4 NFL FanDuel Studs to Target in Week 1
Spending your available salary in any DFS lineup on a stud can make or break your lineup. These high salary players will take up the majority of your budget, so it’s critical to carefully consider which ones you’ll want for each slate. Whether it’s trying to capture a safe floor in a cash game, or chasing a huge game to help you win a tournament, nailing the high-salaried players is one of the keys to making winning NFL lineups on FanDuel.
The NFL season is finally here once again, so let’s get the season off to a good start by picking the right players with high salaries that will help us win cash in Week 1.
Kyler Murray, QB, Arizona Cardinals
FanDuel Salary: $8,400
Projected Points 23.0
It was a tale of two seasons for Kyler Murray in 2020.
He started off like a house on fire, averaging over 30 fantasy points per game through the first 10 weeks of the season. This made him the QB1 by over two points per game and even would have put him ahead of Lamar Jackson’s record-setting 2019 season. He did it in a similar way to Jackson, rushing for 10 touchdowns in the first nine games.
Kyler then suffered a shoulder injury that really limited his play down the stretch, and his points per game plummeted to just 18.8 in the remaining seven games. Being back healthy and with some new weapons this season could mean that Murray gets back to that elite fantasy quarterback level as well. In Week 1, he’s got the perfect opportunity to get out of the gate quickly.
The Arizona Cardinals will face the Tennessee Titans in their opening game of the season. This game has the second-highest total on the main slate, according to numberFire’s daily fantasy matchup heat map. The Titans were a friendly matchup for opposing quarterbacks last season, as they allowed the second-most touchdown passes and fifth-most FanDuel points per game against signal callers, per Pro Football Reference.
The defense seems unlikely to take a big step forward, especially with reports of their first-round pick cornerback Caleb Farley struggling in training camp. Tennessee also may be tempted to throw more passes than they have in the past few years with the addition of Julio Jones and a new offensive coordinator, which would make for a better game environment for Murray and company.
Arizona made an exciting wide receiver addition of their own with a second round pick spent on Rondale Moore. Moore is small but also an extremely fast and agile receiver who saw encouraging usage in the preseason. If he can take over the short-yardage targets that Larry Fitzgerald saw last season, he is way more likely to turn it into a chunk of yards than the old veteran was. The Cardinals saw the departure of Kenyan Drake and his 22 carries from inside the five yard line, leaving opportunities for Murray to punch in some touchdowns right near the end zone.
Kyler Murray always makes for a good play because of his high floor/ceiling combination. In a game that is expected to be high scoring, he has a chance of reaching his ceiling outcome, making him a great tournament play this week.
Christian McCaffrey, RB, Carolina Panthers
FanDuel Salary: $10,400
Projected Points: 24.0
Fantasy managers were deprived of being able to roster Christian McCaffrey for much of last season, as the star running back only played in three games.
He was his normal self in those three games, posting outcomes of 27, 22.8 and 32.1 FanDuel points. We are, of course, talking about the running back who broke fantasy football in 2019 when he averaged over six half-PPR points per game more than any other running back.
His whopping 116 catches that season were a record for a running back, and he also was the third player in NFL history with over 1,000 rushing and 1,000 receiving yards in one season. CMC can excel in any matchup, but the one he gets in Week 1 is particularly enticing.
McCaffrey and the Carolina Panthers will play the New York Jets to kick off the season. The Jets struggled in every aspect of football last season. Especially in covering running backs, as they allowed the second most receptions to backs. While, this will be a new coaching staff and new scheme for New York, the lack of overall talent on defense remains an issue, giving McCaffrey an opportunity to dominate in this game.
Given his skillset and matchup, it’s really no surprise that McCaffrey is the highest projected running back by numberFire’s model. His salary is hefty at $10,400, but considering he is projected for over three more points than any other RB, his value is still the fourth-highest by those projections. CMC’s floor is too high to ignore, making him an essential piece in cash game lineups.
Calvin Ridley, WR, Atlanta Falcons
FanDuel Salary: $8,100
Projected Points: 17.1
The new undisputed number-one wide receiver for the Atlanta Falcons is Calvin Ridley. This, of course, is the result after Julio Jones was traded to the Titans.
We do have a sample size for what Ridley was able to do without Julio over the last two seasons, and it was quite favorable for him. In eight games, he recorded over 9 targets in each and had over 100 yards in five of them. He should see a huge target share this season, and with his average depth of target being 14.6 yards, we could see a truly elite fantasy season from Ridley.
Ridley's season begins with a matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles, who have been known to have a weak secondary over the past few seasons, and they struggle to match up with someone as dynamic as Ridley.
Another thing that should keep Ridley seeing targets is the Falcons' defense. They've been unable to slow down opposing offenses, which has led to the Falcons needing to throw a lot to keep up in games. Last season, their pass play percentage was 62%, the ninth-highest in the league.
Given that it also makes sense to attack the Eagles through the air, we should see the Falcons at least around that number in this game. With Ridley being the clear number-one target, he should get fed in this matchup.
Ridley's projected points for this game come in at 17.1, the second-highest among wide receivers on this slate. With the volume he should see, the big-play ability that he has demonstrated, and the solid game environment, it wouldn't be surprising to see him with an eruption in this game. He has the kind of upside we look for in tournaments, so he is a perfect play for that format.
Travis Kelce, TE, Kansas City Chiefs
FanDuel Salary: $8,500
Projected Points: 17.2
Over the past few seasons at the tight end position, there's been Travis Kelce and then everyone else.
He's been the TE1 in half-PPR scoring for three straight seasons and four of the last five. He was second in the entire league in receiving yards last season and had a chance to become the first tight end to lead the league in yardage if he didn't rest in the last game of the season. Seeing a 23.5% target share from Patrick Mahomes is just something that the rest of the position can't match, which is part of the reason that Kelce has been able to dominate tight end scoring.
The Kansas City Chiefs play in Week 1's highest-totaled game against the Cleveland Browns. It's tough to downgrade the Chiefs' offense and Kelce in any matchup, and this is certainly not the one to do so. The Browns were weak covering the tight end position last season, allowing the fourth-most touchdowns and third-most FanDuel points per game to tight ends. Those numbers look a bit worse when you consider that they didn't have to face Kelce during the regular season.
With the Chiefs' 30.5-point implied team total being the highest on the slate, we should expect to see Kelce crush in this great situation.
Our projections at tight end just demonstrate the gap between Kelce and everyone else. He is projected for 17.2 points, by far the highest on the slate at tight end -- even comparable to the top wide receivers. Even someone as talented as George Kittle is projected for only 12.8 points.
This makes it clear that Kelce is the guy to roster if you're allocating a lot of salary at the position. He even has the best value rating per numberFire's model at tight end, making him a fine play to use in all formats this week.
Nicholas Vazquez is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Nicholas Vazquez also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username hbyanksman. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
