Fansided

NFL DFS bargain bin- Week 1 Sunday slates

By Juan Carlos Blanco

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA - AUGUST 29: Nick Foles #7 of the Jacksonville Jaguars looks on before a preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons at TIAA Bank Field on August 29, 2019 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA - AUGUST 29: Nick Foles #7 of the Jacksonville Jaguars looks on before a preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons at TIAA Bank Field on August 29, 2019 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images) /
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Seahawks RB
Seahawks RB /

NFL DFS bargain bin – Week 1 Running Backs

Dalvin Cook, MIN vs. ATL (DraftKings-$6,000/ FanDuel-$7,400/ FantasyDraft-$12,500/ Yahoo-$27)

Cook was by no means pedestrian last season in his return to action from a 2017 ACL tear, but it’s suspected he wasn’t quite at full strength early. He looked to be a lot closer to the form he’d flashed during his college days and early in his rookie season toward the end of the 2018 campaign when he put together a 19-136-2 line against the Dolphins in Week 15 and followed up with a solid 108 total yards versus the Lions a week later. He was impressive throughout training camp and preseason this summer, yet he arguably enters a favorable Week 1 matchup underpriced across the industry.

The Falcons allowed the eighth-most rushing yards per game (124.9) last season while also surrendering the most receptions (117) and receiving yards (934) to running backs. Atlanta allowed an average of 30.0 DK/FantasyDraft points per game to the position as well, along with 25.2 FanDuel points per contest. In turn, Cook is highly capable of supplementing his production on the ground by exploiting Atlanta’s penchant for allowing plenty of catches out of the backfield, bringing in an efficient 40 of 49 targets across his 11 games last season.

Chris Carson, SEA vs. CIN (DraftKings-$5,700/ FanDuel-$6,600/ FantasyDraft-$10,600/ Yahoo-$23)

Lead backs on a home team that’s a large favorite are always appealing in DFS, and particularly if they also come as reasonably priced across the board as Carson. The versatile third-year pro could be in for plenty of volume throughout Sunday’s contest against a vulnerable Bengals squad if the game goes according to conventional wisdom and coach Pete Carroll continues to oversee the same lopsided playcalling that was Seattle’s signature last season.

The Seahawks passed on a league-low 47.6 percent of their plays last season, an approach that helped net Carson 17.6 carries per contest over the 14 games he suited up for. The 24-year-old draws a matchup Sunday versus a Bengals squad that surrendered the fourth-most rushing yards per game (137.8) last season, along with 14 rushing touchdowns. Cincy also surrendered the sixth-most receptions to running backs (96) and tied with four other teams in allowing the most receiving touchdowns (six) to the position as well.

It’s also worth noting that last season, Seattle boasted an offensive line that ranked in the top 10 in both second-level yards facilitated (yards gained by running backs between five and 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage) and stuff percentage (17.3 percent), the percentage of time a running back is stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage.