I’ve been playing fantasy baseball every single day since Lebron brought an NBA title to Cleveland, and I haven’t been very successful, so let me be the first person to say that I am so glad for football to finally be back tonight!
Between my season-long fantasy leagues, my weekly pick’em leagues, and my passionate love for FanDuel, I will be heavily invested in the outcome of each and every game in the League this year…and I can’t wait!
And since I have to get together all of my picks and lineups for you anyways, I figured that the least I could do was share my line of thinking with you. So if you have got your own leagues to worry about, take all of this with a grain of salt and feel free to voice your opinions in the comment.
Let’s start with the pick’em leagues…
NFL Pick’em – Week 1
- Carolina @ Denver – The Panthers are listed as 4 point favorites with 77% of the moneyline betting in Vegas on their side. I think the line is soft. Denver is getting too much credit for being a home team coming off a Super Bowl win. Take the Panthers.
- Oakland @ New Orleans – The CBS Pick’em Polls say that 61% of the public is taking the Saints, but that number is only 55% in Vegas when real money is on the line. Oakland has the firepower to keep up with the Saints in a shootout, so this is a great place to pick an upset and roll with the Raiders.
- San Diego @ Kansas City – This is another spot where the Pick’em numbers don’t match up with the Vegas numbers. Everyone expects Kansas City to win this one, but I like the Chargers for the upset.
- Buffalo @ Baltimore – This is my third upset special. The Ravens are favored 3, but I think they might be the most overrated team in the NFL heading into the season. On the flip side, I’m not sure anyone grasps just how good Buffalo can be. I’m taking the Bills.
- Chicago @ Houston – After picking three dogs in a row, I’m back to the favorite on this game. Houston is projected to win by two field goals. The Bears aren’t going to be very good this year, and I doubt they can keep up with the Texans in this one.
- Green Bay @ Jacksonville – I have a lot of interest in this game from a fantasy perspective. As for who is going to win, Vegas likes the Packers by 4.5. i think they get a big lead early and then survive a Jacksonville comeback attempt. Packers win by a few. I wouldn’t be made if you took the Jags side of this one though.
- Tampa Bay @ Atlanta – It seems like neither of these teams can get any respect heading into this year. Both sides have dynamic playmakers all over the field, but the Bucs really shored up their defense. I see Julio having a big game, but Tampa Bay locking up the W.
- Vikings @ Titans – Did you see the Vikings trade a first round pick for Sam Bradford last week? Take the Titans.
- Cleveland @ Philadelphia – What’s the only thing worse than a team trading for Sam Bradford? The team that was planning on starting him trying to replace him at the last minute. I’m all over the Brownies in this one.
- Cincinnati @ NY Jets – Vegas has the Bengals as 2.5 point favorites. But I don’t think that’s giving them enough credit. The Jets are going to be better than people think, but Cincinnati wins this one easily. Big game for Andy Dalton.
- Miami @ Seattle – If you’re giving me the 10.5 points that Seattle is favored by, I really like the Dolphins in this spot. The Seahawks aren’t as unbeatable at home as they used to be. But for pick’em purposes, this is probably your stone cold lead pipe lock of the week.
- NY Giants @ Dallas – My brother-in-law is a big Cowboys fan. Maybe he’s got me drinking the Kool Aid here, but I think Dak and Zeke destroy this Giants defense and Eli has a hard time keeping up. I’m taking America’s team to beat the spread and win outright.
- Detroit @ Indianapolis – Andrew Luck has had a lot of hype around him heading into the year, but he still has absolute garbage for an offensive line, and the defense is even worse. I don’t think Detroit is very good, but I think they’re better than the Colts on Sunday.
- New England @ Arizona – With Tom Brady, the Pats would definitely be favored in this one. Without him, they’re six point dogs. I still like their chances if you’re giving me the points, but in a pick’em I think we all have to go with Arizona. Jimmy G hasn’t looked good all year, and he isn’t going to start against this Cardinals D.
- Pittsburgh @ Washington – This game projects to be a Monday night shootout. We all want to pick the Steelers anyway, but this is actually a pretty safe place to do so, so that’s where I’m going.
- Los Angeles @ San Francisco – This could be the two worst teams in the NFL this year, so good luck finding a reason to get behind either of them. Vegas likes the 9ers by 2, so that’s where I’m going as well.
NFL Survivor Games
If you’re playing in a survivor game, you have every single team available to you this week, so it shouldn’t be too difficult. The safe picks are definitely Carolina, Seattle, and Pittsburgh. But if you want to save those horses for later in the year, you might want to go with Cincinnati or Houston.
FanDuel NFL Value Plays
If you played any amount of FanDuel last season, you know that the key to fitting in those high priced studs like Antonio Brown is finding the guys who are going to put up points at bargain prices. Here are three of the best values heading into week 1:
- Dak Prescott – $5,000 – When FanDuel released these salaries, Dak was Tony Romo’s backup. Now he’s the man in big D, and he’s looked pretty good in preseason games. At this price, he doesn’t have to do a whole lot to earn his value, and he’ll allow you to fit in just about anyone you want.
- Spencer Ware – $5,400 – Just like with Dak, Spencer Ware is priced as a backup because Jamal Charles was expected to be ready to start the season in the Chiefs backfield. With Charles likely out, Ware is going to get the bulk of the touches this week.
- Tajae Sharpe – $4,800 – I always seem to fall in love with one or two wide receivers that look great in the preseason, and normally those favorites don’t do much in the regular season. But Sharpe beat out some legit wideouts to win the #2 job in Tennessee, so look for him to make some noise in week one.
