NFL DFS Main Slate Advice | Picks, Stacks, Strategy Projections for Week 1 | FanDuel

Hello! And welcome to my weekly installment of NFL’s best plays. Week 1 is just around the corner and we at DFS Army are extremely excited to bring you this article, which is focused on FanDuel. We will be diving into the best plays from the DFS Army’s NFL Optimizer, aka The Domination Station. I’m Steve, better known as mutt_18 on Twitter (X). Don’t forget to follow me for real-time updates and insights, and keep an eye out for my comprehensive DFS content throughout the NFL season, I do MLB and NBA content as well, exclusively here at DFS Army.

Let’s get to it!

NFL Quarterbacks:

Russell Wilson ($7,300 vs. Las Vegas Raiders)

Wilson comes in as one of my top point-per-dollar quarterback options on the week against the Raiders who were bottom 5 in pass defense last year and didn’t make a ton of improvements in that regard. I’m looking for the Broncos offense (and Wilson) to be reinvigorated with new Head Coach Sean Payton and it also appears from the preseason that Javonte Williams is fully healthy after his brutal knee injury last year. The Broncos are missing Jeudy here, but Wilson had an established connection with Courtland Sutton, who is a full go, and 2nd round pick Marvin Mims Jr. who should be running out a lot of short and quick routes. Add in that Payton loves what he has in Greg Dulchich at tight end and I think this Broncos offense will be firing to start the year especially through the air as they ease Williams back into his full work-load.

Justin Herbert ($8,100 vs. Miami Dolphins)

Herbert got a major upgrade with Kellen Moore coming over to be the Chargers offensive coordinator, and with a fully healthy receiving corps to start the year, he should get off to a very hot start at home against this Miami team who was bottom 6 in passing defense last season. He has old reliable in Keenan Allen, the big play threat in Mike Williams and shiny new car in rookie Quentin Johnson along with Gerald Everett who showed more flashes of being a reliable target last year as well. I’m looking for this game to be a shootout here as neither team is particularly strong defensively in their secondary and the big plays should be flowing all game long and I think Herbert will get the best of Tua and the Dolphins in this one.

Deshaun Watson ($7,400 vs. Cincinnati Bengals)

Now there’s no doubt that Watson was rusty last year, as he didn’t play until week 10 in a brand new offense and it was quite obvious that there was some work need to be done. However, now he has another off-season and full year under this system and I think the Browns will have to come out firing here if they want to stay in this game. He has a new weapon in Elijah Moore who will play out of the slot a lot and you have old reliable in Amari Cooper (when healthy) and Donovan Peoples-Jones who has shown to be a very solid WR2. Add in the weapon he has in the red zone in Nick Chubb and David Njoku and I think there will be some fireworks in this game and I doubt Watson will be under 8K come week 2 as the Browns will need to put up a lot of points to stay in this game.

Running Backs:

Aaron Jones ($7,200 at Chicago Bears)

Jones absolutely torched this Bears defense last year,  putting up 30.5 fantasy points in their week 2 matchup and he should be very involved in the Packers passing game as well from the get go. The Bears allowed the second-most rushing yards in the league last season and didn’t make any upgrades to their defense to improve that this season especially considering they shipped Roquan Smith to the Ravens. The Bears allowed opposing RBs to average 25.7 FPPG against them last year and the best way to get a new QB’s confidence up is some early completions, which Jones will allow Jordan Love to do. Look for Jones to touch the ball 20+ times in this game which is elite usage for a RB at this price.

James Connor ($6,700 at Washington Commanders)

Connor is going to be in for a full workload especially early in this year, as it looks like the Cardinals will hand the offense over to rookie QB Clayton Tune to start the year. Connor was an absolute beast when healthy and is still in his prime at 28 years old and without any real threat to his workload behind him. The Commanders are a tough defense but we’ve seen Connor be matchup proof, especially in the red zone where he is a TD vulture and I see him touching the ball 25+ times in here as Tune will be prone to check downs as well.

Cam Akers ($6,600 at Seattle Seahawks)

Akers is a guy I’m looking at to have a breakout year this year, and with the injury to Cooper Kupp, I see the Rams relying even more on the run in this one as the Seahawks ranked 24th against the run last year, allowing opposing RBs to average 24.5 FPPG against them. He should be due for a heavy workload early on and he has been getting rave reviews from the coaching staff all off-season as it seems as though he has buckled down and put in the work. The best shot this Rams team has to win this game is to keep the ball out of Geno Smith and the Seahawks offense’s hands so look for them to lean on Akers big time especially early in the game.

Wide Receivers:

Tyreek Hill ($8,800 at San Diego Chargers)

Tyreek the Freak comes into week 1 in a perfect game script for this to be a shootout. They’ll be playing in California against one of the most pass happy teams in the league and a healthy Tua should be able to find Hill in space multiple times in this game. He has a safe floor with the targets he’ll get and the highest ceiling of any WR in Week 1 if this game goes the way I think it does. He’ll likely be core for me this week as I love this matchup.

Chris Godwin ($6,800 at Minnesota Vikings)

Godwin is coming into this season extremely underrated here against a Vikings team that was 2nd to last in yards allowed through the air last year. He’s a better play in full PPR mode on DK, but with Evans a bit banged up coming into this one he should be fed a ton of targets as we know that Baker Mayfield is a big time check-down artist. They’re also going to have to throw a ton in this game to keep up with the Vikings offense so look for Godwin as a great guy to run back if you’re playing those Vikings WRs as well.

Christian Watson ($6,300 at Chicago Bears)

We all witnessed the breakout of Christian Watson in the 2nd half of the season last year, and we saw his big play ability throughout the preseason as well. He has flashed good chemistry with new QB Jordan Love and the Packers get a week 1 matchup against a Bears secondary that allowed a ton of big plays last year. There is definite downside here as Doubs will be the main guy that Love will target but Watson’s game breaking ability and nose for the endzone make him a prime play here in week 1 as he’ll get free for a big shot at least a few times this game and all it takes at this salary is one long TD for him to get a great return on your investment.

Marvin Mims ($4,700 vs. Las Vegas Raiders)

I touched on this earlier in the article with Wilson, but with Tim Patrick going down again and Jerry Jeudy out a few weeks with the hamstring injury, the door is wide open for a ton of target to be funneled Marvin Mims’ way in this game. The Raiders are horrible against WR2s and he’ll kill them on those underneath routes as he has big play ability when he gets in the open field. For $200 above minimum price he’s looking like the best value WR on the slate for me in Week 1. This makes for a great stack on the cheaper side by pairing him with Wilson.

Tight Ends:

Mark Andrews ($8,000 vs. Houston Texans)

I’m loving this offense this year, and I think the Ravens are going to be absolute fantasy gold all year long. Andrews is Jackson’s favorite target by far, especially in the red zone and with J.K. Dobbins’ health still a concern they should be throwing a ton here. I see 10+ targets for Andrews in this game and multi-TD upside as the Texans allowed over 11 FPPG to opposing TE’s last year and were in the bottom half of the league. It’s a steep price at 8K but he should pay off as he’s basically a 9K+ WR with his upside.

Evan Engram ($5,800 at Indianapolis Colts)

I really think that this Jaguars offense will take another step forward this year,  Evan Engram included, as the addition of Calvin Ridley opens up the field for him even more. Engram averaged just under 10 FanDuel PPG in two games against the Colts last season and saw 14 targets over those two games and he’s a big threat in the red zone as the Colts secondary had a lot of issues defending TE’s, and I don’t see that changing much this year with their personnel.

Dalton Schultz ($5,200 vs. Baltimore Ravens)

Schultz didn’t leave the state of Texas, signing with the Texans and he’s going to be the safety valve for rookie QB C.J. Stroud. We all know that rookie QB’s lean on their TE’s especially early in their career, and Schultz was on his way to a career year before injuries hampered him throughout a few weeks as the Cowboys offense never really got fully healthy. I’m expecting 6-8 targets from him here especially near the red zone as the Ravens front 7 should give the Texans run game a very hard time especially near the goal line.

Defense/Special Teams:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers $3,100 – Their defense is still very solid but this is a punt play to pay up at other positions as this Vikings offense is gonna be a juggernaut, but you can usually rely on Ol’ Kirk to throw an interception or two early in the season.

Denver Broncos $4,000 – This Broncos defense is very underrated and the Raiders will have to come to Mile High in week 1 so the game conditioning won’t be there for them, add in the altitude and a new QB here and I think they will struggle offensively.

Green Bay Packers $4,100 – This could go either way, but the Packers have a very solid defense and Fields can be very turnover prone if they force him to throw the ball more, really solid play at this price point as their is defensive TD upside for sure.

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