-throw option at each position to help you build out a winning DFS lineup. I will be using DraftKings pricing as a point of reference to seek out some values, and the goal will be to help you “double up” in a 50/50 cash game with solid plays. Of course, you can use the dart throws to try to win the GPP tournaments, but at the end of the article, I will give you my “double up” lineup using the players discussed in this article. I know you’re as excited as I am that week 1 is finally here, so let’s get right into it!
QB:
Pay up – Lamar Jackson – $7,300 – Lamar has been a trendy pick for MVP this season and he has been drafted in season-long leagues as the QB4 in most circles. His rushing ability always makes him a favorite in fantasy football, but he is also expected to take a step forward as a passer this season. The opening matchup is a juicy one facing the bottom-dwelling New York Jets and it should be a nice stage for Lamar to get his MVP campaign on track. On top of the nice matchup, the Ravens’ lead back, JK Dobbins, is still banged up and we don’t know what we will see out of him if he does play. This should give Lamar some extra running opportunities and even some redzone carries that he could punch in. With all these things working in Lamar’s favor, he should be a very solid “pay-up” option in DFS this week
Dart Throw – Trevor Lawrence – $5,600 – If you are looking to punt the quarterback position and want to find a low-salary dart throw, my guy would be Trevor Lawrence. We very quickly forget that coming into last year’s draft, Lawrence was being talked about as a generational talent coming into the league. He wasn’t dealt a fair shake last year under a tumultuous coaching staff and a rebuilding offense. I look for Trevor to take a big step forward this year under Doug Pederson and he can get that started right away in week 1. The Jags added some playmakers to the offense getting Christian Kirk, Evan Engram and Zay Jones, and bolstered the offensive line as well. The Commanders’ defense is a unit that allowed the most fantasy points to quarterbacks last season and will still be without their leader Chase Young. Trevor should be able to have time to find his weapons and give you a solid return on investment for this super low price.
RB:
Pay Up – Alvin Kamara – $7,600– Kamara is a guy who I really like for fantasy this season. This Saints team will challenge Tampa Bay at the top of the NFC South division this season, and Kamara will be a big reason why. Still, only 27 years old, Kamara is still one of the elite backs in the league and is a rare workhorse back who gets work both in the running and passing games. Especially if you are playing on DraftKings, which is a PPR scoring format, Kamara is a super valuable running back. He gets a good matchup this week against a Falcons defense that allowed 18 rushing touchdowns and over 130 rushing yards per game last season. With the dual threat upside Kamara gives us, if he gets into the endzone this week as he should, he could certainly give us 3 times the return on our investment at this price.
Dart Throw – Rex Burkhead – $4,900 – There is nothing sexy about Rexy. While there has been a ton of buzz around Houston’s rookie running back Dameon Pierce, we shouldn’t forget about ol’ T-Rex either. Houston made the statement that Pierce was going to be their lead back this season, but I can’t see an old-school coach like Lovie Smith just handing the keys over to a rookie. Burkhead will be involved as a change of pace back and should also operate as the pass-catching back. That means he should be the guy in there on 3rd downs and also be the one out there in hurry-up and passing situations. With the Texans not expected to win many games this season, passing situations will be a big part of their game flows, and that benefits Burkhead. He should be able to catch enough check-downs and contribute enough that he will pay off at this low price. It’s a risk, but that’s why we call this play a dart throw!
WR:
Pay Up – Tyreek Hill – $6,800 – The electric playmaker should be able to make a big splash in his first game in Miami. After being the big play threat for Kansas City for years, Hill comes over to Miami to help Tua Tagovailoa take the next step and hopefully put the Dolphins over the hump. He gets a good matchup this week against Jalen Mills or Jonathan Jones for New England, and I see him beating the defense at least once this week for a big touchdown.
*Bonus Mid-Range – Michael Pittman – $5,500 – I’m giving you a bonus play here this week because there is a lot of week 1 value at the wide receiver spot on DraftKings. This very well may be the cheapest you will see Pittman this season, and it is in a tasty matchup as well. He gets a QB upgrade this season and gets to start the season against a rookie cornerback. Jonathan Taylor will run plenty, but Matt Ryan will use that to his advantage and he and Pittman should feast in the play-action game.
Dart Throw – Chris Olave – $4,500 – I like New Orleans to come out hot this season and the rookie Olave could certainly be a big part of that. With Michael Thomas still dealing with a hamstring issue, Olave could be the guy that Jameis looks to against a very beatable Atlanta secondary. Olave fits the profile of the type of receiver that Winston loves, a big play receiver with great hands, and Jameis should be able to connect with the rookie for some big ones this week. Olave is going to be the dart throw I’m using to save some salary and give me a nice return on investment.
TE:
Pay up – Mark Andrews – $6,800 – If I am going to use Lamar at quarterback then I am absolutely going to look to pair him with his favorite target. Andrews has been the go-to guy in this offense, and he gets to start this season against a Jets team who was one of the worst teams in the league against opposing tight ends last season. While they may have improved a bit, it’s still a great matchup for one of the best in the league at the position. A 7 for 60 and a touchdown stat line from Andrews will give us just about 3 times the return on our investment.
Dart Throw – David Njoku – $3,900 – This is a great price for a guy who could very easily be second on the team in targets. Cleveland doesn’t have many pass catchers behind Amari Cooper, and Jacoby Brissett could totally utilize his new big-bodied, athletic, tight end a lot in the passing game. We don’t even need a lot from Njoku to pay off at this price tag and if he happens to get the redzone targets and find the endzone it would be a huge hit for a dart throw tight end.
Defense:
Some Defensive options would be:
New Orleans at $3,700 against a Marcus Mariota-led Falcons team
Cincinnati at $3,600 against a Mitch Trubisky-led Steelers team
JB’s Example “Double Up” Lineup:
QB – Lamar Jackson
RB – Alvin Kamara
RB – Rex Burkhead
WR- Michael Pittman
WR- Chris Olave
WR- DJ Chark
TE – Mark Andrews
Flex – Chase Claypool
DST – Bengals
That will do it for week 1. Thanks for checking in and I look forward to seeing you here every week to build out a winning DFS lineup. Make sure you check out all the fantastic new tools on Razzball.com and sign up for a free trial of the Razzball tools subscription as you get ready to set the rest of your week 1 fantasy lineups. You are always invited to follow me on Twitter @FantasyCoachJB and ask me any questions you may have. Good luck in your upcoming matchups, and I’ll see you in the winner’s circle!
