FanDuel NFL Week 1 Cheat Sheet: Daily Fantasy Rankings, Projections, Stacks (Free Download)

It has been a long summer, and none of us were entirely sure we would see an NFL Season this year, but here we are prepping for Week 1. Throughout the NFL season, I focus on the main slate on FanDuel, which does not include the Thursday, Sunday, or Monday night games. You can head over to our projections page to get those games covered. Looking at the Vegas numbers to help guide us to the popular games with ownership, New Orleans and Tampa Bay are going to stand out to a lot of people. Baltimore has a four touchdown team total, while games in Atlanta and Carolina will stand out to many as well.

Downloadable Week 1 FanDuel Cheat Sheet

Quarterbacks

Quarterback is pretty stacked up top this week with Lamar Jackson and Russell Wilson. Jackson is going to be one of the top plays throughout the entire season, and his rushing floor doesn’t need to be explained. Wilson is someone I will deploy a ton of this week because he pairs well his wide receivers to stack. Atlanta allowed 1.7 passing touchdowns per game and 20.3 FD points per game to opposing quarterbacks. On the flip side of this game, Matt Ryan is in play at just $7,800 and also has Calvin Ridley and Julio Jones to pair up with. This is a solid game stack as well.

If you want to go a bit cheaper, Jimmy Garoppolo is only $7,400 is facing off against the Arizona Cardinals, who allowed 2.3 passing touchdowns per game last season. Cam Newton is in a similar boat but comes with a bit more risk. However, the receiving core for both of these quarterbacks is going to be questionable. A guy that I don’t mind diving deep down to is Teddy Bridgewater at just $6,800. The Raiders allowed 20.7 FD points per game to opposing quarterbacks.

Running Backs

Christian McCaffrey is like Lamar Jackson this week where he is just going to be a unanimous top pick. He doesn’t need much introduction given the volume and skill he has. It is a plus Week 1 matchup against the Raiders, who allowed over 50 receiving yards per game to opposing running backs. Dalvin Cook is a name I like a lot this week. Green Bay allowed 1.3 rushing touchdowns per game and 114.5 rushing yards per game. Cook is in a better spot compared to Alvin Kamara who is slightly cheaper. Kamara is always a tournament play because of his breakout potential, but Tampa Bay’s defense was a tough one to target with running backs. Josh Jacobs gets what was one of the worst run defenses in football last season and is a plus play this week.

There are not a ton of values I am in love with. It is going to be a tough early start to the season figuring out committees and dealing with players who need to be worked in slowly. Raheem Mostert catches my eye at $6,200 against Arizona’s bottom half run defense. The Colts backfield is a bit crowded but both Jonathan Taylor and Marlon Mack could easily hit value on 12 touches or so if they are efficient and find the end zone.

Wide Receivers

There are a lot of ways roster construction can go this week because there are strong wide receivers at all price ranges. The Carolina and Seattle stacks are not badly priced. FanDuel tends to be a little more friendly for building lineups anyway. Starting at the top, these are essentially the top plays each week. Michael Thomas is the most expensive and draws a matchup against Tampa Bay, who have improved their secondary slightly, but this is Michael Thomas. Julio Jones continues to be one of the top fantasy wideouts and Seattle’s secondary isn’t one that will keep me from rostering him. This game in general is loaded with WR options, such as Calvin Ridley, Tyler Lockett, and D.K. Metcalf.

Looking at the Carolina and Las Vegas game, DJ Moore stands out with the Raiders secondary still being a targetable one. Curtis Samuel and Robby Anderson are both GPP dart throws. As is Henry Ruggs, who is the burner that was taken first off the board in terms of wide receivers this prior draft. Carolina’s secondary is going to be an easy target all season long. A couple players that I find that are underpriced are DJ Chark, Calvin Ridley, Tyler Boyd, Marquise Brown, Christian Kirk, DeSean Jackson, and Emmanuel Sanders.

Tight Ends

I find myself paying up this week at tight end, as George Kittle sits in a perfect spot against Arizona. This team was crushed by tight ends last season and while I do expect improvement, it won’t be against a top-two tight end in the league. Mark Andrews is also in a good spot if you want to make a small pivot, and Las Vegas ranked bottom ten in fantasy points allowed to tight ends last season. Andrews will continue to be a prime target for Lamar Jackson. Now if you are diving down, I expect Hayden Hurst to be the more popular name. He gets a bump with the offseason move to Atlanta and will be an every down tight end. He also gets a plus matchup against Seattle, who struggled against tight ends last season.

Defense

The Colts really pop off in the projections and in terms of points per dollar value. Indy was a better real life defense at times last year compared to fantasy. They struggled to generate a ton of pressure, but that should be different this year with DeForest Buckner being a focal point in the middle of the defensive line. We are going to go back to a lot of the top defenses from last season. Buffalo gets the New York Jets at home, and the same goes for New England and Baltimore getting easier matchups at home. The Chargers, Eagles, and 49ers are all great options as well and should draw slightly less ownership. Indy is about the most value you can get as everyone below them are defenses I wouldn’t touch.