Daily Fantasy Football Advice, Week 1

By Vincent Frank on Wednesday, September 3rd 2014
Daily Fantasy Football Advice, Week 1

Here at eDraft, our goal is to provide you readers with all possible information to be successful throughout the fantasy football season. For the first time in the history of the site, we are going to focus on daily fantasy football leagues, which really can be a cash cow for those with knowledge of what's going on around the league. 

That's where we come into play. 

We will be providing weekly boom or bust options. In addition to this, eDraft will provide you with a potential winning lineup and give general overview of what to expect for the upcoming week. 

Check out this link for more information on how Fanduel's (our partner) daily leagues work. You'll also receive a 100 percent initial sign up bonus with Fanduel by clicking on the link at the bottom of this article. 

But here is a basic premise. 

* You will be given a $60,000 salary cap to form a team. 

* The lineup is as follows: QB (1), RB (2), WR (3), TE (1), K (1) and Defense (1) 

Here is some general daily fantasy football advice for Week 1. We will have more detailed information in subsequent articles this season when information more relevant to daily leagues become available. 

 

Spend on a Quarterback

Unlike season-long leagues, it makes sense to spend some cash on a quarterback. This is magnified Week 1 with the likes of Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Matthew Stafford and Colin Kaepernick going up against some less-than-stellar pass defenses. 

For example, Manning will be taking on an Indianapolis Colts team that gave up 4,400 total yards to quarterbacks last season. He will be doing so backed by a defense that yielded over 4,600 total yards to quarterbacks in 2013. This means that the expectation in Denver for Sunday Night Football should be a shoot out between Manning and his former team. 

Another example here would be Kaepernick taking on a Dallas Cowboys defense that is without Demarcus Ware (signed with Denver) and Sean Lee (torn ACL). A defense that also yielded the second-most fantasy points to quarterbacks last season with those two stars in the lineup. 

Manning is about $2,100 more expensive than mid-tier QB1 options such as Philip Rivers, who will be going up against a good Arizona Cardinals defense. For his part, Kaepernick is only $400 more expensive than Rivers. With a $60,000 cap, you can do the math here. 

Split the Difference, Remember it's PPR 

Remember, Fanduel utilizes a PPR scoring system. This is absolutely huge to think about. It means that someone likes Alfred Morris (20 career receptions in 32 games) should be valued less than a Shane Vereen (47 receptions in eight games last season. Interestingly enough, Morris is valued at $7,700 while Vereen comes in at $6,600. Taking into account level of competition against the run, and this should be an easy decision that will save you a cool $1,100. 

You also don't necessarily need to find the elite running back option in daily leagues. As to where the Jamaal Charles and LeSean McCoy are value extremely high in standard year-long formats, play the matchup here. For example, maybe think about streaming Carlos Hyde and Frank Gore against a Cowboys defense that gave up the most fantasy points to running backs last season.

Those two will combine for a total salary cap cost of $13,400. Is that potentially a better option than going Charles at $9,800 and then having to either go with a low-end RB2 option or find less value at another position? Just some food for thought. For what it's worth, I don't recommend streaming those two this weekend. It was just a specific case study. If you're going to stream, maybe think about C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson against a Bears defense that gave up the second-most fantasy points to running backs last season. They offer more upside in this PPR format. 

Go Elite at Wide Receiver

As you will see below, I decided to go with Brandon Marshall as my WR1 at $8,100 or 13.5 percent of my cap. The primary reason for this was to make sure I nabbed a player who will receive the necessary targets to give me high floor production. You need one or two of those players just in case one of the other choices you picked up struggles. In Marshall, you will likely be picking up a top-five fantasy receiver this week. After all, Buffalo finished in the bottom 10 of the NFL against fantasy receivers last season. 

If you're going to choose an elite WR1 option, make sure to play matchups. An example here would be Calvin Johnson. He's valued at $9,200 or 15.3 percent of your cap. If you're going to spend that money on one player, you better make sure he produces. On the surface, the New York Giants seem like an easy play for Megatron. But that's just on the surface. They ranked fourth among defenses in fantasy points allowed to receivers last season. Enter into the equation the additon of Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, and there is reason to believe that Johnson will finish as a lower-end WR1 option, which isn't worth over 15 percent of your cap. 

Mid-Tier TE1 Options Work in Daily Leagues (Unless it's Jimmy Graham

As we saw last season, tight ends are really the hardest players to project out in fantasy football. Just look at the TE1 options from Week 12 of the 2013 season. Zach Miller, Brandon Myers, Ladarius Green, Logan Paulsen, Anthony Fasano and Jim Dray made up six of the top 12 players at the tight end position that week. 

You know what this means, right? Pick a number out of a hat and go with it. Joking aside, unless you're picking up Jimmy Graham, it's better off to play the matchups and spend less money on this position. 

Why not Jordan Reed at $6,100 against an atrocious Houston Texans secondary instead of someone like Julius Thomas, who will be lining up against stellar nickel guy Darius Butler, at $8,100? It's all about finding value while still being able to net elite players at specific positions. With that said, you'll see that my lineup includes Jimmy Graham. I was able to do this by spending a bit less on the running back position and still finding PPR value there. 

Example Lineup
Position Player Team Salary Opponent (Rank)
Quarterback Colin Kaepernick 49ers $8,500 Cowboys (31st) 
Running Back (1) Shane Vereen Patriots $6,600 Dolphins (24th) 
Running Back (2) Andre Ellington Cardinals $6,800 Chargers (10th) 
Wide Receiver (1) Brandon Marshall Bears $8,100 Bills (23rd) 
Wide Receiver (2) Michael Floyd Cardinals $6,600 Chargers (29th) 
Wide Receiver (3) Kendall Wright Titans $6,200 Chiefs (15th) 
Tight End Jimmy Graham Saints $8,100 Falcons (26th) 
Kicker Kai Forbath Redskins $4,500 Texans (28th) 
Defense Detroit Lions N/A $4,600 Giants (N/A) 

 

Note: You can join Fanduel daily leagues up until Sunday morning. They don't include Thursday Night Football action. 

If you have ANY questions or want advice about fantasy football, please feel free to send them my way on Twitter @VincentFrankNFL

Good luck this week. 

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