Welcome to the Week 1 edition of the NFL DFS FanDuel GPPs plays. Now that we are past Labor Day, it is officially football season in the fantasy sports realm. There is nothing more exciting than tossing some cash into a few GPP contests on FanDuel and hopefully watch your name climb up the leader boards.
For the most part this article will focus on stand alone, boom or bust GPP options and not meant to serve as a full GPP lineup. An ideal strategy would be to use some of these recommendations and then use some options that correlate with one another. An example of correlation would be to stack a quarterback with a wide receiver from the same team and then use a wide receiver from the opposite team in that same game. That way if the game ends up being a shootout, you very well may have a set of three players who put up huge numbers. Let’s go ahead and take a look at my top GPP options for Week 1.

NFL DFS FanDuel GPP Plays for Week 1

DailyFantasyNerd FanDuel GPP Play of the Day

Jameis Winston (TB) @ ATL $7,500
Jameis Winston is my top GPP play for Week 1. Now that Lovie Smith is out of town, Dirk Koetter should have full control over this offense and they are going to throw the ball around. Koetter was the offensive coordinator in Atlanta from 2012-2014 and those were arguably the three best fantasy football seasons for Matt Ryan. Koetter will be looking for revenge right out the gate at Atlanta and Winston has tremendous upside in a good match up against the Falcons.

Quarterbacks

Ben Roethlisberger (PIT) @ WAS $8,500
It is likely that a high percentage of lineups will include DeAngelo Williams for Week 1 and will be overlooking Ben Roethlisberger, who year in and year out is a borderline top five fantasy quarterback. Big Ben has just as much upside as any quarterback on the board and right now Vegas has the Steelers as the fourth highest team total on the board.

Matthew Stafford (DET) @ IND $7,400
Matthew Stafford may have lost his greatest weapon (Calvin Johnson) to retirement. However, I would argue that this year’s group of wide receivers as a whole might be the best group he has ever played with. It is also likely that Stafford will attempt close to 40 (or even more) passes in Week 1 since their running game is weak and they will likely be playing from behind against the Colts.

Running Backs

Mark Ingram (NO) vs. OAK $7,300
The game between the Raiders and the Saints currently has the third-highest point total on the board in Vegas. A lot of lineups will be targeting the passing and receiving options in this game which means Mark Ingram could fly under the radar. Ingram is one of the league’s few true bell-cow running back and was a top eight fantasy back a year ago.

Lamar Miller (HOU) vs. CHI $7,600
Lamar Miller is a talented running back who was not utilized correctly in Miami during his first four seasons in the NFL. Houston was a perfect landing spot for him in free agency, considering that the Texans had the fifth-most rushing attempts in the league in 2015. The game flow should definitely favor Miller in Week 1 since the Texans are decent favorites over the Bears.

Danny Woodhead (SD) @ KC $5,800
Danny Woodhead is the true definition of a boom-or-bust option in Week 1. The Chiefs normally play great defense at home and if that is the case on Sunday the Chargers could be playing from behind for most of the game. If the Chargers are trailing, Woodhead will likely see more action that Gordon and could rack up some easy garbage points late in the game.

Wide Receivers

DeAndre Hopkins (HOU) vs. CHI $8,400
DeAndre Hopkins will look to build on his outstanding 2015 season which resulted in him having the third-most receiving yards and the third-most receptions in the league. He has a great match-up against a Bears’ secondary that is completely banged up. We should also see him at lower ownership than the big three wide receivers this week.

Marvin Jones (DET) at IND $5,500
Marvin Jones is another player who signed with a team where his usage will likely increase tremendously. Jones played second fiddle to AJ Green in Cincinnati, but he will likely be the 1b option to Golden Tate in this offense. Jones has a great match-up against the Colts in Week 1 and as I mentioned previously, the Lions will likely have to chuck the ball a lot in this game to keep up with the Colts.

Mike Evans (TB) at ATL $7,900
Mike Evans lost some weight in the off season and looked better than ever in the preseason with Jameis Winston. Evans has multiple touchdown upside each and every week and should hit the ground running in Week 1 against the Falcons.  

Tight Ends

Dwayne Allen (IND) vs. DET $5,500
With Coby Fleener leaving for New Orleans, Dwayne Allen will benefit tremendously since he will no longer have to split snaps with another tight end. The only problem with Allen is that the Colts like to spread the ball around and there are a lot of mouths to feed in this offense.  With that being said, I believe that Allen could be a very sneaky GPP option in Week 1 in a great match-up against the Lions.

Coby Fleener (NO) vs. OAK $5,400
The move from Indianapolis to New Orleans should benefit Coby Fleener greatly, since he will no longer have to split snaps with Dwayne Allen. The Saints offense has always leaned heavily on the tight end position while Drew Brees has been with the Saints. Also, Fleener has an excellent match-up in Week 1 against the Raiders, who allowed 12 touchdowns to tight ends in 2015.

Defense

Cardinals (ARI) vs. NE $5,000
Many casual DFS players may be scared of using the Cardinals since they are playing against the Patriots. The Patriots are not nearly as powerful without Tom Brady behind center. Also, Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman will likely be less than 100% in this match-up. Lastly, the Cardinals have a top five defense and they are always capable of taking the ball to the house on special teams or on a turnover.

Rams (LA) vs. SF $4,500
Some may look at the pace of play against a Chip Kelly offense as a bad thing, but I am much more optimistic. The Rams have a good defense and Blaine Gabbert is not a very good quarterback. Therefore, I think the quick pace of play from the 49ers’ offense will benefit the Rams’ defense even more. If more plays are ran, then there are more opportunities for sacks, takeaways or even a score from the Rams defense and special teams.

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