Every week, I’ll be presenting some of the best value plays of the week, for both Fanduel and DraftKings. If you’re going to enter a successful lineup, you’re going to need some good, lower priced players to offset the salaries of some of the high-priced studs, who get you the big numbers. I wouldn’t go completely overboard with these players, but one or two, sprinkled through your lineups, will make your salary money stretch a lot further.
In week one, we have much more value than usual, since the contests were posted before preseason even began. So take advantage of it and get some of those studs in your lineups.
QB Dak Prescott (FD $5,000/DK $5,000) Prescott has had an amazing preseason, leading the NFL in passing yards, while adding over 50 yards on the ground (I love running QBs in cash games.) The Giants allowed opposing QBs 21.25 Fanduel points last season (30th in the NFL and were ranked 28th against the pass by Football Outsiders. The game features a 47.5 O/U. The Cowboys will want to run in this one, but the Giants high-powered passing game, coupled with Dallas’ poor pass defense means Prescott should have to do more than they would like.
QB Shaun Hill (FD $5,000/DK $5,000) Hill is in a similar situation as Prescott, starting at QB due to an injury. Tennessee’s pass defense is almost as bad as New York’s, ranking 24th last season. However, their run defense is also bad and the Vikings should be able to dominate on the ground with Adrian Peterson. The Titan’s offense was ranked 31st and this game has an O/U of 41, so I don’t think Hill will have to do too much. I think Prescott is the better play of the two, but you can look to Hill in GPPs as his ownership percentage should be much lower than Prescott’s.
RB Spencer Ware (FD $5,400/DK $4,400)Â It’s becoming more and more apparent that Jamaal Charles will not be a big part of the Chief’s week 1 game plan, if at all. Ware filled in for Charles last season, and looks to be the #1 back for week 1. The Chargers were terrible against the run last season, ranking 31st in that category last season. The Chiefs are 7 point favorites, so if the game goes according to Vegas, the Chiefs should be running heavily in the 4th quarter.
RB Darren Sproles (FD $5,600/DK $4,200) This one is more of a DraftKings special, since that site awards a full point per reception, which is Sproles specialty. If you’ve been keeping up on Rotoworld (and you should be if you’re playing DFS) you’ll know Sproles has outplayed Ryan Mathews and will figure prominently in Doug Peterson’s game plans. The Browns are a mess on defense ranking 26th versus the run and 28th against RBs in the air, last season.
RB Christine Michael (FD $4,800 /DK $3,700) Coach Pete Carroll suggested Thomas Rawls will be on a “snap count” similar to the second week of preseason, meaning he’ll probably get around 15 snaps and 4-6 carries. The rest should go to Michael, who had a monster preseason gaining 157 yards on 24 carries. The Seahawks are one of the biggest favorites on the board, so gameflow should be a huge plus. I love this play.
WR Tajae Sharpe (FD $4,800 /DK $3,000) Who? Sharpe is a 5th round draft pick out of U Mass, who has moved into the Titans starting lineup and developed great chemistry with QB Marcus Mariota. In the first two weeks of the preseason, 8 of Mariota’s 15 pass attempts were to Sharpe and he caught all eight. He faces a tough matchup against a Vikings defense ranked 11th against the pass, so don’t get too carried away here.
WR Terrelle Pryor (FD $4,900 /DK $3,000) Pryor has worked very hard converting from QB to WR and his efforts have paid off, he’s starting week 1 for the Browns. Pryor led the Browns this preseason with 122 receiving yards and a touchdown. It wouldn’t shock me if the Browns had some gadget plays, both running and passing, for Pryor either. Philadelphia was ranked in the middle of the pack against the pass last season, so the matchup isn’t daunting either. As with Sharpe though, don’t go overboard with Pryor. The game features a low O/U and QB Robert Griffin III has not been great this preseason.
TE Zach Ertz (FD $5,700 /DK $4,300) There are only a few tight ends I trust enough to play, so I’m not going too cheap here. Ertz was the Eagles leading receiver in the preseason and looks to continue to expand his role, which increased as the year progressed (he had 39 targets over his last three games.) He’ll match up against a Browns defense that was ranked 27th against the pass last year. Finally, the Eagles seem set on starting their rookie QB Carson Wentz, and TEs are rookie QB’s best friends.
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