There’s nothing like NFL DFS. Football attracts the most players to the DraftKings and FanDuel DFS lobbies and with that comes huge prize pools, softer contests and some of the best sweats of any sport. The season is just around the corner and the DFS sites aren’t wasting anytime drumming up excitement. DraftKings has posted three Millionaire Makers to open the season. It’s never too early to get started, so let’s take a look at the NFL Week 1 DFS tournaments on DraftKings and some initial NFL DFS picks and plays.
If you’re looking to get up to speed on the big DraftKings NFL DFS GPPs, take a look at Neil Orfield’s take on how he won $1 million playing on DraftKings! You’ll find great insights on the Sunday Million and so many other tips for winning DFS this season and over the long haul.
Stokastic has you covered for NFL DFS projections, tools and more… Looking for NFL Best Ball rankings and content? You’re in the right place! Check out all of our best ball stories and videos for free. Premium subscribers also get access to our best ball rankings — and the underlying projections that power them. Sign up for our best ball and season-long fantasy football package for the flat rate of $39.95!
NFL DFS: DraftKings Milly Makers, Pricing for Week 1 DFS
Winning a Millionaire Maker is the peak of DFS success, and football is the best way to do it. DraftKings posts a millionaire maker for NFL every week during the regular season, not to mention huge prize pools for DFS GPPs on FanDuel and even Yahoo. That said, DraftKings is outdoing themselves for NFL Week 1. They’ve posted three NFL Sunday Milly’s at three different price points.
DFS players can buy in at three price points and contest sizes. The flagship millionaire maker is a huge lottery-style tournament for $5 an entry. It’s set for over a million entrants itself, but don’t worry, it will definitely fill… DraftKings has already been giving away promotional tickets for what is sure to be one of their hugest DFS tournaments ever. They’ve also posted a $100 entry, 150-max GPP set for ~28,000 participants. Finally, there’s a high-stakes, high-roller GPP. You can buy in for $4,444 a pop to compete with 768 other entrants for the millionaire first place prize.
If you’re going for a big score but don’t feel like chasing a $1 million there’s plenty of other options. DraftKings’ single entry and 3-max tournaments like the “Power Sweep” are all set in the lobby, as our MME contests like “The Slant.” There will also be satellites going for their “King of the Desert” qualifier tournament. Expect DraftKings to post satellites to the NFL DFS Live Final, as well. They have yet to release contests for the NFL’s opening night on Thursday September 7th when the Kansas City Chiefs take on the Detroit Lions. However, DraftKings has typically run huge Showdown GPPs for the season opener.
NFL Week 1 DFS– and NFL DFS in general– tends to be one of the best spots to find edges in the DraftKings and FanDuel lobbies. Football is the biggest sport in the country and attracts scores of casual players with less experience and access to things tools like Stokastic’s NFL DFS projections. The sites release pricing in July creating additional edge for NFL DFS players that use tools properly. So much will change between now and the start of the NFL season making the NFL DFS salaries very inefficient and exploitable using NFL DFS ownership projections.
Time will tell where the best edges lie for NFL Week 1 DFS, but let’s take a look at a few spots that immediately jump out in the player pool.
Who Starts at RB for the Colts if Jonathan Taylor is Out of the Picture?
Jonathan Taylor made waves this weekend by requesting a trade and getting into a public rift with Indianapolis Colts’ owner, Jim Irsay. It remains to be seen if the Colts’ will actually move Taylor, but his absence from their starting backfield will create a huge value spot for NFL DFS.
DraftKings NFL DFS pricing came out before the announcement, causing the star RB to be priced at $7,900. He’s now marked with an “OUT” tag on the site. Taylor missed games due to injury a year ago, allowing his backups Deon Jackson and Zack Moss to earn starting time in the Colts’ backfield. The duo performed decently in his absence, especially from a fantasy points perspective. If Taylor is out again the two backs will be prime plays for Week 1. Jackson is priced at $4,100 and Moss at $4,200 which is $100 and $200 above the minimum, respectively.
There’s plenty of the time for the Colts to make a trade or someone else to win the starting role in training camp, but in the meantime, Jackson and Moss are the players to think about if you’re getting ahead for NFL Week 1 DFS. Plus, if you’re playing Best Ball or preparing for season-long fantasy football you’ll definitely wanna think about how this affects the ADP of Taylor and his potential replacements.
Still haven’t registered for Underdog Fantasy’s Best Ball Mania IV? You’re missing out on a lot of fun, but don’t worry — first-time users at Underdog can still get their first deposit matched up to $100! Check out the special offers widget above for more details and disclaimers.Â
Questionable Quarterback Value
Week 1 of the NFL season will bring out a lot of big name QBs. NFL DFS players on DraftKings will have plenty of options to spend up for. Lamar Jackson ($8,000), Jalen Hurts ($7,900) and Justin Fields ($7,700) are huge dual-threat spend-ups. Then comes Joe Burrow ($7,100). He’s the first quarterback that is truly questionable to play in Week 1. His backup, Trevor Siemien is $4,800. If Burrow can’t go, Siemien will be one of the cheapest starting quarterbacks and the Bengals should still have a moderately high implied team total taking on the Cleveland Browns who are expected to have one of the weaker rosters.
That said, there could be plenty of other QB values for NFL DFS players looking to the mid-range and low priced players at the position. Kirk Cousins ($6,300) leads the middle priced quarterbacks and leads a Minnesota Vikings with an implied total of 26.5 points. While Cousins is great value given the team’s total and questionable run game– Dalvin Cook is out of the picture– stacking him won’t be easy. Cousins’ top options are the pricey Justin Jefferson ($8,800) and T.J. Hockenson ($5,900).
Geno Smith ($6,100), Deshaun Watson ($6,00) and Russell Wilson ($5,900) are also in play in the mid-range. David Carr has moved to the New Orleans Saints, who will have a brand new offense with their new signal caller. He is priced well relative to the team’s 22.5 implied team total. Carr will come with plenty of well-priced receiving complements, led by Chris Olave ($6,500) and then Michael Thomas ($5,100) and the low priced Rashid Shaheed ($3,700) and Tre’Quan Smith ($3,200). Finally, there are a plethora of unknows, but also opportunities, with low-priced rookie QBs. Anthony Richardson ($5,600), Bryce Young ($5,500) and C.J. Stroud ($5,400) are buy low options if they start, with huge potential in Week 1 DFS and beyond.
Deebo Samuel Priced to Sell
There isn’t anything immediately popping out in the WR options for DraftKings Week 1 NFL DFS. That said, it’s early. There is one option that looks mispriced in Deebo Samuel ($5,500). He has his issues, including QB question marks, PPR problems and getting volume in a crowded offense, but when Deebo is on he has pretty huge upside. The price is probably going to be pretty attractive when the $5.5k price tag could prove pretty attractive when Stokastic’s NFL DFS projections come out.
Tight End RouletteÂ
Travis Kelce gets older every season, but he always defies the early expectations of NFL speculators, coming in as the top tight end in the league… by far. Beyond Kelce, the position can be a bit of a roulette board. There are plenty of stand out options for Best Ball and season-long that should put up good results relative to the sclerotic nature of the rest of the position group. Names that come to mind are Mark Andrews ($6,200), T.J. Hockenson ($5,900), George Kittle ($5,700) and Dallas Goedert ($5,000). But finding who will have the big week is tough, and beyond them anyone could emerge as the TE du jour. Names will emerge throughout training camp and the early release of NFL DFS pricing is sure to create plenty of value spots. In the meantime, it’s a great spot to comb through the player pool for some other early DFS plays.
There’s a lot more to consider and Stokastic will have you covered throughout the offseason and the entire 2023 NFL campaign. Stokastic offers a wealthy of NFL DFS strategy tools. We offer a lineup generator that might tickle your fancy. A projections page that might fulfill some needs. Our players props tool is an industry-leader in finding edges.
