Fantasy Football Daily Fantasy

Print

Week 1 DraftKings Cash-Game Picks

Top Plays for DraftKings Head-to-Head and 50/50 Contests

Week 1 is the trickiest for cash games all season (other than Week 18). We don't have any 2024 data yet, so it's tougher to find "safe" plays. 

Pricing also tends to be soft in Week 1, so the cash line will likely be higher than usual.

Luckily, we've been grinding all the summer news, preseason usage, and Week 1 matchups -- so we have an edge.

Let's run through the top plays to consider at every position for DraftKings Week 1 head-to-heads and 50/50s.

As always, you can find top dollars-per-point values and build lineups with the DFS Lineup Generator. 

Quarterback

Jayden Daniels, Commanders ($5,700)

Daniels is on sale. I expect his DraftKings price to be in the mid 6K range by the end of the month.

If you were with us this summer, you know how we feel about the rookie. Elite rushing and deep passing gives him a strong fantasy floor and ceiling.

He opens against a Bucs defense that ranked 22nd in adjusted fantasy points allowed to QBs last year – and then lost CB Carlton Davis.

Daniels is easily our top dollars-per-point value at QB.

Also consider:

• Justin Fields, Steelers ($5,000)

Running Backs

Bijan Robinson, Falcons ($7,700)

With so much unknown in Week 1, it’s nice to lock a workhorse back into cash lineups. And despite this being Atlanta’s first game under new HC Raheem Morris and OC Zac Robinson, I feel confident that Robinson will get workhorse usage.

#Falcons HC Raheem Morris on his vision for Bijan Robinson:

“Get the ball to Bijan as much as you can, in as many ideal situations as you possibly can.”

Morris has a 50% reliability rating on usage/workload coachspeak (small sample size) pic.twitter.com/LTPnyhv8Gc

— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) June 11, 2024

Robinson opens as a 3.5-point home favorite against the Steelers, who ranked a middling 19th in adjusted fantasy points allowed to RBs last year.

Ken Walker, Seahawks ($6,100)

The talk out of Seattle all summer was that this new coaching staff sees Walker as a three-down back. 

We’ll see exactly how the backfield shakes out in OC Ryan Grubb’s debut – but Walker finds himself in a pristine spot. 

His Seahawks are six-point home favorites with a healthy 23.75-point implied total against the Broncos, who last year ranked 31st in run defense DVOA and dead last in adjusted fantasy points allowed to RBs.

Also consider:

• Alvin Kamara, Saints ($6,700)
• Joe Mixon, Texans ($6,600)
• James Conner, Cardinals ($6,200)
• Devin Singletary, Giants ($5,700)
• Jerome Ford, Browns ($5,500)

Wide Receivers

Tyreek Hill, Dolphins ($8,700)

Even at $8,700, Hill is underpriced. He was in the mid to upper-9Ks over the second half of last season. Our projections have him as the top Week 1 WR value in terms of dollars per point.

Expect a shootout in Miami on Sunday. Dolphins-Jags has a 49.0-point over/under – highest on the main slate.

Last year’s Jaguars ranked 25th in adjusted fantasy points allowed to WRs and are breaking in a new defensive coordinator this season.

Christian Kirk, Jaguars ($5,500)

Flipping to the other side of this Dolphins-Jags game, Kirk is a strong value at $5,500.

He might not play much in two-WR sets this season, but that’s less of a concern in this spot. Jacksonville is a 3.5-point underdog in a high-totaled game. That should mean plenty of passing in three-WR looks.

Look for QB Trevor Lawrence to lean on Kirk in this one. WRs Brian Thomas and Gabe Davis are making their Jaguars debuts. And Kirk has a plus individual matchup against Miami slot CB Kader Kohou.

Diontae Johnson, Panthers ($5,300)

Here’s one of the best targets-per-dollar bets on the Week 1 slate.

Johnson was a strong target earner throughout his time in Pittsburgh. That should continue in Carolina, where he finds weaker competition (34-year-old Adam Thielen, rookie Xavier Legette, and 2023 disappointment Jonathan Mingo).

HC Dave Canales confirmed in late July that Johnson will be “featured” in this offense.

The Saints boast a strong secondary with CBs Marshon Lattimore, Paulson Adebo, and Alontae Taylor. But I’ll take my chances with 8+ Johnson targets at $5,300.

Also consider:

• Drake London, Falcons ($6,000)
• Andrei Iosivas, Bengals ($3,000)

Tight Ends

Mike Gesicki, Bengals ($3,000)

Expect to see a lot of cheap (i.e. disgusting) TEs in this spot throughout the season. The position inherently comes with a low floor outside of the elites. And the DraftKings pricing goes much lower at TE than the other positions.

I expect Gesicki to have a nice-sized role out of the gate with Cincinnati’s questions at WR. Ja’Marr Chase could be limited in Week 1 after his lengthy holdout, Tee Higgins is on the injury report with a hamstring, and Andrei Iosivas is stepping into a starting role for the first time in his career.

The Bengals’ 24.75-point implied total is fourth-highest on the main slate. That means TD upside for Gesicki.

Also consider:

• Kyle Pitts, Falcons ($4,600)
• Ja’Tavio Sanders, Panthers ($2,500)

Defense/Special Teams

Panthers ($2,400)

Just like at TE, we’ll usually look to go as cheap as possible at DST. The position is too unpredictable to pay up for.

Carolina’s defense wasn’t good in real life or fantasy football last year – and probably won’t be much better in 2024.

But this is a nice Week 1 matchup against the Saints, who are trotting out our 32nd-ranked offensive line.

Also consider:

• Chargers ($2,900)
• Texans ($2,700)

Jared Smola, Lead Analyst

Jared has been with Draft Sharks since 2007. He’s now Lead Analyst, heading up the preseason and weekly projections that fuel your Draft War Room and My Team tools. He currently ranks 1st among 133 analysts in draft rankings accuracy.