NFL FanDuel: Week 1 top plays (Early only!) Start with CMC
NFL FanDuel: Week 1 QB Targets – (Early Only)
Baker Mayfield – $7,900 – (GPP)
Let’s dig right into a GPP play right off the bat. Again, this article will still be mostly geared towards cash games, but I want to mix in some GPP plays that I think have a great shot at a ceiling game, and will also be relatively lower owned. Mayfield seems to be a bit overpriced here in comparison to some other QBs like Jared Goff and Carson Wentz. However, with the weapons he now has at his disposal with the addition of Odell Beckham Jr. and the emergence of Nick Chubb, this offense looks poised to pop this season.
What will sway the masses towards the Goff’s and Wentz’s, is the fact that Mayfield has a pretty tough matchup here against a solid Titans defense that added DE Cameron Wake to an already stout front seven. The aforementioned QBs seem a little safer, but I am going to choose to jump right on to what I think will a dynamic offense in the Cleveland Browns this season.
I can’t believe I just typed dynamic offense in the same sentence with Cleveland Browns, but adding OBJ to this arsenal will do just that. Wide Receiver Jarvis Landry had a tough go last season as the primary target as he found the end zone just four times last season, but with opposing defenses forced to double OBJ at times, I expect Landry to be heavily utilized in a possessional role like he once was with Miami.
For my GPP lineup this week, in an effort to differentiate from the norm, I do not plan on using OBJ or Landry with Mayfield. I will instead shoot for the super low ownership angle and pair him up with his third wide receiver Rashard “Hollywood” Higgins. Higgins scored four TD’s on 39 catches last year in a similar role, and he gets a boost from me in the early season as he is fighting to stay on the field. Antonio Callaway is expected to make a push for his job when he returns from his four-game suspension.
The Mayfield / Higgins combo allows me huge salary relief as you can imagine with Higgins being just $4,500 and the minimum possible price. With extra attention on Beckham, Higgins should be able to get open, and hopefully, this is where the Browns will be attacking this Titans defense. Higgins is arguably cash game viable this week, and with the fact that we want three stud high-volume running backs, I am leaning more and more that way.
Nick Foles – $6,500 – (Cash)
One general rule of thumb most folks abide by when it comes to cash games is to spend as little of your salary as possible at the quarterback position. Obviously there are more points to be had at the RB & WR positions, so paying up for a QB like Patrick Mahomes will seriously hinder your ability to make a balanced lineup across the board.
Speaking of Mahomes, he and his Chiefs will head to Jacksonville to face the stingy Jags D. On the opposite of the ball, we will have what should be our chalk cash game quarterback in a $6,500 Nick Foles. Jacksonville finally cut ties with the Blake Bortles experiment, and they seem to be in a very favorable position because of it with the addition of Foles.
He has a weapon out of the backfield with Leonard Fournette, and while there are no household names in this receiving corps, Dede Westbrook and Foles appear to have a connection. I will touch more on that though when we get to Westbrook. The Chiefs were awful against the pass last season, so I expect ownership in large field 50/50’s to approach 30% on Foles this week.