This week’s preseason NFL action continues with a three-game slate on Friday night. Unlike normal NFL DFS, preseason pricing is flat. With the current pricing structure, playing time is the most important variable to consider. This breakdown will analyze each team and point out potential edges within these teams. Be sure to check out the Awesemo NFL DFS projections and ownership projections for each preseason slate. And for those looking at a comprehensive preseason guide, make sure to check out our preseason primer.
Preseason NFL DFS Picks: Week 1 Friday
Quarterback
Logan Woodside —Ryan Tannehill will not play in this game. Woodside will compete with Matt Barkley for the backup job in Tennessee. This should give Woodside and Barkley each a full half to operate. Woodside threw for 539 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in the preseason with Tennessee in 2019.
Chris Streveler — Kliff Kingsbury already noted that Kyler Murray will play a little bit in this game. That leaves most of the snaps for Colt McCoy and Streveler to clean up. Streveler is an excellent dual-threat option. He rushed for 720 yards and 11 touchdowns in his final season with South Dakota.
Feleipe Franks — A rookie undrafted free agent, Frank projects to compete for a backup role behind Matt Ryan. His main competition comes from A.J. McCarron. Ryan should not play much in this game and did not play in the Falcons’ first preseason game in 2019. Franks rushed for 204 yards last year, giving him some dual-threat ability as well.
Matt Barkley — Both Tennessee quarterbacks should see around a half of football. Barkley threw for 378 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions in the 2019 preseason.
A.J. McCarron — The third-string quarterback behind Franks in Atlanta, McCarron threw for 292 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions in the 2018 preseason. He should see slightly less than a half of football.
Ben DiNucci — Every team on Friday’s slate projects to have three healthy quarterbacks. Dallas will be playing in their second preseason game, giving a small sample of their quarterback preferences. Dak Prescott will sit out again this time, leaving Garrett Gilbert, Cooper Rush and DiNucci to handle quarterback duties. DiNucci entered the game third last week, but he played the most snaps (30). He also has the most rushing upside, accounting for 34 yards on the ground. He provides a solid floor. DiNucci rushed for 569 yards in his final season in college at James Madison.
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Antonio Williams — Buffalo is currently carrying seven backs on the roster, but Zack Moss and Christian Wade are dealing with injuries. Reggie Gilliam is a fullback and does not project for any carries. Devin Singletary does not project for much work with his role on the first team, and Taiwan Jones is an important special teams player. That leaves Matt Breida and Williams to handle most of the work. Williams started for North Carolina back in 2018. He initially played at Ohio State and subsequently lost his starting job to Javonte Williams and Michael Carter in 2019. In his lone season as the starter, he averaged 5.5 yards per carry and caught 16 passes with the Tar Heels.
Caleb Huntley — An undrafted free agent rookie out of Ball State, Huntley could see ample playing time on Friday. Mike Davis and Cordarrelle Patterson are not expected to play much with their solidified roles. Qadree Ollison continues to deal with an injury, leaving Huntley, Javian Hawkins, fullback Keith Smith and recently signed D’Onta Foreman. Falcons beat reporters suggested that Huntley and Hawkins will play a ton this preseason. Huntley rushed for over 1,000 yards in his two healthy seasons with Ball State. He projects for a sizable portion of the early down work.
Javian Hawkins — Undrafted rookie Hawkins should also play a lot based on those reports. Hawkins rushed for 1,525 yards in 2019 before opting out halfway through 2020. Between the two primary Atlanta backs, Hawkins should handle pass catching.
Matt Breida — Breida is another excellent option from the Buffalo backfield. He has worked ahead of Williams to this point, but he is not a lock to make this roster. He primarily worked with the third team until Moss’ injury. He should see ample opportunities in tonight’s game.
Jermar Jefferson — Detroit projects to have the five available running backs with D’Andre Swift continuing to battle injury. Behind Swift, Jamaal Williams should only play a few snaps before the backups come in. Jefferson is a seventh-round rookie out of Oregon State. He rushed for 1,380 yards as a true freshman in 2018. He also caught 25 passes that year, giving him a three-down skillset. He will complete mainly with Dedrick Mills from Nebraska, but he looks quite likely to make the roster. Javon Leake was signed this week, Godwin Igwebuike played defense in college, and Jason Cabinda is a fullback.
Eno Benjamin — James Conner landed on the COVID-19 list yesterday, and Chase Edmonds projects to receive minimal snaps. This means Jonathan Ward and Benjamin should battle to lead the team in carries. Benjamin rushed for two consecutive 1,000-yard seasons while catching 77 passes in his final two years with Arizona State. Ward also had two 1,000-yard rushing seasons with Central Michigan, maxing out at 48 catches in a single season. Both are solid GPP options.
Brian Hill — Tennessee technically has seven running backs on the roster, but two are fullbacks. Derrick Henry should not play much, if at all in this game. Darrynton Evans likely plays a bit after last year, but he looks like a roster lock after working with the first team this offseason. Jeremy McNichols only recently returned to practice, making Hill the favorite to lead the backfield in carries. Undrafted rookie Mekhi Sargent should also be in the mix, but Hill should see the most work.
Rico Dowdle — Dallas is currently carrying five healthy running backs after the neck injury to Sewo Olonilua. Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard will only receive a few snaps, leaving Dowdle to clean up. Dowdle played 21 snaps to Jaquan Hardy‘s 20 and Brenden Knox‘s 10 last week.
Jeremy McNichols — With Evans healthy and Hill now on the roster, McNichols is likely competing for his job. He was injured to start camp, so he is already behind. With that said, this should allow him to receive ample opportunity with the third unit.
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Wide Receiver
Marquez Stevenson — One of the deepest teams at receiver in real life, Buffalo projects to carry the fewest active receivers on Friday. Stefon Diggs, Emmanuel Sanders and Duke Williams have all been banged up in practice this week. With Cole Beasley, Gabriel Davis and Isaiah McKenzie already occupying secure roles for the Bills, the backups should see extended work. Much of this work could fall on sixth-round rookie Stevenson, who had 1,019 and 907 yards in 2018 and 2019 for Houston before getting injured last year.
Isaiah Hodgins — Another backup expected to receive a longer look, Hodgins enters his second season with the Bills He did not see the field last year, but he went over 875 yards in each of his last two seasons with Oregon State. It is possible that Stevenson, Hodgins and Jake Kumerow are battling for the final receiver spot in Buffalo.
Kalif Raymond — Detroit also looks to be thin at wide receiver heading into the preseason. Breshad Perriman, Tyrell Williams, Quintez Cephus, Chad Hansen and Damion Ratley have all missed time this week. Williams returned to practice on Aug. 10, but his status should still be monitored. Raymond received meaningful snaps with the Titans last year, catching nine passes for 187 yards. He should now benefit from a depleted Lions receiver room.
Jake Kumerow — Like the Buffalo receivers mentioned above, Kumerow should see ample playing time here. Kumerow has just 21 career catches and only caught one ball with Buffalo last year in the regular season.
Dez Fitzpatrick — Behind Buffalo and Detroit, Tennessee projects to play 11 receivers on Friday. This number excludes Julio Jones, AJ Brown, and Cody Hollister, who is injured. Behind Jones, Brown, and Josh Reynolds the Titans are unsettled at receiver. They selected Fitzpatrick in the fourth round of the NFL Draft this year. Fitzpatrick played consistent ball at Louisville, but he never caught more than 43 passes or 833 that yards. That occurred during his senior season in 2020.
Racey McMath — Doubling down on wide receiver in the draft, the Titans selected McMath in the sixth round. An absolute burner in college, McMath never found the field behind Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, and Terrace Marshall at LSU. He never caught more than 17 passes in a year, but his athleticism breeds upside. He should see the field plenty in Week 1 of the preseason.
Simi Fehoko — Dallas projects to play with 10 healthy receivers and potentially more, depending on how many snaps Michael Gallup and CeeDee Lamb receive. Fortunately, Dallas played in the Hall of Fame game, giving us a sample. Behind the big three, Cedrick Wilson and Noah Brown are near locks for the roster. This allowed Dallas to take a longer look at fifth-round rookie Fehoko and Malik Turner. Fehoko played 29 snaps to Turner’s 24.
Frank Darby — Atlanta projects to play with 11 receivers on Friday night, but Calvin Ridley and Russell Gage should not see too much of the field. Tajae Sharpe and Christian Blake look like solid bets to make the roster too, leaving a competition for a potential sixth receiver. Drafted in the sixth round out of Arizona State, Darby should receive every opportunity to earn this spot. He caught 31 passes for 616 yards behind Brandon Aiyuk in 2019 before getting injured in 2020.
Amon-Ra St. Brown — St. Brown should get an extended look in Week 1. He recorded 1,041 yards as a sophomore in 2019 before COVID-19 shortened his 2020. While he likely will not play as much as Raymond, St. Brown still requires evaluation at the NFL level.
Geronimo Allison — Allison opted out of 2020. Now making his return with the Lions, he should battle for a roster spot here. Last time Allison played he caught 34 passes for 287 yards in 2019.
Tight End
Sean McKeon — Every team has at least six active tight ends on the Friday slate. However, some of these players will be blockers only. Dallas projects for a slightly narrower target distribution among tight ends. Last week in the Hall of Fame game, only Dalton Schultz and Sean McKeon ran routes at the tight end position. Blake Jarwin missed that game and should return here, but McKeon should still see a large role. He ran 17 routes and saw four targets last week. McKeon played college at Michigan and recorded his career-best 31 catches in 2017.
Tommy Sweeney — After contributing eight catches for 114 yards as a rookie, Sweeney missed last season with a heart condition. Now healthy, Sweeney will compete with Dawson Knox and Jacob Hollister for a role in Buffalo. Sweeney had three straight seasons of at least 345 yards receiving to close out his college career with Boston College.
Jared Pinkney — Tennessee will move forward with Anthony Firkser as their primary pass-catching tight end. However, Tennessee uses plenty of 12 personnel, which gives Pinkney a chance to make this roster. Pinkney caught 50 passes for 774 yards in 2018 with Vanderbilt. He should see plenty of playing time.
Quintin Morris — Morris is an undrafted rookie tight end from Bowling Green. He caught 42 and 55 passes in 2018 and 2019 before COVID-19 shortened his senior season. He profiles as a pure receiving threat. He likely will come onto the field after Sweeney, but he should see work.
Charlie Taumoepeau — Behind T.J. Hockenson Detroit has a pair of blocking tight ends in Darren Fells and Alize Mack. While Fells does have some pass-catching upside, he still likely will play limited snaps. This could give receiving specialist Taumoepeau a chance. Coming out of Portland State, Taumoepeau caught 36 passes for 474 yards.
Ross Travis — Arizona has not really appeared much to this point, because they have an abundance of players at each position. Travis could be an interesting tight end option. He is a highly athletic tight end prospect who formerly played basketball at Penn State.
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