DraftKings NFL picks, Week 1: Best DFS fantasy football bargains
By Drew DeLuca
The best DraftKings NFL bargains in Week 1 for DFS fantasy football players.
NFL football is back and at long last, so is DFS fantasy football on DraftKings! We embark on a weekly quest to identify the best values and uncover a few low-priced sources of production that allow DFS players to fit coveted, high-priced blue chip players into their lineups.
No one needs to be told to start Lamar Jackson, Michael Thomas, or Christian McCaffrey in a given week, even though Jackson (BAL vs. CLE, $8,100) and Thomas (NO vs. TB, $9,000) might actually be values as the highest-priced players at their positions this week. Let us help you craft a winning lineup by identifying the right players to complement either of these stallions.
Most weeks, we’ll focus solely on the Sunday main slate, which consists of the 1:00 p.m. ET and 4 p.m. ET games. However, since a quarter of the league will kick off their seasons at night in Week 1, we’ll include all four primetime games this time around, starting with the Thursday night contest.
DraftKings Thursday Night Showdown: Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs
There will be no shortage of offensive weapons squaring off right out of the gate, as Deshaun Watson and the Houston Texans take on the Super Bowl Champions in the first game of the season. It should come as no surprise that the reigning Super Bowl MVP leads the list of our favorite values and bargains.
As much as we love Watson, Patrick Mahomes (KC vs. HOU, $7,400) is the better bet to post a monster game. There’s no shame in looking for bargains at other positions and starting Mahomes with confidence.
Rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire has grabbed all of the headlines and hype, but Darrell Williams (KC at HOU, $4,200) knows the offenses and the nuances of blocking schemes and blitz pickups. We expect him to play a fairly sizable role in the offense at the start of the season.
We expect Will Fuller (HOU at KC, $6,200) to assume a large volume of the targets vacated by DeAndre Hopkins. Fuller has a proven, established rapport with Watson, so he’s a must-start at this price, especially since he’s fully healthy.
Mecole Hardman (KC vs. HOU, $4,200) is a great option in larger GPP (Guaranteed Prize Pool) tournaments and is a must-stack for those starting Mahomes. The matchup is a great one no matter who lines up at slot corner, but in a best-case scenario, Hardman will draw a few assignments against Lonnie Johnson, who suffered through a horrific rookie season in 2019.